-117 AD- Trajan's dead, so there was much anxiety about who would be his heir.
-While Trajan's wife, Pompeia Plotina, had supported a dude named Publius Aelius Hadrianus (Trajan's only living male relative), but Trajan had always been uncertain as to if this was a good choice.
-The rumor is that when Trajan died, Plotina somehow manipulated the situation so that Hadrian was named heir.
-Why would Plotina do this?
-First, by having Hadrian be named emperor, Plotina would be able to retain her power.
-Also provided a seamless tradition of power and hopefully would prevent a civil war.
-Hadrian was also a good choice. He wasn't too old or too young (he was 41 at this time), had lots of military and administrative experience (as governor of Pannonia Inferior). Additionally, he was a legitimate relative of Trajan!
-Hadrian was born in 76 AD possibly in either Italica, Hispania Baetica (outside of modern-day Seville, Andalusia) or Rome; the exact details of his birth and lineage are unclear.
-Family were elite Romans who had lived in Italica for a long time; father was a senator (and later praetor) but he died when Hadrian was 10.
-Thus, Hadrian came under the care of Trajan, his relative and a rising star in Roman politics at this time.
-Also came under the care of another dude, Publius Acilius Attianus, another powerful Roman aristocrat and official from Hispania.
-Growing up, Hadrian was well-educated, taking an especially strong interest in everything Greek. In fact, he liked Greek shit so much that he acquired the nickname "Graeculus" ("the Greekling"). This would also have a huge influence on his reign as emperor, too.
-Moved to Rome with Trajan when he was 14. At this time, Trajan was serving as consul under Domitian.
-Thanks to Trajan, Hadrian eventually landed three successive military tribuneships, beginning in Moesia, then Pannonia, and finally Germania Superior.
-He was a very charismatic officer and competent leader.
-Although he is now seen as a pacifist emperor, he actually loved the military and military culture, and because of this the military loved him.
-Was serving as tribune in Germania Superior when Trajan was enthroned as emperor.
-While Hadrian was possibly an obvious choice for heir, Trajan was skeptical of his worthiness.
-It's also possible that Hadrian had benefited from Trajan's power only because Pompeia liked him, and not Trajan himself.
-Hadrian was also mocked by senators in Rome due to his foreign accent and "barbarian" manners and shit.
-Hadrian eventually married Trajan's niece's daughter, Vibia Sabina, in 100 AD.
-While this was a solid political marriage, it was most certainly not a romantic one. Hadrian and Sabina didn't get along at all, and it also didn't help that Hadrian was gay.
-Anyway, Hadrian continued to serve under Trajan, accompanying him on both Dacian Wars, but it's unclear as to what exactly Hadrian was doing there.
-Was given a praetorship in 106 AD and command over a legion in Germania.
-Was given a praetorship in 107 AD and command over a legion in Pannonia.
-Made suffect consul in 108 AD, but this was considered to be kind of rude (and further evidence that Trajan didn't really like Hadrian).
-Hadrian's generally upward movement in society was good for him, but it was just kind of weird because Trajan was ambiguous about what the point of all of it was. It's also unclear as to what Hadrian made of it, too.
-After finishing his consulship, Hadrian disappeared off the historical record for a few years before popping up again with his arrival in Athens in 112 AD.
-Hadrian got so immersed in Athenian life and culture during this time that he eventually was given Athenian citizenship! He even went on to serve as eponymous archon (chief magistrate) of the city!
-Left Athens in 114 AD to join Trajan and serve in his entourage during Trajan's Parthian campaign.
-117 AD- Hadrian was appointed governor of Syria.
-This was actually a legitimately powerful position, and demonstrated that Trajan was finally starting to take Hadrian seriously.
-When Hadrian found out that Trajan had (allegedly) named him as heir, he announced the news to his legions and there was much rejoicing.
-Thus, the Senate acquiesced and confirmed Hadrian as the new emperor.
-Anyway, now that Hadrian was emperor, he knew that he couldn't yet rest on his laurels (so to speak), as he knew that there were powerful political enemies who would test the limits of his power, so he had to act fast!
Friday, January 19, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Optimus Trajan
-When Trajan returned from Dacia, he built a bunch of new stuff including triumphs, a forum, baths, and a new harbor built in 113 AD.
-Also built a new highway from Beneventum (modern-day Benevento, Campania) to Brundisium (modern-day Brindisi, Apulia) because the Appian Way (which led from Rome to Brundisium through Beneventum) was such a clusterfuck.
-Other roads were built upon, improved, and expanded as well, including bridges designed by the genius Apollodorus.
-Unfortunately in later centuries these roads and bridges would allow for the barbarian hordes to travel throughout the empire with startling speed...
-A lot of what we know about Trajan comes from his colleague, the historian Pliny the Younger.
-Born in 61 AD to an Equestrian family. Father died when he was young.
-Educated by Lucius Verginius Rufus (remember him? He was the governor of Germania Superior during the end of Nero's reign and had stayed loyal to Nero and crushed Gaius Julius Vindex's rebellion in Gaul in 68 AD, and had also been so popular with his troops that they had been ready to straight-up declare him princeps! Of course, Verginius had refused to betray Nero).
-Pliny the Younger eventually moved to Rome and continued to be educated, but this time by his famous uncle, the naturalist (and writer, philosopher, former military commander, and personal friend of Vespasian) Pliny the Elder!
