The Year of the Four Emperors (Eutropius, Breviarium 7.14–20)

June, 68 CE: Nero is dead. The events that followed would form the Year of the Four Emperors: Galba, Otho, and Vitellius would each seize power in turn and meet violent deaths after only a few months as emperor. It was Vespasian who finally brought an end to this period of chaotic instability, ushering in a new era for Rome. Eutropius's Breviarium, written in the late 4th century, gives a brief overview of these events in a largely matter-of-fact Latin style—not without incorporating some of his own beliefs and opinions.

This reader includes several appendices, including:

• A timeline of the events mentioned by Eutropius
• Some passages from Suetonius, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, and Plutarch, covering the Great Fire of Rome, the assassination of Galba, and the burning of the Capitol by Vitellius's forces
• A story from the Jewish tradition featuring Vespasian
• A portrait of Nero recarved to look like Vespasian
• A comparison of the killings of these emperors to the killings of modern dictators

See the about page for more information about this series based on the IB companion texts.

I am releasing this reader under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, meaning that you are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format with attribution and for non-commercial purposes. Find out more about this license here.

Full version ✅ Facing vocabulary on each page ✅ A glossary of common words found in the passage ✅ Notes on linguistic, literary, historical, and cultural details ✅ Questions for comprehension, literary analysis, and discussion ✅ Appendices for additional reading	Macrons	No Macrons
No-vocab version (recommended for IB*) ❌ Facing vocabulary on each page ❌ A glossary of common words found in the passage ✅ Notes on linguistic, literary, historical, and cultural details ✅ Questions for comprehension, literary analysis, and discussion ✅ Appendices for additional reading	Macrons	No Macrons
No-vocab, no-notes version ❌ Facing vocabulary on each page ❌ A glossary of common words found in the passage ❌ Notes on linguistic, literary, historical, and cultural details ✅ Questions for comprehension, literary analysis, and discussion ✅ Appendices for additional reading	Macrons	No Macrons
Notebook version Contains just the extract, with no vocabulary, notes, questions, or appendices.	Macrons	No Macrons