Rome.
Since Revelation pictures the Roman State in conflict with the
Church, we need to get a picture of this great enemy. As Revelation was being
written Rome was reaching her ultimate greatness. Her boundaries extended from
the British Isles to the African Desert and from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Euphrates. To the people of that day it seemed that Rome was the world. From their humble beginnings in the 8th century BC as a minor people in a settlement on the Tiber River, the Romans conquered the entire Italian Peninsula and then went on to establish a vast Mediterranean based empire that lasted until the late 5th century AD.
According to legend, Rome was founded in the 8th century BC by the Latin Romulus, the first of a succession of kings. By the 5th century BC a senate had replaced the king and Rome had become a republic.
Under the republic rule, Rome gained control of all of Italy by the 3rd century BC. During the 2nd century her main rival Carthage was crushed leaving Rome as the major power of the central Mediterranean. By the time of Christ, Rome had become the great power, as we know it, having conquered an empire of all the lands and nations from Britain in northwest to Egypt in the southeast.
The two things which
made such a great empire possible were large, well-trained armies and well
maintained roads to move these armies quickly. The distant frontiers, protected
by garrisons of soldiers schooled in the discipline of Roman army life,
provided most of the known world with peace and security. As Rome grew and men
from conquered nations were taken into the army, the usual policy was to
station these soldiers far removed from their homelands. As we see during the
civil wars during the middle of the first century, these armies often became
very loyal to their commanders. The fear of the Roman legions went before them;
they seemed invincible.
As the empire
grew, wealth and luxury poured into the city of Rome. The economy of the empire
and the city depended upon the empires expansion, once this expansion stopped;
(around the 1st century) the empire slipped into a long slow
decline.
In contrast to
this wealth and extravagance there was much dire poverty. There was no work for
hire; the vast numbers of slaves did all the manual work. The idle poor swarmed
to the capital to be fed by the enormous dole system and to be amused by the
many interesting things of city life.
The senate
system of government broke down around the time of Julius Caesar and 17 years
after his death the Roman Republic had become the Roman Empire. The first
emperor was Augustus who ceased power in 27 BC. (See list of Emperors below).
The emperor
system continued until Theodosius I, 379 – 395 AD when the empire divided into
two parts, the Western and Eastern Empires. By the 5th century AD
Rome had been invaded and overthrown by tribal peoples who soon occupied large
segments of the western empire. In the east the Eastern Roman Empire became the
Byzantine Empire which survived well into the late middle ages.
It is hard to
compress nearly 10 centuries of history in only a few sentences but what really
concerns us is the period of the 1st century during the reigns of the first 11
emperors.
27 BC-AD
14 Augustus
14-37 Tiberius
37-41 Caligula
41-54 Claudius
54-68 Nero
68-69 Galba
69 Otho
69 Vitellius
69-79 Vespasian
79-81 Titus
81-96 Domitian
They are the seven kings mentioned in Revelation and also the 10 kings mentioned by Daniel. Below are articles from Microsoft Encarta and Encyclopaedia Britannica with background material on these emperors.
Julius Caesar.
INTRODUCTION
Caesar, Gaius Julius (100-44 BC), Roman general and statesman, who laid the foundations of the Roman
imperial system.
II EARLY LIFE
Born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100 BC, Caesar
belonged to the prestigious Julian clan; yet from early childhood he knew
controversy. His uncle by marriage was Gaius Marius, leader of the Populares.
This party supported agrarian reform and was opposed by the reactionary
Optimates, a senatorial faction. In his last year as consul (chief magistrate),
Marius exacted a terrifying toll on the Optimates. At the same time he had the
young Caesar appointed flamen dialis, one of an archaic priesthood with no
power. This identified him with his uncle’s extremist politics, and his
marriage in 84 BC to Cornelia, the daughter of Marius’s associate, Cinna,
further confirmed him as a radical. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla, leader of the
Optimates, was made dictator in 82 BC, he issued a list of opponents to be
executed. Although Caesar was not harmed, he was ordered by Sulla to divorce
Cornelia. Refusing that order, he found it prudent to leave Rome. He did not
return to the city until 78 BC, following Sulla’s resignation.
