On the death of the eccentric Nero, the Roman Empire he is orphaned of a true heir. Without regulations, or order, or legality when designating an imperial heir, the Roman powers take the initiative:the senate, the praetorian guard and the imperial armies choose their favorites, the first great civil war of the Principality of Rome. Nothing more and nothing less than four emperors in just over a year. Finally, the last of the candidates, Tito Flavio Vespasiano will establish the ephemeral Flavian dynasty, among his achievements the political consolidation of the Roman Empire, so that his successors, including a certain Trajan, will take it to its maximum splendor in history. .
Flavius Titus Vespasian (69-79 AD)
Vespasian
His origin and therefore that of the Flavian dynasty are certainly obscure. Both his grandfather and his father held insignificant positions in the Roman armies. The second of them, discharged prematurely, tried his fortune as a pawnbroker, it should not have gone wrong, since thanks to his earnings he acquired the rank of equestrian, which he took advantage of so that his sons Sabino and Vespasiano undertook a military career. It should be noted that, on the part of his mother, Vespasia Pola, in addition to his name, the future emperor inherited the military fortune, since his maternal grandfather had been appointed tribune three times.
Vespasian grew up and was educated in the environment of his paternal family in Sabine territory. According to Suetonius, after being designated emperor he continued to travel there to make contact with the places where he grew up.
The first important posting of his military career was in Thrace, where he served as a military tribune. He subsequently quaestor in Crete and Cyrene. Following his marriage to Flavia Domitilla, he continued his successful military career as legate to Britain and consul to Africa, before being called upon by Nero to deal with the rebellion in Judea. There he was when the civil war broke out in the Empire, it was certainly a good place at that time, since the bulk of the main Roman armies were in the East under his command.
Specifically, on July 1, 69, his troops, supported by the easternmost legions of the Empire, proclaimed him Emperor of Rome. Far from going to the eternal city he went to Egypt, according to some sources in search of the recognition of the Egyptian god Serapis. What he achieved while in that place was the approval of the Senate as the new emperor of Rome.
A year after achieving his proclamation by his men in Judea, he arrived at the capital of the Empire. His main task was to recover the imperial authority lost during the civil war. For this he worked on the institution of the Senate, which should continue to be the most important body of civil power, but assuming the geographical greatness that the Empire had achieved. In addition, without forgetting the necessary regeneration of the same, in such a way that he gave way to the Senate to new patrician families from the imperial provinces, which, by the way, will end up becoming the cradle of emperors in years to come.
But what will guarantee the emperors from that moment, was the law established by the new emperor, he bore his own name; Lex of the Vespasian Empire. He had just at a stroke with the convoluted titles necessary to become emperor from the extinct Roman Republic. From that moment the emperors obtained the title Imperator Caesar Avgvstvs, that is to say, the power was legitimized as heirs of Augustus himself.
Bronze with the Lex of Imperium Vespasiani
During his tenure one of the strong points was the economic recovery of Empire. He ordered a census to review the cadastre, which is why he recovered numerous lands for the state from illegal hands. New taxes, added to the granting of Roman citizenship in the western provinces, which resulted in better territorial administration and greater collection efficiency, quickly filled the imperial coffers. The result was new roads, with the consequent improvement of agriculture and commerce.
Another item of spending was earmarked for the defense of the Empire, four new legions bringing the total number to 29, recruitment in the western provinces and new auxiliary troops. All this for the protection of the western limes and the control of the Germanic tribes, the scene of the Rhine and the Danube. In addition, they dealt with pacifying Britannia, with Vespasian's legions reaching the north and west of the British Isle. But as is known, the most violent episode occurred with the taking of Jerusalem after a five-month siege. The Roman legions commanded by Vespasian's son, Titus, entered the holy city on September 8, 70, destroying it and capturing every living thing. Three years later Judea was completely subjugated.
The sources of the time highlight the enormous greed of Vespasian, he was not enough to raise taxes on the people of Rome. During his mandate, essential products were accumulated to raise their price and obtain higher taxes. Corruption in Rome continued to grow exponentially, pardons were granted in exchange for large sums of money. He did not hesitate to give wings to the usurers, to later accuse them and keep their enormous profits arising from corruption. Presumably, at least it served him to undertake the most colossal work of Roman culture, the dream of the first emperor Augustus, an amphitheater to accommodate 65,000 Romans saw how during Vespasian's mandate it began to come true.
Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasian (79-81 AD)
Titus
Since Augustus and Tiberius, no emperor had died of natural causes. Vespasian is granted this honor, despite the fact that the narration of his death by Suetonius, the product of an enormous intestinal decomposition, can make us suspect anything. It took place on June 23 of the year 79, that same day his eldest son Tito was amply prepared to pick up the baton.
Until the day of his appointment as emperor, Titus had perfectly executed his duties as heir to the Empire. Brilliant military career alongside his friend, his Briton, son of Claudio. In addition to the instruction in the affairs of state with his father after returning from Judea, by the way, the large mole in his image. Curiously though said image of cruelty seemed to die out quickly after his imperial appointment.
Politically he followed in his father's footsteps, maximum respect for the Senate, great administrator of the imperial coffers and benevolent with the army, from his mandate the legionnaires obtained the right of will, Until then, the belongings of the soldiers passed to the state when they died.
