Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Otho, Salvius 1.

by William Smith

M. SALVIUS OTHO, the grandfather of the emperor Otho, was descended from an ancient and noble family of the town of Ferentium, in Etruria. His father was a Roman eques, his mother was of low origin, perhaps even a freedwoman. Through the influence of Livia Augusta, in whose house he had been brought up, Otho was made a Roman senator, and eventually obtained the praetorship, but was not advanced to any higher honour. (Suet. Otho, 1; Tac. Hist. ii, 50.)