By then, Caesar was 22 years old. Unable to
gain office, he left Rome again and went to Rhodes, where he studied rhetoric;
he returned to Rome in 73 BC, a very persuasive speaker. The year before, while still in Rhodes,
he had been elected to the pontificate, an important college of Roman priests.
III TRIUMVIRATE
In 71 BC Pompey the Great, who had earned his
epithet in service under Sulla, returned to Rome, having defeated Quintus
Sertorius, the rebellious Populares general, in Spain. In the same year Marcus
Licinius Crassus, a rich patrician, suppressed the slave revolt led by
Spartacus in Italy. Both Pompey and Crassus obtained the consulship for 70 BC.
Pompey, who by this time had changed sides, was technically ineligible, but with
Caesar’s help had won the office. In 69 BC, Caesar was elected quaestor
(magistrate) and in 65 BC curule aedile, in which office he gained great
popularity for his lavish gladiatorial games. To pay for these, he borrowed
money from Crassus. This united the two men, who also found common cause with
Pompey. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC after a year as governor of
Spain, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey to form the First Triumvirate;
to cement their relationship further, Pompey married Caesar’s daughter, Julia.
With the support of this alliance, Caesar was elected consul for 59 BC despite
Optimate hostility, and in 58 BC he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul. For
the next seven years he led the campaigns known as the Gallic Wars at the end
of which Roman rule was established over central and northern Europe west of
the River Rhine.
While Caesar was in Gaul, his agents
attempted to dominate politics in Rome. This, however, threatened Pompey’s
position, and it became necessary for the triumvirs to arrange a meeting at
Luca in 56 BC, which resulted in a temporary reconciliation. It was decided
that Caesar would continue in Gaul for another five years, while Pompey and
Crassus would both be consuls for 55 BC; after that date, the triumvirs would
have proconsular control of their respective provinces. Caesar then left to put
down a revolt in Gaul and to lead an expedition to Britain. Crassus, ever eager
for military glory, went to his post in Syria. After entering into war with
Parthia, he was defeated and killed at Carrhae in 53 BC. This removed the last
buffer between Caesar and Pompey; their family ties had been broken by the
death of Julia in 54 BC.
IV
CIVIL WAR
In 52 BC, with Crassus out of the
way, Pompey was made sole consul. This office, combined with his other powers,
put him in a formidable position. Jealous of his younger rival, he determined
to break Caesar’s power, an objective that could not be achieved without first
depriving him of his command in Gaul. In order to protect himself, Caesar
suggested that he and Pompey both lay down their commands simultaneously, but
this was rejected; goaded by Pompey, the Senate summarily called upon Caesar to
resign his command and disband his army, or else be considered a public enemy.
The tribunes, who were Caesar’s agents, vetoed this motion, but they were
driven out of the Senate chamber. The Senate then entrusted Pompey with
providing for the safety of the state. His forces far outnumbered Caesar’s, but
they were scattered throughout the provinces, and his troops in Italy were not
prepared for war. Early in 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a small stream
separating his province of Cisalpine Gaul from Italy, and moved swiftly
southwards. Pompey fled to Brundisium and from there to Greece. Within three months Caesar controlled all Italy; his forces
then took Spain and the key port of Massilia (modern Marseille, France).
In Rome Caesar became dictator until
elected consul for 48 BC. At the beginning of that year he landed in Greece and destroyed
Pompey’s forces at Pharsalus. Pompey escaped to Egypt, where he was
assassinated. When Caesar arrived there, he installed Cleopatra, daughter of the late King
Ptolemy XI, as queen. In 47 BC he subdued Asia Minor—when he is supposed to have said “Veni, vidi,
vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”)—and returned to Rome as dictator. By 48 BC all Optimate forces had been
defeated and the Mediterranean world pacified.
