Vitellius the Glutton



The Roman Emperor Vitellius (69 A.D.) was best known for his gluttony. His reign was incredibly short-lived as it lasted for little over a year.

He was born Aulus Vitellius, in 15 A.D, to Lucius Vitellius, one of the most succesful public figures of the time, and Sestilia. According to Suetonius, his horoscope was omminus and this terrified his parents, who said they would do their best to keep their son away from public office. However, they did not succeed in their intent.
Young Vitellius spent his early youth in Capri, in the company of Tiberius's homosexual prostitutes and it is said that he got his father a big promotion by being very "nice" to the Emperor. Through flattery, cunning and manipulation, Vitellius managed to work his way up the Imperial ladder and held a variety of positions in public office.

His first wife was a woman called Petroniana, and he had a son with her, who was allegedly born blind in one eye. It is said that Vitellius killed the boy shortly after he was emancipated. Not suprisingly his marriage ended in divorce, pretty quickly.

Vitellius was an extraordinary glutton. He would eat anything in sight and even at altars he would not be able to resist consuming the offerings to the Gods, to the utter amazement of those around him. He once had a banquet in which thousands of birds of various kinds were served. One wonders if this man's stomach was a bottomless pit or not.

In little more than a year, Vitellius was overthrown by the popular general Vespasian. He was practically hunted down like an animal. Having nowhere to go he disguised himself in dirty clothes and hid in the rooms of the Imperial door-keeper. He naively put a matress and couch against the door so nobody could get in. Of course he was found and was dragged half-naked to the Forum, where he was tortured, killed and thrown into the river Tiber.

Comments

Anna said…
Heh heh, yes, he was chubby! I have to say that when I read details of his eating habits in Suetonius I was put off my food. :-)))

If this guy had not been killed I am sure he would have died of either a heart attack or gallbladder.
Tuesday, 03 May, 2005
Anonymous said…
"...he was found and was dragged half-naked to the Forum, where he was tortured, killed and thrown into the river Tiber."

One can only imagine that if torture, death and being thrown in the Thames was a punishment for bad governance today some of our politicians might be a little more accountable than they actually are.
Tuesday, 03 May, 2005
Anonymous said…
Wasn't Vitellius the arsehole who said that there was no smell sweeter than that of a dead fellow citizen? Or was that Otho?

It was an odd year that one; 4 emperors in quick succession. I'd feel sorry for Galba were it not for his total ineptitude. But Otho and Vitellius...well, the former was a better man than the latter, but not by much...
Tuesday, 03 May, 2005
Anonymous said…
If you're going to leap across that dark divide, why not advocate the general use of violence against those who use unfair power against the rest of us? By which I mean, why not have Digby Jones of the CBI swinging gently to and fro from a lamp post? And that idiot 'Dr' Gillian McKeith? I'd say a few 'demonstrations' of this kind would give the rest of them a profound lesson.
Tuesday, 03 May, 2005
Anonymous said…
Well a policy of "decimation" against the metropolitan police every time they killed someone in police custody, would probably prevent it happening again to many times.
Wednesday, 04 May, 2005
Anonymous said…
If we're going to decimate ANY organisation, I insist that we start with Jehovahs Witnesses.
Wednesday, 04 May, 2005
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