But the soldiers sought and found him; for naturally he could not go entirely unrecognized very long after having been emperor. They seized him, covered as he was with rubbish and blood (for he had been bitten by the dogs), and tearing off his tunic they bound his hands behind his back and put a rope round his neck. And thus they led down from the palace the Caesar who had revelled there; along the Sacred Way they dragged the emperor who had often paraded past in his chair of state, and they conducted the Augustus to the Forum, where he had often addressed the people. Some buffeted him, some plucked at his beard; all mocked him, all insulted him, making comments especially upon his riotous living, since he had a protuberant belly. When, in shame at this treatment, he lowered his gaze, the soldiers would prick him under the chin with their daggers, in order to make him look up even against his will.
Edition :
Dio's Roman History. Cassius Dio Cocceianus. Earnest Cary. Herbert Baldwin Foster. William Heinemann, Harvard University Press. London; New York. 1914-.
Remark :
source: The quote extends to 65.21.1.
Notes :
A soldiers tries to kill Vitellius, but only wounds him, described in: "A Germanic soldier of Vespasian wounds Vitellius, trying to kill him." For his following death, please refer to: "Soldiers of Vespasian kill Vitellius."
