The year 69 was notable chiefly for the continued prosecution of the Jewish War. IJefore loth .luly all the troojis in .ludica and Syria as well as Egypt, and certain client-princes, had taken the
oath to Vespasian. The necessary military and linancial iprcparations were made to assert liisclaiiu against \ it^'llius. Vespasian marched to Antiocli and, after entering into relations with the Parthi ans and -Vrmenians, accompanied Titus to Alexan- dria. The aim of this visit was to occupy Egypt, as it was one of the chief centres ot the corn supjily, a rich province, and a suitable ba.-e of ojierations. Dispatches were sent to all the generals and armies, and Mucian undertook the campaign against Vitellius. Anicetus, a frecd- man of the last PoiAic king Polemo, attempted to create a rising in favour of Vitellius, hut lie was cruslicd and jiut to ileatli. About the end ol No- vember Ves])asian heard that Mucian had fought a decisive battle at Cremona in N. Italy (•29th October). Early in November Mucian had also sent a legion to put down the Dacians, who took adv.antage of the unsettled state of the Emiiire to attack the Uoman military camps in Mo.'sia. Mucian's army numbered about 2U.UU0 men, and with him the Byzantine licet co-operated. The army crossed Asia Minor by Cappadocia and Pliry- gia. Meanwhile the Illyrian army had declared for Vespasian. The result of this was that in all six legions were added to his forces. A number of other legions, however, adopted a waiting attitude. Antonius Primus, commander of tiie seventii legion, had been ordered to remain at Aquileia, but of his own accord he marched into Italy. The Adriatic anil Tyrrhenian fleets deserted to Ves- psisian. Antonius Primus, in the night battle at Cremona already mentioned, defeated the Vitel- lians utterly. Three legions in Sp.ain and one in Hritain now came over to Vespasian. In Piome his party, led by his brother, did not fare so well ; for on lOtli December Sabinus was captured and put to death. Domitian, however, escaped with his life. On 2Ist December Antonius came to Pome and captnred it, the capture being followed by the death of Vitellius. Domitian was welcomed liy the army as C:esar, and the next day the senate recognized \'espasian as lMn]ieror. At the same time the Flavian generals received honours. Early in 70 the interests of Vespasian were in the hands of Mucian, who meantime enjoyed all the inestige of the pnnceps. There were serious disturbances in Germany and (Jaul, in which .hilius Civilis, a man of noble descent among the liatavi, played a prominent part. At first he allowed the troojis to declare for Ve.spasian, but afterwards he explained that he wanted to hght for freedom from the yoke of Home. Defection spread widely. I^Iucian, ac- companied by Domitian, had been preparing a counterblow. It is not necessary to give the details of the campaign. Suffice it to say that the Koman dominion was speedily restoreil. In the first half of the year disturbances in Africa had been quelled, and the Sarinatians, who had invaded Mojsia, were defeated.
Vespasian received the news of his recognition by the senate early in .January, while he was still in Alexandria, wliere his linancial arrangements were mocked at by the jieople. He postponed his departure till the summer, and travelled bv Khodes and Greece to Corcyra and Calabria. l''he exact date of his arrival in Home is unknown. The restoration of the city, which had sullered seriously in the recent disturbances, early engaged his attention. In p.'irticular, the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was rebuilt, and the documents which had perished in the Record OfBce were, as far as possible, rejjlaced. A road was built in Sardinia. In this year also a consular legate was sent to govern the province Ca]ipadocia, instead of a procurator as hitherto. In 71, probably in the middle of June, Titus arrived in Rome, and about 1st July the joint triumph over Judiea took place
638
VESPASIAN
VESPASIAN
(see art. Titus). As a sign of universal peace the temple of Janus was closed, and the building of a Temple of Peace begun. Aqueducts and streets in tlie city were restored at the cost of the Emperor. Lucilius Bassus completed the work of the sub- jugation of Jud;ea.
Palestine was now made the private property of the Emperor, like Egypt ; 800 veterans were settled at Ammaus, about 3 or 4 miles from Jerusalem, and the old Temple tax (Mt IV^-*) had to be paid to Jupiter Capitolinus. Important changes were made in the constitution of the legions at this time, especially by the discharge of those that had proved disloyal. Loyal discharged soldiers were settled in colonite. \n Britain the gentle Vettius Bolanus was replaced by the more vigorous PetUius Cerialis. About this time the worship of the Emperor was established in Africa. In 72 Sardinia and Corsica, previously a senatorial province, be- came Imperial. In the same year Antiochus IV. of Commagene revolted from Rome, but was de- feated and captured by the governor of Syria, Cresennius Peetus. Antiochus was ordered to live at Laced;emon, and his sons were allowed to come to Rome, where they obtained the citizenship. Commagene was taken over and added to the province Syria.
The year 73 was marked by the exercise of the censorship on the part of Vespasian and Titus. The activities of this office, which had for the most part fallen into disuse, were manifold. For ex- ample, these colleagues planned anew, or refounded, the city of Rome. The constant problem of the overflowing of the Tiber also engaged their atten- tion. The permanent camps at Vindonissa and Carnuntum were enlarged. Thus the Danube line was strengthened against the troublesome Danube peoples, and the towns Scarbantia and Savaria on the road to Aquileia were protected. Vespasian took away the liberty Nero had restored to Greece, and made it again a province Aehaia, on the perfectly good ground that the Greeks had ceased to understand how to use liberty. As a senatorial province it was governed by an ex-prtetor with the title proconsul, as it had been previously in St. Paul's time. A rising of the Jews was subdued in this year, and the town Masada, the last strong- hold of the Sicarii in Palestine, was destroyed. They, however, aroused the Alexandrian Jews against the Empire. As a punishment the secondary temple at Heliopolis was destroyed, by order of the Emperor. A further disturbance in Cyrene needs mention only. In 74 the regulation of the Tiber was continued, and the censorship came to an end. In recognition of the support which Spain had given to Vespasian, the whole free population of the province was given the partial Roman citizenship known as ius Latii. Another aspect of censorial duty was the purging of the orclers. Many unworthy members of the senatorial and equestrian orders were ejected. The patrician families were (in 73) increased from 200 to 1000, among the many men thus promoted being Cn. Julius Agricola, later the governor of Britain. About this time a number of Stoic and Cynic philosophers, who were of anti-monarchical ten- dencies, were expelled from Rome. From inscrip- tions only do we learn of important military operations in Germany (e.g. the Black Forest) at this time, accompanied by the building of a new road with fortresses, perhaps to keep tlie way open between the Rhine and the Danube. The repair of a road in Sardinia is also recorded for this year. In 75 the Temple of Peace, be^n in 71, was com- pleted and opened. Of this richly adorned temple, which included a library, not a trace remains. In the same year a colossal statue of Nero (100-120 ft. high), which had stood in his Golden House, was