V DICTATORSHIP AND
ASSASSINATION
The basis of Caesar’s power was his
position as “perpetual” dictator. According to the traditional Republican
constitution, this office could only be held for six months during a dire
emergency. Even before Caesar, however, that rule had been broken. Sulla had
reigned as dictator for several years, and Caesar followed this precedent. He
was also made consul for ten years in 45 BC and received the sanctity of
tribunes, making it illegal to harm him. In addition he obtained honours that increased
his prestige. He wore the robe, crown, and sceptre of a triumphant general and
used the title imperator. Furthermore, as Pontifex Maximus, he was head of the
state religion. Above all, however, he was in total command of the armies, and
this remained the main source of his power.
Caesar instituted a wide-ranging
programme of reform. In the provinces he eliminated the highly corrupt tax
system, sponsored the establishment of colonies of veterans, and extended Roman
citizenship. At home he reorganized the courts and increased the number of
senators. His reform of the calendar gave Rome a rational means of recording
time.
A number of senatorial families,
however, felt that Caesar threatened their position, and his honours and powers
made them fear that he wanted to be rex (king), a title they, as Republicans, hated.
In 44 BC, a group of senators, including Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius
Brutus, plotted his assassination. On the Ides (15th) of March 44 BC, when Caesar entered the Senate
house, the group killed him.
VI PERSONAL LIFE
After Caesar’s first wife, Cornelia,
died in 68 BC, he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. When the mysteries of
the Bona Dea, over which she presided, were violated, she was maligned by
gossips, and Caesar divorced her, telling the Senate that any wife of his must
remain above suspicion. His next marriage (59 BC) was to Calpurnia and was
politically motivated. Since Caesar had no male heirs, he stipulated in his will
that his great nephew, Octavius, become his successor. It was Octavius who
became Rome’s first emperor under the name of Augustus.
Caesar was a gifted writer, with a
clear and simple style. His Commentaries,
in which he described Gaul and his Gallic campaigns, is a major source of
information about the early Celtic and Germanic tribes.
VII
ACHIEVEMENTS
Scholarly opinion of
Caesar’s achievements is divided. Some regard him as an unscrupulous tyrant,
with an insatiable lust for power, and blame him for the demise of the Roman
Republic. Others, admitting that he could be ruthless, insist that the Republic
had already been destroyed. They maintain that to save the Roman world from
chaos a new type of government had to be created. In fact, Caesar’s reforms
brought stability to the Mediterranean world. He was also a superb general, who
inspired loyalty in his soldiers. As one of the most striking figures in the
ancient world he became the subject of many literary and biographical works,
including the play Julius Caesar (1599) by the English dramatist
William Shakespeare.
Julius Caesar. Augustus.
Augustus
INTRODUCTION
Augustus (emperor) (63 BC- AD 14), first emperor of Rome (27 BC-AD 14), who restored unity and orderly government to the realm after nearly a century of civil wars. He presided over an era of peace, prosperity, and cultural achievement known as the Augustan Age.
Augustus (emperor) (63 BC- AD 14), first emperor of Rome (27 BC-AD 14), who restored unity and orderly government to the realm after nearly a century of civil wars. He presided over an era of peace, prosperity, and cultural achievement known as the Augustan Age.
Originally named Gaius Octavius,
Augustus was born in Rome on September 23, 63 BC; he was the great nephew of Julius Caesar, whom he succeeded as
ruler of the Roman state. Caesar was fond of the youth and had him raised to
the College of Pontifices—a major Roman priesthood—at the age of 16. When
Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, Octavius was in Illyria, where he was serving in the army; on his
return to Italy, he learned that he was Caesar’s adopted heir. He subsequently
took the name Gaius Julius Caesar, to which historians have added Octavianus;
in English, the name is usually shortened to Octavian.
II
THE
SECOND TRIUMVIRATE
Caesar’s assassination
plunged Rome into turmoil. Octavian, determined to avenge his adoptive father
and secure his position, vied with Mark Antony, Caesar’s
ambitious colleague, for power and honour. After some political and military
skirmishes, during which Antony was driven across the Alps while Octavian was
made senator and then consul, Octavian recognized the necessity of making peace
with his rival. In late 43 BC, the two together with
Antony’s ally, the general Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, met and formed the
Second Triumvirate to rule the Roman provinces. The alliance was sealed by a
wide-ranging proscription, in which their opponents including 300 senators and
200 knights were slain. Among those killed was the ageing orator Cicero.
