Marius Celsus acquiesced in the opinion of Paullinus; and Annius Gallus, who
a few days before had been seriously injured by the fall of his horse, was
reported to agree by those who had been sent to ascertain his opinion. Otho
was inclined to risk a decisive battle. His brother Titianus,
and Proculus, the
prefect of the Prætorian Guard, ignorant and therefore impatient,
declared that fortune, the Gods, and the genius of Otho, were with their
counsels, and would be with their enterprises. That no one might dare to
oppose their views, they had taken refuge in flattery. It having been
resolved to give battle, it became a question whether it would be better for
the Emperor to be present in person, or to withdraw. Paullinus and Celsus no
longer opposed, for they would not seem to put the Emperor in the way of
peril, and these same men who suggested the baser policy prevailed on him to
retire to
Brixellum, and thus secure from the
hazards of the field, to reserve himself for the administration of empire.
That day first gave the death-blow to the party of Otho. Not only did a
strong detachment of the Prætorian cohorts, of the body guard, and of
the cavalry, depart with him, but the spirit of those who remained was
broken, for the men suspected their generals, and Otho, who alone had the
confidence of the soldiers, while he himself trusted in none but them, had
left the generals' authority on a doubtful footing.
