Vespasian: Background: Suetonius, Vespasian, 1-5

1. Who did Titus Flavius Petro fight for during the Civil War (Julius Caesar vs Pompey)? What job did he take up after his military service?
1. Pompey, after Pharsalus he earned an honourable discharge and became a tax-collector
2. During whose reign was Vespasian born?
1. Augustus - 5 years before his death
3. Who brought Vespasian up as a child? How did he honour this person throughout his life?
1. His grandmother, Tertulla. He preserved her estate, including his childhood room, and drank from a silver cup that belonged to her
4. Who convinced Vespasian to take up a Senatorial career?
1. His mother, Vespasia Pollio - she used to call him "your brother's footman"
5. List the positions Vespasian held during his Senatorial career (Suet, 2)
1. Military tribune in Thrace
2. Quaestor in Crete and Cyrenaica
3. First attempt at aedileship came to nothing
4. Second scraped through in sixth place
5. Praetorship - one of the popular choices - during Gaius' reign where he acted as a flatter
6. Who did Vespasian marry? How many children did they have? What were their names?
1. Flavia Domitilla
2. 3
3. Titus, Domitian, Domitilla
7. What post did Vespasian hold during Claudius' reign? Who was he indebted to?
1. Was given command of a legion in Germany and Britain - fought in thirty battles, subjugated two tribes and captured the island of Vectis (Isle of Wight)
2. Narcissus
8. Who did Vespasian fear during Nero's reign and why?
1. Agrippina, for her animosity towards Narcissus (who Vespasian was indebted to)
9. What province was Vespasian assigned to? What type of a governor was he known as and what nickname did he earn?
1. Africa
2. Rule characterised by justice and dignity - he came back no richer than he went and had to mortgage his estates to go into trade
3. "Mule Driver"
10. Why was Vespasian dismissed from the Imperial Court during Nero's reign?
1. During Nero's tour of Achaia (Greece) he would either leave during Nero's musical recitals or fall asleep
11. What ancient superstition was at that time circulating in the East? Which group thought it was about them?
1. That the rulers of the world would come from the east - The Jews thought this referred to them, it actually meant Roman emperors
12. Who was sent to subdue the Jewish revolt? Who was also taken to serve on his staff?
1. Vespasian, who took his eldest son Titus with him
13. How did Vespasian's grandmother react to an omen from an ancient oak tree that Vespasian would one day be emperor?
1. Mocked it: "Fancy your going soft in the head before your old mother does!"
14. How did Gaius punish Vespasian for neglecting his job as a street cleaner? How was this interpreted?
1. He had soldiers load Vespasian's toga with mud - was taken as a sign that one day the soil of Italy would be trampled by Civil War, and Vespasian would protect it in his bosom
15. What did the god Carmel promise Vespasian? (Carmel is the Jewish Gid - Mount Carmel was a sacred site in Judaea)
1. He would never be disappointed in what he desired, no matter how lofty his ambitions
16. Which distinguished Jewish prisoner proclaimed he would one day be emperor
1. Flavius Josephus (as in THE Josephus)