Octavian and Antony next took the
field against the leaders of Caesar’s assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, both of whom
committed suicide in 42 BC, after their defeat at Philippi in Macedonia, Greece. By 40 BC the triumvirs had divided control
of the Roman world amongst themselves. Octavian ruled most of the western
provinces, Antony the eastern ones, and Lepidus Africa. Although Antony and
Octavian clashed over control of Italy, they settled their differences, and in
37 BC Octavian
gave Antony his sister, Octavia, in marriage. In 36 BC, Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey
the Great and the last major opponent of the triumvirs, was eliminated.
Octavian then forced Lepidus from power, while Antony was in the east fighting
the Parthians.
The triumvirate was finally dissolved
when Antony sent Octavia back to Rome, and soon after married Cleopatra, whom Caesar had installed
as Queen of Egypt. By recognizing Caesarion, her son by Caesar, as her
co-ruler, Anthony threatened Octavian’s position as Caesar’s only successor, and
war was inevitable. Octavian defeated the joint forces of Antony and Cleopatra
at the naval battle of Actium in 31 BC; the following year Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide.
Caesarion was murdered. In 29 BC Octavian returned to Rome in triumph as the sole ruler of the Roman
world.
III
THE FIRST
CITIZEN
In 27 BC the Roman Senate gave Octavian
the title Augustus (“consecrated”, or “holy”), which later became synonymous
with “emperor”, and his reign has often been considered a dyarchy because of
the Senate’s participation in it. The Senate bestowed on him a host of other
titles and powers that had been held by many different officials in the
Republic. In 36 BC he was granted the inviolability of a plebeian tribune, and in 30 BC he received the powers of a
tribune, thus giving him the veto and control over assemblies. The Senate also
granted him ultimate authority in the provinces; this, together with the
consulship of Rome and Italy, which he held 13 times during his reign,
conferred on him supreme authority throughout the empire. After the death of
Lepidus he also became Pontifex Maximus (“chief priest”) with control over
religion. Despite his pre-eminence as reflected in the titles princeps, or first citizen, and imperator (from which “emperor” is derived),
Augustus was careful not to take on the trappings of monarchy. In fact, he made
much of the claim that he was restoring the Roman Republic.
A patron of the arts, Augustus was a
friend of the poets Ovid, Horace, and Virgil, as well as the historian Livy. His love of
architectural splendour was encapsulated in his boast that he “had found Rome
brick and left it marble”. As a strict adherent of Roman virtues in times of
growing permissiveness, he tried to regulate public morals by passing sumptuary
and marriage laws. In the economic sphere, he encouraged the development of
agriculture in Italy.
Augustus married three times; his
third wife was Livia Drusilla, who had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus
Germanicus, by a previous marriage. Augustus also had a daughter, Julia, by a
previous marriage. Drusus and Julia died, leaving his stepson and son-in-law,
Tiberius, to succeed Augustus when he died at Nola, Italy, on August 19, AD 14.
IV
EVALUATION
Both ancient and
modern writers have varied in their assessments of Augustus. Some have
condemned his ruthless quest for power, especially his part in the proscription
at the time of the Triumvirate. Others, including the staunch Republican supporter Tacitus, have admitted his good points as a ruler. Modern scholars sometimes
criticize his unscrupulous methods and authoritarian style of rule, but they
usually recognize his achievements in establishing an efficient administration
and a stable government, and in bringing security and prosperity to the Roman Empire.
Tiberius
INTRODUCTION
Tiberius (42 BC- AD 37), second emperor of Rome
(AD 14-37), the elder son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla.
Tiberius was born Tiberius Claudius
Nero Caesar in Rome on November 16, 42 BC. Four years later his mother divorced his
father and married the triumvir Octavian, later Emperor Augustus, who supervised Tiberius’s
education. Tiberius commanded an expedition to Armenia in 20 BC, and fought against the Rhaetians
and the Pannonians (12-9 BC). In 11 BC Tiberius, at his stepfather’s command, dissolved his happy marriage
to Vipsania Agrippina, daughter of the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and
married Augustus’s daughter Julia, who was Agrippa’s widow. From 6 BC to AD 2 he lived in virtual exile on
the island of Rhodes, where he devoted himself to study.
