Vespasian: A Simple Soldier

 

Vespasian is usually remembered as the builder of the Colosseum and an emperor with a witty sense of humor.  Like Augustus, Vespasian was the founder of a dynasty and as such has an aura of legend has grown about him.  He was an unlikely emperor with his age and humble origins seeming to be against him but he also had the ambition to stage a successful revolt although Flavian propaganda made it appear that Vespasian was called to the purple by destiny.   Vespasian had many contradictions: a jovial emperor who shut the Senate out of imperial decisions; the military leader who overthrew an emperor but did none of the fighting; a man with a reputation for being stingy who created the largest public building in Rome. This article will explore the life of the humble soldier who became an emperor.  

 

                                                                     

Family

 

Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born during the evening of November 17, 9 CE in a hamlet named Falacrina in the Sabine country.  The Sabine country is a mountainous area north-east of Rome extending to the uplands of the Apennines; with only one-third its area open to cultivation the people engaged in the cultivation of olives, vines and herbs with many farmers keeping herds of livestock; the harsh living conditions nurtured tough-minded individuals.  Vespasian grew up with the hard-work ethic of the Sabines and kept his country manners and accent as he moved up the political ladder that betrayed his humble origins.  Vespasian spent as much time as he could in his native land and, as emperor, each summer found him in residence and eventually he would die there at Aqua Cutiliae.  More than anything, he loved his grandmother’s estate where he came of age and preserved the place as it had been during her lifetime.  He honored his grandmother’s memory by using a silver cup that she had owned during special occasions.

 

On his father’s side, Vespasian was descended from Titus Flavius Petro, who had been a soldier in Pompey’s army, perhaps as a centurion.  All that is known of his military service is that he fled from the battlefield at Pharsalus and was pardoned by Caesar; he afterward became a successful banker.  Petro’s name has Gallic origins and he was possibly a newcomer to Italy where he settled and married Tertulla, a native of Etruria. Petro’s son, Titus Flavius Sabinus, also had a lackluster military career.  According to Suetonius, he was a senior centurion forced to retire the command of a cohort due to ill health or he may have avoided military service completely.  Also like his father Sabinus became a banker, attained equestrian rank and was in charge of the collection of the 2.5 percent tax on Asian goods.  His reputation for honesty was such that the citizens of Asia erected statues to Sabinus inscribed “An honest tax-gatherer” (Vesp. 1.2-3).  Sabinus’s wife, Vespasia Polla, came from an eminent family: her father Vespasius Pollio served as praefectus castorum, a rank held by senior centurions, and her brother became a member of the Senate.  Eventually, Sabinus moved his banking operations from Asia to the Helvetii, a tribe that lived in the area of modern Switzerland, where there was a demand for capital among the up-and-coming provincials.  His dealings must have been very lucrative since Sabinus acquired enough wealth to help his sons, Vespasian and Sabinus II, begin senatorial careers.  While Sabinus was building his fortune in Asia and Gaul, Vespasian was reared by his paternal grandmother Tertulla at her estate at Cosa in Etruria. 

 

Nothing is known of Vespasian’s education; although he never showed an inclination toward literature his schooling must have been adequate for his social advancement. Vespasian is depicted lacking the ambition of his brother as a young man.  He assumed the toga virilis in about 25 but did not accept the latus clavus (the broad strip on the tunic that was a prerogative of the senatorial order) as had his brother Sabinus.  The offer of the latus clavus indicates the influential connections (possibly with Germanicus) that Sabinus had acquired and would help his sons enter into promising careers. [1]  Suetonius says he only applied for the distinction after his mother provoked him by calling him his brother’s footman (Vesp.2.2) but there may have been more to his decision than lack of ambition.  Perhaps Vespasian was uncertain about leaving the equestrian order, where a successful career was equally possible, for a senatorial career.  Since we do not know who the patron was that offered the honor we canto know if there could have been some mistrust on Vespasian’s part.  

