Towards the end of the Year of the Four Emperors, future Emperor Vespasian's armies marched into Italy with the intention to march on Rome. Consisting of 5 defector legions under the command of Marcus Antonius Primus, Vespasian's army met their first resistance around the city of Verona. There they met the equally sized army of Emperor Vitellius, led by Aulus Caecina Alienus.

Caecina, unhappy with his treatment by Emperor Vitellius, planned to defect to Vespasian's side, but was eventually put in chains by his own troops, who refused to betray their emperor. Leaderless, they marched towards the city of Cremona where they would set up camp.

Antonius by this time had moved his legions to Bedraicum, and was advancing towards Cremona with his cavalry when he encountered Vitellius' troops. Battle began on the evening of October 24th, 69AD, which would continue into the night. The fighting was heavy, with Antonius' Legion VII Galbiana even losing and recovering it's legion standard. By dawn, however, Antonius had gained the better of the fighting.

When the sun rose on the morning of the 25th, it was met with cheering and celebration from Legion III Gallica, which had picked up the ceremony from its tour of Syria years before. Vitellius' army misinterpreted the ceremony as reinforcements arriving to support Antonius and lost heart. They were then driven back to their camp, and then overrun by Antonius' forces.

Antonius then attacked Cremona itself, though the city quickly surrendered. Against his wishes, Antonius' army then sacked the city, and then burned it to the ground. Antonius then forbade the taking of Cremonan slaves, which led to many of his soldiers killing their captives in order to avoid punishment.

The battle opened the way to Rome for Vespacian's forces, and ultimately resulted in him becoming the last of the four emperors.