II
MILITARY SERVICE
When Tiberius returned to Rome in AD 2, Julia
had been banished for adultery, and with the deaths of Augustus’s two young
grandsons, Lucius and Gaius, Augustus was obliged to acknowledge Tiberius as
the only possible successor to the imperial title. He was formally adopted by
Augustus in AD 4. He then left to lead an expedition in north Germany against
the Marcomanni. Tiberius also succeeded in quelling formidable insurrections in
Pannonia and Dalmatia, and finally in securing the frontier and taking
vengeance on the Germans, who had destroyed the army of the Roman general
Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Teutoburger Wald in AD 9. Accompanied by
Germanicus Caesar, who was his nephew and adopted son, Tiberius made two more
marches into the heart of Germany, returning to Rome several years later to be
accorded a triumph, the highest official tribute that was given in honour of a
victorious warrior.
III HIS REIGN
When Augustus died at Nola, near Naples, in AD
14, Tiberius succeeded to the throne. Tiberius had the makings of a good
emperor. He improved the civil service, imposed strict discipline on the army,
and managed the empire’s finances with great ability; the provinces were also
better governed than before. Gradually, however, revolts and rebellions broke
out in Pannonia, Germany, Gaul, and other parts of the empire. The latter part
of his reign was marred by conspiracies and executions. Jesus Christ was crucified
during his reign.
In AD 26 Tiberius left Rome, which he had come
to dislike intensely, and withdrew to Campania. The following year he went to
the island of Capreae (modern Capri), leaving Rome under the rule of Lucius
Aelius Sejanus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Finally realizing that
Sejanus was trying to seize imperial power, Tiberius had him and his supporters
executed in AD 31. The emperor continued to live at Capreae until AD 37. He
died on March 16, AD 37, at Misenum, near Naples, during a rare excursion to
the mainland. It was rumoured at the time that he was smothered by the prefect
of the Praetorian Guard.
IV
EVALUATION
Tiberius’s reserved manner and his
introduction of stringent economies made him unpopular with the people and,
together with his supposed depravity, gave him a bad name in legend and
history. Most modern scholars, however, reject the tales of his cruelty,
hypocrisy, and debauchery as related by the historians Tacitus and Suetonius.
Tiberius seems to have been an able soldier and administrator who retained the
republican form of government as far as possible.
Tiberius Caligula
Caligula.
Caligula (AD 12-41),
Roman Emperor (AD 37-41)
Caligula, real name Gaius Caesar (AD 12-41),
Roman emperor (AD 37-41), born probably in Antium (now Anzio, Italy), the
youngest son of the Roman general Germanicus Caesar and the grandnephew of the
Roman emperor Tiberius. His early life in military camps earned him the
nickname Caligula (Latin, “Little Boot”) because of his small military shoes.
Tiberius named his grandson, Tiberius Gemellus, and Caligula joint heirs to the
throne, but the Roman Senate and people unwisely opted for Caligula as sole
emperor. Caligula adopted Gemellus as his son but later had him murdered. A
clement ruler for the first six months, he became a vicious tyrant after a
severe illness. Historians believe that he probably went insane. He squandered
his fortune on public entertainment and building projects; banished or murdered
most of his relatives; had people tortured and killed while he dined; made his
favourite horse a consul; declared himself a god; and had temples erected and
sacrifices offered to himself. In 41 the officers of his guard formed a
conspiracy against him, and he was assassinated.
Claudius I
Claudius
I (10 BC- AD 54), Roman Emperor (AD
41-54).
