
All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in May 2020.
All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it.
Notes:
Page revised in May 2020.
In this page:
The Four Emperors' Year (Tempio della Pace and Portico degli Dei Consenti)
Vespasian
Titus (Terme di Tito)
Domitian and the Consolidation of the Empire (Stadio and Odeon di Domiziano)
Domitian's end
Iconography
The year 69 is known as the Four Emperors' Year: in January Galba, who had just replaced Nero, decided to appoint as his successor Caius Piso Licinianus, a representative of the most aristocratic families, in order to gain the support of the Senate. He knew little of the Roman political environment as he did not realize that by doing this he displeased the praetorians, the imperial guard; in a matter of hours they rebelled and elected as emperor Marcus Salvius Otho, a senator who had promised them a rich reward. Galba and his appointed successor were both killed.
(left) Florence - Galleria degli Uffizi: Eastern Corridor; (right) bust of Emperor Otho. Cosimo I de' Medici inherited a collection of Roman busts which he increased with the aim of covering, if not all the Emperors, at least the first Twelve Caesars whose lives were narrated by Suetonius. Because busts of Otho were very difficult to find, the collection was completed with a modern bust which was based on coins portraying the Emperor
The new emperor was not accepted by Aulus Vitellius, proconsul of Germania inferior: for
a while both Otho and Vitellius tried to reach an agreement, but eventually the legions
supporting Vitellius crossed the Alps: after various skirmishes, the troops of Otho were defeated near Cremona,
in northern Italy; per se it was not a decisive battle, but Otho lost confidence and killed
himself.
Vitellius reached Rome where he was acclaimed emperor. In order to last longer than
his predecessors he decided to place many Germans who had helped him in defeating Otho at the head of the Praetorian Guard.
He then devoted himself to a continuous banquet; we know he was fond of fish liver, pheasant brain and flamingo
tongues.
The Roman legions in the eastern part of the empire were not happy with what had happened
in Rome after the death of Nero: they felt that first the praetorians, then the legions in Germany
had gained too much power in the appointment of the emperor. At the beginning of July, the legions in Egypt, followed
by those in Syria, Pannonia and Illyria chose a new emperor: Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian), the commander
of the legions in Palestine, where he was trying to quell a rebellion of the Jews.
The troops loyal to the emperor were defeated near Cremona by legions led by
commanders who supported Vespasian. A few months earlier Otho had lost his life in that same location. Vitellius
tried to reach an agreement with Vespasian and in December he agreed to abdicate; his praetorians
however were not of the same mind and tried to stop the enemy immediately outside Rome; they
eventually shut themselves in their barracks, where they were massacred by the enemy cavalry.
Vitellius tried in vain to save his life, even pretending to be a gate-keeper of the imperial palace.
(left) External wall of Tempio della Pace, which now is part of Monastero dei SS. Cosma e Damiano;
(right) Portico degli Dei Consenti and the "Tabularium" behind it
Vespasian and his two sons and successors Titus and Domitian (the Flavian Dynasty)
continued the reconstruction of Rome initiated by Nero after the fire which had
occurred in 65. On the site of a previous market Vespasian built a
Templum Pacis to celebrate
the restoration of peace throughout the empire. It consisted of a large quadrangular
portico, on one side of which stood a small temple.
Two other temples
were built by members of the Flavian dynasty at the foot of the Tabularium; in the following centuries
they were both covered by
landslides: only the tips of three columns of Tempio di Vespasiano stood out of the ground (you can see them in the image used as the background for this page).
The other temple, Portico degli Dei Consenti, was excavated and in part rebuilt in 1858: it was dedicated to six gods and six
goddesses, whose statues were placed in niches framed by columns. An inscription on the entablature celebrates
a restoration which occurred in 367, thus providing a piece of evidence
of the persistence of the old religion in that period.
Vespasian did not belong to a Roman family, but to a provincial one as he was
born in Rieti in AD 9. He spent most of his career outside Italy in Thracia, in Crete, in Africa, in Germany until in 67
he was sent by Nero to Judaea (Palestine), where the Jews had rebelled against the Hellenization process
which accompanied the expansion of the Roman empire in that country.
The many busts portraying him give the feeling that he was a practical man and this is in line with
the accounts of many historians: a famous anecdote confirms this aspect of Vespasian's nature:
he had built many public conveniences (for men only) and had levied a tax
on their use (actually on the urine which was sold to dyers).
His son Titus suggested to Vespasian that
such a decision was not appropriate for an emperor: Vespasian
took a coin and put it under Titus' nose saying: Pecunia non olet (money does not smell).
