[4] At a subsequent council of war held in July at Berytus, it was agreed that Vespasian should stay behind to settle affairs in the East, while Mucianus marched on Italy with an army consisting of Legio VI Ferrata and vexillationes of 2,600 drawn from each of the other five legions in Syria and Judea.
Mucianus expected to supplement this relatively small force, first from the legions stationed in the Balkans, then from dissident former praetorians who had supported Otho, before confronting the army which Vitellius had sent into northern Italy.
Primus' large-scale removal of troops left Moesia vulnerable, and Mucianus was obliged to defend the province from an invading army of Dacians.
Yet by a subtle gift for intrigue he exercised great influence on his subordinates, associates and colleagues, and was the sort of man who found it more congenial to make an emperor than to be one.
"A clever writer and historian, Mucianus collected the speeches and letters of Romans of the older republican period, probably including a corpus of proceedings of the Senate[1] (res gesta senatus).