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Titus Flavius Domitianus (A.D. 81-96)

John Donahue

College of William and Mary

Abb.: http://www.roman-emperors.org/domitian.jpg

Early Career

Domitian was born in Rome on 24 October A.D. 51, the youngest son of Vespasian, Roman emperor (A.D. 69-79) and Domitilla I, a treasury clerk’s daughter.[[1]] Despite a literary tradition that associated Domitian with Flavian poverty, the family’s status remained high throughout his early years: Vespasian was appointed to the prestigious proconsulship of North Africa in A.D. 59, and seven years later was granted a special command in the East by the emperor Nero (A.D. 54-69) to settle a revolt in Judaea; Titus, Domitian’s older brother by at least ten years and Vespasian’s eventual successor as emperor, had married well in the 60’s and was chosen as a legionary legate under Vespasian in the East.[[2]]Unlike Titus, Domitian was not educated at the emperor’s court, yet he received sound training in Rome in the same way as any member of the senatorial elite of his day. The imperial biographer Suetonius records that Domitian gave public recitals of his works, conversed elegantly, and produced memorable comments; as emperor, he would write and publish a book on baldness.[[3]] Domitian’s adolescence was also marked by isolation. His mother had long been dead, he was considerably younger than his brother, and his father was away for much of his teenage years, first in Africa and then in Judaea.[[4]] An obvious outcome of all of this was his preference for solitude, a trait that would contribute significantly to his difficulties with various constituents as emperor.[[5]]

Little is known about Domitian in the turbulent 18 months of the three emperors, but in the aftermath of the downfall of Vitellius in A.D. 69 he presented himself to the invading Flavian forces, was hailed as Caesar, and moved into the imperial residence.[[6]] Guided by Gaius Licinius Mucianus, Vespasian’s chief advisor, Domitian represented the family in the senate and suggested that other issues be postponed until Vespasian’s arrival from the East. Eager for military glory himself, Domitian soon led reinforcements to Germany, where the Batavian auxiliaries of the Rhine legions had revolted. The uprising failed before he could arrive, however, and the literary accounts of his achievements are not to be trusted.[[7]] It was also during this period, perhaps in late A.D. 70, that he married Domitia Longina, daughter of the highly regarded general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, whom Nero had forced to commit suicide in A.D. 66. For all appearances, it was an excellent choice. The name of Corbulo was synonymous with military achievement, and the general had left behind a substantial clientela. Even so, the marriage was troubled. An only child died young, and Domitia was probably exiled by her husband c. A.D 83. Later, she would be recalled to the palace, where she lived with Domitian until his death.[[8]]

Domitian’s role in the 70’s was determined largely by Vespasian’s choice of Titus as his successor. To him fell a series of ordinary consulships, the tribunician power, the censorship, and the praetorian prefecture. Domitian, on the other hand, was named six times to the less prestigious suffect consulship, retained the title of Caesar, and held various priesthoods. He was given responsibility, but no real power. Nothing changed when Titus acceded to the throne, as Domitian received neither tribunician power nor imperium of any kind. The brothers were never to become close, and as Titus lay dying in September 81, Domitian hastened to the praetorian camp, where he was hailed as emperor. On news of Titus‘ death, the senate chose first to honor the dead emperor before elevating his brother, an early indication perhaps of Domitian’s future troubles with the aristocracy. At any rate, after waiting an extra day, Domitian received imperium, the title Augustus, and tribunician power along with the office of pontifex maximus and the title pater patriae, father of his country.[[9]]

Administration

As emperor, Domitian was to become one of Rome’s foremost micromanagers, especially concerning the economy. Shortly after taking office, he raised the silver content of the denarius by about 12% (to the earlier level of Augustus), only to devaluate it in A.D. 85, when the imperial income must have proved insufficient to meet military and public expenses.[[10]] Confiscations and the rigorous collection of taxes soon became necessary. On another front, he sought to promote grain production by calling for empire-wide limitations on viticulture, but the edict met with immediate opposition and was never implemented.[[11]] On the other hand, there were notable successes. The great fire of A.D. 64, the civil wars of A.D 68-69, and another devastating fire in A.D. 80 had left Rome badly in need of repair. Domitian responded by erecting, restoring, or completing some 50 structures, including the restored Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol and a magnificent palace on the Palatine. The building program, ambitious and spectacular, was matched by hardly any other emperor.[[12]] He was also able to maintain the debased currency standard of A.D. 85, which was still higher than the Vespasianic one, until the end of his reign. The economy, therefore, offered a ready outlet for Domitian’s autocratic tendencies. There were failures, but he also left the treasury with a surplus, perhaps the best proof of a financially sound administration.Domitian’s reach extended well beyond the economy. Late in A.D. 85 he made himself censor perpetuus, censor for life, with a general supervision of conduct and morals. The move was without precedent and, although largely symbolic, it nevertheless revealed Domitian’s obsessive interest in all aspects of Roman life. An ardent supporter of traditional Roman religion, he also closely identified himself with Minerva and Jupiter, publicly linking the latter divinity to his regime through the Ludi Capitolini, the Capitoline Games, begun in A.D.86. Held every four years in the early summer, the Games consisted of chariot races, athletics and gymnastics, and music, oratory and poetry. Contestants came from many nations, and no expense was spared; the emperor himself awarded the prizes.[[13]] In the same manner, Domitian offered frequent and elaborate public shows, always with an emphasis on the innovative: gladiator contests held at night; female combatants and dwarves; food showered down upon the public from ropes stretched across the top of the Amphitheater.[[14]] Thus did the emperor seek to underscore not only Rome’s importance but also his own and that of the Flavian regime.

Beyond Rome, Domitian taxed provincials rigorously and was not afraid to impose his will on officials of every rank. Consistent with his concern for the details of administration, he also made essential changes in the organization of several provinces and established the office of curator to investigate financial mismanagement in the cities. Other evidence points to a concern with civic improvements of all kinds, from road building in Asia Minor, Sardinia and near the Danube to building and defensive improvements in North Africa.[[15]] Less easy to gauge is Domitian’s attitude toward Christians and Jews, since reliable evidence for their persecution is difficult to find. Christians may have been among those banished or executed from time to time during the 90’s, but the testimony falls short of confirming any organized program of persecution under Domitian’s reign. On the other hand, there is clear evidence that Jews were made to feel uneasy under Domitian, who scrupulously collected the Jewish tax and harassed Jewish tax dodgers during much of his rule. As with Christians, such policies did not amount to persecution, but it does help to explain the Jewish fears of expulsion present in the sources.[[16]] On balance, the tradition of Domitian as persecutor has been greatly overstated, yet given his autocratic tendencies and devotion to Roman pagan religion, it is easy to see how such stories could have evolved and multiplied.

