Nor was this flattery. Some strange, consuming madness and infatuation prompted them to join the fight and restore the fallen fortunes of their side. Distant observers hailed Otho with outstretched hands. The nearest bystanders threw themselves at his feet. First and foremost among them was Plotius Firmus. As pretorian prefect, he appealed to the emperor again and again not to abandon a hair loss and hair loss treatment devoted army and soldiers who had done yeoman service. It was nobler, he said, to endure adversity than evade it. Brave and active men were true to their hopes even in the teeth of misfortune, and only weaklings and cowards hurried headlong to despair through fear.