The Flavians

 The Situation After Vitellius

• Following Vitellius' death, the Flavian supporters took control of the turbulent situation in Rome
• Vespasian remained in Egypt for a long time, ensuring the situation in the provinces stabilised
• In Rome, Mucianus and Domitian took control of the government, of the latter "While not yet prepared to give his mind to his official responsibilities, he was already playing the part of an emperor's son so far as seducing girls and women went" - Tacitus
• Titus remained in Judaea, crushing the last of the Jewish revolt and preparing for an assault upon Jerusalem
• Antonius Primus, the "rogue general" who had seized Rome unexpectedly, helped himself to treasure from the imperial palace by humbly stood down when Mucianus arrived, and gave over his support to Vespasian

The Accession of Vespasian, 69-70 AD

• Vespasian was a civil war emperor, technically no different than the others, but certain hopeful signs proved the difference between Vespasian and his short-lived predecessors:
• Vespasian seemed to be aiming for stability and restoration
• Vespasian seemed willing to work with the senate
• Vespasian and his sons formed a simple, recognisable dynasty
• "Vespasian spoke [to the senate] as if he were truly emperor, modestly concerning himself, and on public issues like a statesman. The senate in its turn showed a proper respect. By its decree Vespasian received the consulship with his son Titus as colleague, and Domitian was accorded the praetorship and the powers of a consul" - Tacitus
• Thus began the twenty-seven year Flavian Dynasty of emperors

Making an Emperor: Epigraphic Evidence

• One key piece of evidence related to Vespasian'a accession comes in the form of a bronze tablet found in Rome, the "Lex De Imperio Vespasiani" (The Law Concerning the Power of Vespasian)
• The tablet is a senatorial inscription, of which only the latter half has survived
• The tablet details the Senatorial bill that was put to the Roman people, granting Vespasian the powers of emperor

Activity

• What powers were granted to Vespasian according to this inscription?
• Had the right to "conclude treaties with whomever he wishes"
• Tribunician power
• Basically amalgamated the powers of all previous emperors
• Previous powers that other emperors had would be more powerful under this new political context
• Some of the powers are (perhaps deliberately) quite vague, which allowed Vespasian more room to push the boundaries of what these powers could do
• Historical continuity - he is not completely abandoning the traditions of the empire
• What emperors does Vespasian model himself on? Which emperors are omitted? Why do you think this might be?
• Relied on the legal precedence laid down by the Julio-Claudian emperors, which means the senate would have been comfortable with it. Emphasises the legality of his position through being decreed powers by the senate - Acta Senatus
• Modelled himself on the "good" emperors - Augustus, Tiberius and Claudius, while notably excluding Caligula and Nero

Vespasian 69-79 AD: A Reign of Restoration

• Vespasian provided much-needed leadership and stability after the tumultuous years before
• He reformed Rome's financial system and saved it from bankruptcy
• He reorganised the Senate, removing rivals and adding to his allies
• He made some changes to provincial organisation, taking charge of rich provinces such as Greece and Macedonia

Propaganda Campaign

• Vespasian needed to ensure the legitimacy of his power, so he undertook a large propaganda campaign to secure this
• Coins were minted celebrating peace
• Use of the Imperial Cult in the provinces
• Most famously, the construction of the Colosseum - also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre
• The Amphitheatre was built on the site of Nero's much hated Domus Aurea, a sign of a changing relationship between emperor and people

Titus AD 79-81 

• Renown
• When Vespasian died in AD 79, rule passed to his son, Titus - the Flavian Dynasty was established
• Titus was also a renowned military commander, who had served with his father
• However, despite his later successful reign he had a reputation in his youth of brutality and recklessness
• A Good Emperor
• As emperor, he completed the construction of the Colosseum (Vespasian had died before its completion)
• His reign was short, and so no long term policies were enacted, however, his clemency was shown with how he dealt with two major disasters during his reign: the eruption of Vesuvius and a second fire in Rome
• Titus offered generous relief for both of these disasters, which earned him admiration from all in Rome
• After barely two years, Titus died of a fever, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Domitian