Military Affairs

While the military abilities of Vespasian and Titus were genuine, those of Domitian were not. Partly as an attempt to remedy this deficiency, Domitian frequently became involved in his own military exploits outside of Rome. He claimed a triumph in A.D. 83 for subduing the Chatti in Gaul, but the conquest was illusory. Final victory did not really come until A.D. 89. In Britain, similar propaganda masked the withdrawal of Roman forces from the northern borders to positions farther south, a clear sign of Domitian’s rejection of expansionist warfare in the province.[[17]] The greatest threat, however, remained on the Danube. The emperor visited Moesia in A.D. 85 after Oppius Sabinus, the Moesian governor, had been killed by invading Dacians. In the First Dacian War, initial success against the aggressors by Domitian’s praetorian prefect, Cornelius Fuscus, allowed the emperor to celebrate his second triumph at Rome in A.D. 86. Fuscus was subsequently killed trying to avenge Sabinus‘ death, however, and Domitian soon returned to the Danube, where Roman forces, under the newly appointed governor of Upper Moesia, Tettius Julianus, defeated the Dacians at Tapae in the Second Dacian War, most likely in A.D. 88. Matters remained far from settled. In January, A.D. 89, the governor of Upper Germany, L. Antonius Saturninus, mutinied at Mainz. The revolt was promptly suppressed and the rebel leaders brutally punished. Later that same year, Domitian attacked the Suebian Marcomanni and Quadi in the First Pannonian War, while offering the Dacian king Decebalus a settlement to avoid conflicts on two fronts. Compelled to return to the Danube three years later, Domitian fought the combined forces of the Suebi and the Sarmatians in the Second Pannonian War. Few other details are available beyond the fact that a Roman legion was destroyed in a campaign that lasted about eight months. By January, A.D. 93, Domitian was back in Rome, not to accept a full triumph but the lesser ovatio, a sign perhaps of unfinished business along the Danube. In fact, during the final years of Domitian’s reign, the buildup of forces on the middle Danube and the appointment and transfer of key senior officials suggest that a third Pannonian campaign directed against the Suebi and Sarmatians may have been underway. Even so, there is no testimony of actual conflicts and the evidence does not extend beyond A.D. 97.[[18]]

The Emperor’s Court and His Relationship with the Aristocracy

Domitian’s autocratic tendencies meant that the real seat of power during his reign resided with his court. The features typically associated with later courts – a small band of favored courtiers, a keen interest in the bizarre and the unusual (e.g., wrestlers, jesters, and dwarves), and a highly mannered, if somewhat artificial atmosphere, characterized Domitian’s palace too, whether at Rome or at his Alban villa, some 20 kilometers outside of the capital.[[19]] Courtiers included family members and freedmen, as well as friends (amici), a group of politicians, generals, and praetorian prefects who offered input on important matters.[[20]] Reliance upon amici was not new, yet the arrangement underscored Domitian’s mistrust of the aristocracy, most notably the senate, whose role suffered as Domitian deliberately concentrated power in the hands of few senators while expanding the duties of the equestrian class. Senatorial grievances were not without basis: at least 11 senators of consular rank were executed and many others exiled, ample attestation of the emperor’s contempt for the body and its membership.[[21]] The senate’s enthusiastic support for the damning of Domitian’s memory, therefore, came as no surprise. Nevertheless, the situation must be placed in its proper context. By comparison, the emperor Claudius(A.D. 41-54) executed 35 senators and upwards of 300 equestrians, yet he was still deified by the senate![[22]] Domitian’s mistake was that he made no attempt to mask his feelings about the senate. Inclined neither by nature nor by conviction to include the body in his emperorship, he treated the group no differently than any other. Revenge would come in the form of an aristocratically based literary tradition that would miss no opportunity to vilify thoroughly both emperor and his rule.

Death and Assessment

On 18 September, A.D. 96, Domitian was assassinated and was succeeded on the very same day by M. Cocceius Nerva, a senator and one of his amici. The sources are unanimous in stressing that this was a palace plot, yet it is difficult to determine the level of culpability among the various potential conspirators.[[23]]In many ways, Domitian is still a mystery – a lazy and licentious ruler by some accounts, an ambitious administrator and keeper of traditional Roman religion by others.[[24]] As many of his economic, provincial, and military policies reveal, he was efficient and practical in much that he undertook, yet he also did nothing to hide the harsher despotic realities of his rule. This fact, combined with his solitary personality and frequent absences from Rome, guaranteed a harsh portrayal of his rule. The ultimate truths of his reign remain difficult to know.

Bibliography

The bibliography on Domitian is too vast for thorough treatment here. The works listed below are either main accounts of the emperor or pertain directly to issues raised in the entry above. For a comprehensive listing of sources, see Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 238-255.Anderson, J.C.“Domitian’s Building Program. Forum Julium and Markets of Trajan.“ ArchN 10 (1981):41-48.

Atti congresso internazionale di studi Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.

Breeze, D. J. The Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain. London, 1982.

Carradice, I.A. „Coinage and Finances in the Reign of Domitian, AD 81-96“, BAR International Series, 178, Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1983.

Coleman, K. M. „The Emperor Domitian and Literature.“ ANRW II.32.5: 3087-3115.

Friedländer, L. Roman Life and Manners under the Early Empire (trans. of Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms in der Zeit von August bis zum Ausgang der Antonine, 7th ed. by L. A. Magnus), London, 1968.

Garnsey, P. and Saller, R. The Early Principate: Augustus to Trajan,[Greece and Rome New Surveys in the Classics No. 15], Oxford, 1982.

Girard, J-L. „Domitien et Minerve: une prédilection impériale.“ ANRW II.17.1: 233-245.

Griffith, J. G. „Juvenal, Statius and the Flavian Establishment.“ Greece and Rome 16 (1969): 134-150.

Heintz, Florent. „A Domitianic Fleet Diploma.“ ZPE 120 (1998): 250-252.

Jones, B. W. The Emperor Domitian. London, 1992.

Levi, M.A. „I Flavi.“ ANRW II.2: 177-207.

Levick, B. M. „Domitian and the Provinces.“ Latomus 41 (1982): 50-7.

Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. Continuity and Change in Roman Religion. Oxford, 1979.

McGinn, Thomas A. J. „Feminae Probosae and the Litter“ CJ 93 (1998): 241-250.

McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A. G. Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors, Including the Years of Revolution, AD 68-96. Cambridge, 1966.

Millar, F. The Emperor in the Roman Word. Ithaca, 1992.

Platner, M. and Ashby, T. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford, 1929.

Southern, Pat. Domitian: Tragic Tyrant. Indiana University Press, 1997.

Syme, R. Tacitus. Oxford, 1958.

________. „Domitian, the Last Years.“ Chiron 13 (1983): 121-146.

________. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford, 1986.

Talbert, R. J. A. The Senate of Imperial Rome. Princeton, 1984.

Vinson, M. „Domitia Longina, Julia Titi, and the Literary Tradition.“ Historia 38 (1989): 431-450.

Wallace-Hadrill, A. Suetonius: The Scholar and His Caesars. London, 1983.