Claudius was born Tiberius Claudius
Drusus Nero Germanicus in Lugdunum (present-day Lyon, France). His father, Nero
Claudius Drusus, was a younger brother of Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, later
the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Claudius held no important public office until the
age of 47, when he became consul during the reign of his nephew Caligula. When
the latter was assassinated in AD 41, Claudius was proclaimed Emperor by the
Praetorian Guard, who found him hiding in the palace. The first acts of his
reign gave promise of mild and just government; but in 42, when a conspiracy
against his life was uncovered, he went into semi-retirement. His wife
Messalina became largely responsible for administering the government for a
time. She practised cruelties and extortion without restraint. Aside from the
excesses perpetrated under the influence of Messalina, Claudius’s reign was
that of an able administrator, both in civil and military affairs. Mauretania
(present-day northern Morocco and western Algeria) was made a Roman province;
the conquest of Britain was begun; and the Roman armies fought successfully
against the Germans. Judaea and Thrace also became Roman provinces during his
rule. Claudius expended enormous sums in building, especially in the
construction of the famous Claudian Aqueduct. His administration was
characterized by a decline in the power of the nobility and by the practice,
later commonplace, of granting responsibility and wealth to the personal
followers of the emperor, including former slaves.
In 48 Claudius ordered the execution
of Messalina, who had indicated her contempt for him by publicly staging a mock
marriage with her lover. He then defied widespread disapproval by marrying his
niece, Agrippina the Younger, under whose influence he deprived his son by
Messalina, Britannicus, of his heritage, adopting instead Agrippina’s son by a
former marriage, Nero, later Emperor of Rome. Soon afterwards Claudius was
poisoned, presumably by Agrippina. Claudius is depicted by ancient historians
as being neglected, sickly, and ridiculed before coming to power; his character
during his reign is described as ignorant and malicious. Modern scholars,
however, tend to discount their testimony and estimate him as shrewd and able.
The first emperor chosen by the
army, Claudius I is considered one of Rome’s best rulers. He created a civil
service system, built aqueducts, drained the marshes around Rome, and built a
nearby harbour. He also opened Roman citizenship to certain people in the
provinces.
Claudius Nero.
Nero
Nero (AD 37-68), fifth emperor of Rome
(54-68) and the last of the Julio-Claudian line.
Born Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus
Germanicus on December 15, 37, at Antium and originally named Lucius Domitius
Ahenobarbus, Nero was the son of the consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. In 49 Agrippina married
her uncle, Emperor Claudius I, and the following year persuaded him to adopt her son, whose
name was then changed. Later, Claudius married Nero to his daughter Octavia and marked him out for
succession, bypassing his own son, Britannicus. Following the death of Claudius
(54), the Praetorian Guards, under their prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus,
Agrippina’s agent, declared Nero emperor at the age of 17.
Under the guidance of Burrus and the
philosopher Seneca, Nero’s tutor, the first five years of Nero’s reign were marked
by moderation and clemency, although Nero had his rival Britannicus poisoned.
In 59 he had his mother murdered for her criticism of his mistress, Poppaea
Sabina. In 62 he divorced (and later executed) Octavia and married Poppaea.
Burrus died, possibly poisoned, and Seneca retired.
In July 64, two-thirds of Rome
burned while Nero was at Antium. In ancient times he was thought to have been
responsible, but most modern scholars doubt the truth of that accusation.
According to some accounts (now considered spurious), he laid the blame on the
Christians and was the first emperor to persecute them. He sheltered the
homeless, however, and rebuilt the city taking measures against fire. His
building programmes, like the spectacles and free grain he provided for the
populace, were financed by plundering Italy and the provinces. He regarded
himself as an artist and a religious visionary, scandalizing the army and aristocracy
when he appeared publicly as an actor in religious dramas.
Meanwhile, the empire was in
turmoil. Nero established Armenia as a buffer state against Parthia, but only
after a costly, unsuccessful war. Revolts broke out in Britain (60-61) and in Judaea
(66-70). In 65 Gaius Calpurnius Piso led a conspiracy against the emperor; 18
of the 41 prominent Romans implicated in the plot perished, among them Seneca
and his nephew, the epic poet Lucan. Poppaea died as a result of Nero’s violence towards her, and he
married Statilia Messalina after executing her husband. In 68 the Gallic and
Spanish legions, together with the Praetorian Guards, rebelled against Nero,
forcing him to flee Rome. Declared a public enemy by the Senate, he committed
suicide on June 9, 68.
Galba.
