Deed — 3 authors face each other below

suicide of Otho

kind: suicide · April 69 CE — the editor’s frame · 3 mentions across 3 episodes of the record — counted by the house’s first pass receipt — the deed shelf, first pass receipt — the witness index

The emperor's deliberate death to end the civil war after one defeat.

Where the accounts part — the record’s own argument; the witnesses below carry the receipts

The three accounts run nearly line for line — the drink of cold water, two blades tried, one chosen, the calm night's sleep, the single stroke at dawn — the closest thing the corpus has to a synoptic triple. Where they differ is emphasis: Tacitus' 'two daggers' under the head, Plutarch's sword under the arm and the servants paid, Suetonius' pillow. The agreement is the story: even Otho's enemies kept this scene intact.

The regnal line — the editor’s table of years, never the record’s voice

Anchored at 69 CE on the editor’s table of years .

· 69 CE — date secure ·

16 April 69 CE at Brixellum, two days after Bedriacum.

The accounts, side by side — each witness in its own words; every quote is the served record’s, linked to its episode

Plutarch · one account

15–18 the principal narrative The farewell to friends and servants, and the night before the blade.

He had two swords, and after examining the blade of each for a long time, he laid one of them aside Plut. Otho 17

Otho · Bernadotte Perrin, 1914–1926

Suetonius · one account

10–11 the principal narrative The biographer's hour-by-hour close.

he caught up two daggers, and having tried the point of both of them, put one under his pillow Suet. Otho 11

Otho · J. C. Rolfe, 1913

Tacitus · one account

2.46–2.50 the principal narrative The refusal to spend more lives, the burned letters, the dawn stroke.

Two daggers were brought to him; he tried the edge of each, and then put one under his head. Tac. Hist. 2.49

The Histories · Alfred John Church & William Jackson Brodribb, 1864

Who stands in this deed — standing in the same episodes; counted by the house’s first pass

Otho — 2 episodes shared Vitellius — 1 episode shared

Doors to the sister houses

logoi — the words

No door is cut to the word-house from this room yet. logoi.health keeps the words meanwhile.

mythoi — the stories

No door is cut to the story-house from this room yet. mythoi.health keeps the stories meanwhile.

The record here: The Histories, Herodotus — Godley, 1920–25 · Parallel Lives, Plutarch — Perrin, 1914–26 · 166 works · 12,119 episodes served

lives · deeds · times · the shelf