when he entered the camp.  Immediately a crowd of mutinous fugitives came clamouring round him.  They spared neither abuse nor violence, assailing him as a deserter and a traitor.  They could bring no special charge against him, but the mob always lay their own disgrace on some one else.  Night came to the aid of Titianus and Celsus, for Annius Gallus[312] had already placed sentinels on guard and got the men under control.  Using remonstrances, prayers, and commands, he had induced them not to add to the disaster of their defeat by murdering their own friends.  Whether the war was over, or whether they wanted to fight again, in defeat, he told them, union was the one thing that could help them.  All the other troops[313] were crushed by the blow.  The Guards complained that they had been beaten, not by the enemy’s valour, but by sheer treachery.  ‘Why,’ they said, ’even the Vitellians have won no bloodless victory.  We beat their cavalry and captured a standard from one of their legions.  We still have Otho left and all the troops with him on the other side of the Po.  The Moesian legions[314] are on their way.  There is a large force left at Bedriacum.  These, at any rate, have not been defeated yet.  Better fall, if need be, on the field.’  Now exasperated, now depressed by these reflections, they were in a state of blank despair, which more often aroused their anger than their fear.

The Vitellian army halted at the fifth mile-stone on the road from 45 Bedriacum.  Their generals would not venture to storm the camp that same day, and hoped the enemy would consent to surrender.  However, although they were in fighting trim, and had no implements for digging trenches, they felt safe with their arms and the pride of victory.  On the next day there was no doubt about the wishes of the Othonians.  Even those who showed most spirit had now changed their minds.  So they sent a deputation.  The Vitellian generals had no hesitation in granting terms.  However, they detained the deputation for a short time, which caused some qualms to those who did not know whether it had been successful.  At length the envoys returned, and the gates of the camp were opened.  Then both victors and vanquished burst into tears, and with a sort of sorrowful satisfaction cursed their fate of civil war.  There in one tent were men of both armies, nursing a wounded brother or some other relative.  Their hopes of recompense were doubtful:  all that was certain was bereavement and grief, for no one was so fortunate as to mourn no loss.  They searched for the body of the fallen officer, Orfidius, and burnt it with due solemnity.  Of the other dead, some were buried by their relatives, the rest were left lying on the ground.