Hist. 1.60.1Igitur laudātā mīlitum alacritāte Vitellius ministeria prīncipātūs per lībertōs agī solita in equitēs Rōmānōs dispōnit, vacātiōnēs centuriōnibus ex fiscō numerat, saevitiam mīlitum plērōsque ad poenam exposcentium saepius adprobat, rārō simulātiōne vinculōrum frūstrātur.So, after praising the soldiers' eagerness, Vitellius assigns to Roman knights the offices of the principate usually performed by freedmen, pays the centurions their exemption fees from the imperial treasury, more often approves the savagery of the soldiers who demanded many men for punishment, and rarely cheats it by pretending to imprison them. Hist. 1.60.1Pompeius Propinquus prōcūrātor Belgicae statim interfectus;Pompeius Propinquus, procurator of Belgica, was killed at once; Hist. 1.60.1Iūlium Burdōnem Germānicae classis praefectum astū subtrāxit.Julius Burdo, prefect of the German fleet, he rescued by a ruse. Hist. 1.60.1Exarserat in eum īrācundia exercitūs tamquam crīmen ac mox īnsidiās Fontēiō Capitōnī strūxisset.The army's anger had blazed up against him on the ground that he had framed charges and then a plot against Fonteius Capito. Hist. 1.60.1Grāta erat memoria Capitōnis, et apud saevientīs occīdere palam, ignōscere nōn nisi fallendō licēbat: ita in custōdiā habitus et post victōriam dēmum, strātīs iam mīlitum odiīs, dīmissus est.The memory of Capito was dear, and among men in a fury it was possible to kill openly, but to pardon only by deceit: so he was held in custody and released only after the victory, when the soldiers' hatred had at last died down.
Hist. 1.60.1Interim ut piāculum obicitur centuriō Crispīnus.Meanwhile the centurion Crispinus is offered up as a scapegoat. Hist. 1.60.1Sanguine Capitōnis sē cruentāverat eōque et postulantibus manifestior et pūnientī vīlior fuit.He had stained himself with Capito's blood, and so was both more obviously guilty to those demanding him and of less account to the man punishing him.