1Then Suetonius Paulinus, thinking it worthy of his reputation, since no one in that age was held more skilled in military matters, to give his opinion on the whole character of the war, argued that haste was useful to the enemy and delay to themselves: Vitellius' entire army had arrived, and there was not much strength behind it, since the Gallic provinces were swelling with unrest and it would not pay to abandon the bank of the Rhine when such hostile tribes were ready to burst in; 1the soldiers in Britain were kept apart by the enemy and the sea; the Spanish provinces did not abound so very much in troops; 1the province of Narbonensis had trembled at the incursion of the fleet and a defeat; 1Italy beyond the Po was shut in by the Alps, without any support from the sea, and laid waste by the very passage of the army; 1there was no corn anywhere for their army, and an army could not be held together without supplies: soon the Germans, the fiercest kind of soldier among the enemy, if the war were drawn out into the summer, would not endure the change of soil and climate, as their bodies grew slack.
1Many wars strong in their first onset had faded away through weariness and delays. 1On their own side, by contrast, everything was rich and loyal: Pannonia, Moesia, Dalmatia and the East with their armies intact, Italy and Rome, the capital of the world, the senate and the people, names never obscure, even if at times they are overshadowed; 1public and private wealth, and immense sums of money, stronger than the sword amid civil discords; 1the bodies of their soldiers were used either to Italy or to heat; 1the river Po lay before them as a barrier, and cities safe with men and walls, none of which would yield to the enemy, as had been proved by the defence of Placentia: therefore let Otho prolong the war.
1In a few days the Fourteenth Legion, itself of great fame, would be there with the Moesian forces: then he would deliberate again and, if battle were decided upon, they would fight with increased strength.