He did not rush to Rome, but relied on his son Domitian for consolidating his power in Rome
and ensuring that none of the other commanders tried to replace him. Eventually in October 70
he made his arrival in Rome, while his son Titus continued the campaign in Judaea.
After the follies of Nero and the banquets of Vitellius, Rome needed a man
like Vespasian to restore order in the empire, curtail the power of the praetorians, balance
the fiscal burden among the provinces, define the role of the emperor, of the Senate and
of the other institutions of the Roman republic.
Musei Vaticani: relief found in 1939 beneath Palazzo della Cancelleria and portraying (left to right) Minerva, Vespasian, a personification of Rome and a personification of the Senate
Vespasian appointed his son Titus as his partner in the imperial office to ensure a smooth succession process.
The Roman empire had almost lost its expansion capability; the events of the year 69 had
proved that it risked collapsing and splitting into parts; Vespasian rather
than engaging in new wars of conquest, devoted his attention to the critical areas of the empire: in Judaea,
from where the example of a national/religious rebellion could spread to other nearby provinces, his son Titus in 70
seized and destroyed Jerusalem; in Britain the consul Gnaeus Julius Agricola started in 78 a
series of campaigns against the tribes of Wales, northern England and Scotland to stop their raids
into southern England; in Germany the Romans controlled the left bank of the Rhine and the right
bank of the Danube; the two rivers formed a wedge (Agri Decumates corresponding broadly to the Black Forest) which weakened the overall defence of the Roman
territories: Vespasian started a process of transferring there Gauls from the neighbouring
Roman provinces to have an advanced line of defence.
Vespasian died of natural causes in June 79 leaving the empire and the city of Rome in much
better shape than they were when he took office. A few months later the Senate decreed
his apotheosis (deification).
Colosseo: (left) detail of one the numbered entrances (this practice can be seen also at the Arena of Verona); (right)
small pillars which were part of the machinery used for moving the "velarium"
Vespasian confiscated Nero's Domus Aurea and the surrounding gardens; the Romans had resented that Nero had reserved such a vast area in the very centre of Rome for his own pleasure; Vespasian was aware of these feelings and he decided to build a gigantic amphitheatre where the Romans could enjoy themselves on the site of the small lake which embellished Domus Aurea. The entrances of Anfiteatro Flavio (or Colosseo) were numbered to allow an easy access to the assigned seat; the audience was protected from direct sunlight by a velarium, a gigantic sail, controlled by skilled sailors of the Roman fleet by means of ropes knotted to iron rings placed on small pillars around the main building.
Titus had just become the new emperor when a disastrous eruption of Mount Vesuvius hit the
rich towns at its foot: Pompeii was entirely covered by the ashes thrown out by the volcano, while Herculaneum disappeared
under a stream of lava and mud. He took immediate action to help the survivors and because of this
and of his similar behaviour during a pestilence which hit Rome, he became so well-liked
that in a summary of the history of Rome written in the IVth century he was called
Amor et deliciae humani generis (love and delight of mankind).
Titus continued the policy of his father and named his brother Domitian consors successorsque (consort - in the sense of associated - and successor). He died
of natural causes in 81.
Modern entrance to the archaeological area of the Esquilino (Colle Oppio); immediately after
the entrance there is a wall belonging to Terme di Tito
Titus carried on the construction of the Colosseo which was inaugurated in 80. The ceremonies
were particularly solemn and the first season of the amphitheatre ran for a hundred consecutive days;
the Romans watched munera (fights between gladiators), venationes (capture and
killing of beasts) and naumachiae, a sort of naval battle (read
Mark Twain's Coliseum playbill).
He also built public baths making use in part of those of Domus Aurea; of these baths very little is left: just a
few low walls opposite the northern side of the Colosseo and in the adjoining
archaeological park known as Colle Oppio (the southern peak of Esquilino). A few years later
Emperor Trajan built larger baths, next to those of Titus.
The triumphal arch dedicated to him was erected by his brother Domitian after his death.
Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty: he was killed as a result of
a conspiracy; the Senate, some members of which had been involved in the conspiracy, decreed
the damnatio memoriae of the emperor; later on Christian historians blamed him
for one of the cruellest persecutions, so Domitian was seen for centuries as a junior Nero. Today
we have a more balanced view, if not of him as a person, at least of his actions as a ruler.
He followed the steps of his father in paying attention to the economy: he managed to finance
a vast program of public works, not only in Rome, but also in many other parts of the empire (e.g. at Gerasa (Jerash) and Hierapolis), through
a careful fiscal policy and by investigating financial mismanagements in the provinces.
