Page:Tacitus Histories Fyfe (1912) Vol1.djvu/27

Rh from Germany, Britain, and Illyricum, which had been selected by Nero, dispatched to the Caspian Pass for the projected war against the Albanians, and subsequently recalled to aid in crushing the revolt of Vindex. These were all fine fuel for a revolution, and, although their favour centred on nobody in particular, there they were at the disposal of any one who had enterprise.

It happened by chance that the news of the death of Clodius Macer and of Fonteius Capito arrived in Rome simultaneously. Macer, who was undoubtedly raising a disturbance in Africa, was put to death by the imperial agent Trebonius Garrutianus, acting under Galba's orders: Capito had made a similar attempt in Germany and was killed by two officers, Cornelius Aquinus and Fabius Valens, without waiting for instructions. While Capito had a foul reputation for extortion and loose living, some people yet believed