what is the history of vespasian.?

Answer 1

If you mean: Caesar Vespasianus Augustus he ruled Rome between 69-79 AD
Then start at this wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian
Then go to Reference.com: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Vespasian
Encyclopædia Britannica Article: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075174/Vespasian
You have to join them to see the rest of the article, but they do offer a free trial period.
Here is another article on him: http://www.nndb.com/people/931/000087670/
Then read the Verulamium Forum inscriptions which are famous quotes from people of the time about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verulamium_Forum_inscription
If you want some pictures of his busts go here: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/744_Caesar_Vespasianus_Augustus.html
Check out this site for the basic facts and then check the links on the page: http://www.livius.org/va-vh/vespasian/vespasian.html
Here is an article about Roman Coins with his coin featured: http://www.falcophiles.co.uk/facts/romancoin.html
Here is part of the document that lists his constitutional powers: http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/Anglica/vespas_johnson.html
His last words according to: http://llama.freegeek.org/~wren/pow/v/vespasianus.html
(a list of famous quotes)
"Vae puto deus fio."
Alas, I think I am becoming a god.
~Imperator Caesar Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus Augustus (Vespasian)
LETTER OF VESPASIAN ON DISPUTED TERRITORY 72 AD: http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/Anglica/Vanacini_johnson.html
According to: http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/emp-index.html
"Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus
born 17 November AD 9 at Reate. Served in Thrace, Crete, Cyrene, Germany, Britain and Africa. Military commander in Palestine AD 66-69. Became emperor in AD 69. Married Flavia Domitilla, who died AD 65 (two sons, Titus and Domitian, and one daughter Domitilla). Died on 24 June AD 79. Deified in AD 79." Deified: He was listed as a Roman God soon after his death
The article continues here: http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/emp-index.html

Answer 2

He ordered the building project of the Coliseum and died a year before it was finished. He also had two sons who became emperors (Titus 69-79 A.D and Domitian 81-96 A.D) this was known as the Flavian Dynasty. Vespasian was considered a great general and became victorious during the civil war of 69.

Answer 3

i suggest reading the book "the twelve ceasers" by the roman author seutonious. it is a bibliographic account of all the majors emperors.

Answer 4

Born in the year 9 at Reate, north of Rome, Vespasian was the son of a tax collector, Flavius Sabinus and his wife, Vespasia Polla. He joined the military and achieved the rank of legionary commander, serving under Claudius during the invasion of Britain in 43AD. His part in the campaign was significant, for which he was awarded the insignia of a Triumph along with two priesthoods.

At 40, he became a praetor and two years later a consul, rising to become African Proconsul in 63. His style of leadership was highly commended as he did not succumb to the temptation of others in authority to abuse their position by taking a portion of the taxes to increase his own wealth. Corruption of this nature was rife in the Roman Empire, as many saw their position of trust as a means to secure a healthy lifestyle. Because of his attitude, he lived modestly by Roman standards and nearly became bankrupt, but was saved by the intervention of his brother.

In February 67, he took the post of governor of Judea, where he suppressed the First Jewish Revolt. By the summer of 68, most of the country was again under Roman control. He was ready to take Jerusalem, when he heard of Nero's suicide on 9th June and so abandoned the plans. Then the empire took a sudden turn for the worse, when the new emperor, Galba was murdered in January 69, and his successor, Otho committed suicide in April the same year.

Fearing a backlash that would be felt throughout the empire, he formed alliances with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, governor of Syria and Tiberius Julius Alexander from Egypt. Openly the three men hailed the new emperor, Vitellius, but secretly made plans of their own. Of the three, Vespasian was the only one who would be accepted to become an emperor. Mucianus was a Jew, and something of a revolutionary, while Alexander did not have any sons. It was essential for an emperor to have at last one heir to the throne, and if there were none by marriage, then they would adopt a son.

On 1st July 69, Alexander gave orders to all those under him to pledge allegiance to Vespasian in his attempt to take the throne. The armies in Judea and Syria soon followed in the same fashion, which gave Vespasian a strong following. Mucianus gather about 20,000 troops and began the long trek to Rome with the intention of claiming the throne for Vespasian, who controlled the situation from the eastern part of the empire. The military in Gaul added their support and under Marcus Antonius Primus, they also marched to Rome. Of the two, Primus reached Rome first. There were pitch battles in the streets between those loyal to Vespasian, the aggressor and the current emperor. One mistake Vespasian made was to leave his brother in Rome. The emperor's forces seized him and had him slain.

This too was a mistake, as he would have been a fine hostage with which to pressurise Vespasian. Undaunted, Primus took Rome on 21st December 69, having captured and killed Vitellians. Mucianus arrived shortly afterwards and was angry with Primus for acting on his own without the authority of Vespasian to enter Rome. Despite this indiscretion, Primus was honoured and returned to Tolosa, leaving Mucianus to hold power pending the arrival of Vespasian. During this period, Mucianus carried out a programme of executions of all those who opposed the new emperor, including Vitellians' son.

