Year of the four emperors

The forced suicide of emperor Nero, in 68 AD, was followed by a brief period of civil war (the first Roman civil war since Antony's death in 31 BC) known as the Year of the four emperors. Between June of 68 and December of 69 AD, Rome witnessed the successive rise and fall of Galba, Otho and Vitellius until the final accession of Vespasian, first ruler of the Flavian dynasty. This period of civil war has become emblematic of the cyclic political disturbances in the history of the Roman Empire. The military and political anarchy created by this civil war had serious implications, such as the outbreak of the Batavian rebellion.

References

• Roman Warfare, Adrian Goldsworthy
• The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius, available from Project Gutenberg: The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete
• The year of the four emperors, Peter Greenhalgh (1975)