Emperors of Rome | The First Flavian: Vespasian (Lecture 18)

Lecture 18: Vespasian started the first dynasty of emperors who had no family connection to Julius Caesar or Augustus. From a modest, rural Italian background, Vespasian was an able and conscientious ruler, with a reputation for frugality bordering on stinginess. He had ample military and administrative experience before coming to power during the civil wars of A.D. 69. We examine his rise in detail, along with the inscription called the “Law Concerning Vespasian’s Power,” apparently the first attempt to legally define an emperor’s position. Once in power, Vespasian initiated the building of the first all-stone amphitheater in Rome (completed after his death), the Colosseum, the most famous symbol of ancient Rome. Recent research has shown that the Colosseum was funded by loot from the spoils of war. Vespasian’s reign was largely tranquil, but it set the stage for the more openly autocratic rulers of the next century.

Essential Reading:
Cassius Dio, Roman History, books 64–66.
Suetonius, Vespasian.
Tacitus, Histories, books 2–5.

Supplementary Reading:
DIR, “Vespasian.”
Levick, Vespasian.
Morgan, 69 A.D.: The Year of the Four Emperors, pp. 170–268.