1Meanwhile the beginnings of the war were happy for Otho, since the armies from Dalmatia and Pannonia had set out at his command. 1There were four legions, from each of which two thousand men were sent ahead; 1the legions themselves followed at moderate intervals: the Seventh, raised by Galba, the veteran Eleventh and Thirteenth, and the men of the Fourteenth, outstanding in fame for having crushed the rebellion in Britain. 1Nero had added to their glory by choosing them as the most powerful, which accounted for their long loyalty towards Nero and their eager support for Otho. 1But the more strength and vigour they had, the more slowness came from their confidence.
1Cavalry squadrons and cohorts went ahead of the column of the legions; 1and from the city itself came a force not to be despised, five praetorian cohorts and detachments of cavalry with the First Legion, and in addition a disgraceful auxiliary force, two thousand gladiators, but one that even strict generals had employed in civil wars. 1Annius Gallus was set in command of these forces, sent ahead with Vestricius Spurinna to seize the banks of the Po, since the first plans had come to nothing, Caecina having already crossed the Alps, though Otho had hoped he could be halted within the Gallic provinces. 1Otho himself was accompanied by picked bodies of the guard's scouts with the rest of the praetorian cohorts, veterans of the praetorian guard, and a huge number of marines.
1Nor was his march sluggish or corrupted by luxury: he wore an iron breastplate and went on foot before the standards, rough, unkempt and unlike his reputation.