 

                                                                 

Connections

 

Much of the old Republican nobility had died out during the civil wars and early empire; a new aristocracy was needed to fill the void; to become part of this emerging group one needed wealth and access to influential patrons.  One group of newly powerful families were the Petronii, Plautii and Vitellii; families that had become closely connected through marriage and were the clients of the Claudian family, particularly to Germanicus; a connection that was maintained from the early years of Tiberius’ reign and continued into Claudius’ reign. [2]  The family members were not a political party but rather an interconnected family group that sought to promote their interests and cope with the ups and downs of politics in the early empire.   The closeness to Germanicus is evidenced by four members of the families that received consulships between 16 and 19.  The death of Germanicus in 19 sent the families looking for another patron eventually serving Drusus Caesar, Tiberius’ son, and Claudius.  The death of Drusus in 23 and rise of Sejanus caused even more difficulties until the ascendance of Gaius from 31 through 37 gave Germanicus’ circle the patron they could place their hopes upon.  When Claudius seized power in 41, the Plautii and Vitelli found themselves at the center of power and their client Vespasian reaped the benefits of his association. [3] Vespasian’s ties to this group were strengthened through his mistress, Caenis; the most trusted of Antonia’s freedwomen who also provided a link to the imperial family (Dio 65(66).14.1-2).  He probably got to know the oriental group that frequented Antonia’s circle, particularly M. Julius Agrippa (Agrippa II) and T. Julius Alexander, both of whom would play decisive roles in Vespasian’s assumption of power.  

 

                                                           

Domitilla

 

Vespasian married Flavia Domitilla early in his career.  Suetonius does not say when the marriage took place and he probably did not know, focusing instead on Domitilla’s status.  Her father, Flavis Liberalis, came from a small town in Etruria named Ferentium, famous as Otho’s birthplace.   He may have had a connection to the Flavians as evidenced by his name but one is not mentioned by Suetonius.  Liberalis was of equestrian status and held a position on the staff of a questor.  The main interest of Suetonius in Domitilla was the court proceeding that established her status as freeborn and a Roman citizen.  At the time, she had only Latin rights, those that a master would grant to his slave through an informal agreement. It is possible that Liberalis married a slave and so Domitilla assumed the status of her mother but from what Suetonius tell us we can conclude that she had been born free, was reduced to a status of servitude, had been granted her freedom informally and her original status was restored by the court proceeding.  It is possible that Domitilla might have been abandoned or sold into servitude.

 

Vespasian probably wanted the marriage because Domitilla was a kinswoman and may have been arranged to keep property within the family.  When Vespasian became emperor the now deceased Domitilla was cloaked in silence.  Clearly, it was an unsuitable match the emperor did not wish to have remembered and she was not granted special honors and did not appear in his coinage. [4] Vespasian never remarried but resumed his relationship with Caenis, whom he treated as his legal wife, and several concubines (Vesp. 3.21, Dom. 12.3; Dio 66.14.1-4).

 

                                                           

A  Political Career

 

Vespasian’s political career has not been recorded by ancient historians in any detail so it is not certain when he held his offices.  The first step in beginning a political career for someone from a senatorial family was one of the minor magistrates known collectively as the vigintivirate.  None of the ancient writers say that Vespasian held one of these offices but it was the norm and modern historians are spit as to when he may have held such an office. [5]  What is certain is that Vespasian would have held one of the less prestigious offices such as overseeing street cleaning or in charge of executions and book burnings.  There is no doubt that Vespasian served as tribune in Thrace (Vesp. 2.3) under the governor of Moesia, C. Poppaeus Sabinus, who faced several disturbances among the native tribes and successfully secured his province for which he won triumphal decorations.  He would have served with one of two legions: V Macedonica or IV Scythica, the latter the most probably choice since when V Macedonica was assigned to fight in the Jewish War no prior connection with Vespasian is mentioned.  Because of the unrest in Thrace following the rebellion, Vespasian is likely to have spent all of his time in the province as the situation remained sensitive, a period of three to four years, returning to Rome before 34. 