Musei Vaticani: relief from the Mausoleum of the Haterii along Via Labicana depicting monuments built or completed/repaired by Domitian: (left to right): Arch at the entrance to Iseo Campense; Colosseo; perhaps the arch of Titus; another large arch at the top of Via Sacra; a temple dedicated to Jupiter Tonans (the Thunderer), according to Rodolfo Lanciani that on Campidoglio. The Haterii were a family of builders who were involved in the construction of many monuments during the Flavian period
From a military viewpoint Domitian's main worries came from the northern provinces of the empire; although Domitian tried to gain glory by personally leading several campaigns in Germany and Hungary, overall he was not interested in expanding the empire, but rather in consolidating its borders (a dedicatory inscription to him on a boulder near the Caspian Sea shore most likely testifies to a diplomatic, rather than military Roman presence); in Britain, he did not pursue the conquest of the whole island and started the construction of a defensive system; in Germany this approach led to the development of the limes (border) between the Rhine and the Danube, made of military roads, fortified camps, trenches and towers. Domitian was also involved in containing the raids of the Dacians, who threatened the Roman province of Mesia (today's Bulgaria). This change of purpose in the use of the military forces was accompanied by a change in their composition: a growing number of troops was recruited in the provinces and less and less Roman citizens were attracted by a military career which no longer rewarded its veterans by distributing land and booty.
Stadio di Domiziano (today's Piazza Navona): (left) one of the
entrances and (right) inner passages
Domitian launched a Roman alternative to the Olympic games: the Certamen Capitolinum (certamen = competition) took place every four years and to properly house these games Domitian built a stadium which was inaugurated in 86. The arena corresponds to today's Piazza Navona, while the structures of the stadium tribunes (the raised area with the seats) lie inside or under the buildings around the Piazza. One of the external travertine arches and some of the walls supporting the tribunes can be seen inside a modern building in the northern part of the Piazza. Domitian moved to this stadium the staging of naumachiae from the Colosseo, where he built the underground facilities which made the appearance of the beasts even more spectacular. The Certamen Capitolinum was accompanied by theatre plays and poetry competitions: they took place in an odeon Domitian built next to the stadium: the external walls of the odeon influenced the shape of Palazzo Massimi alle Colonne.
Domitian pursued a constant policy of concentrating power in his own hands and in that
of his inner circle, whose members were the only ones admitted to his presence. This attitude
created a growing resentment among the senators. Domitian wanted to be regarded as
dominus and deus (lord and god); he promoted the cult
of Jupiter and Minerva, placing them well above the crowd of deities of the traditional Roman
mythology, and he tried to assume the same religious role the Pharaohs had with respect to Osiris and Isis in Egypt.
He imposed strict moral standards which resulted in making him less and less well-liked.
He ended by being very isolated in Domus Flavia, the imperial palace he had built on the
Palatine.
Musei Capitolini: Exhibits at a 2022 temporary exhibition on Emperor Domitian: (left) Genius of Domitian (found at Villa Altieri); (centre) young satyr watching his tail from the Palatine; (right) "Fonseca bust" portrait of an unknown lady of the time of Domitian
The many courtiers who surrounded Domitian often accused each other of plotting against the emperor and eventually in 96 a group of them (which included his first wife), fearing to be the next victims of Domitian's anger, decided to kill him. One of the conjurors claimed to have a broken arm and for some days went around in the palace with a bandage on it: he asked the emperor for a private meeting as he had to tell him about yet another plot: once alone with Domitian he took out a dagger from the bandages and he stabbed him; Domitian had enough strength to react and call for help, but his servants were part of the conspiracy and they finished him.
Foro di Nerva: details of its decoration and a broken column
Domitian dedicated to Minerva the forum he built to allow an easier transit between those of Caesar and Augustus and Templum Pacis, the portico built by his father. For this reason it is called Foro transitorio, although it is best known as Foro di Nerva, after the name of Diocletian's successor Nerva who inaugurated it in 97. It had an elongated shape: a temple dedicated to Minerva stood at the centre of a square which was surrounded by a wall decorated with columns and reliefs showing either the goddess or female activities under her protection. The surviving part of the temple was pulled down by Pope Paul V to make use of its columns and marbles for Acqua Paola, while a small section of the external wall, known as Le Colonnacce, is still in its original place.
The following links show works of art portraying characters and events
mentioned in this page; they open in another window:
Vespasian bust at Musei Capitolini - Rome
Titus bust at Musei Capitolini - Rome
Triumph of Vespasian and Titus by Giulio Romano (1499-1546)
The last day of Pompei by Karl Bryullov (1833)
Next page:
IX - From Nerva to Marcus Aurelius
Previous pages:
I - The Foundation and the Early Days of Rome
II - The Early Republican Period
III - The Romans Meet the Elephants
IV - Expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
V - Pompey and Caesar
VI - Augustus
VII - From Tiberius to Nero