attacked Cremona itself, which surrendered. Cremona was sacked and then burned by the victorious troops over the course of four days; many residents were raped, murdered and/or robbed. Antonius was embarrassed by the episode and forbade the keeping of Cremonans as slaves, resulting in many being murdered by their captors to evade punishment. Antonius continued to Rome, where Vitellius was taken prisoner and shortly afterwards killed. The way was thus cleared for Vespasian to ascend the throne near the end of this bloody year of crisis. References Other sources The Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present. (2nd Revised Edition 1986), R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. pp. 127–128 P.A.L. Greenhalgh The Year of the Four Emperors (Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1975) Michael Grant The Twelve Caesars (Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1975) Bedriacum Bedriacum 69 Year of the Four Emperors Bedriacum 60s conflicts