Waters, K. H. „The Character of Domitian.“ Phoenix 18 (1964): 49-77.

Notes

[[1]] Ancient sources: Tac. Agr.; Cass. Dio 67; Plin. Pan.; Statius, Silv.; McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A.G. Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors (Cambridge, 1966).[[2]] Compare, however, Suetonius‘ claim at Dom.1: „He is said to have spent a poverty-stricken and rather degraded youth: without even any silver on the table.“ The passage is typical of the hostility directed toward Domitian in the literary sources.

[[3]] Suet. Dom. 18, 20; in praise of his literary talents, see also: Plin. NH Praef 5; Statius, Achil. 1.15; Silius Italicus, Pun.3.621. But there were just as many hostile accounts of his literary prowess: Tac. Hist. 4.86; Suet. Dom. 2.2. Since none of this evidence survives, there is no way to judge the validity of these conflicting assessments. That the controversy even exists, however, helps to confirm that Domitian was well educated.

[[4]] Domitian was likely left in the care of his uncle, Sabinus II. See Tac. Hist. 3.75. Whether he resided in Rome with his uncle during this period is less clear.

[[5]] Domitian’s preference for solitude finds particularly cruel expression in Suetonius, who portrays him as spending hours alone every day catching flies and stabbing them with a needle-sharp pen while emperor. See Dom.3. Dio (66.9.5) also cites Domitian’s predilection for his own company.

[[6]] Tac. Hist. 4.86; 4.2.

[[7]] Poetic embellishment of Domitian’s military achievements: Statius, Theb. 1.21; Martial, 9.101.13; 9.10.15-16; Jos. BJ 7.85; Silius Italicus, Pun.3.608.

[[8]] Long after Domitian’s memory had been damned, Domitia still referred to herself as the emperor’s wife, perhaps an indication that she maintained at least some degree of affection for her husband. The evidence is preserved on brick stamps datable to A.D. 123; CIL 15.548a-9d.

[[9]] On honoring of Titus: Suet. Tit. 11.

[[10]] On the raising of the currency standard: Walker, D.R. , „The Metrology of the Roman Silver Coinage. Part I; From Augustus to Domitian,“ BAR Supplementary Series 5, Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 120, 115; Carradice, I.A. „Coinage and Finances in the Reign of Domitian, AD 81-96,“ BAR International Series 178, Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 9-56.

[[11]] Suet. Dom. 7.2; 14.2.

[[12]] For an excellent discussion of Domitian’s building program, see Jones, B. W. The Emperor Domitian London, 1992, 79-98.

[[13]] Capitoline Games: Censorinus, De Die Natali 18.5. In A.D. 93, Domitian also established the Ludi Saeculares (Secular Games), a celebration under the supervision of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, an aristocratic priestly college. See Suet. Dom. 4.3; Stat. Silv. 1.4.17; 4.1.37; Martial, 4.1.7; 10.63.3.

[[14]] Night time shows and unusual combatants: Dio 67.8.4; Amphitheater celebration: Stat. Silv. 1.6.75-78.

[[15]] On improvements in the different provinces: Garzetti, A. From Tiberius to the Antonines: A History of the Roman Empire, 14-192 (London, 1974),278, 652; Leglay, M. „Les Flaviens et l’Afrique,“ MEFR 80 (1968):221-22, 230-232.

[[16]] For a careful and balanced treatment of difficult evidence: Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 114-119.

[[17]] That the Chatti were not subdued in A.D. 83 is revealed by their role in Saturninus‘ revolt (Suet. Dom. 6.2) and by their interference with the Cherusci (Dio 67.5.1). On the Roman withdrawal to the south in Britain, see Hobley, A.S. „The Numismatic Evidence for the Post-Agricolan Abandonment of the Roman Frontier in Northern Scotland,“ Britannia 20 (1989): 69-74. Numismatic evidence (ibid., 73) indicates that the arch at Richborough was erected at this same time. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that the monument served to mask the Roman retreat.

[[18]] The presence of five Roman legions in Pannonia, for example, is unusual and points to genuine Roman concern with the region. See Dusanic, S. and Vasic, M. R. „An Upper Moesian Diploma of AD 96,“ Chiron 7 (1977): 291-304; Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 153-155.

[[19]] Domitian did not hesitate to conduct a variety of imperial duties outside of the domus Flavia in Rome. For some of his activities at Alba: Plin. Ep. 4.11.6; Suet. Dom 4.4; Dio 67.1.2; Juv. 4.99. Tacitus (Agr. 45) and Juvenal (4.145) refer to it as the arx Albana, „the Alban fortress,“ implying the residence of a despot.

[[20]] On the emperor’s amici, Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 50-71.

[[21]] On the execution of ex-consuls: Suet. Dom.10 and Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 182-188; exiles: ibid., 188-192.

[[22]] Claudius and executions: Suet. Claud. 29.2; Apocol. 13.

[[23]] For a collection of the ancient sources stressing a palace plot: Gephardt, R. F. C. „C. Suetonii Tranquilli Vita Domitiani: Suetonius‘ Life of Domitian with Notes and Parallel Passages,“ dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1922, 89. For the most complete account: Suet. Dom. 14.

[[24]] Domitian as lazy and lustful: Suet. Dom. 19; 22.

Copyright (C) 1997, John Donahue. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact.
Comments to: John Donahue

Updated: 10 October 1997

Unveränd. Zweitpubl. v. John Donahue: Titus Flavius Domitianus (A.D. 81-96), in: De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers [10.10.1997], http://www.roman-emperors.org/domitian.htm

DE IMPERATORIBUS ROMANIS

An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers

DIR Atlas

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 79-81)

John Donahue

College of William and Mary

Abb.: http://www.roman-emperors.org/titus.gif

Early Life

Titus was born on 30 December A.D. 39 in Rome, one of three children of Vespasian, Roman emperor (A.D. 69-79), and Domitilla I, daughter of a treasury clerk. .[[1]] The family’s circumstances were modest, but began to improve during the emperorship of Claudius (A.D. 41-54), under whom Vespasian advanced rapidly. His ascent likely played a role in securing the honor of a court education for Titus, who studied with the emperor’s own son, Britannicus. The two remained close friends until Britannicus‘ death in A.D. 55 under Nero. In affection for his boyhood mate, Titus later preserved his memory by setting up golden statues of him in the palace and by routinely accompanying another statue in processions in the Circus. .[[2]] The intellectual advantages of a palace education, with its emphasis on Greek and Latin literature and declamation, and of a father who had attained the rank of consul, placed Titus firmly upon the path of a young senator. His early posts remain obscure but, perhaps as early as A.D. 61, he served as a military tribune in Upper Germany and Britain, the same provinces in which his father had served as a legionary legate..[[3]] While in Britain, Titus is said to have saved Vespasian’s life; another source records numerous busts and statues in Britain and Germany commemorating his achievements. The accounts lack historical basis but are typical of the fondness of later historians for exaggerating Titus‘ qualities and achievements.. [[4]]Returning to Rome in the early months of A.D. 64, Titus practiced law, most likely with the intention of advancing his own reputation. Little is known of his political career after his return from Britain. In all likelihood, he advanced through the offices typically held by a young senator. It was during this year that he married Arrecina Tertulla. Her background remains obscure, and not long after the marriage, Arrecina died. Soon thereafter, Titus married Marcia Furnilla. The marriage represented a notable success for the Flavians, as Marcia was of a noble family, the granddaughter of a former proconsul of Africa. Suspicions of political intrigue were ever present in first-century Rome, however, and when Marcia’s family fell into disfavor with Nero, the brief marriage ended in divorce. The sources agree that a daughter, Julia, was born, yet it is not clear whether she belonged to Titus‘ first or second marriage. At any rate, Julia’s subsequent life was miserable; she is said to have died in her mid-twenties of an abortion forced upon her by Titus‘ brother and successor, Domitian, in the late eighties A.D.[[5]]

