Chapter Eight - The Year of the Four Emperors

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Year of the Four Emperors

NERO’S DEATH LEFT a throne with no owner.
A colossal empire… without a driver.

So Rome did what Rome does best:
Chaos.

Emperor #1 – Galba
Old. Stern. Hated bribes.
He marched in from Spain with an army and a scowl.

Problem?
He was too strict.
Cut military bonuses. Ignored allies.
He was emperor for seven months.

Then came a man with ambition and a sword.

Emperor #2 – Otho
Former friend of Nero.
Former husband of Nero’s wife.
Yeah. That guy.

He bribed the Praetorian Guard to murder Galba in the streets.
It worked.

But…
A general in Germany wasn’t having it.

Emperor #3 – Vitellius
Glutton. Brute.
He was loved by his soldiers—because he loved to party with them.

He stormed into Italy.
Crushed Otho’s army.
Otho killed himself rather than drag it out.

Vitellius entered Rome with wine on his breath and no plans.

He bankrupted the empire in months.
Feasts. Debauchery. Excess.

And just when Rome seemed doomed—

Emperor #4 – Vespasian
The general in Judea.
Practical. Level-headed. Not from noble birth.

He wasn’t flashy.
But he had the troops and the strategy.

Vitellius tried to hold the throne.
But his support evaporated.

Vespasian’s men dragged Vitellius through the streets, tortured him, and threw him in the Tiber.

And just like that—
From the ashes of madness…

The Flavian Dynasty began.

And Rome, for now, found its footing again.