Vespasian (9-79 CE) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE. Despite his low birth, he worked hard to rise through the ranks of Roman politics and eventually achieved prominence as a military commander. He came to power at the end of the brief period of upheaval and civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors, and established the Flavian Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire for 27 years. He is best known for crushing the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE and for beginning construction of the Colosseum. Vespasian was succeeded by his two sons, first Titus (reign 79-81 CE) and then Domitian (reign 81-96 CE).
Early Life
Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born in Falacrinae, a rural town northeast of Rome, on 17 November 9 CE. There was nothing in his lineage to suggest that he would one day rule as emperor. Indeed, his ancestors were commoners who did not achieve any kind of prominence until the era of the late Roman Republic, when they came into modest wealth. His father, Titus Flavius Sabinus, was a tax collector and moneylender whose work took him from Asia Minor to Gaul. Though a humble man, he managed to marry up, taking for his wife a woman from the equestrian class, Vespasia Polla. The father died shortly thereafter and was survived by his wife and two young sons: Titus Flavius Sabinus the Younger and Vespasian.
For much of his childhood, Vespasian was raised by his maternal grandmother, Tertulla, on her countryside estate at Cosa; he must have had fond memories there, for he often returned to the estate after becoming emperor. Initially, he planned to follow in his father's footsteps and go into finance. But his mother had bigger ambitions for her sons and encouraged them both to go into politics instead, as a path toward upward mobility. Vespasian's older brother Sabinus listened to her advice, and, before long, he was elected to the office of quaestor and admitted into the senatorial class. Vespasian, however, was reluctant to follow suit. Vespasia responded by ridiculing him, telling him that he was nothing more than his brother's anteambulo – a slave who walks before his master to clear a path.
Whether it was because of his mother's bullying or for an unrelated reason, Vespasian eventually changed his mind. He began his career as a military tribune in Thrace and, by the age of 25, had also become a quaestor and joined the senatorial class. He had the misfortune of beginning his political career during the rise of Emperor Caligula (reign 37-41), a paranoid, cruel man who bore a special hatred for the Roman Senate. Vespasian managed to survive by cozying up to Caligula, often siding with him against the Senate. In 39 CE, Vespasian proposed a motion to deny burial to a man who had been found guilty of plotting against the emperor. Even when Caligula humiliated Vespasian by having his toga smeared with mud – punishment for Vespasian's failure to keep the alleys clean, as was his job – he kept his cool and did not complain. Like most other senators, Vespasian must have breathed a sigh of relief when Caligula was assassinated in 41 CE and replaced with the less tyrannical Claudius (reign 41-54).
Rise
For the most part, the Roman Empire prospered during Claudius's reign. So, too, did Vespasian's career. This was largely due to his affair with Antonia Caenis. Born a slave, she had risen to prominence as the secretary of Claudius's mother until she was one of the most influential women in the imperial court. Through her, Vespasian was introduced to some of the most powerful men in the whole empire – these included Narcissus, the freedman who served as Claudius's right-hand man, and Lucius Vitellius the Elder, who had forged a career as a political survivor and powerbroker. With their help, Vespasian was appointed to the command of a legion during the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 CE.
Vespasian spent the next four years leading soldiers in Britain. He fought in at least 30 battles, captured 20 hillforts, and subdued the hostile Durotriges and Dumnonii tribes. His success was so spectacular that he was awarded triumphal honors, giving him the right to wear a triumphal dress in public and have a bronze statue erected in his honor in the Forum of Augustus. In 51 CE, he achieved the office of consul, the highest political rank outside of the emperorship itself. Afterwards, he served a brief stint as the governor of North Africa. Though he made important political connections during this time, he often found himself in debt and was forced to mortgage most of his properties. He managed to scrape together enough money to retain his senatorial status by engaging in the mule-trading business, which earned him the nickname mulio (the Muleteer).
Having achieved success for himself, Vespasian could now look to the careers of his children. He had married a former slave woman, Flavia Domitilla, sometime before his foray into politics. She had given him two sons, Titus (born 39 CE) and Domitian (born 51 CE), as well as a daughter who would tragically die young. Eager to see his sons get better opportunities than he had had, Vespasian arranged for Titus to be educated in the imperial palace beside Claudius's own son, Britannicus. But this opportunity turned dangerous when Claudius died in 54 CE and was succeeded by the vain and jealous Nero (reign 54-68). In a bid to eliminate any threat to his power, Nero had Britannicus poisoned at dinner. Titus was sitting right next to the boy as he seized and convulsed, before finally dying. The message was clear – any perceived opposition to Nero could mean death.
