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The Flavian Dynasty

Vespasian (70-79)

Recovery is the keyword for Vespasian. He recovered peace, he recovered provinces, and he recovered the finances, which were in a shambles after the civil war. He even recovered public lands, which over the years had been encroached upon by wealthy landowners.

Vespasian was not born a Roman, nor was he noble. He was born at Reate, in the Sabine hills, the son of a member of the equites. But his family was wealthy and influential locally, and Vespasian was able to enter a career in the Senate. He served in Britain under Claudius and was proconsul of Africa in 63. He was fifty-eight years old when Nero appointed him to Palestine in 67, to end the revolt of the Jews.

With Vespasian we get the famous “secret of the empire”—that emperors did not have to be made in Rome. The man himself was not made in Rome, nor was his career, nor was his base of power there. Vespasian is significant, therefore, along with the civil war that brought him to power, in marking a first step in making the city of Rome something less than the absolute heart of the Empire.

During the civil war, a movement began in Gaul for independence from Rome. This theme will occur again and again for the rest of the history of the Empire. Whenever imperial power was weak, the Gauls would put forward their own emperor. This particular revolt was quelled by 70, but it was a sign that however Romanized were the Gauls, they did not submit fully to rule from Rome.