Emperor Vitellius had not slept much over the last few months. He knew his family was protected in the Palace. His soon-in-law, Justius, was temporarily in command of the Praetorian Guard while Secondo Julianus was in the field commanding consular legions II and V, who were waiting for action in Cisalpine Gaul. He knew the waiting was the hardest part for a soldier. He had been an Officer in the legions briefly before deciding that the Empire needed him in the political arena. Boy, did it ever.

“I have had a very eventful reign,” Emperor Augustus Tiberius Vitellius thought aloud. He has two beautiful children with a grandchild on the way. His son, Augustus, named after his grandfather, was coming of age and decided to dive into politics. The Emperor had acceded to this wish provided that he first spend a large amount of time in the military—perhaps to become General. He had learned a lot about military life after joining politics by spending much time in the field and watching the men train, but it was no substitute for actual combat. He was blessed to have had Otho Vitellius as his Secondo and military advisor at the beginning of his reign, followed by the very astute genius of the Military Consul, Titus Sabaco, who had been beset by a very unfortunate malady that rendered him incapable of movement or speech. Fortunately, he has very capable commanders in the field and here in Rome.

“Perhaps the gods are testing my fortitude,” the Emperor theorized aloud. “After all, we had just become as large as we ever had been before, our provinces are re-building and the people and gods are as happy as
ever, despite the lack of political action on the part of the Senate. This madman Manus is the cause and he will be stopped.

It seemded that over the past few years the madman Praetor Manus had been developing a strategy to revolt. He had been promoted too quickly, the Emperor was now discovering. The power had gone to his head and he now believed he could rule Rome. He was even identifying with the distant relative who had caused the last Civil War, Gaius Scipio Manus, who had managed to bring Rome to the state which the Emperor had worked these many years to crawl from, and very successfully. He would ensure this did
not happen again.

The Emperor had his devoted legions, and knew the traitor did not have much support. His biggest support came from Praetor Maxus, who had become a lazy, fat drunk who would rather eat and watch games rather than fight. Tiberius regretted not taking action on him sooner. “Don’t worry, Maxus,” he thought aloud, “I have someone who will be more than happy to meet you!”

He smiled at the fortune of having a devoted General like Agrippa Augustus Vitellius in his legions. He had shown his abilities in the field and was now showing his loyalty by providing the Emperor with a double-agent in the military. The General had led all to believe he was a traitor; all except those who needed to know. He would take Legion XIX to Maxus and side with the Praetor until the time for actual battle. This is when the General would turn and assassinate the Praetor with extreme prejudice, creating
confusion amongst the other legions, enabling a swift victory over Maxus’s forces. He had even heard that there was a very loyal Officer with the General. Tiberius was always wary of these double-agents, however. He worried that perhaps they really would turn traitor, but the Emperor had to trust at some point. His lack of trust was rooted in the events of the previous civil war. In that war, his father, the Proconsul, had operated as a double agent, unmasking the many plans of the traitor, only to be betrayed by his those he thought could be trusted.

Praetors Terpus and Julianus were readying their forces with capable Generals throughout, two know personally to him; General Julianus and General Servo, in command of Rome’s most capable naval fleet. He would be the one to support General Vitellius in his efforts against Maxus. The Secondo would be support for the Praetors while squeezing Manus from both sides. Manus was overconfident. He had poor leadership and only a few legions. He had counted on support from foreign powers. This was counteracted, as the Aegyptian leader informed the Emperor that Manus had contacted him. Tiberius also learned through General Vitellius’s infiltration that Manus had petitioned the Asians to support with their navy. This was a desperate attempt that would probably not come to fruition, but in case it did, the Aegyptians assured they would keep them at bay.

The Emperor finished his musings by looking upon his Empire, satisfied in the knowledge that Justius and the Praetorians were handling the small riots here and there, and confident that he had enough legions posted around the Empire that would keep order in the rest of the provinces. Besides, why would they revolt. The massive provincial improvements were underway and the people should be happy, shouldn’t they.

Emperor Vitellius looked forward to spending some time with his daughter and grandchild and walked down the hall to find them. He was confident in quick victory and expansion of the Empire ahead.

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By: Augustus Tiberius Vitellius