Vitellius and Vespasian

-Vitellius was in Lugdunum, Gallia Lugdunensis (modern-day Lyon, France) when he received the news that Otho was dead.
   -Vitellius recalled his generals back to him and they had a huge victory party!
      -The history records, of course, were influenced by Vespasian (so we don't actually know what he was really like), but as far as we can tell Vitellius was a big party animal that led a debauched march with his troops all the way to Rome.
      -Vitellius left most of the management of things to his commanders, Aulus Caecina Alienus and Fabius Valens.
         -These two absolutely hated each other and were always working to undermine each other.
-As princeps, Vitellius raised taxes, threw games, and tried to manage the promises previous princepes had made to everyone in order to maintain stability.
   -Most importantly, he disbanded the existing Praetorian Guard and then built it up again with his own loyal troops. 
      -This was really stupid and backfired on Vitellius because all of the ex-Praetorians just flocked to Vespasian! 
         -What was Vespasian up to in 69 AD?
            -When he found out that Nero had died, he sent his son (and future princeps), Titus, to go figure out WTF was going on exactly in Rome.  However, when Titus arrived in Rome he found out that Galba had already been killed, so he returned to his father in order to not get caught up in all the chaos and turmoil. 
            -After Titus returned to his father, Vespasian decided to lay low and chill out.  He also began to consider that maybe it was even possible for himself to become princeps!
               -What pushed him to finally go for it was the encouragement of the governor of Syria, Gaius Licinius Mucianus, who himself dreamed of expanding his power as well.
                  -Also influenced by Tiberius Julius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, who had been an ally of Nero's and believed that supporting Vespasian would spare him from a potential purge.
-Vespasian was then able to get the legions stationed in the Balkans to join him because they were to be punished anyway for supporting Otho!
   -Mucianus was then sent with 18,000 troops to invade as Vespasian relocated to Alexandria.
      -Vespasian was smart to have secured a peace treaty with the Parthians before doing this, however.
-The plan was for Mucianus' troops to travel through the Balkans and link up with the legions there on the way to Rome.  However, one general, Marcus Antonius Primus, decided to jump the gun and invade with his own troops first, breaking away from the other Balkan legions!
   -This tipped off Vitellius that an invasion was imminent, so he sent Caecina to fight off Antonius' forces.  However, Caecina, who had been increasingly marginalized by Vitellius (who was increasingly favoring Valens over Caecina), decided to defect with his army to Vespasian's side! 
      -Unfortunately for Caecina, his men didn't agree with this, so they had Caecina arrested and then disappeared from Antonius' camp!  Confused, Antonius decided to still go ahead and strike at Cremona (in the modern-day region of Lombardy, Italy), where most of Vitellius' forces were.
         -They finally clashed at the Battle of Bedriacum (near Cremona in modern-day Calvatone, Lombardy), in a battle that lasted all night (which was rare)!
            -Famously, when the dawn came some of Antonius' legions, who had previously been stationed in Syria, saluted the sun (a local Syrian practice they had picked up during their time in the province).  Caecina's forces thought that Vespasian reinforcements had arrived, so they fled to Cremona. 
               -Antonius' forces followed, besieged the town, and then raided and destroying it, completely slaughtering Caecina's forces. 
                  -However, this really pissed off Vespasian, but he realized that basically Vitellius had been crushed, as Valens' army wasn't strong enough.  Also, governors of the West were flocking to Vespasian.
                      -Valens tried to then gather reinforcements in Gaul, but ex-Praetorians (who had formerly served under Otho) captured him and had him decapitated.
-Vitellius knew that he was doomed, so he quickly tried to work out negotiations for his peaceful abdication. 
   -He announced his resignation, but his Praetorians and soldiers knew that this would possibly be the end of their power too, so they forced him to take back the resignation and remain princeps.
      -Vespasian's brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, a politician, had been pronounced princeps as a placeholder until Vespasian himself arrived, but Vitellius' forces went insane and tried to storm the city themselves to hold onto power.
         -Sabinus' family escaped, but Sabinus himself was captured and killed as parts of the city were destroyed due to fire and general mayhem (including the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus).
-Antoninus then led his troops to besiege Rome, eventually taking the city.
   -Vitellius was captured, paraded around the city, and then decapitated!
-December 20, 69 AD- the Senate unanimously declared Vespasian the new princeps! 
   -The chaos was finally over; it was the dawn of the Flavian dynasty!