As he had done with Caligula, Vespasian tried to stay on Nero's good side, even after his friend and former benefactor Narcissus was killed by the new regime. In 66 CE, he accompanied the emperor on his self-indulgent tour of Greece. Fancying himself a musician, Nero often sang and played the lyre before his captive audience of senators. But during one of these performances, Vespasian fell asleep. Nero, of course, felt slighted by this perceived insult and afterward ensured that Vespasian was politically isolated. For a time, it seemed as if his career was dead. But his fortunes would change later that year, when a revolt broke out in Judea. Tensions between the local Greek and Jewish populations had escalated into a full-scale Jewish rebellion against Roman rule. Nero needed someone to crush the revolt, but he did not want to send anyone too popular who could later challenge him for the throne. He decided the least threatening choice was Vespasian, whose low birth made it unlikely that the Senate would ever accept him as emperor.
Jewish Revolt
In 67 CE, Vespasian arrived in Judea in command of three legions. He was accompanied by his now 26-year-old son, Titus, who served as one of his generals. By this point, the situation had become increasingly desperate; the Romans had looted the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and the Jewish rebels had retaliated by massacring a Roman garrison and chasing pro-Roman officials from the city. Vespasian drew from his experience in Britain and immediately began assaulting the fortified rebel cities in the hill country of Galilee. One by one, they fell to Roman assault, with Vespasian often leading his troops from the front. In one battle, he was struck by an arrow in the sole of his foot. In another, he stood with his troops, their shields locked together in a defensive formation, beating back a rebel attack. His soldiers admired and respected him for fighting alongside them and sharing in their battles and hardships.
Year of the Four Emperors
In 68 CE, Vespasian began his advance toward Jerusalem. Later that summer, he was preparing to lay siege to the city when news reached him that Nero was dead. Having gone too far with his tyrannies, Nero had been branded a public enemy by the Senate and had committed suicide. Now, all of Rome held its breath as the new emperor, Galba, arrived from Hispania to take the throne. Vespasian decided to suspend military operations until he received instructions from the new government. But the next news he heard from Rome did not bode well – his elder brother Sabinus had been removed as the city's prefect. Alarmed that this might portend his own fall from grace, Vespasian sent Titus to Rome to get in good with the new emperor. Titus made it as far as Corinth when he received even more spectacular news: Galba was already dead, murdered by the Praetorian Guard. A man named Otho had been proclaimed emperor in his place.
It was now clear that Rome was entering a period of instability and upheaval that it had not seen since the death throes of the Republic. In February 69 CE, Titus returned to Judea and met with his father and their generals. It was at this meeting that Vespasian decided to make his own bid for the throne. Low-born though he was, he had three big advantages: an army of battle-hardened and loyal soldiers, seemingly endless riches from the plunder he had taken on campaign, and the friendship of powerful men. These friends included Gaius Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria, who threw his lot in with Vespasian and offered him three additional legions. Tiberius Julius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, also declared for Vespasian. On 1 July 69 CE, Alexander had his legions swear an oath of loyalty to Vespasian. Despite later Flavian propaganda that Vespasian had been pressured by his soldiers into taking up the purple, the decision was carefully made by himself and his allies.
Vespasian left Judea and headed to Alexandria in Egypt, which would become his new base of operations. Egypt was known as the breadbasket of Rome, and Vespasian hoped that by cutting off this grain supply to Italy, he could pressure the Senate into accepting him as emperor. But by this point, yet another man ruled in Rome. Otho had committed suicide after suffering a defeat in battle and had been replaced by Vitellius (the son of Vespasian's former patron). Hoping to take advantage of this new round of chaos, Vespasian dispatched Mucianus to Italy with an army, instructing him to meet Vitellius in battle. But Mucianus had not even arrived when the Danube legions rose up and pledged their support for Vespasian. In October 69 CE, they marched into Italy, defeated Vitellius's troops in a battle outside Cremona (the Second Battle of Bedriacum), and then spent the next four days sacking Cremona itself. For the first time in decades, a Roman army massacred Roman citizens.
In the aftermath of the battle, it was clear that Vespasian held the advantage. In Rome, Sabinus made a move to help his brother and tried to negotiate Vitellius's abdication. But this backfired when Vitellius's soldiers attacked him, forcing him and his sons to take refuge on Capitoline Hill. In the fighting that followed, the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter the Best and the Greatest was burned down, and Sabinus was captured – he was taken before Vitellius and murdered. But despite this small victory over a member of Vespasian's family, Vitellius knew his own days were numbered. On 20 December 69 CE, the mutinous Danube legions entered Rome and captured the city after a day of brutal fighting. Vitellius was taken prisoner, tortured, and killed. The Year of the Four Emperors was over, and the empire was once again undisputably ruled by one man. His name was Vespasian.