Domitian AD 81-96

• Domitian had lived in the shadow of his far more successful brother
• As emperor, he modelled himself on Augustus and Tiberius and fostered a policy of religious, military and cultural propaganda, which earned him the love of the common people
• He initiated a massive building programme to restore the damaged city of Rome
• His general, Agricola (Tacitus' father-in-law) subdued large parts of Scotland

A Divisive Emperor

• Though popular with the people, he was particularly paranoid of threats to his power, especially from the Senate
• Because of this, he stripped the Senate of most of its responsibilities, and persecuted Senators under the guise of maiestas trials
• Eventually, a conspiracy within the palace was organised by court officials
• Domitian was murdered by one of his freedmen, Stephanus. He had concealed a dagger on his person by faking an injury and wearing a bandage with the weapon inside
• The Senate rejoiced at his death, and passed a damnatio memoriae on his memory: coins and statues were melted, and he was erased from all public records
• Writers who had lived through his reign, such as Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio and the Younger Pliny all recorded histories portraying him as a ruthless tyrant

The Character of the Flavians

• As with the Julio-Claudians, the sources on the personalities of our three Flavian emperors are problematic at best. Tacitus sums up the situation:
• "Truth too, suffered in more ways than one. To an understandable ignorance of policy, which now lay outside public control, was in due course added a passion for flattery, or else a hatred for autocrats" - Tacitus
• What can we learn of the emperors' personalities?
• What seems to be the attitude of each emperor towards ruling Rome?

Vespasian

• Suetonius
• he would rise early to deal with all official correspondences - motivated, hardworking - clearly takes his job very seriously
• He never bore grudges against people, he only condemned Helvidius Priscus after a long while of bearing his criticisms, and he would often weep when he needed to condemn people to death  - patient and compassionate
• he ensured food prices were kept low for the common people. When an inventor met with Vespasian to offer a design for a new mechanism to carry heavy loads up hills, he generously rewarded them but turned the offer down - he claimed he wanted to ensure the common people always had a means of employment - cares more for the people than money - he took a great deal of interest in protecting the welfare of the people of the empire
• Source points out his sense of humour - Salvius Liberalis once made him laugh by asking "does the emperor really care or not whether Hipparchus is or is not worth a million gold?" and his response to Demetrius the Cynic who kept yelling at him was "good dog" - absolute joker
• He had a very dry, rough sense of humour and spoke with a common accent - down to earth
• He was the first to pay teachers an annual salary of 100,000 sesterces - further evidence of his concern for Rome's wellbeing
• "his one serious failing was avarice" - he would stockpile goods and resell them at a higher price, he would extract fees from candidates for public office, would deliberately pick candidates who were wealthy so that he could sponge money off of them - called them his "sponges" - deliberately picked the greediest procurators so he could later charge them with extortion - he justified his greed by claiming that he was restoring the treasury that had been depleted from the civil war. He claimed he needed 40 billion sesterces to restore Rome's finances
• he neither claimed Tribunician Power nor Father of the Country until later in his reign - he does not want to exercise the extreme powers of emperor, giving more space for the Senate to take charge
• Cassius Dio
• He behaved more as a private citizen than as an emperor. He would greet everyone in the streets and would fine publicly rather than in the palace, and would allow an audience with anyone - shows him to be open and considers everyone's say, not just the senate
• he showed a "meticulous" respect for the Senate - he always ensured that he would take seriously all the Senate's recommendations, and when he himself could not attend meetings would send his sons in his place - treats the senate as colleagues in power rather than his inferiors and wants the to be involved in policy making
• In all public expenditure, he was incredibly generous, but in his private life he was economical to the extreme - shows his humility - he doesn't look down on the plebs
• He once wept when meeting with the Senate who would not listen to his decisions, his only words were "my son is going to be my successor, no one else" - clear that Vespasian is ensuring that he will establish a dynasty when he dies

