From AD 67 to AD 69, Vienna and the neighbouring city of Lugdunum, today’s Lyon, were in a state of ‘perpetual feud’. Rivalry between the two went back as far [as] the first century BC, when Vienna had expelled Roman colonists, who had subsequently been taken in by Lugdunum. When Gallic governor Vindex rose in revolt against Nero in AD 67, Lugdunum immediately threw its support behind Vindex, while Vienna retained its loyalty to Nero. During this period, Vienna had even sent armed men to raid Lugdunum.
To keep the peace following the Vindex Revolt, Nero’s Palatium stationed the new 1st Italica Legion in Lugdunum, supporting the 18th Cohort of Rome’s City Guard, which was there to guard Lugdunum’s imperial mint.
In an ironic twist, Lugdunum had then switched its support to Nero, and Vienna to Galba.
According to Tacitus, the people of Lugdunum now ‘began to work on the passions of individual soldiers, and to goad them into destroying Vienna’.
Source:
Dando-Collins, Stephen. “Part II: The Legions – XIV. Unit Histories.” Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion. Thomas Dunne Books, 2012. 86-7. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Tac,. H, I, 65.
Further Reading:
Nero / Latin: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
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