Two years of mandate that were presided over by great disasters. Shortly after Vesuvius arrived, it burst and buried three cities, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia. Tito's response was to send several former consuls to encourage the reconstruction of the devastated cities, the belongings of the deceased were used for such a task. A year later Rome caught fire, for three days and three nights a large part of the city burned, according to Suetonius, the emperor himself sold luxury products from his estates to collaborate in the reconstruction. The consequent plague came to endorse the two years of misfortunes of Emperor Titus.
It is really curious the flattery to which Suetonius subjected the emperor Titus, it is difficult to take sides on their veracity. But we can feel like something excessive. An emperor who, after finishing the works on the amphitheater, ordered an inauguration with 5,000 beasts, a naval combat, and dozens of exhibitions over several days, inviting the entire people of Rome, seems rather to seek his glory before his fellow citizens, than good government. Hence, it is not surprising that other sources accuse him of following in the footsteps of previous emperors such as Nero.
Arch of Titus in Rome
Be that as it may, he died two years, two months, and twenty days after his father, curiously in the same place. Although unlike Vespasian, Titus was only 42 years old. His brother was to take the reins of the Empire.
Titus Flavius Domitian (81-96 AD)
Domitian
As noted, the third emperor of the Gens Flavia he was the youngest son of Vespasian. If the classical sources tell us wonders about his brother Titus, about Domitian just the opposite. To be sure, neither the first one was so good, nor the second so disastrous.
According to Suetonius, during his father's rule he already began to show his ruthless way of ruling. After becoming praetor of Rome, he began a wild life of lust and sex. To pay for it, he did not hesitate to sell positions left and right. It seems that his own father, Vespasian, "kindly" suggested that he not sell his position as emperor of Rome.
To equip himself with his brother Titus, he began a series of military campaigns through Gaul and Germany, apparently quite unnecessary. He did not hesitate to offer help to the eastern provinces in their fights against Parthians or Alans, in order to win the position that his father was going to vacate. Upon his death, Domitian is accused of attempting to bribe the Praetorian Guard to take over the position, for twice the money offered by Titus.
After arriving in the Principality he begins a clear path towards a despotic government. He practically turned the Senate into a gateway for the social elites, since there is no record that he consulted them on any occasion on how to govern the Empire. Instead, he endowed the Consilium Principis, organ related to the emperor, with greater decision-making capacity. In it he surrounded himself with new jurists, and especially equestrian men whom he placed in the most relevant positions of the Imperial administration.
he became identified with the God Jupiter and his wife Domitia with the Goddess Minerva. To the latter he entrusted the protection of the Gens Flavia, with a prominent position on the altar of the gods of the new temple that he had built in the Quirinal area. It was not the only work that he undertook, in addition to another temple in the forum area, he spared no expense in the reconstruction of the Capitol, the Circus Maximus or when finishing off the Flavian Amphitheater. By custom, he had his name engraved on all the works, forgetting about the predecessors in the position, who did not belong to his family.
Among the eccentricities of which he is accused, apart from carrying out shows at all hours for the Roman plebs, is the construction of a large lake next to the Tiber river, at the which was surrounded by stands so that the people of Rome could enjoy the Naumaquias. Not all his initiatives may seem so extravagant to us, in short, we can also "accuse" him of promoting culture among the general public. During his mandate, an Odeon was built where, in addition to musical shows, a kind of prose and poetry recitation competitions were established, both in Latin and in Greek.
Domitian opted, how could it be otherwise, for the Roman army. He raised the salary of the legionnaires from 225 to 300 denarii per year, increased the number of Praetorians in Rome, and established the Legion I Flavia Minerva, with it the number of legions was rounded to 30. Thanks to which he controlled in his early years the limes of the empire, especially fortified large sectors of the Germanic borders.
Minerva Domitian's favorite goddess, even his legion was named after her.
he did not achieve his goal of destroying his great rival Decebalus, a true terror for the Empire on the Danubian border. At least, in the year 89 he managed to close an advantageous, apparently, peace treaty, through which the Dacian king Decébalus became a tributary of Rome. That same year, another event was going to put the wickers of the turbulent rest of Domitian's reign. Antonio Primo legate in Germania Superior took up arms and with the support of the Gallic legions proclaimed himself emperor. Fortunately for Domitian, the revolt was soon suppressed and the character executed.
His continued confrontation with the Senate, led to an endless final term of office. The Roman philosophers did nothing but spread the "bad life" of the emperor. The numerous Jews of Rome with great economic power did not forget the bloody capture of Jerusalem. Together they were carving out the despotic image of the Emperor Domitian, soon large sectors of the army and the Praetorian Guard began to turn their backs on him. Alone and a prisoner in his own palace, he was assassinated on September 14, 96. The culprits did not seem to matter, his closest men and even his own wife Domicia were his main suspects. Without children, the transmission of power was paralyzed, the Senate was in charge of looking for a substitute for him, the elderly Nerva was the one chosen to be controlled.
With its defects and virtues, the Flavian dynasty met its end. But what cannot be denied historically is having definitively laid the foundations of the Roman Principality. The Republic had become a distant memory. The figure of the emperor no longer needed to be clothed in another legality, other than being the best of the best. The armies had also taken good note of these twenty-seven years, previously converted into the most powerful militarily speaking in the Ancient World, now they also knew their political strength. The combination was a success, the arrival two years after the best emperor in history, Trajan, was the prelude to the happiest years of Roman civilization.
More info:
Ancient History II, history of Rome, Pilar Fernadez and Javier Cabrero, Ed. Uned, 2014.
Life of the twelve Caesars, books IV-VIII, Suetonius.