Titus

• Suetonius/Cassius Dio:
• both emphasise that he was cruel and excessive - he held outrageous parties with his extravagant friends, kept a troupe of toyboys and eunuchs, and had an infamous affair with Queen Berenice. 
• His accession was the least well-received in Rome. The people expected another Nero.
•  As prince, he was in charge of the Praetorian Guard, a position usually reserved for the Equestrians. If anyone aroused his suspicions he would quickly dispatch soldiers to execute them - Vesapasian did this to ensure the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard and to secure his own safety, as Galba and other emperors had been removed by the Praetorians
• Suetonius
• Once he ascended to the throne it turned out he was in fact "no monster but an exceptionally noble character"
• he always ensured he would help someone every day, and when he could not achieve this he said "my friends, I have wasted a day" - takes his role very seriously and sees said role as helping people
• No emperor could have been less of a robber than Titus. He showed great respect for private property, held impressive games (including a naval battle on an artificial lake and a hunt for 5,000 beasts where he allowed the crowd to choose their preference of gladiators). He also used his public baths to keep up with people - seems to show a genuine concern for the wellbeing of Rome's citizens, rather than just acting helpful for the sake of political expediency
• After a fire in Rome, he auctioned his own property to pay for rebuilding rather than taxes - "this has ruined me"
• When there was a plague he attempted to control it by every possible means, both human and divine, ensuring that all proper religious ceremonies were performed
• After Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD he set up a board of consuls chosen by lot to relieve the distress and he redirected state funds from any inheritances to rebuild the cities
• his concern for the people during these crises was more like "the concerns of a father than an emperor"
• he invited conspirators to the games, and let them inspect the weapons with him - shows that he trusts the Senators. He is demonstrating his forgiveness of their plots by allowing them to inspect the (sharp) weapons with him
• he was particularly angry at the Informers (Delatores). He even had them publicly flogged and some were sold into slavery - the senate would have loved this as the Delatores were the scourge of the senate and the main reason behind maiestas trials
• he was "naturally kind-hearted" and could not bring himself to punish his brother Domitian, who constantly plotted against him
• Titus swore he would rather "die than take a life"
• Cassius Dio
• he dealt with the fire in Rome by fixing the ruined areas out of his own existing resources rather than with taxes
• during his reign, no senator was put to death. Even though he was the target of conspiracies
• he broke off his relationship with Queen Berenice - shows his dedication to Rome over his own personal desires
• Tacitus
• he lived a life of pleasure in his youth but "proved more self-disciplined during his own reign than his father's". He was concerned to "live up to his new position by cutting a fine character and showing an enterprise in arms" he had a "polite and affable manner"

All the sources acknowledge that once Titus became emperor he stepped up to his responsibilities, and his turn of character was dramatic but of course, welcomed.

Cassius Dio goes against the other sources by claiming that if he had reigned longer his negative side would have shown more. His untimely death after just two years meant he died before his true reputation could be revealed