Of those who remained alive and swore allegiance to Vespasian, they were followed and watched to ensure their support was genuine and they did not mix with any dissidents or hatch their own plots. Vespasian finally went to Rome in late 70AD, where he took Mucianus as his personal advisor, but did not allow him to hold any office of power. After such a violent ascension to the throne, Vespasian embarked on a campaign of peace which saw an end to the civil wars. Fighting on all fronts was ended with swift and total victories, which meant Vespasian could now set about reorganising the military. He separated the legions and put them around the empire in small camps to avoid the possibility of them joining in a coordinated attack to topple him. It was now the empire enjoyed a period of peace.

The military was not the only possible threat to his rule. the senate too had many members who could cause him considerable torment. So in 74, he took the role of censor among his other tasks which enabled him to have complete control over the senate. The main stumbling block he had to face was the financial state of the empire. After the civil wars of 68-69, the money supply had been seriously eroded and he had to find new ways to raise revenue to fund his plans. Whereas war with other countries gave the Romans new territory, workers, slaves and property, civil war only served to drain the money supply as nothing could be gained in the areas of land etc. This he achieved by raising taxes considerably and cracking down of those who avoided their dues.

By now, successive emperors had leaned the value of persuasion over suppression and Vespasian was to demonstrate this by making himself approachable and sympathetic to the people. But eventually, ill health took a hold on the emperor. He knew he was dying and so retired to his home at Aquae Cutiliae, near to where he had been born, and awaited the inevitable. He died on 24th June 79A


Here's some further information

Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus was born in AD 9 at Reate, north of Rome. His father Flavius Sabinus was a tax-collector and held equestrian rank. His mother, Vespasia Polla, belonged to an equestrian family, and her brother managed to become senator.
Vespasian and his brother Sabinus both also managed to follow in their uncle's footsteps and become senators.

In AD 39 Vespasian married Flavia Domitilla. It was not necessarily a good match for a man seeking a high-flying career. Flavia was not even a full Roman citizen. And had been the mistress of a Roman equestrian in Tripolitania. It appears their marriage was truly one inspired by love, rather than political ambitions. Flavia and Vespasian did have three children together. Though she died long before Vespasian was to become emperor. And he would still remember her with great affection when he came to power.

During the reign of Tiberius Vespasian was a military tribune in Thrace and then went on to serve as praetor in Crete and Cyrene. In AD 40 Vespasian was made praetor under Caligula and under Claudius he enjoyed patronage of the powerful minister Narcissus.

During the invasion of Britain during AD 43-47 Vespasian commanded a legion (the II 'Augusta'), and distinguished himself with military successes in the south and southwest of England. In particular he made himself a name with the effective use of 'artillery' when assaulting heavily defended positions fortified by earthworks, and had been responsible for taking the Isle of Wight.

This success led to Vespasian's election of consul for AD 51, and in AD 63 he was proconsul of Africa, his administration winning much praise. This praise was won largely due to Vespasian not following the usual course of milking the province for his own financial gain. In turn however, he did suffer private financial problems and only avoided bankruptcy with help from his brother Sabinus.

Though in AD 66, as a member of Nero's imperial entourage in Greece, the gritty down-to-earth soldier Vespasian committed the ultimate sin by either walking out or falling asleep during the course of one of Nero's recitals. He fell from grace and fled to some obscure country town, hiding in fear of his life.

But in AD 67 he was offered a province and an army command of three legions by Nero. If the emperor was mad and wanted to see Vespasian dead, he needed him now. The Jewish rebellion of AD 67 called for a commander who knew of ways to oust the Jews from their walled cities. Someone had obviously reminded the emperor of Vespasian's record against the defensive earthworks in Britain.
At the age of fifty eight Vespasian headed for Judaea, directed the reduction of Jotapata in the north and began the preparations for the siege of Jerusalem.


On hearing of Nero's death Vespasian formally recognized the accession of Galba.

When news arrived of Galba's murder in early AD 69, Vespasian was prompted to consider rebellion. He had on his side the governor of Syria, Gaius Licinius Mucianus. At first the two had not got along well, mainly due to Mucianus resenting that Vespasian's military command had been given higher status by Nero than his governorship, but now they both needed allies to weather the crisis following the death of two emperors.

After Otho's suicide in April AD 69 they formed plans to take action. They both acknowledged Vitellius' accession, but meanwhile secretly enlisted the support of Tiberius Julius Alexander in Egypt. Mucianus had no sons of his own to be his heirs. Alexander was only of equestrian rank - and a Jew. Neither therefore could be considered as potential emperors. Vespasian though had two sons, Titus and Domitian, was of senatorial rank and had held the consulship. All three agreed, that he should be their candidate for the throne.

On 1 July, Alexander commanded the legions in Egypt to swear an oath of allegiance to Vespasian. Within two weeks the armies in Judaea and Syria had followed that example.
The plan was that Mucianus would lead twenty thousand men into Italy, with Vespasian remaining in the east, where he could control the all-important Egyptian grain supply to Rome.
Though by late August the Danubian armies also declared themselves for Vespasian.

