1With war laid aside everywhere, a large part of the senate came into extreme danger, having set out from the city with Otho and then been left behind at Mutina. 1There news came of the defeat: but the soldiers, scorning it as a false rumour, since they believed the senate hostile to Otho, watched the senators' talk and put the worst construction on their looks and bearing; 1at last with taunts and insults they were seeking a pretext and starting point for slaughter, while a further fear pressed on the senators, that, now that the Vitellian party was dominant, they might be thought to have welcomed the victory hesitantly. 1So they met, fearful and anxious on both counts, no one having a plan ready of his own, each feeling safer among many through the sharing of blame.
1The town council of Mutina added to the anxieties of the frightened men by offering arms and money, and addressed them as 'Conscript Fathers', an ill-timed honour.