Galba,
Servius Sulpicius b Dec 24, 3 BC – d
Jan 15, 69 AD.
Roman emperor epitomized by Tacitius
as having been “equal to supreme power if he had not held it.” His
administration was priggishly upright, though his advisors were allegedly corrupt.
This combination may account for his improvident military measures that
precipitated his downfall roughly seven months after he became emperor.
Son of the consul (5 BC) Gaius
Sulpicius Galba and Mummia Achaica, in addition to great wealth and ancient
lineage he enjoyed the favour if Augustus and Tiberius. He began his senatorial
career before the normal age, became consul (33), received command of the Upper
German army (39), and served a proconsulship in Africa (45).
Appointed governor of Nearer Spain
in 60, Galba, believing in 68 that the emperor Nero was planning his
assassination, accepted (perhaps even prompted) an invitation from governor
Vindex of Lugdunensis in Gaul to head a movement against Nero.
He then recruited troops in Spain
and built up a large following in many other regions of the empire, though
Vindex himself was defeated by the Rhine armies. Nero, deserted by his imperial
troops (Praetorian Guard), killed
himself on June 9, 68, and Galba was formally accepted as emperor by the
Senate.
Galba excuted many highly placed
Romans, including the praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sadinus, who had been
responsible for his accession. His rewards to the gallic states that had
supported Vindex alienated the Lower Rhine army, which on Jan. 2, 69, proclaimed
its commander, Vitellius, emperor.
Galba had also refused to pay the
Praetorians the reward they claimed for having deserted Nero, and when he
adopted Lucius Piso Licinianus as his seccessor instead of the governor of
Lusitania, Otho the latter won the support of the Praetorians, who then killed
both Galba and Piso in the Forum.
Otho
In full
Marcus Salvius Otho b AD 32 – d April
16,69, near Cremona, Italy, Roman emperor from January to April, AD 69.
He was born into a family that had
held the consulship under Augustus. Otho married Poppaea Sabina, but when the
emperor Nero tool Poppaea for his mistress – she later became his wife – Otho
was sent from Rome to govern Lusitania (58). For ten years he ruled this
province with integrity. Then, in 68 Otho joined the rebellion against Nero led
by Galba, governor of the neighbouring province of Tarraconensis. He had hoped
to be designated Galba’s successor, but when Galba disappointed him be adopting
Lucius Piso Licinianus (January 69), Otho prepared to seize power. The
Praetorian Guard rebelled, Galba and Piso were murdered in the forum, and Ptho
was acclaimed emperor (January 15, 69).
Before Galba’s death, however, the
legions in Germany had declared for Aulus Vitellius, whose troops were already
moving towards Italy. Acting with speed and determination, Otho sent a naval
expedition to Narbonensis (a region in southern Gaul), summoned the Danube
legions, and himself marched out on March 14. Although substantial forces
joined Otho from Illyricum, by early April the Vitellian forces were far
stronger. Experienced advisors counselled delay, but Otho insisted on action.
His army was completely defeated east of Cremona, and Otho committed suicide.
Vitellius, Aulus.
b AD 15 – d
69
Roman Emperor, the last of Nero’s
three short-lived successors. Aulus was the son of Emperor Claudius’ colleague
as censor, Lucius Vitellius, who was also consul three times. Aulus himself
became consul in AD 48 and proconsul in Africa AD 61. He was appointed
commander of the Lower German Army in AD 68. In the midst of the disturbances
following Nero’s death, he was proclaimed emperor by his troops (Jan 2, 69).
He marched on Italy, and on April 16
the rival emperor Otho committed suicide. Vitellius entered Rome in July, but
on July 1 a commander of the eastern legions, Vaspasian, had also been
proclaimed emperor. After Vaspasian’s troops defeated Vitellius’ forces, he
considered abdication; but his Praaetorian Guards forbade such a move, and when
Vaspasian’s troops entered Rome, Vitellius was murdered with great barbarity.
The image of Vitellius as cruel,
indolent, wildly extravagant, and fabulously gluttonous seems based mostly on
propaganda. In respecting constitutional forms, he showed signs of exceptional
moderation.