 

Vespasian was eligible for the quaestorship in 33 when he was 24.[6] There were twenty positions available each year, some as assistants to the emperor and the consuls and some far less prestigious serving provincial governors.  Vespasian drew one of the later positions in Crete and Cyrene, a province that was not governed by an ex-praetor.  Questorships began in December but the actual time spent in the province was from June through May when the governor was in residence.  After an uneventful tenure, Vespasian probably returned to Rome in the summer of 36. The next obligatory post was the praetorship which carried with it the power to command and opened the way for a future governorship.  The high born could expect to go directly from their questorship to a praetorship, following the two obligatory years between offices. [7] New men like Vespasian found it expedient to try for one of the non-obligatory aedilships that would give him a better chance at the praetorship.  The six aedilship posts were concerned with the care of the city, including the water supply, the streets, maintaining order in cult practices and the operation of Rome’s markets, and were elected annually.  Augustus found the aedelships were hard to fill positions but when Vespasian tried for one in 36 there was heavy competition for the posts, probably due to friends of the heir-apparent Gaius seeking office.  Vespasian was defeated in the election but was successful the following year, albeit with the fewest number of votes, and took the sixth and last position in 38 – the first full year of Gaius’ reign (Dio 59.12.2-3; Vesp.2.3).  The expenses incurred from these elections strained Vespasian’s finances and the reduced circumstances of the family are reflected by Suetonius’ claim that Titus was born in a dingy house on December 30, 39 CE.  

 

As aedile Vespasian met with the displeasure of Gaius when the emperor found the streets too dirty and had mud dumped in his tunic.  The story squares with Gaius’ mischievous nature but Vespasian learned how to get on the emperor’s good side through flattery (Vesp. 5.3).  There was an interval of one year between Vespasian’s aedilship and praetorship and he assumed the latter office in January 40.  There are three speeches recorded by Suetonius that Vespasian made as praetor. The first occurred soon after he assumed office when Agrippina had almost completed her forced walk to Rome, carrying the ashes of Marcus Lepidus, following the conspiracy of Gaetulicus.   When the conspiracy was debated in the Senate Vespasian proposed that as a punishment the ashes of the conspirators should be left unburied. After Gaius claimed a victory against the Cannenefates (a German tribe on the North Sea coast) Vespasian made a speech before the Senate suggesting that games be held to celebrate the victory.  Gaius returned to Rome to celebrate his ovation on his birthday (August 31) and Vespasian was invited to dine with the emperor, for which he expressed his thanks during a session of the Senate (Vesp. 2.3). [8]

 

Following his praetorship, Vespasian did not immediately receive a governorship and was in Rome when Gaius was assassinated in January 41.  As a novus homo he could hope to find himself in charge of a minor province but with Claudius as the new emperor Vespasian’s fortunes underwent a dramatic turn around. A word from Narsissus and he took command of II Augusta, selected to be among the legions that would invade Britain (Vesp. 4.1; Hist 3.44).  The legion was posted on the Rhine where Roman troops saw action late in Gaius’ reign, following his northern campaign of 39-40.   During that campaign Galba (who had replaced Gaetulicus) together with P. Gabinius Secundus battled the Canninefates and Chatti; Gabinius was able to recover the third eagle that had been lost in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE.  Josephus claims that Vespasian and II Augusta had a major role in the fighting (JB 3.4).    

 

In the spring of 43, Vespasian and his legion joined the invasion of Britain.  The leader of the Roman forces was Aulus Plautius, who had earlier that year been instrumental in the defeat of the rebellion of Scribonianus.  Plautius was assigned four legions and an equivalent number of auxiliaries.  The general took his own legion IX Hispana and from the Rhine he received legions XX, XIV Gemina and Vespasian’s II Augusta.  Vespasian’s brother Sabinus was also in command of a legion, probably XIV Gemina.  The Romans landed without opposition and the Britons appeared to be unwilling to fight the invaders.  Finally, an army of the Britons, estimated at sixty to eighty thousand, took a stand on the opposite back of the Medway River.  Plautius sent his Batavian cavalry, famed for their ability to swim rivers with their mounts, downstream where they crossed the Medway and attacked the Britons. Meanwhile, Vespasian took II Augusta upstream where he crossed the river, along with XIV Gemina, unnoticed, using a bridge of boats.  After a hard two day struggle the Britons withdrew leaving the Thames open to the Romans.   

