1Meanwhile Galba, unaware and intent on his sacrifice, was wearying the gods of an empire that was already another's, when a rumour is brought that some senator, no one knew who, was being carried off to the camp, and soon that it was Otho who was being carried off; at the same time people came from all over the city, as each had met the news, some exaggerating it out of fear, some making it less than the truth, not forgetting their flattery even then. 1So, on consultation, it was decided that the mood of the cohort on guard at the Palatine should be tested, but not by Galba himself, whose authority was being kept intact for stronger remedies.
1Piso, having called them together before the steps of the palace, addressed them in this fashion: 'This is the sixth day, fellow soldiers, since I was adopted as Caesar, ignorant of the future, and whether this name was to be desired or feared. 1It is by the destiny of our house or of the state that the matter has been placed in your hands, not because I dread a sadder outcome on my own account, since, having experienced adversity, I am learning at this very moment that prosperity too holds no less danger: it is for my father, and for the senate, and for the empire itself that I grieve, if today we must either perish or, what is equally wretched for good men, kill.
1In the last upheaval we had the consolation that the city was free of bloodshed and power had passed without strife: by the adoption it seemed provision had been made that there should be no room for war even after Galba.'