"In the middle of a warm June night in 68 CE, Emperor Nero jolted awake to find that he had been abandoned. Except for a handful of attendants, his palace was completely deserted; guards, servants, and advisors had all fled in the night. Nero got up and, after briefly contemplating suicide, decided to flee. Disguised in a cloak, he and four of his closest attendants fled to a villa four miles away from Rome."
"The trouble had started a few months back, when Gaius Julius Vindex, the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, raised his banners in revolt. Like many others in the Roman elite, Vindex had come to despise Nero, whose egomania, vanity, and cruelty threatened to undermine the very foundations of the empire. But even as he was declaring his rebellion, Vindex knew he could not take on the might of the imperium by himself."
"The Year of the Four Emperors (69 CE) was a brief period of political upheaval and civil war in the Roman Empire. In the aftermath of the death of Emperor Nero, four men - Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian - were recognized as emperor in quick succession during a single year, three of them meeting gruesome and violent ends."
The Year of the Four Emperors occurred in 69 CE following Emperor Nero's death, marking the first civil war since the Roman Republic's collapse. Nero's reign had become increasingly despotic, prompting Gaius Julius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, to initiate a revolt against him. Seeking support, Vindex contacted fellow governors, and Servius Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, responded enthusiastically. Abandoned by his court and declared a public enemy by the Senate, Nero fled Rome and ultimately took his own life. This triggered a succession crisis where four men—Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian—were recognized as emperor in rapid succession throughout the year, with three meeting violent deaths. This period severely shook the stability of the Pax Romana.
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