Hist. 2.18.1Aperuerat iam Ītaliam bellumque trānsmīserat, ut suprā memorāvimus, ala Siliāna, nūllō apud quemquam Othōnis favōre, nec quia Vitellium māllent, sed longa pāx ad omne servitium frēgerat facilīs occupantibus et meliōribus incūriōsōs.As we have related above, the Silian cavalry squadron had already opened up Italy and carried the war across, though no one there favoured Otho, not because they preferred Vitellius, but because long peace had broken them to every kind of servitude, so that they yielded easily to whoever seized them and cared little for the better side. Hist. 2.18.1Flōrentissimum Ītaliae latus, quantum inter Padum Alpīsque campōrum et urbium, armīs Vitelliī (namque et praemissae ā Caecīnā cohortēs advēnerant) tenēbātur.The most flourishing region of Italy, all the plains and cities between the Po and the Alps, was held by the arms of Vitellius (for the cohorts sent ahead by Caecina had also arrived). Hist. 2.18.1Capta Pannoniōrum cohors apud Cremōnam;A cohort of Pannonians was captured near Cremona; Hist. 2.18.1interceptī centum equitēs ac mīlle classicī inter Placentiam Tīcīnumque.a hundred cavalry and a thousand marines were cut off between Placentia and Ticinum.
Hist. 2.18.1Quō successū Vitelliānus mīles nōn iam flūmine aut rīpīs arcēbātur;After this success the Vitellian soldiers were no longer held back by river or banks; Hist. 2.18.1inrītābat quīn etiam Batāvōs trānsrhēnānōsque Padus ipse, quem repente contrā Placentiam trānsgressī raptīs quibusdam explōrātōribus ita cēterōs terruēre ut adesse omnem Caecīnae exercitum trepidī ac falsī nūntiārent.indeed the Po itself provoked the Batavians and the men from across the Rhine; crossing it suddenly opposite Placentia, they seized some scouts and so terrified the rest that these reported, in panic and falsely, that Caecina's whole army was at hand.