Antonius Primus, commander of the Sixth Legion in Pannonia, and Cornelius Fuscus, imperial procurator in Illyricum, now led the Danube legions in a rapid descent on Italy. They commanded a relatively modest force of five legions, perhaps 30'000 men, which was only half of what Vitellius had at his disposal in Italy.

The Second Battle of Cremona began on 24 October AD 69 and ended the next day in complete victory for Primus and Fuscus.
On 17 December AD 69 an army sent to fight Primus and Fuscus defected to them at Narnia, leaving the way free to Rome.

When Vitellius learned of this he tried to abdicate and Vespasian's elder brother Titus Flavius Sabinus, city prefect of Rome at the time, attempted to take control of the city. But he and his supporrters were attacked by Vitellius' soldiers and killed.

Two days later, on 20 December, the army of Primus and Fuscus fought its way into Rome against a determined defence. The following day the senate confirmed Vespasian as emperor. Mucianus arrived soon after.
Until Vespasian's arrival Mucianus ruled on his behalf alongside the emperor's younger son Domitian who had been in Rome throughout the troubles .

Vespasian now headed for Rome, leaving his son Titus behind to capture Jerusalem, and arrived at Rome in October AD 70. He was almost 61 but he was still fit and active.
Soon after Titus in Palestine brought an end to the Jewish revolt (although the siege of Masada continued until AD 73) and in the north Cerealis defeated the Gallo-German uprising at Augusta Trevivorum. In effect Vespasian, an old military veteran, was the man who could finally deliver peace to the empire.

Vespasian possessed insight and the sense of how to maintain peace, too. Though the destruction of Jerusalem and the retaliation against the Jews were carried out with unnecessary severity, and restrictions were placed on some of their practices, Jews were excused from Caesar-worship.

Vespasian's relationship with the senate was a mixed one. He attended the meetings of the senate and consulted the senators with great care. But day he chose to date his accession was not 21 December AD 69, when the senators had recognized him, but 1 July AD 69 when he had first been acclaimed emperor by his troops. In short, he respected the senate for its ancient tradition and dignity, but he made it evidently clear that he knew the true power to lie with the army.

On his son Titus' return to Rome from Palestine in AD 71, Vespasian formally made him his associate in government, granting him the title of Caesar, and appointed him commander of the imperial guard, a sound move considering the role teh praetorians had plaid in establishing and overthrowing previous rulers.

Also in in AD 71 he instituted the first salaried public professorship when he appointed Quintilian (AD 40-118) to a chair of literature and rhetoric. He also exempted all doctors and teachers of grammar and rhetoric from paying taxes Under Vespasian, too, a new class of professional civil servants was created, drawn largely from the business community.

In AD 73-74 Vespasian, like Claudius had done before him, revived and occupied the office of censor together with his son Titus in order to have control over membership to the senate.

With the empire devastated by civil war, Vespasian needed to steeply increase taxation to cover the empire's vast costs. These measures soon earned him an undeserved reputation for meanness and greed. Though Vespasian was keen to lead by example and led a life free of extravagances and luxury in order not to further burden the provinces with the cost of his imperial office.
Vespasian in any case appreas not to have had a taste for extravagant living. He was a brilliant and tireless administrator, with a gift, so often lacking in his predecessors, of picking the right man for a job.
His usual daily routine while emperor was as follows. He would rise early, even when it was still dark. He would perahsp read letters and official reports, before letting in his friends, puting on his shoes and got dressed. After dealing with any other business he would then perahps go for a drive in a chariot. Later he would share a bed with a concubine, of whom he had several to take the place of his dead mistress, Caenis. After that he was usually in his best mood, so his staff was eager to approach him with any requests or problems at that time.

Vespasian was indeed noted for mildness and a healthy sense of justice. For example, he helped Vitellius' daughter to find a suitable husband and even provided her with the dowry.

At first Vespasian relied on Mucianus as his principal aide and advisor. Though from when Mucianus died ca. AD 76 he began more and more to rely on his elder son Titus. It was clearly understood by all that Titus would succeed his father to the throne.

Such dynastic plans led to some hostility, particularly among senators who still objected to the hereditary principle being applied to the creation of emperors. In particular since the the hereditary lineage of the Julio-Claudians had led to disaster.
The most dangerous of such objections came to light in AD 79 when a plot against Vespasian's life two eminent senators, Eprius Marcellus and Caecina Alienus, was uncovered. Titus was fast to act and neither of the two conspirators survived.

Not long afterwards Vespasian fell ill, withdrew to his summer retreat at Aquae Cutiliae in the Sabine mountains and died on 24 June AD 79.
Vespasian died of natural causes and, according to the historian Suetonius, with great dignity. Even on his deathbed his humour still showed in a final jest,
'Vae, puto deus fio' ('Woe, I think I'm turning into a god.')