Judaean Campaigns

In A.D. 66 Nero granted to Vespasian a special command in the East with the task of settling the revolt in Judaea. The immediate cause of the war was rioting in Cesaraea and Jerusalem, leading to the slaughter in the latter city of Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers. In response to the crisis, the emperor placed the seven legions in Syria under Vespasian‘ s authority and named Titus as legate of the 15th legion of Apollo, the legio XV Apollinaris. The appointment was unusual, for Titus had not yet held the praetorship, a judicial post normally held by a senator before he became a legionary commander. At the very least, both appointments reflected Nero’s confidence in father and son.It is difficult to assess Titus‘ role in the campaigns of A.D. 67-68. The main source, the Jewish Wars by Josephus, a Jew with strong Roman sympathies, consistently portrays him in highly favorable terms. Titus did figure prominently in the subjugation of at least five rebel centers during this period, but he never wholly subdued any town that had its own defenses. When stripped of Josephus‘ enhancements, therefore, Titus‘ accomplishments seem more modest.[[6]] Nevertheless, he capably performed the tasks assigned to him and, in the process, projected the image of a daring and successful military leader. While not entirely accurate, the portrait is not completely surprising either, for as the son of the supreme commander Titus would have enjoyed more attention than was typically accorded an ordinary quaestorian legionary legate.

With the death of Nero in A.D. 68, the Flavians methodically plotted toward the imperial throne. Little is heard of Titus during this critical period. He likely helped to consolidate support for the Flavians in the East by negotiating with the likes of Gaius Licinius Mucianus, governor of Syria. Even so, it was Vespasian who remained in charge. By mid-July, A.D. 69, legions in Judaea, Egypt, and Syria had declared for him. The Danubian legions soon followed, and on 21 December, the day after the emperor Vitellius‘ death, the senate conferred all the usual powers on Vespasian. Following these events, Titus remained in the East to undertake the siege of Jerusalem, the exploit for which he is most remembered. Beset by violent factional strife and internal discord, Jerusalem was a stubborn obstacle to the Roman pacification of Judaea. Built on two hills and surrounded by walls, the city’s fortifications were formidable. With four legions under his command, Titus began an assault on the city in spring, A.D. 70. In less than four weeks, his forces had breached the walls of the so-called New City, or suburb of Bezetha. Only the inner city and the Temple itself remained to be taken. A siege wall was quickly built around the city, and the circumvallation had the desired effect of increasing starvation. By August, the outer Temple court had been reached and, in the ensuing attack, the Temple was burned to the ground and all captives butchered. Titus was hailed as imperator by his troops. In a final desecration to the Temple, sacrifice was made to the Roman standards in the Temple court.[[7]]

Titus‘ use of defense walls, towers, catapults, and battering rams in overtaking the city – all traditional Roman military tactics – demonstrated that he was a capable, but not an innovative, military leader. In addition, he had sometimes displayed a reckless intervention, especially in the early stages of the siege. .[[8]] These flaws owed more to inexperience than to military incompetence, however, and as a counter-balance Titus displayed remarkable energy in the field and the ability to inspire deep loyalty in his troops. As a result, Jerusalem was efficiently, if not brutally, overcome and the campaign in Judaea was effectively won. Titus spent the winter of A.D. 70 touring the East with a splendid retinue of legionaries and prisoners, presumably to provide a public display of Flavian military prowess and to underscore the consequences of rebellion against his father by the punishments inflicted on Jewish prisoners. Here he revealed a sympathy for brutality and humiliation, most evident in the way in which Jews were thrown to wild beasts or forced to fight each other in shows for public enjoyment. Indiscretion also played a part in his activities, particularly in his dalliance with Berenice, the thrice-married sister of M. Julius Agrippa II, an Eastern monarch with a strong allegiance to Rome. Powerful, wealthy, and experienced in Eastern affairs, Berenice was a formidable match for Titus. Yet, as Cleopatra’s relationship with Mark Antony had earlier shown, involvement with an Eastern queen represented a threat to Roman stability that could not be tolerated. Marriage remained an impossibility. Even so, Berenice visited Rome in A.D. 75 with her brother and openly lived with Titus for a time, although he dismissed her, with mutual regret, upon his accession to the throne.. [[9]]

Role Under Vespasian

Titus returned to Rome in June, A.D. 71 and participated in a lavish joint triumph with Vespasian to celebrate the Judaean campaign. The joint celebration was deliberate, as Vespasian wished to waste no time in establishing an heir-apparent to the throne. Consequently, Titus shared in virtually every honor with the emperor during the seventies A.D., including the tribunician power, seven joint-consulships, and a share of the office of censor. In A.D. 72, Titus was also appointed praetorian prefect with responsibility for the army at Rome, a particularly important post since military loyalty was indispensable to the success of the new regime. It seems clear that not only did Vespasian need a trusted colleague in this post but also one who would do his dirty work. Tradition records that Titus was skilled as a forger. We also learn that he was „somewhat arrogant and tyrannical“ in that he tried suspicious characters in the theater and camp „by popular pressure and not by trial.“. [[10]] A certain amount of bad press was to be expected for the regime’s enforcer, but only a single instance of justice of this kind survives, making any further evaluation of Titus‘ role difficult.[[11]] On the other hand, Titus was also portrayed during these years as a capable and diligent administrator who attended senate meetings, requested advice, and generally mixed well with all parties. At the same time, the sources offer no indication that he was ever considered a „co-ruler‘ with Vespasian, and it was only upon the latter’s death on 24 June, A.D. 79 that Titus assumed full imperial powers.

