Vitellius, The ‘Glutton’ Emperor Who Ruled For Only Eight Months
Sailko/Wikimedia CommonsVitellius purportedly had many vices, including gluttony.
Vitellius rose to power thanks to the mayhem of Nero’s death. And he would meet his end within that same vortex of chaos.
Born in 15 C.E., Vitellius trod an unlikely path to become a Roman emperor. Fun-loving and passionate about dice playing and chariot racing, Vitellius was favored by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero (Nero especially liked that Vitellius frequently asked him to perform). He had a reputation as a glutton, and he was dispatched to Lower Germany in 68 C.E. by Emperor Galba because Galba thought that Vitellius wouldn’t be a threat.
But soldiers in Lower Germany liked Vitellius (purportedly because he “granted every favour asked of him,” according to the historian Suetonius). And when Galba was killed and replaced with Otho, the soldiers pledged their loyalty to Vitellius. Otho died by suicide, and Vitellius became emperor.
Public DomainVitellius’ rule was ultimately short-lived. Here he is being dragged through the streets of Rome before his execution.
Once in power, however, Vitellius’ vices became even worse. Suetonius described a meal he once purportedly ate called the “Shield of Minerva,” which contained “tossed up together the livers of pike, the brains of pheasants and peacocks, with the tongues of flamingos, and the entrails of lampreys, which had been brought in ships of war as far as from Parthia and the Spanish Straits.”
Such a dish was wasteful and indulgent — but it was far from the worst thing that Vitellius did. He purportedly tortured and killed his enemies and spent copious amounts of money. Before long, Vitellius’ popularity plummeted.
Challenged by Vespasian, Vitellius was brutally killed in 69 C.E. after eight months in power and thrown into the Tiber. His last words were allegedly: “Yet I was once your emperor.”