Vespasian
Vespasian, full name Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus
(AD 9-79), Roman emperor (69-79), born in Sabine Reate, near Rome.
During the middle of the 1st
century AD he commanded a legion in Germany and in Britain conquered the Isle of
Wight. In 66 he campaigned against the Jews in Judaea. Vespasian was proclaimed
emperor by his troops in Egypt and Judaea in July AD 69, one of four generals who
claimed the title following the death of the emperor Nero. Upon being chosen
emperor in 69, he left the war in Judaea to his son Titus and returned to
Rome. In December of that year, after
six months of civil wars, he was formally recognized by the Senate in Rome, and
so founded the Flavian dynasty. His reign restored some stability to the
empire, and he was praised by contemporary historians for his humility and
industriousness as he restored the government and the public finances. After
the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70, the world was at peace
for nine years. Other important events of Vespasian’s reign include the
suppression of a formidable revolt (69-70) by the Germanic Batavians under
their leader Julius Civilis; conquests in Britain by the Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola; the development of a more extensive educational
system; and the construction of the Colosseum in Rome. His son Titus succeeded
him as emperor.
Vaspasian Titus
Titus
Titus, full name Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus
(39-81), Roman emperor (79-81), who destroyed Jerusalem and completed the Colosseum at Rome.
He was born on December 30, AD 39, in Rome, the elder son of
Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus, later Emperor Vespasian. Titus served as a
military tribune in Germany and Britain and later fought under his father’s
command during the Jewish rebellion in Palestine. After Vespasian became
emperor in 69, Titus was left in command of the Roman army in Palestine, and
brought the war to a close with the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 70.
To commemorate this victory, his brother, Emperor Domitian, erected the Arch of Titus
(c. AD 81) in Rome.
On the death of his father in 79,
Titus became emperor, and by his generous gifts and lavish entertainments soon
made himself popular with the Roman people. He established a lenient
government, discontinuing all prosecutions for laesa majestas, or treason by disrespect, and
decreeing heavy punishments against informers. In his reign as emperor, which
lasted only two years, Titus made his mark as a generous and popular ruler. He
was also a distinguished general. His capture of Jerusalem in AD 70 is commemorated by the Arch of
Titus, erected in Rome in AD 81. In 80 Titus completed and dedicated the Flavian amphitheatre, later
called the Colosseum, begun by his father and built near the baths that bear
his name. In 79 the volcano Vesuvius erupted destroying the cities of Pompei and Herculaneum, and in 80
Rome was afflicted by a great fire and a plague. Through his concern and
generosity towards the victims of these disasters, Titus gained the gratitude
of the populace. He died on September 13, 81.
Domitian
Domitian, full name Titus Flavius Domitianus (AD
51-96), Roman Emperor (AD 81-96), known primarily for his conflict with the
Senate and the Roman aristocracy.
Domitian was the second son of
Emperor Vespasian and the brother of Emperor Titus, whom he succeeded. In
Germany he defeated the Chatti (83) and began construction of the limes, a line of fortifications marking the Roman
frontier between the Rhine and Danube rivers. In Britain, Roman control was
extended north into Scotland by 84, and in eastern Europe an invasion of the
Dacians was ended when they were forced back across the Danube in 88. In 89
Domitian suppressed a revolt led by Antonius Saturninus, Governor of Upper
Germany.
Although popular with the army,
Domitian was hated by the senators, who resented his attempts to dominate them
and were especially angered by his adoption of the title dominus et deus (“master and god”). In 85 he made
himself censor for life, which gave him the official right to supervise the
Senate’s behaviour. After Saturninus’s revolt, and especially in the last three
years of his reign, Domitian terrorized the aristocracy, executing many of them
for supposed acts of treason and confiscating their property to help pay for
his increasing expenses. On September 16, 96, he was murdered at the
instigation of court officials and his wife Domitia.
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Galba
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1979 edition). Micropaedia Vol IV,
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Otho
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1979 edition). Micropaedia Vol VII, pg
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Vitellius
Encyclopedia Britannica (1979 edition). Micropaedia Vol X, pg 471.
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Photo:- SEF/Art
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