Hist. 1.53.1Sub ipsās superiōris annī kalendās Decembrīs Aulus Vitellius īnferiōrem Germāniam ingressus hīberna legiōnum cum cūrā adierat: redditī plērīsque ōrdinēs, remissa ignōminia, adlevātae notae;Just about the first of December of the previous year Aulus Vitellius had entered Lower Germany and visited the winter quarters of the legions with care: ranks were restored to many, disgrace remitted, marks of censure lightened; Hist. 1.53.1plūra ambitiōne, quaedam iūdiciō, in quibus sordīs et avāritiam Fontēī Capitōnis adimendīs adsignandīsve mīlitiae ōrdinibus integrē mūtāverat.more from a wish for popularity, some from judgement, among them his honest reversal of the meanness and avarice of Fonteius Capito in taking away or assigning military rank. Hist. 1.53.1Nec cōnsulāris lēgātī mēnsūra sed in maius omnia accipiēbantur.Nor was everything taken by the measure of a consular legate, but in an exaggerated light. Hist. 1.53.1Et ut Vitellius apud sevērōs humilis, ita cōmitātem bonitātemque faventēs vocābant, quod sine modō, sine iūdiciō dōnāret sua, largīrētur aliēna;And while to strict men Vitellius seemed abject, so his supporters called it affability and kindness that he gave away his own without limit or judgement and lavished what was others'; Hist. 1.53.1simul aviditāte imperitandī ipsa vitia prō virtūtibus interpretābantur.at the same time, in their eagerness for an emperor, they interpreted his very vices as virtues.
Hist. 1.53.1Multī in utrōque exercitū sīcut modestī quiētīque ita malī et strēnuī.In both armies there were many men who were well behaved and quiet, and as many who were wicked and energetic. Hist. 1.53.1Sed profūsā cupīdine et īnsignī temeritāte lēgātī legiōnum Aliēnus Caecīna et Fabius Valēns;But of boundless ambition and remarkable rashness were the legionary legates Alienus Caecina and Fabius Valens; Hist. 1.53.1ē quibus Valēns īnfēnsus Galbae, tamquam dētēctam ā sē Verginiī cūnctātiōnem, oppressa Capitōnis cōnsilia ingrāte tulisset, īnstīgāre Vitellium, ardōrem mīlitum ostentāns: ipsum celebrī ubīque fāmā, nūllam in Flaccō Hordeōniō moram;of these Valens, hostile to Galba, as though Galba had shown no gratitude for his exposure of Verginius' hesitation and his crushing of Capito's plans, kept urging Vitellius on, pointing to the soldiers' ardour: he himself was celebrated everywhere, and there would be no obstruction from Hordeonius Flaccus; Hist. 1.53.1adfore Britanniam, secūtūra Germānōrum auxilia: male fīdās prōvinciās, precārium senī imperium et brevī trānsitūrum: panderet modo sinum et venientī Fortūnae occurreret.Britain would join them, the German auxiliaries would follow: the provinces were of doubtful loyalty, the old man's power precarious and soon to pass: let him only open his arms and run to meet Fortune as she came.
Hist. 1.53.1Meritō dubitāsse Verginium equestrī familiā, ignōtō patre, imparem sī recēpisset imperium, tūtum sī recūsāsset: Vitelliō trīs patris cōnsulātūs, cēnsūram, collēgium Caesaris et impōnere iam prīdem imperātōris dignātiōnem et auferre prīvātī sēcūritātem.Verginius had rightly hesitated, being of an equestrian family with an unknown father, unequal to the empire had he accepted it, safe if he refused it: for Vitellius, his father's three consulships, his censorship and his partnership with Caesar had long since conferred an emperor's rank and taken away a private citizen's safety. Hist. 1.53.1Quatiēbātur hīs segne ingenium ut concupīsceret magis quam ut spērāret.His sluggish nature was shaken by these words, so that he desired rather than hoped.