Titus‘ Reign

Before becoming emperor, tradition records that Titus was feared as the next Nero, a perception that may have developed from his association with Berenice, his alleged heavy-handedness as praetorian prefect, and tales of sexual debauchery.. [[12]] Once in office, however, both emperor and his reign were portrayed in universally positive terms. The suddenness of this transformation raises immediate suspicions, yet it is difficult to know whether the historical tradition is suspect or if Titus was in fact adept at taking off one mask for another. What is clear, however, is that Titus sought to present the Flavians as the legitimate successors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Proof came through the issuing of a series of restoration coins of previous emperors, the most popular being Augustus and Claudius. In A.D. 80 Titus also set out to establish an imperial cult in honor of Vespasian. The temple, in which cult (the first that was not connected with the Julio-Claudians) was housed, was completed by Domitian and was known as the Temple of Vespasian and Domitian.Legitimacy was also sought through various economic measures, which Titus enthusiastically funded. Vast amounts of capital poured into extensive building schemes in Rome, especially the Flavian Amphitheater, popularly known as the Colosseum. In celebration of additions made to the structure, Titus provided a grand 100-day festival, with sea fights staged on an artificial lake, infantry battles, wild beast hunts, and similar activities. He also constructed new imperial baths to the south-east of the Amphitheater and began work on the celebrated Arch of Titus, a memorial to his Jewish victories.. [[13]] Large sums were directed to Italy and the provinces as well, especially for road building. In response to the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, Titus spent large sums to relieve distress in that area; likewise, the imperial purse contributed heavily to rebuilding Rome after a devastating fire destroyed large sections of the city in A.D. 80. As a result of these actions, Titus earned a reputation for generosity and geniality. Even so, his financial acumen must not be under-estimated. He left the treasury with a surplus, as he had found it, and dealt promptly and efficiently with costly natural disasters. The Greek historian of the third-century A.D., Cassius Dio, perhaps offered the most accurate and succinct assessment of Titus‘ economic policy: „In money matters, Titus was frugal and made no unnecessary expenditure.“. [[14]] In other areas, the brevity of Titus‘ reign limits our ability to detect major emphases or trends in policy. As far as can be discerned from the limited evidence, senior officials and amici were well chosen, and his legislative activity tended to focus on popular social measures, with the army as a particular beneficiary in the areas of land ownership, marriage, and testamentary freedom. In the provinces, Titus continued his father’s policies by strengthening roads and forts in the East and along the Danube.

Death and Assessment

Titus died in September, A.D. 81 after only 26 months in office. Suetonius recorded that Titus died on his way to the Sabine country of his ancestors in the same villa as his father.. [[15]] A competing tradition persistently implicated his brother and successor, Domitian, as having had a hand in the emperor’s demise, but the evidence is highly contradictory and any wrongdoing is difficult to prove..[[16]]Domitian himself delivered the funeral eulogy and had Titus deified. He also built several monuments in honor of Titus and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, changing the name of the structure to include his brother’s and setting up his cult statue in the Temple itself.Titus was the beneficiary of considerable intelligence and talent, endowments that were carefully cultivated at every step of his career, from his early education to his role under his father’s principate. Cassius Dio suggested that Titus‘ reputation was enhanced by his early death. [[17]] It is true that the ancient sources tend to heroicize Titus, yet based upon the evidence, his reign must be considered a positive one. He capably continued the work of his father in establishing the Flavian dynasty and he maintained a high degree of economic and administrative competence in Italy and beyond. In so doing, he solidified the role of the emperor as paternalistic autocrat, a model that would serve Trajan and his successors well.

Bibliography

The bibliography on Titus is far more comprehensive than can be reasonably treated here. As a result, the works listed below are either main treatments of Titus or have direct bearing on the issues discussed in the entry above. A more complete listing of bibliographical sources can be found in Jones (1984), 181-205.Atti congresso internazionale di studi Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.

Bastomsky, S.J. „The Death of the Emperor Titus: A Tentative Suggestion.“ Apeiron 1 (1967): 22-23.

Bengston, H. Die Flavier. Vespasian, Titus und Domitian. Geschichte eines römischen Kaiserhauses. Munich, 1979.

Bosworth, A. B. „Vespasian and the Provinces: Some Problems of the Early 70’s A.D.“ Athenaeum 51 (1973): 49-78.

Bradley, K. R. Suetonius‘ Life of Nero: An Historical Commentary. Brussels, Collection Latomus no. 157, 1978.

Buttrey, T. V. Documentary Evidence for the Chronology of the Flavian Titulature. Meisenheim, Beitrage zur Klassischen Philologie 112, 1980.

Crook, J. „Titus and Berenice.“ AJPh 72 (1951): 162-175.

D’Espèrey, S. Franchet. „Vespasien, Titus et la littérature.“ ANRW II.32.5: 3048-3086.

Gilliam, J. F. „Titus in Julian’s Caesares.“ AJPh 88 (1967): 203-208.

Grant, M. The Roman Emperors. A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Rome 31 B.C. – A.D. 476 (New York, 1985), 55-59.

Jones, B. W. „Titus and Some Flavian Amici.“ Historia 24 (1975): 453-462.

________. The Emperor Titus. London, 1984.

________. „The Reckless Titus.“ In Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History 6 (1992): 408-420.

________. The Emperor Domitian. London, 1992.

Levi, M.A. „I Flavi.“ ANRW II.2: 177-207.

McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A.G. Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors Including the Year of Revolution. Cambridge, 1966.

Morford, M. P. O. „The Training of Three Roman Emperors.“ Phoenix 22 (1968): 57-72.

Richardson, L. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 1992.

Rogers, P. M. „Titus, Berenice and Mucianus.“ Historia 29 (1980): 86-95.

Scarre, C. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. The Reign-by Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. London, 1995.

Yavetz, Z. „Reflections on Titus and Josephus.“ GRBS 16 (1975): 411-432.

Notes

[[1]] The main ancient sources for Titus‘ life are: Suet. Tit.; Dio 66.17-26; Jos. BJ. On his birthdate, see Philocalus in CIL I, p. 356; for December 28: PIR² F 399. Suetonius assigns the date to the year of Gaius‘ assassination (24 Jan. A.D. 41), but later contradicts himself at Tit. 11. Dio is more accurate, recording that Titus was 39 years, five months and 25 days on his accession (24 June A.D. 79).[[2]] Suet. Tit. 2, where it is also recorded that Titus was present at the poisoning of Britannicus and tasted the cup in affection for his friend. On the poisoning of Britannicus, see also Suet. Nero 33.2-3; Tac. Ann. 13.15-17; Dio 61.7.4; Jos. AJ 20.153; Eutropius 7.14.3; Herodian Hist. 4.5-6.

[[3]] The date of the military tribunate is difficult to establish, but Jones argues sensibly for A.D. 61: The Emperor Titus (London, 1984), 14-16.

[[4]] On the saving of Vespasian’s life: Dio 61.30.1; busts and statues: Suet. Tit. 4.1.

[[5]] The account of Titus‘ offspring is confusing. Suet. Tit. 4.2 says that Titus divorced Marcia „after she had borne a daughter.“ Yet the girl is not named, and Philostratus (Vit. Apoll. 7.7) contends that Titus had more than one daughter. It has also been argued that Arrecina Tertulla, Titus‘ first wife, was Julia’s mother. See H. Castritius, „Zu den Frauen der Flavier,“ Historia 18 (1969): 492-502. On the death of Julia: Suet. Dom. 22.

[[6]]Jos. BJ 3-4. For a useful listing of the sieges of A.D. 67 and 68 and Titus‘ role in them see Jones, The Emperor Titus, 41-42.

[[7]] Titus is cited by almost every ancient author who discusses him or the city: Jos. BJ passim; Hist 5.1; Dio 66.7; Aurelius Victor De. Caes. 11.11; Orosius 7.9; Eutropius 7.21. On the siege of the city itself, Josephus is the only surviving substantial surviving account. See BJ 5-6.

[[8]] For instances of rash behavior: Jos. BJ 5.88, 332-339.

[[9]] On the brutality to prisoners at public shows: Jos. BJ 7.23, 36, 39-40. On Berenice, a useful account appears at Acts 25, in which Paul meets the two Jewish royals. Josephus frequently mentions her wealth (BJ 2.426), her men and arms (BJ 2.312), and her relationship with her brother Agrippa (BJ 2.310), but he avoids mentioning her in relationship to Titus.

[[10]] As praetorian prefect: Suet. Tit. 6; on forgery: ibid., Tit. 3.

[[11]] The single piece of evidence concerns Aulus Caecina, an ex-consul, whom Titus ordered stabbed at an imperial dinner on the suspicion of treason. See Suet. Tit. 6.

[[12]] On the praetorian prefecture, see notes 10, 11 above; on Berenice, note 9 above; on Titus‘ sexual profligacy: Suet. Tit. 7.

[[13]] Flavian Amphitheater and public celebration: Dio 66.25; Suet. Tit.7; baths: Suet. Tit. 7, but likely finished by Domitian, according to the Chronographer of 354: Chron. Min. 1, p. 346; other references to Amphitheater: Martial Ep. 3.20.15, 3.36.6; Arch of Titus: CIL 6.944 for the dedicatory inscription, which reveals that the structure was dedicated after Titus‘ death. See also L. Richardson, Jr., A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore, 1992) s.v. „Arcus Titi,“ 30.

[[14]] Dio 66.19.3.

[[15]] Suet. Tit. 10.1.

[[16]] The ancient sources are quite inconsistent concerning Titus‘ death. Suetonius records that Domitian ordered Titus to be left for dead when he was ill, and Dio says that Domitian submerged his brother in packed snow while he was still alive in order to hasten his end: Suet. Dom. 2.3; Dio 66.26.2-3. Suetonius also reports an unidentified final regret by Titus (Tit. 10.1), which Dio interpreted as his failure to eliminate his brother (66.26.2-3). Later writers consistently vilified Domitian as the poisoner of Titus: Aurelius Victor, De Caes. 10.11; Philostratus, De Apoll. 6.32. According to Plutarch, Titus died because he unwisely used the baths when ill: De Sanitate Tuenda 3.

[[17]] Dio 66.18.3.

Copyright (C) 1997, John Donahue. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact.

Comments to: John Donahue.

Updated: 23 October 2004

Unveränd. Zweitpubl. v. John Donahue: Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 79-81), in: De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers [23.09.2004], http://www.roman-emperors.org/titus.htm

DE IMPERATORIBUS ROMANIS

An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers

DIR Atlas

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 69-79)

John Donahue

College of William and Mary

Abb.: http://www.roman-emperors.org/vescoi.gif

Introduction

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (b. A.D. 9, d. A.D. 79, emperor A.D. 69-79) restored peace and stability to an empire in disarray following the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the process he established the Flavian dynasty as the legitimate successor to the Imperial throne. Although we lack many details about the events and chronology of his reign, Vespasian provided practical leadership and a return to stable government – accomplishments which, when combined with his other achievements, make his emperorship particularly notable within the history of the Principate.

Early Life and Career

Vespasian was born at Falacrina near Sabine Reate on 17 November, A.D. 9, the son of T. Flavius Sabinus, a successful tax collector and banker, and Vespasia Polla. Both parents were of equestrian status. Few details of his first fifteen years survive, yet it appears that his father and mother were often away from home on business for long periods. As a result, Vespasian’s early education became the responsibility of his paternal grandmother, Tertulla. [[1]] In about A.D. 25 Vespasian assumed the toga virilis and later accepted the wearing of the latus clavus, and with it the senatorial path that his older brother, T. Flavius Sabinus, had already chosen. [[2]] Although many of the particulars are lacking, the posts typically occupied by one intent upon a senatorial career soon followed: a military tribunate in Thrace, perhaps for three or four years; a quaestorship in Crete-Cyrene; and the offices of aedile and praetor, successively, under the emperor Gaius. [[3]]

It was during this period that Vespasian married Flavia Domitilla. Daughter of a treasury clerk and former mistress of an African knight, Flavia lacked the social standing and family connections that the politically ambitious usually sought through marriage. In any case, the couple produced three children, a daughter, also named Flavia Domitilla, and two sons, the future emperors Titus and Domitian . Flavia did not live to witness her husband’s emperorship and after her death Vespasian returned to his former mistress Caenis, who had been secretary to Antonia (daughter of Marc Antony and mother of Claudius). Caenis apparently exerted considerable influence over Vespasian, prompting Suetonius to assert that she remained his wife in all but name, even after he became emperor. [[4]]

Following the assassination of Gaius on 24 January, A.D. 41, Vespasian advanced rapidly, thanks in large part to the new princeps Claudius, whose favor the Flavians had wisely secured with that of Antonia, the mother of Germanicus, and of Claudius‚ freedmen, especially Narcissus. [[5]] The emperor soon dispatched Vespasian to Argentoratum (Strasbourg) as legatus legionis II Augustae, apparently to prepare the legion for the invasion of Britain. Vespasian first appeared at the battle of Medway in A.D. 43, and soon thereafter led his legion across the south of England, where he engaged the enemy thirty times in battle, subdued two tribes, and conquered the Isle of Wight. According to Suetonius, these operations were conducted partly under Claudius and partly under Vespasian’s commander, Aulus Plautius. Vespasian’s contributions, however, did not go unnoticed; he received the ornamenta triumphalia and two priesthoods from Claudius for his exploits in Britain. [[6]]

By the end of A.D. 51 Vespasian had reached the consulship, the pinnacle of a political career at Rome. For reasons that remain obscure he withdrew from political life at this point, only to return when chosen proconsul of Africa about A.D. 63-64. His subsequent administration of the province was marked by severity and parsimony, earning him a reputation for being scrupulous but unpopular. [[7]] Upon completion of his term, Vespasian returned to Rome where, as a senior senator, he became a man of influence in the emperor Nero’s court. [[8]] Important enough to be included on Nero’s tour of Greece in A.D. 66-67, Vespasian soon found himself in the vicinity of increasing political turbulence in the East. The situation would prove pivotal in advancing his career.

Judaea and the Accession to Power

In response to rioting in Caesarea and Jerusalem that had led to the slaughter in the latter city of Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers, Nero granted to Vespasian in A.D. 66 a special command in the East with the objective of settling the revolt in Judaea. By spring A.D. 67, with 60,000 legionaries, auxiliaries, and allies under his control, Vespasian set out to subdue Galilee and then to cut off Jerusalem. Success was quick and decisive. By October all of Galilee had been pacified and plans for the strategic encirclement of Jerusalem were soon formed. [[9]] Meanwhile, at the other end of the empire, the revolts of Gaius Iulius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, and Servius Sulpicius Galba , governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, had brought Nero’s reign to the brink of collapse. The emperor committed suicide in June, A.D. 68, thereby ensuring chaos for the next eighteen months, as first Galba and then Marcus Salvius Otho and Aulus Vitellius acceded to power. Each lacked broad-based military and senatorial support; each would be violently deposed in turn. [[10]]

Still occupied with plans against Jerusalem, Vespasian swore allegiance to each emperor. Shortly after Vitellius assumed power in spring, A.D. 69, however, Vespasian met on the border of Judaea and Syria with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, governor of Syria, and after a series of private and public consultations, the two decided to revolt. [[11]] On July 1, at the urging of Tiberius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, the legions of Alexandria declared for Vespasian, as did the legions of Judaea two days later. By August all of Syria and the Danube legions had done likewise. Vespasian next dispatched Mucianus to Italy with 20,000 troops, while he set out from Syria to Alexandria in order to control grain shipments for the purpose of starving Italy into submission. [[12]] The siege of Jerusalem he placed in the hands of his son Titus.

Meanwhile, the Danubian legions, unwilling to wait for Mucianus‘ arrival, began their march against Vitellius ‚ forces. The latter army, suffering from a lack of discipline and training, and unaccustomed to the heat of Rome, was defeated at Cremona in late October. [[13]] By mid-December the Flavian forces had reached Carsulae, 95 kilometers north of Rome on the Flaminian Road, where the Vitellians, with no further hope of reinforcements, soon surrendered. At Rome, unable to persuade his followers to accept terms for his abdication, Vitellius was in peril. On the morning of December 20 the Flavian army entered Rome. By that afternoon, the emperor was dead. [[14]]

Tacitus records that by December 22, A.D. 69, Vespasian had been given all the honors and privileges usually granted to emperors. Even so, the issue remains unclear, owing largely to a surviving fragment of an enabling law, the lex de imperio Vespasiani, which conferred powers, privileges, and exemptions, most with Julio-Claudian precedents, on the new emperor. Whether the fragment represents a typical granting of imperial powers that has uniquely survived in Vespasian’s case, or is an attempt to limit or expand such powers, remains difficult to know. In any case, the lex sanctioned all that Vespasian had done up to its passing and gave him authority to act as he saw fit on behalf of the Roman people. [[15]]

What does seem clear is that Vespasian felt the need to legitimize his new reign with vigor. He zealously publicized the number of divine omens that predicted his accession and at every opportunity he accumulated multiple consulships and imperial salutations. He also actively promoted the principle of dynastic succession, insisting that the emperorship would fall to his son. The initiative was fulfilled when Titus succeeded his father in A.D. 79.[[16]]

Emperorship

Upon his arrival in Rome in late summer, A.D. 70, Vespasian faced the daunting task of restoring a city and a government ravaged by the recent civil wars. Although many particulars are missing, a portrait nevertheles emerges of a ruler conscientiously committed to the methodical renewal of both city and empire. Concerning Rome itself, the emperor encouraged rebuilding on vacated lots, restored the Capitol (burned in A.D. 69), and also began work on several new buildings: a temple to the deified Claudius on the Caelian Hill, a project designed to identify Vespasian as a legitimate heir to the Julio-Claudians, while distancing himself from Nero ; a temple of Peace near the Forum; and the magnificent Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre), located on the site of the lake of Nero ’s Golden House. [[17]]

Claiming that he needed forty thousand million sesterces for these projects and for others aimed at putting the state on more secure footing, Vespasian is said to have revoked various imperial immunities, manipulated the supply of certain commodities to inflate their price, and increased provincial taxation. [[18]] The measures are consistent with his characterization in the sources as both obdurate and avaricious. There were occasional political problems as well: Helvidius Priscus, an advocate of senatorial independence and a critic of the Flavian regime from the start, was exiled after A.D. 75 and later executed; Marcellus Eprius and A. Alienus Caecina were condemned by Titus for conspiracy, the former committing suicide, the latter executed in A.D. 79.

As Suetonius claims, however, in financial matters Vespasian always put revenues to the best possible advantage, regardless of their source. Tacitus, too, offers a generally favorable assessment, citing Vespasian as the first man to improve after becoming emperor. [[19]] Thus do we find the princeps offering subventions to senators not possessing the property qualifications of their rank, restoring many cities throughout the empire, and granting state salaries for the first time to teachers of Latin and Greek rhetoric. To enhance Roman economic and social life even further, he encouraged theatrical productions by building a new stage for the Theatre of Marcellus, and he also put on lavish state dinners to assist the food trades. [[20]]

In other matters the emperor displayed similar concern. He restored the depleted ranks of the senatorial and equestrian orders with eligible Italian and provincial candidates and reduced the backlog of pending court cases at Rome. Vespasian also re-established discipline in the army, while punishing or dismissing large numbers of Vitellius ‚ men. [[21]]

Beyond Rome, the emperor increased the number of legions in the East and continued the process of imperial expansion by the annexation of northern England, the pacification of Wales, and by advances into Scotland and southwest Germany between the Rhine and the Danube. Vespasian also conferred rights on communities abroad, especially in Spain, where the granting of Latin rights to all native communities contributed to the rapid Romanization of that province during the Imperial period. [[22]]

Death and Assessment

In contrast to his immediate imperial predecessors, Vespasian died peacefully – at Aquae Cutiliae near his birthplace in Sabine country on 23 June, A.D. 79, after contracting a brief illness. The occasion is said to have inspired his deathbed quip: „Oh my, I must be turning into a god!“ [[23]] In fact, public deification did follow his death, as did his internment in the Mausoleum of Augustus alongside the Julio-Claudians.

A man of strict military discipline and simple tastes, Vespasian proved to be a conscientious and generally tolerant administrator. More importantly, following the upheavals of A.D. 68-69, his reign was welcome for its general tranquility and restoration of peace. In Vespasian Rome found a leader who made no great breaks with tradition, yet his ability ro rebuild the empire and especially his willingness to expand the composition of the governing class helped to establish a positive working model for the „good emperors“ of the second century.

Bibliography

Since the scholarship on Vespasian is more comprehensive than can be treated here, the works listed below are main accounts or bear directly upon issues discussed in the entry above. A comprehensive modern anglophone study of this emperor is yet to be produced.

Atti congresso internazionale di studi Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.

Atti congresso internazionale di studi Vespasianei, 2 vols. Rieti, 1981.

