[Sidenote:—­15—­] When, however, the gates were opened and an amnesty had been declared for all, suddenly soldiers came rushing in from all directions and began plundering and setting fire to everything.  This catastrophe proved to be one of the greatest recorded.  The city was distinguished for the size and beauty of its buildings, and great sums of money belonging to natives and to strangers had been accumulated there.  The larger portion of the harm was done by the Vitellians, since they knew exactly which were the houses of the richest men and all about the entrances on the alleys.  They showed no scruples about destroying the persons in whose behalf they had fought, but dealt blows, committed murder, and acted as if it were they who had been wronged and had conquered.  Thus, counting those that fell in battle, five myriads perished altogether.

[Sidenote:—­16—­] Vitellius, on learning of the defeat, was for a time quite disturbed.  Omens had contributed to make him uneasy.  He had been offering a certain sacrifice, and after it was addressing the soldiers, when a lot of vultures swooped down, scattered the sacred meats, and nearly knocked him from the platform.  Accordingly, the news of the defeat troubled him still more, and he quietly sent his brother to Tarracina, a strong city, which the latter occupied.  But when the generals of Vespasian approached Rome he became alarmed and took his departure.  He did nothing and formed no plan, but in a state of terror was carried back and forth on the billows of chance.  One moment he was for clinging to the sovereignty and he was making definite preparations for warfare:  the next he was quite willing to give it up and was definitely getting ready to live as a private person.  At times he wore the purple chlamys and girded on a sword:  again he assumed dark colored clothing.  His public addresses both in the palace and in the Forum were now of one tenor, now of another, first urging battle and next terms of peace.  At times he was inclined to surrender himself for the public welfare, and later he would clasp his child in his arms, kiss him, and hold him out to the people as if to arouse their pity.  Similarly he would dismiss the Pretorians and then send for them again, would leave the palace to retire to his brother’s house and then return:  in this way he dulled the enthusiasm of almost everybody interested in him.  Seeing him dashing hither and thither so frenziedly they ceased to carry out commands with their usual diligence, and began to consider their own interests as well as his.  They ridiculed him a great deal, especially when in the assemblies he proffered his sword to the consuls and to the senators present as if to show that by this act he had divested himself of the imperial office.  No one of the above persons dared to take it, and the bystanders jeered.