Domitian

• Suetonius
• "we have no cause to be ashamed of the Flavian record, though it is generally admitted that Domitian's cruelty and greed justified his assassination". Summarises the historical perceptions of the Flavians at the time. Vespasian and Titus were admired, but Domitian was condemned - (his increasing use of maiestas as a result of his greed, paranoia and cruelty would lead to his condemnation by the ancient sources such as Tacitus and Pliny the Younger - senators who survived his reign)
• "lack of funds made him greedy and the fear of assassination made him cruel"
• "he never stopped plotting, secretly or openly, against his brother"
• he launched a "quite unnecessary" campaign into Gaul and Germany to "acquire a reputation that would compare favourably with his brother" - emphasises his feelings of inadequacy in comparison to his brother, and how this led him to conduct unnecessary military campaigns
• wheneber Titus and Vespasian went out in their sedan chairs, Domitian had to follow behind in a litter (Vespasian was emphasising that Titus was his intended heir, not Domitian)
• at Vespasian's death, Domitian "toyed with the idea of offering the troops twice as large a bounty as Titus" to take over, and claimed "that his father's will must have been tampered with, since it originally assigned him half the empire" (again shows his insecurity vs Titus, and his ambition to rule
• when Titus was dying, Domitian allegedly neglected him in order to speed up his death (only a rumour but if true shows that he has no qualms about being ruthless and cunning to achieve his own political ends and ambitions)
• Domitian sprent hours alone at the beginning of his reign catching flies and stabbing them with his needle-sharp pen. A joke emerged about him from a senator, Vibius Crispus. When asked whether anyone was closeted with the emperor, he replied "no, not even a fly"
• "for a while he governed in an uneven fashion: that is to say, his vices were at first balanced by his virtues... later, he transformed his virtues into vices too" (hints that there were more admirable aspects of Domitian's reign and conduct, but that these became less frequent over time. The sources don't really mention his 'good' policies
• Cassius Dio
• "Like a thunderbolt, he would often launch devastating attacks upon people, sometimes humiliating the, shamefully, at other times often deliberately inflict physical injuries on them" (conveying that he was quite cruel, a large contrast to his brother and father)
• Also tells us the odd anecdote of Domitian spearing flies with his pen, and the jokes this arose. On this issue, Dio says "this is hardly appropriate material for a serious historical record, but I feel compelled to mention it, both because it is typical behaviour and therefore a useful indication of his character"
• Also tells us the rumour that Domitian hastened Titus' death "rumour has it that he was murdered by his brother, because he had been the target of a previous plot by Domitian. But other sources state that he had fallen ill"
• "Whatever the truth of the story, Domitian rode off to Rome while Titus was still alive, entered the camp of the Praetorian Guard, received the title and powers of the emperor, and gave the soldiers all the same donatives as his brother had done before him". Dio tells us Titus' last words were that he had "one mistake" - either an alleged affair with Domitian's wife, or because he had not had Domitian killed when he was caught plotting against him
• "Other however, suggest (and I incline to agree) that when he caught Domitian manifestly plotting against him, his mistake was not to have killed him, preferring himself to be killed by him instead. In so doing, he had handed over the Roman empire to the sort of man whose character will be revealed in the next chapters of this history"
• "Domitian was aggressive and bad-tempered, but also treacherous and cunning. From the first two characteristics came his impetuosity, from the latter his deviousness"
• "he felt no genuine affection for anyone, except one or two women; but he always put on a great show of affection for anyone whom he most wanted to murder next"
• "he trusted least those who had done him some favour or aided and abetted his most nefarious crimes; as a result, he took care to eliminate anyone who had provided him with generous gifts of cash or given false evidence against large numbers of people, particularly if they were slaves who had laid information of any kind against their masters" (his attitudes towards the Senate are emphasised here - his paranoia led him to re-introduce Maiestas on an unprecedented scale, but as Dio (and elsewhere Suetonius) says he was concerned that by not punishing informers he might encourage their existence. This, however, did not seem to stop him. He took out his paranoia and greed on the Senate - even the informers who informed on other senators were not above suspicion)
• "he once issued an announcement to the effect that any emperor who did not punish informers was himself responsible for encouraging their existence"
• Epitome de Caesaribus
• "he was terrifying for slaughtering the upper classes and began to mete out punishments and, like Gaius Caligula, began to insist on being called 'Lord and God'
• Ridiculously idle, he used to pursue swarms of flies, when everyone had been sent out; disgracefully lustful, he referred to his disgraceful exercise by the Greek term 'wrestling in bed' so when someone was asked whether anyone was in the palace, the reply was "not even a fly"
• The Epitome is a strange summary of Domitian's character (perhaps because it is meant to be an "epitome", a summary) - you can use this source as a way of demonstrating Domitian's legacy, as the Epitome was written centuries after. Being known for "slaughtering the upper classes" says quite a lot, as well as the comparison to Caligula