Hist. 1.13.1Potentia prīncipātūs dīvīsa in Titum Vīnium cōnsulem Cornēlium Lacōnem praetōriī praefectum;The power of the principate was divided between Titus Vinius the consul and Cornelius Laco the praetorian prefect; Hist. 1.13.1nec minor grātia Icelō Galbae lībertō, quem ānulīs dōnātum equestrī nōmine Mārciānum vocitābant.and no less influence belonged to Icelus, Galba's freedman, who had been presented with the gold rings and whom they called by the equestrian name Marcianus. Hist. 1.13.1Hī discordēs et rēbus minōribus sibi quisque tendentēs, circā cōnsilium ēligendī successōris in duās factiōnēs scindēbantur.These men, at odds and each pulling for himself in smaller matters, were split into two factions over the decision on choosing a successor. Hist. 1.13.1Vīnius prō M. Othōne, Lacō atque Icelus cōnsēnsū nōn tam ūnum aliquem fovēbant quam alium.Vinius backed Marcus Otho; Laco and Icelus agreed in favouring not so much any one man as someone else. Hist. 1.13.1Neque erat Galbae ignōta Othōnis ac Titī Vīniī amīcitia;Nor was Galba unaware of the friendship between Otho and Titus Vinius; Hist. 1.13.1et rūmōribus nihil silentiō trānsmittentium, quia Vīniō vidua fīlia, caelebs Othō, gener ac socer dēstinābantur.and in the rumours of those who pass over nothing in silence, because Vinius had a widowed daughter and Otho was unmarried, they were marked out as son-in-law and father-in-law.
Hist. 1.13.1Crēdō et reī pūblicae cūram subīsse, frūstrā ā Nerōne trānslātae sī apud Othōnem relinquerētur.I believe concern for the state also occurred to him, which would have been taken from Nero in vain if it were left with Otho. Hist. 1.13.1Namque Othō pueritiam incūriōsē, adulēscentiam petulanter ēgerat, grātus Nerōnī aemulātiōne luxūs.For Otho had spent his boyhood carelessly, his youth wantonly, and had won Nero's favour by rivalling his extravagance. Hist. 1.13.1Eōque Poppaeam Sabīnam, prīncipāle scortum, ut apud cōnscium libīdinum dēposuerat, dōnec Octāviam uxōrem āmōlīrētur.For that reason Nero had deposited with him, as the confidant of his lusts, Poppaea Sabina, the emperor's harlot, until he could get rid of his wife Octavia. Hist. 1.13.1Mox suspectum in eādem Poppaeā in prōvinciam Lūsītāniam speciē lēgātiōnis sēposuit.Soon, suspecting him in the matter of that same Poppaea, he set him aside in the province of Lusitania under the pretext of a governorship. Hist. 1.13.1Othō cōmiter administrātā prōvinciā prīmus in partīs trānsgressus nec segnis et, dōnec bellum fuit, inter praesentis splendidissimus, spem adoptiōnis statim conceptam ācrius in diēs rapiēbat, faventibus plērīsque mīlitum, prōna in eum aula Nerōnis ut similem.Otho, having governed the province courteously, was the first to go over to Galba's side, was far from idle and, as long as the war lasted, was the most brilliant of those about him; he at once conceived the hope of adoption and grasped at it more eagerly every day, since most of the soldiers favoured him and Nero's court was inclined towards him as one like Nero.