 

Vespasian was then given the task of expanding the conquest into Kent and Sussex.  Suetonius provides a summary of the campaign of II Augusta relating that they fought thirty pitched battles and captured twenty towns, along with the Isle of Wight and subdued two strong tribes, probably the Belgae and Durotriges (Vesp. 4.1).  Plautius returned to Rome in 47 where he received an ovation.  For helping to bring Claudius’ dream of conquest into reality, Vespasian received the ornamenta triumphalia, normally far beyond a man of his rank, and a pair of priesthoods which were a great distinction. [9]  He probably returned to Rome in 46 or 47 but had to wait until 51 before he received his consulship, and then it occurred in the less prestigious final two months of the year but his colleague was Claudius himself.  [10]  Vespasian was 42 year old when he took office, the usual age that a novus homo could expect but an extraordinary distinction for the Flavians was the selection of Titus as a companion for Claudius’ son Britannicus and being educated with the prince. [11]   The year of Vespasian’s consulship also saw the birth of his second son Domitian on October 24. 

 

The selection of a new empress, following the execution of Messalina in 48, caused the long alliance between the Vitelli, Plautii and Petronii to fracture permanently.  The Vitellii and Pallas supported Agrippina the Younger while the Plautii and Narcissus favored Aelia Paetina.  The death of Lucius Vitellius in 51 was the final blow and the cooperation that had existed within this extended family group ended by the start of Nero’s reign.  As for the Flavians, Vespasian, as a supporter of Narcissus, found he was no longer welcome at court while Sabinus, who had supported Agrippina as Claudius’ wife, continued to have a brilliant career.  Although his days at court were finished for now Vespasian continued to fulfill his duties as a senator and priesthoods and served his consulship while Titus remained at court as the companion of Britannicus. Little was recorded about Vespasian in the years between his consulship and proconsulate in Africa.  He may have had the chance to renew his connections at court when Sabinus was named praefectus urbi in 56, following his proconsulship in Moesia.  Some time after 51, Vespasian’s daughter Domitilla was born; she died prior to her father’s reign but was old enough to have given birth to a daughter also named Domitilla. 

 

The date of Vespasian’s proconsulship is in dispute but probably occurred in 63/64. [12]  His tenure as governor of Africa was not successful: he was once pelted with turnips by a mob in the port city of Hadrumetum, probably because of a food shortage.  Later, when Vespasian was declared emperor, Africa sided with Vitellius.  On his return to Rome Vespasian, in his role as a senior senator, was one of Nero’s foremost amici.  However, it is his poverty that Suetonius stresses: his need to secure a loan from his brother and that he was forced to engage in trade (Vesp 4.3-4; Hist. 3.65.1).  Vespasian acquired the nickname “the muleteer” pointing to his being engaged in transportation operations; Pliny the Elder remarked that the mules of Reate, Vespasian’s home town, were famous (NH 8.167).  He may have supplied mules to Nero’s court and if this included supplying the empress Poppaea with her daily allotment of mule’s milk Vespasian would have become not only wealthy but influential.

 

The Pisonian Conspiracy of 65 marked a major turning point in Nero’s reign and began his assault on the aristocracy.  As commander of the urban cohorts Sabinus played a role in the suppression of the conspiracy.  Several friends of Vespasian were implicated and lost their lives, such as Barea Soranus and Thrasea Paetus (Hist. 4.7).  Soranus was the father-in-law of Titus and to protect his family Titus divorced his wife to sever any connection that might implicate the Flavians.  Vespasian remained in favor with the emperor and was selected to be a member of Nero’s entourage when he visited Greece in late 66.  Suetonius and Dio claim that Vespasian offending Nero by falling asleep during a performance in Greece (Vesp. 4; Dio 66.11.2), an event that Tacitus places at the Quinquennial games in Rome in 65 (Ann. 16.5).   It is possible that Vespasian committed such an error once but his reported estrangement from Nero is the product of pro-Flavian historians.  While in Greece, an event took place that would have a major impact on Vespasian’s life.  Nero summoned Domitius Corbulo, who had skillfully kept the Parthians at bay, to Greece; on his arrival in Corinth the general was ordered to kill himself.  Corbulo was replaced as governor of Syria by Gaius Licinius Mucianus [13] but the absence of Corbulo from the scene at the outbreak of the Jewish rebellion placed Vespasian at center stage.