Reign
In the days that followed the dramatic capture of Rome, Mucianus entered the city with his own legions. He took careful steps to restore order, removing the mutinous Danube legions and sending their leaders off to the provinces. Mucianus took control of the government on his boss's behalf until October 70 CE, when Vespasian finally arrived in Rome. Immediately, the Senate granted him the full trappings of imperial power, hailing him as Imperator Caesar Augustus. The Senate also took the unprecedented step of granting his sons, Titus and Domitian, the title of 'Caesar', the first time this appellation was used to designate an emperor's chosen heirs. The Senate's acceptance of a commoner like Vespasian as emperor marked a turning point in the empire's history. As historian Barry Strauss explains:
[The Senate's] decision sealed what the brief reigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius suggested but never got the chance to prove: that the imperial office was highly transferrable. The ever-practical Romans solved the problem of legitimacy neatly by simply giving the imperial title to the strongest man, regardless of a blood or adoptive connection to the founder of the empire.
(125)
But even with the recognition of the Senate, Vespasian knew he had to step carefully when consolidating power. He started by handing out gifts to the military and to the public, and by dismissing soldiers or politicians who had been loyal to Vitellius. Much like Augustus before him, he relied on propaganda to legitimize his reign, presenting himself as a liberator who saved Rome from chaos and war. To prove this, he sought to rebuild Rome with a series of grand construction projects. These included a Temple to Peace and a Temple to the Deified Claudius. But by far his most ambitious project was a massive elliptical amphitheater in the center of Rome. Construction began in 72 CE and was financed entirely by Vespasian's share of the plunder from Judea. Known as the Flavian Amphitheater – and later as the Colosseum – it would become one of the most enduring symbols of Rome, although it would not be completed until the year after Vespasian's death.
After taking the throne, Vespasian sent Titus back to Judea to finish suppressing the revolt. This was soon accomplished, and both father and son celebrated the victory with a joint Roman triumph. During his reign, Vespasian relied on Titus not only as his heir and right-hand man but also as his enforcer. He appointed Titus as prefect of the Praetorian Guard and tasked him with sniffing out any opposition. Titus carried out this role with brutal efficiency. Once, when it was discovered that a general named Aulus Caecina Alienus was plotting to kill Vespasian, Titus invited the schemer over for dinner. After the meal, when Alienus stood up to leave, Titus had him seized and stabbed to death. Partly due to his own propaganda campaign and partly due to his son's ruthless reputation, Vespasian did not have to deal with many conspiracies during his ten-year reign. The peacefulness of his rule created a favorable juxtaposition against his ruthless and bloodthirsty predecessors.
He was said to have been a good ruler, known for his good humor and wit. His only negative quality, according to the ancient sources, was his greed, exemplified by his many unpopular taxes, including one on urine. When Titus told him that it was undignified to levy a tax on public latrines, Vespasian simply shrugged and replied, "pecunia non olet" – "money does not stink." His wife had died sometime before his rise to power, and, as emperor, he enjoyed a common law relationship with his old mistress, Antonia Caenis. Since she was a former slave, they could not marry, but they lived as if they were husband and wife until her death around 75 CE. Afterwards, Vespasian had relationships with a string of mistresses, though he never married again. As emperor, Vespasian was known for his rigid daily routine, which is recounted by the historian Suetonius:
He would always get up early, while it was still dark, and then, once he had read his correspondence and the reports of all his officials, he would admit friends and allow them to pay him their respects even as he put on his shoes and cloak; after this, once he had dealt with any outstanding matters, he would go for a ride and then – lying down with one of the numerous concubines with whom he had replaced Caenis, who had died – take things easy. When he left his private quarters he would head first to the bath, then to dinner, and at no other time of the day, so it is reported, was he more approachable or open-handed: something that members of his household would always go to great lengths to capitalize on.
(Vespasian, 21)
Death
In the spring of 79 CE, Vespasian was traveling in southern Italy when he fell sick with a fever. He decided to go to his country estate near Reate to recover, but his illness only worsened, and he was soon experiencing symptoms like severe diarrhea. His condition gradually deteriorated until it was clear he was on his deathbed. "Poor me," he said when he realized he was dying. "I think I am becoming a god" (Suetonius, Vespasian, 23). Even still, he continued to perform his imperial duties, reading reports and receiving dignitaries from his bed. Finally, he experienced a bout of diarrhea so bad that he believed he would faint. He ordered his servants to help him up, declaring that an emperor should die on his feet. He died in the arms of his attendants on 23 June 79 CE, at the age of 69.
