Short Biography about the life of Vitellius
Short Biography profile and facts about one of the most famous Romans of all, in the life of Vitellius, Emperor of Rome and provinces of the Roman Empire.

• Name commonly known as: Vitellius
• Latin Roman Name: Aulus Vitellius
• Reigned as Roman Emperor / Caesar: 2 January 69 – 22 December 69
• Dynasty / Historical Period: Year of the four emperors
• Place and Date of Birth: 24 September 15
• Name of previous Emperor: His predecessor or the Emperor before Vitellius was Otho
• Date Vitellius succeeded as Emperor of Rome and circumstances of rule: 2 January 69. There had been revolution in Germany, where several legions had declared for Vitellius, the commander of the legions on the lower Rhine. Otho lost a battle with Vitellus and committed suicide
• Family connections / Genealogy
  • Name of Father: Lucius Vitellius
  • Name of Mother: Sextilia
  • Vitellius Married:
    • Petroniana
    • Galeria Fundana
  • Children:
    • He murdered his first son, Petronianus, by Petronia
    • His second son died in battle
    • He left a daughter called Galeria
• Why was Vitellius famous? Accomplishments, achievements and important events: The defeat of Vitellus resulted in the end of military anarchy and the beginning of an extended period of political stability under Vespasian and the Flavian dynasty
• Place and Date of Death: Vitellius died 22 December 69 (age 54) in Rome. The assassinations ordered by Vitellus and his cruel excesses of his short reign resulted in another rebellion who tried to hide but was discovered by the Flavia forces of Vespasian and he was dragged half-naked to the Forum, where he was tortured, killed, and tossed into the Tiber
• Name of next Emperor:  The successor to Vitellius was Vespasianthe founder of the Flavian Dynasty

The Year of the Four Emperors 68 - 69 AD
The Year of the Four Emperors 68 - 69 AD and the beginning of the Flavian Dynasty. Following the suicide of Nero there was a brief period of civil war in Rome which resulted in the Year of the Four Emperors which saw the successive rise and fall of Galba, Otho and Vitellius until the final accession of Vespasian who became the first ruler of the Flavian Dynasty. On the death of Nero, Servius Sulpicius Galba, already chosen emperor by the Praetorians and the Senate, was murdered in the Forum in January, A.D. 69. He was succeeded by Salvius Otho, the infamous friend of Nero, and the husband of Poppaea Sabina. The legions on the Rhine, however, proclaimed their own commander, Vitellius, emperor and Otho, his forces being defeated in a battle near Bedriacum between Verona and Cremona, killed himself. Vitellius, the new emperor, was remarkable for his gluttony and his coarse vices. Vitellius had spent his youth as one of the Emperor Tiberius' male prostitutes on the isle of Capri. Vitellius neglected every duty of his office, and soon became universally contemptible. Vespasian, the distinguished general, who had been fighting successfully against the Jews in Palestine, was proclaimed emperor by the governor of Egypt.