1He himself, turned away from plans for war, said: 'To expose this spirit, this courage of yours, to further dangers is, I think, too great a price for my life. 1The more hope you hold out, if I chose to live, the more glorious my death will be. 1Fortune and I have tested each other. 1And do not reckon the length of time: it is harder to keep self-control in good fortune when you think you will not enjoy it long. 1The civil war began with Vitellius, and it was there that the beginning lay of our fighting with arms for the principate: that we fight no more than once, the example shall rest with me; 1by this let posterity judge Otho.
1Vitellius will enjoy his brother, his wife, his children: I have no need of vengeance or of consolation. 1Others may have held power longer; no one shall have given it up so bravely. 1Or am I to allow so much of the youth of Rome, so many outstanding armies, to be struck down once more and snatched from the state? 1Let this spirit of yours go with me, as though you would have died for me; but live on. 1And let us not delay long, I your safety, nor you my resolve. 1To say more about one's end is a kind of cowardice. 1Take it as the chief proof of my determination that I complain of no one; 1for to accuse gods or men is the part of one who wishes to live.'