Editing Vitellius (section)

===Bid for power===
He owed his elevation to the throne to [[Aulus Caecina Alienus|Caecina]] and [[Fabius Valens]], commanders of two legions on the [[Rhine]]. Through these two men a military revolution was speedily accomplished; they refused to renew their vows of allegiance to Emperor [[Galba]] on 1 January 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor at [[Cologne]] on the following day, and then again on the day after.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'' [[s:The Histories (Tacitus)/Book 1#57|1.56–57]]. "In the course of the night of the 1st of January [...] the 4th and 18th legions had thrown down the images of Galba... [<nowiki/>[[Fabius Valens]]] in the course of the following day entered the [[Colonia Agrippinensis]] with the cavalry of the legion and of the auxiliaries, and together with them saluted Vitellius as emperor. All the legions belonging to the same province followed his example with prodigious zeal, and the army of Upper Germany abandoned the specious names of the Senate and people of Rome, and on the 3rd of January declared for Vitellius."</ref> More accurately, he was proclaimed emperor of the armies of Germania Inferior and [[Germania Superior|Superior]].<ref name="EB1911"/> The armies of Gaul, Britannia and Raetia sided with them shortly afterwards. By the time that they marched on Rome, however, it was [[Otho]], and not Galba, whom they had to confront.

In fact, he was never acknowledged as emperor by the entire Roman world, though at Rome the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] accepted him and decreed to him the imperial honours on 19 April.<ref>[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=aSYwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79 2051]: ''XIII K. Mai(as)''</ref> He advanced into Italy at the head of a licentious and rough soldiery, and Rome became the scene of riot and massacre, gladiatorial shows and extravagant feasting.<ref name="EB1911"/> To reward his victorious legionaries, Vitellius expanded the existing [[Praetorian Guard]] and installed his own men from his Rhine army.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Praetorian_Guard/|title=Praetorian Guard|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref>