Vespasian was the Roman emperor, supported by the legions appointed in the Orient and defeated Vitellius thus marking an end to a year of civil wars and becoming the first emperor of the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian’s political line was aimed at replenishing the state treasury by favouring the middle classes and eliminating Nero’s absolutist trend.
Background
Vespasian, whose full Latin name was Titus Flavius Vespasianus, was born on November 17, 9, near the little town of Reate in the Sabine backcountry of central Italy.
His family was relatively undistinguished. His paternal grandfather, Titus Flavius Petro, was a centurion, who fought at Pharsalus for Pompey in 48 B.C. Vespasian’s father, Titus Flavius Sabinus, worked as a customs official in the province of Asia and became a moneylender on a small scale among the Helvetii. Sabinus married Vespasia Polla.
Sabinus and Vespasia had three children, the eldest of whom, a girl, died in infancy. Vespasian and his brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, were the first members of the family to reach senatorial rank.
Education
Vespasian's early education became the responsibility of his paternal grandmother, Tertulla. In about A.D. 25 Vespasian assumed the toga virilis and later accepted the wearing of the latus clavus.
Career
After a distinguished but by no means spectacular career, including military service on the Rhine and in Britain, Vespasian was awarded triumphal honours and appointed to two priesthoods, and in 51 he became consul. But, on Claudius’s death in 54 Vespasian received no further appointment for a time. About 63 he obtained the proconsulate of Africa, where his extreme financial rigour made him unpopular.
In February 67 Vespasian was chosen by Nero to stamp out a revolt in Judea, as much because of his lack of political significance (due to his family background) as because of his military talents. Again, in Judea he exhibited firm competence rather than dashing brilliance.
With the death of Nero (68) the imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty became extinct, and there began a dizzying succession of momentary emperors as the various provincial armies pushed forward their own commanders - Galba, Otho, Vitellius. Low birth seemed less a bar to empire, and on July 1, 69, troops acclaimed Vespasian the last and permanent emperor of that "Year of the Four Emperors."
Little is known of his ten-year rule. He reformed the financial system of Rome after the campaign against Judaea ended successfully, and initiated several ambitious construction projects, including the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre, better known today as the Roman Colosseum. In reaction to the events of 68–69, Vespasian forced through an improvement in army discipline. Through his general Agricola, Vespasian increased imperial expansion in Britain.
Vespasian secured the succession by making his son Titus virtually co-emperor and died peacefully in 79, an admirable if not a lovable emperor. Titus promptly had him deified.
Achievements
Politics
As an Emperor Vespasian was faced with immense tasks: to restore order to the machinery of government, stability to the finances, discipline to the armies, and security to the frontiers. The military problem came first; the Eastern armies had supported Vespasian, and the Western, having fought each other to exhaustion, accepted him, but much remained to be done. A revolt in Gaul amounting to a nationalist secession from the empire showed the dangers inherent in the use of provincial soldiery.
Vespasian therefore adopted a policy of not allowing auxiliaries (noncitizen troops) to serve in their native regions or be led by native commanders. He brought the citizen legions up to full strength and carefully cultivated their goodwill - Nero's fatal blunder had been to ignore the troops. Until now, only a Julio-Claudian had been able to command the allegiance of armies other than the one under his direct control; one of Vespasian's accomplishments was to get all the armies to accept whoever was the reigning emperor. The troops stayed out of emperor making for over a century.
Vespasian made no effort to blur the fact that he had won the empire through arms rather than having received it from the hands of the Senate. He treated the Senate with respect but did not try to revive Augustus's old idea of a partnership of emperor and Senate (with Vespasian's lack of background, any attempt at equality with the great nobles would ultimately point up his "inferiority").
Vespasian repeatedly held the censorship, which not only allowed him to survey the empire's resources for financial purposes but also gave him control over the Senate's membership. He kept a tight reign on appointments, even pushing his own men into provinces officially controlled by the Senate. Since his choices were usually good, the senators could hardly object openly, but it must be admitted that they respected rather than admired him. Indeed, he was a successful but never a truly popular emperor with any class.
The state finances were in an appalling condition when Vespasian took over. He promptly instituted a nearly peasant-style economy in government (he became the proverbial stingy emperor), reimposed the taxes recent emperors had canceled, raised provincial tribute where his surveys showed it possible, and even invented wholly new taxes. (His tax on public urinals gave rise to his famous witticism; when his son Titus objected to money from such a source, he held a coin under Titus's nose, saying, "Money does not smell.") Yet Vespasian could spend freely, too; money went for roads and useful public works in every province. His most celebrated building, the Colosseum, converted the site of Nero's private palace into a stadium for 80,000 people.
Nor would a merely miserly emperor have shown such interest in education. He endowed schools and libraries and appointed the famous Quintilian as the first state-paid public professor.
Augustus had sought secure frontiers at danger points but had paid little attention to safe areas, with the result that many frontiers were still vague. Vespasian wanted frontiers for administration as well as for security and so began a process of rectification, seeking frontiers that were secure, short, and with good communications. His best-known move was into southwestern Germany to shorten the Rhine-Danube frontier, but he made similar moves elsewhere. He also established great, permanent military posts for administration as well as defense.
Views
Quotations:
"Dear me! I must be turning into a god."
"The body of a dead enemy always smells sweet."
"It becomes an emperor to die standing."
