Servius
Sulpicius Galba was the first of the four Roman emperors who reigned during the
year 69 AD, three of whom were murdered in office by soldiers loyal to their
successors.
Servius
Sulpicius Galba
He was born
on 24th December 3 BC, into a wealthy family, near Terracina which
is on the Italian coast south of Rome. He appears to have been a young man of
exceptional talents, as both Augustus and Tiberius are said to have predicted
that he would become emperor of Rome Gaul ,
where he campaigned against the Germans.
When Caligula
was overthrown in 41 AD he was urged by some to seize the Empire, but he
preferred to bide his time and was content the serve the new emperor, Claudius,
being appointed to govern Africa in 45 AD, which he did with wisdom and
integrity.
During Nero’s
reign (54-68 AD), Galba preferred to stay away from high office, out of
suspicion of what the tyrannical and unstable emperor might do next, but in 61
AD he accepted the governorship of a province in Spain, where he remained for
eight years.
In 68 AD, Julius
Vindex, governor of part of Gaul, rose in rebellion, and Galba also learned
that Nero had given orders for his own assassination. He therefore joined the
revolt of Vindex, who did not want to be emperor himself but instead offered to
place Galba on the throne. When Vindex was killed in battle, and Nero committed
suicide, Galba proceeded to Rome
Emperor Galba
However, once
installed as emperor, Galba soon proved himself to be unworthy of the office,
being severe and avaricious, and he quickly lost popularity, especially with
the soldiers. For one thing, he was now 71 years old, which was way beyond the
normal life expectancy of the time and he no longer had the personal powers
that were needed to run a vast empire. For example he had to be carried in a
litter towards the end of his life and reign because he could no longer walk
unaided. He also made the mistake of listening to bad advice from a number of
trusted favourites.
Seeing the
weakness of his position, he adopted Piso Licinianus as his successor, which
angered Marcus Salvius Otho, who had supported Galba’s rebellion against Nero
and had expected to be named as Galba’s successor. Otho conspired with the army
so that they mutinied six days after Galba’s decision. This was followed by
Galba’s assassination by his soldiers on 15th January 69 AD and the
declaration of Otho as the second of the four emperors of that year.
Galba’s chief
distinction was that he was the first Roman emperor not to be related, by birth
or adoption, to the Julio-Claudian clan that had ruled the Empire since its
inception. However, he came to office far too late in life to be able to handle
the imperial office or to resist any challenge to his position. Like many
emperors who were to follow, he was entirely at the mercy of his army; once
their support was lost, so was his life. He fulfilled the early prediction that
he would become emperor, but this was only achieved for seven months at the end
of a long life.
© John
Welford
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