1His brother Lucius Vitellius was present at their deliberations and was already offering himself to their flatterers, when suddenly Coenus, a freedman of Nero, threw them all into dismay with an outrageous lie, asserting that by the arrival of the Fourteenth legion, joined by the forces from Brixellum, the victors had been cut down; 1the fortune of the parties had been reversed. 1The reason for inventing this was so that Otho's warrants, which were being disregarded, might regain their force through more cheerful news. 1And Coenus, indeed, was carried swiftly to the city and a few days later paid the penalty on Vitellius' orders: but the danger of the senators was increased, since Otho's soldiers believed that what was reported was true.
1What heightened their fear was that the departure from Mutina had looked like a public decision, and their party had been abandoned. 1They did not meet in common any further, but each looked after himself, until letters sent by Fabius Valens removed their fear. 1And Otho's death, the more praiseworthy it was, the more quickly it was heard of.