Personality
Vespasian was bluff and even coarse in manner, hardworking and simple in his daily life, which was taken as a model by the contemporary aristocracy. At the same time he was astute and ambitious, and many of his initial appointments were dictated by nepotism or the desire to reward past services.
Connections
Vespasian's first wife was Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of Flavius Liberalis. They had two sons, Titus Flavius Vespasianus (born 39) and Titus Flavius Domitianus (born 51), and a daughter, Domitilla (born c. 45). His wife Domitilla and his daughter Domitilla both died before Vespasian became Emperor in 69. After the death of his wife, Vespasian's longstanding mistress, Antonia Caenis, became his second wife in all but formal status, a relationship that continued until she died in 75.
Vespasian (Roman Imperial Biographies)
From a pre-eminent biographer in the field, this well-documented and illustrated biography examines the life and time of the emperor Vespasian and challenges the validity of his perennial good reputation and universally acknowledged achievements. Examining received opinions on Vespasian, Barbara Levick examines how this plebeian and uncharismatic Emperor restored peace and confidence to Rome and ensured a smooth succession. Outlining how he gained military experience and political skills, Levick goes on to explore how Vespasian coped with the military, political and economic problems of his reign, and his evaluation of the solutions to these problems, before she finally examines his posthumous reputation. Part of the bestselling Roman Imperial Biographies series, Vespasian will engage, enthral and inform both students of classical studies and history, and the general classical enthusiast alike.
Vespasian 1-3: Tribune of Rome, Rome's Executioner, False God of Rome - Kindle edition by Robert Fabbri. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Tribune of Rome AD 26: Sixteen-year-old Vespasian leaves his family farm for Rome. However, he soon finds himself out of his depth, making dangerous enemies (and dangerous friends - like the young Caligula) and becomes ensnared in a conspiracy against Tiberius. Vespasian flees the city to take up his position as tribune in an unfashionable legion on the Balkan frontier. Unblooded and inexperienced, he must lead his men in savage battle with hostile mountain tribes... Rome's Executioner Thracia, AD 30: Even after four years military service at the edge of the Roman world, Vespasian can't escape the tumultuous politics of an Empire on the brink of disintegration. His patrons in Rome charge him with the clandestine extraction of an old enemy from a fortress on the banks of the Danube before it falls to the Roman legion besieging it. Vespasian's mission is the key move in a deadly struggle for the right to rule the Roman Empire... False God of Rome Rome, AD 34: Vespasian is serving as a military officer on the outskirts of the Empire. But political events in Rome draw him back to the city. The new emperor Caligula forms an extravagant project to bridge the bay of Neapolis and ride over it wearing Alexander's breastplate. And it falls to Vespasian to travel to Alexandria and steal it from Alexander's mausoleum. Vespasian's mission will lead to violence, mayhem and theft - and in the end, to a betrayal so great it will echo through the ages... BOOKS 1-3 IN THE VESPASIAN SERIES
Rome's Sacred Flame (Vespasian)
Vespasian has been made Governor of Africa. Nero, Rome's increasingly unpredictable Emperor, orders him to journey with his most trusted men to a far-flung empire in Africa to free 200 Roman citizens who have been enslaved by a desert kingdom. Vespasian arrives at the city to negotiate their emancipation, hoping to return to Rome a hero and find himself back in favor with Nero. But when Vespasian reaches the city, he discovers a slave population on the edge of revolt. With no army to keep the population in check, it isn't long before tensions spill over into bloody chaos. Vespasian must escape the city with all 200 Roman citizens and make their way across a barren desert, battling thirst and exhaustion, with a hoard of rebels at their backs. It's a desperate race for survival, with twists and turns aplenty. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Nero's extravagance goes unchecked. All of Rome's elite fear for their lives as Nero's closest allies run amok. Can anyone stop the Emperor before Rome devours itself? And if Nero is to be toppled, who will be the one to put his head in the lion's mouth? Vespasian has been made Governor of Africa. Nero, Rome's increasingly unpredictable Emperor, orders him to journey with his most trusted men to a far-flung empire in Africa to free 200 Roman citizens who have been enslaved by a desert kingdom. Vespasian arrives at the city to negotiate their emancipation, hoping to return to Rome a hero and find himself back in favor with Nero. But when Vespasian reaches the city, he discovers a slave population on the edge of revolt. With no army to keep the population in check, it isn't long before tensions spill over into bloody chaos. Vespasian must escape the city with all 200 Roman citizens and make their way across a barren desert, battling thirst and exhaustion, with a hoard of rebels at their backs. It's a desperate race for survival, with twists and turns aplenty. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Nero's extravagance goes unchecked. All of Rome's elite fear for their lives as Nero's closest allies run amok. Can anyone stop the Emperor before Rome devours itself? And if Nero is to be toppled, who will be the one to put his head in the lion's mouth?
Vespasian (Roman Imperial Biographies)
From a pre-eminent biographer in the field, this volume examines the life and times of the emperor Vespasian and challenges the validity of his perennial good reputation and universally acknowledged achievements. Levick examines how this plebeian and uncharismatic Emperor restored peace and confidence to Rome and ensured a smooth succession, how he coped with the military, political and economic problems of his reign, and his evaluation of the solutions to these problems, before she finally examines his posthumous reputation. Now updated to take account of the past 15 years of scholarship, and with a new chapter on literature under the Flavians, Vespasian is a fascinating study for students of Roman history and the general classical enthusiast alike.