Bosworth, A.B. „Vespasian and the Provinces: Some Problems of the Early 70s A.D.“ Athenaeum 51 (1973): 49-78.

Brunt, P. A. „Lex de imperio Vespasiani.“ JRS (67) 1977: 95-116.

D’Espèrey, S. Franchet. „Vespasien, Titus et la littérature.“ ANRW II.32.5: 3048-3086.

Dudley, D. and Webster, G. The Roman Conquest of Britain. London, 1965.

Gonzalez, J. „The Lex Irnitana: A New Copy of the Flavian Municipal Law.“ JRS 76 (1986): 147-243.

Grant, M. The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Rome, 31 B.C. – A.D. 476. New York, 1985.

Homo, L. Vespasien, l’Empereur du bons sens (69-79 ap. J.-C.). Paris, 1949.

Levi, M.A. „I Flavi.“ ANRW II.2: 177-207.

McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A. G. Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors Including the Year of the Revolution. Cambridge, 1966.

Nicols, John. Vespasian and the Partes Flavianae. Wiesbaden, 1978.

Scarre, C. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. London, 1995.

Suddington, D. B. The Development of the Roman Auxiliary Forces from Caesar to Vespasian, 49 B.C. – A.D. 79. Harare: U. of Zimbabwe, 1982.

Syme, R. Tacitus. Oxford, 1958.

Wardel, David. „Vespasian, Helvidius Priscus and the Restoration of the Capitol.“ Historia 45 (1996): 208-222.

Wellesley, K. The Long Year: A.D. 69. Bristol, 1989, 2nd ed.

Notes

[[1]] Suet. Vesp. 2.1. Suetonius remains the major source but see also Tac. Hist. 2-5; Cass. Dio 65; Joseph. BJ 3-4.

[[2]] Suetonius (Vesp. 2.1) claims that Vespasian did not accept the latus clavus, the broad striped toga worn by one aspiring to a senatorial career, immediately. The delay, however, was perhaps no more than three years. See J. Nicols, Vespasian and the Partes Flavianae (Wiesbaden, 1978), 2.

[[3]] Military tribunate and quaestorship: Suet. Vesp. 2.3; aedileship: ibid., 5.3, in which Gaius, furious that Vespasian had not kept the streets clean, as was his duty, ordered some soldiers to load him with filth;,they complied by stuffing his toga with as much as it could hold. See also Dio 59.12.2-3; praetorship: Suet. Vesp. 2.3, in which Vespasian is depicted as one of Gaius‘ leading adulators, an account consistent with Tacitus‘ portrayal (Hist 1.50.4; 2.5.1) of his early career. For a more complete discussion of these posts and attendant problems of dating, see Nicols, Vespasian, 2-7.

[[4]] Marriage and Caenis: Suet. Vesp. 3; Cass. Dio 65.14.

[[5]] Nicols, Vespasian, 12-39.

[[6]] Suet. Vesp. 4.1 For additional details on Vespasian’s exploits in Britain, see D. Dudley and G. Webster, The Roman Conquest of Britain (London, 1965), 55 ff., 98.

[[7]] Concerning Vespasian’s years between his consulship and proconsulship, see Suet. Vesp. 4.2 and Nicols, Vespasian, 9. On his unpopularity in Africa, see Suet. Vesp. 4.3, an account of a riot at Hadrumentum, where he was once pelted with turnips. In recording that Africa supported Vitellius in A.D. 69, Tacitus too suggests popular dissatisfaction with Vespasian’s proconsulship. See Hist. 2.97.2.

[[8]] This despite the fact that the sources record two rebukes of Vespasian, one for extorting money from a young man seeking career advancement (Suet. Vesp. 4.3), the other for either leaving the room or dozing off during one of the emperor’s recitals (Suet. Vesp. 4.4 and 14, which places the transgression in Greece; Tac. (Ann. 16.5.3), who makes Rome and the Quinquennial Games of A.D. 65 the setting; A. Braithwaite, C. Suetoni Tranquilli Divus Vespasianus, Oxford, 1927, 30, who argues for both Greece and Rome).

[[9]] Subjugation of Galilee: Joseph. BJ 3.65-4.106; siege of Jerusalem: ibid., 4.366-376, 414.

[[10]] Revolt of Vindex: Suet. Nero 40; Tac. Ann. 14.4; revolt of Galba: Suet. Galba 10; Plut. Galba, 4-5; suicide of Nero: Suet. Nero 49; Cass. Dio 63.29.2. For the most complete account of the period between Nero’s death and the accession of Vespasian, see K. Wellesley, The Long Year: A.D. 69, 2nd. ed. (Bristol, 1989).

[[11]] Tac. Hist. 2.76.

[[12]] Troops in support of Vespasian: Suet. Vit. 15; Mucianus and his forces: Tac. Hist. 2.83; Vespasian and grain shipments: Joseph. BJ 4.605 ff.; see also Tac. Hist. 3.48, on Vespasian’s possible plan to shut off grain shipments to Italy from Carthage as well.

[[13]] On Vitellius‘ army and its lack of discipline, see Tac. Hist. 2.93-94; illness of army: ibid., 2.99.1; Cremona: ibid., 3.32-33.

[[14]] On Vitellius‘ last days, see Tac. Hist. 3.68-81. On the complicated issue of Vitellius‘ death date, see L. Holzapfel, „Römische Kaiserdaten,“ Klio 13 (1913): 301.

[[15]] Honors, etc. Tac. Hist 4.3. For more on the lex de imperio Vespasiani, see P. A. Brunt, „Lex de imperio Vespasiani,“ JRS (67) 1977: 95-116.

[[16]] Omens: Suet. Vesp. 5; consulships and honors: ibid., 8; succession of sons: ibid., 25.

[[17]] On Vespasian’s restoration of Rome, see Suet. Vesp. 9; Cass. Dio 65.10; D. Wardel, „Vespasian, Helvidius Priscus and the Restoration of the Capitol,“ Historia 45 (1996): 208-222.

[[18]] Suet. Vesp. 16.

[[19]] Ibid.; Tac. Hist. 1.50.

[[20]] Suet. Vesp. 17-19.

[[21]] Ibid., 8-10.

[[22]] On Vespasian’s exploits in Britain, see esp. Tac., Agricola, eds. R. M. Ogilvie and I. A. Richmond (1967), and W. S. Hanson, Agricola and the Conquest of the North (1987); on the granting of Latin rights in Spain, see, e.g., J. Gonzalez, „The Lex Irnitana: a New Copy of the Flavian Municipal Law.“ JRS 76 (1986): 147-243.

[[23]] For this witticism and other anecdotes concerning Vespasian’s sense of humor, see Suet. Vesp. 23.

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Comments to: John Donahue.
Updated: 23. September 2004

Unveränd. Zweitpubl. v. John Donahue: Titus Flavius Vespasianus (A.D. 69-79), in: De Imperatoribus Romanis. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers [23.09.2004], http://www.roman-emperors.org/vespasia.htm