1'And so that there might not be any hope even in Galba's successor, he has fetched back from exile the man whom he judged most like himself in sourness and avarice. 1You saw, comrades, how by a remarkable storm even the gods turned away from that ill-omened adoption. 1The senate is of the same mind, and so are the Roman people: they wait for your courage, for with you lies all the strength of honourable counsels, and without you even the noblest are powerless. 1It is not to war or to danger that I call you: the arms of all the soldiers are with us. 1Nor does the single cohort in togas now defend Galba; it detains him: when it catches sight of you, when it receives my signal, the only contest will be who can claim most credit from me.
1There is no room for hesitation in a plan which cannot be praised unless it is carried through.' 1Then he ordered the armoury to be opened. 1At once the weapons were seized, without the custom and order of the service by which praetorian and legionary were each distinguished by their own equipment: they were mixed up with the helmets and shields of the auxiliaries, with none of the tribunes or centurions urging them on, each man his own leader and instigator; 1and the chief incitement of the worst was that the good were grieving.