- Aulus Caecina Alienus
Aulus Caecina Alienus, Roman general, was "
quaestor " ofHispania Baetica (southern Iberia) in AD 68.On the death of
Nero , he attached himself toGalba , who appointed him to the command of a legion in upperGermany . Having been prosecuted for embezzling public money, Caecina went over toVitellius , who sent him with a large army into Italy.Caecina crossed the Alps, but was defeated near
Cremona by Suetonius Paulinus, the chief general ofOtho . Subsequently, in conjunction withFabius Valens , Caecina defeated Otho at the decisivebattle of Bedriacum (Betriacum).The incapacity of Vitellius tempted
Vespasian to take up arms against him. Caecina, who had been entrusted with the repression of the revolt, turned traitor, and tried to persuade his army to go over to Vespasian, but was thrown into chains by the soldiers.After the overthrow of Vitellius, he was released, and taken into favor by the new emperor. But he could not remain loyal to any one. In 79 he was implicated in a conspiracy against Vespasian, and was put to death by order of
Titus .Caecina is described by Tacitus as a man of handsome presence and boundless ambition, a gifted orator and a great favourite with the soldiers.
External links
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018509/Aulus-Caecina-Alienus Encyclopaedia Britannica Aulus Caecina Alienus]
Tacitus , "Histories", i. 53, 61, 67-70, ii. 20-25, 41-44, iii. 13;Dio Cassius Ixv. 10-14, Ixvi. 16;Plutarch , "Otho", 7; Suetonius, "Titus", 6; Zonaras xi. 17.----
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