Vitellius tried to quit as emperor, and his own guard would not let him
In AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, Aulus Vitellius held the throne for eight months. As Vespasian's armies closed in, he agreed terms to step down and set off to surrender his regalia. The Praetorian Guard blocked his way and marched him back to the palace, and Rome paid for it.
Born in Campania in the year 15, Vitellius came from an obscure family whose father rose from the equestrian order late in life, making him the first emperor not born into a senatorial family. He spent his youth among Tiberius's companions on Capri and befriended Caligula over a shared love of chariots and dice. He was consul in 48 and governed Africa creditably around 60 or 61. At the end of 68 Galba surprised everyone by giving him command of the army of Germania Inferior, where lavish generosity won soldiers' affection at the cost of discipline.
The Rhine commanders Caecina and Fabius Valens made him. Their legions declined to swear loyalty to Galba again on 1 January 69, and within a day the troops at Cologne hailed Vitellius as their ruler. By the time his army reached Italy, Otho had replaced Galba; after beating Otho at Bedriacum, Vitellius won Senate recognition on 19 April. He honoured Nero's memory, packed the Praetorian Guard with his Rhine veterans and, on 1 October, banned astrologers from Italy, who replied with an anonymous prophecy of his end.
His reputation as a bloated glutton comes largely from Suetonius, whose father had fought for Otho. Suetonius tells of emetics, four banquets a day and a giant platter called the Shield of Minerva, heaped with pike livers and flamingo tongues. Tacitus and Cassius Dio dispute some of these claims. Tacitus credits him with lasting reforms: ending centurions' sale of leave to their men and opening imperial administrative posts to equestrians.
In July 69 the eastern legions declared for Vespasian. Caecina tried to defect, morale collapsed, and the Vitellians lost the Second Battle of Bedriacum. When the abdication was blocked, Vespasian's troops fought their way into Rome, and Cassius Dio claims 50,000 died; the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was destroyed. Vitellius was found hiding and killed on 20 December 69, reportedly protesting that he had once been their emperor.
Source: Vitellius
