Talk:Vitellius
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[edit] Date Vitellius became imperator
January 2, 69 is not Vitellius' first day as imperator -- that was during Galba's last days, even before Otho. I was amazed to find through Google that this incorrect date is splashed all over the Web as Vitellius' first day; obviously this article, or its source, has been distributed widely with the error intact.
www.roman-britain.org gives Vitellius' first day as April 17, 69, which would conform with the end of Otho's reign (given as April 16 in Wiki), and so I am changing it thus unless someone has better info. --Pontifex 00:37, Dec 21, 2004 (UTC)
- My guess is that the the Jan. 2 date reflects when Vitellius was named imperator by his troops, which would be factually correct. "Imperator" was a military title, not synonymous with "Caesar" or later "Augustus." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.146.101.146 (talk) 16:21, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
Although **uncontested** emperor only after Otho's suicide following Bedriacum (until the proclaimation of Vespasian anyway), no doubt Vitellius - as in common with all other Roman emperors - would have dated the beginning of his reign (his dies imperii) to the day he was first proclaimed, i.e. 2nd January. For a parallel (as both were usurpers until they finally won) note that the beginning of Vespasian's reign was dated by him from the day he was first proclaimed in the east (1st July), irrespective of the fact that Vitellius was not overthrown until 22nd December. The date in the text should be reverted or at least altered to reflect this.82.44.82.167 (talk) 17:07, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Germanicus
Vitellius was born just plain, simple Aulus Vitellius. He took the titles "Germanicus" and "Augustus" immediately upon his acclaimation as emperor. "Caesar" he refused at first because he wanted to disassociate himself with those emperors who came before him, although he adopted it too eventually. 82.44.82.167 (talk) 21:37, 11 January 2008 (UTC)Catiline63