-Unfortunately, Pliny the Elder was killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (died in Stabiae (modern-day Castellammare di Stabia, Campania)).
-Left all of his property and wealth to Pliny the Younger, who was also to be posthumously adopted as his son.
-Thus, Pliny the Younger quickly moved up the cursus honorum, and eventually became a well-respected lawyer, senator, and administrator.
-During this time he also be came good friends with the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, as well as Trajan.
-He was so trusted by Trajan that in 110 AD, Trajan sent Pliny to go manage the province of Bithynia, which was falling apart due to shitty administration.
-It took Pliny two years to clean up the situation, but during this time Pliny and Trajan sent each other letters which we still have today and gives us valuable insight as to how the empire managed all of its provinces, as well as Trajan's philosophy of how shit should be run (based on common sense, tradition, and Trajan's own intuition/judgement).
-One interesting tidbit with these letters involved discussion of what to do about the mysterious new cult of Christianity, which was quickly spreading throughout the eastern half of the empire.
-Governors across the empire were confused about what to do with Christians. Christians refused to worship the Roman gods or accept the divinity of the Roman emperors, and many governors feared that the cult would foment eventually foment civil unrest wherever it had a significant presence.
-There was a greater fear that the cult would eventually encourage rebellion. Obviously, it was illegal in the empire to form independent political parties or movements.
-However, Trajan encouraged caution about persecuting alleged Christians, especially because using paid informants or rumors would just make the governors more tyrannical and create more political unrest, so he made sure to stress that alleged Christians should be given a fair trial, but always be given the chance to renounce their faith. However, if they refuse to renounce Christianity, they must be punished!
-The problem of what to do with Christians would be a pain in the ass for administrators for the next 200 years (until Constantine converts!)
-Anyway, Trajan was thus far proving to be a badass ruler, and was given the honorific title "Optimus" ("the Best").
-110 AD- Meanwhile, more drama was going down in Armenia.
-As we may remember, Rome and Parthia shared hegemony over the kingdom. The Parthians got to choose the Armenian king, but Rome had veto power.
-Anyway, when King Sanatruk (AKA Sanatruces) of Armenia died in 110 AD, Parthia chose a dude named Axidares (AKA Ashkadar/Exedares/Exedates), the son of Pacorus II (a former Parthian king) and nephew of Osroes I (the Parthian king at this time), to replace him. However, Parthia had not consulted Rome about this and just had Axidares enthroned without Rome's consent.
-While Rome actually had no problem with Axidares, they were pissed off that Parthia hadn't consulted them about this, considering them to be a sign of grave disrespect (and, by extension, a possible invitation to war). So, hoping to avoid war with Rome, Osroes I had Axidares deposed and replaced by Axidares' brother, Parthamasiris (AKA Partamasia / Parthomasiris).
-It probably also didn't hurt that Osroes I had considered Axidares to be a shitty ruler, anyway.
-Anyway, because the Romans were pissed about this whole situation, Trajan declared war on Parthia!
-Of course, it's also possible that Trajan just wanted an excuse to pick a fight with Parthia :)
-113 AD- Trajan invaded Armenia, and by the following year the Romans had crushed the Armenian defenses and had Parthamasiris dethroned (and possibly executed).
-Armenia was then officially annexed as a Roman province.
-Of course, Trajan didn't just stop here, and continued to wage war against the Parthians.
-115 AD- Trajan invades Mesopotamia (Parthian territory).
-This was also a great time for Rome to invade, as Parthia was kind of fucked up during this part of its history due to political infighting and just not having their shit together.
-116 AD- Mesopotamia was officially annexed as a new Roman province.
-One of the most important cities conquered by Rome during this time was the ancient city of Babylon (modern-day Hillah, Iraq).
-The Romans then sailed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, eventually caputring the Parthian capital Ctesiphon (outside of modern-day Baghdad, Iraq).
-The Romans eventually made it so far downriver that they soon arrived at the Persian Gulf, where Trajan famously stated that he was saddened because he wouldn't be able to see the Romans march into India (like Alexander the Great) because he was too old that point.
-All of this was annexed into the Roman Empire.
-Osroes I was then dethroned and replaced by his son, Parthamaspates, as a puppet king.
-It seems likely that Trajan's ultimate goal was to just straight-up conquer the entire Parthian Empire and annex it into the Roman Empire!
-Of course, the Parthian Empire was pretty big, so even though the Romans had taken over Ctesiphon the Parthians still hadn't given up!
-An army was raised by Mithridates IV (brother of Osroes I) and his son Sanatruces II, and they began launching attacks against the Romans, although they were ultimately defeated.
-Also, a serious revolt in Judea was also getting worse, so Trajan decided to retreat and consolidate his forces.
-Unfortunately for Trajan, he was getting old and it was hot as fuck in Mesopotamia, so he suffered from heat stroke. Realizing that he would probably die if he continued to personally wage war in Mesopotamia, he decided to have the legions stay and try and pacify Mesopotamia while he himself returned to Rome to recover.
-However, the long trek had take a serious toll on Trajan's health, not to mention the stress of running the empire and the seemingly endless military campaigns, and so he died in the city of Selinus, Cilicia (modern-day Gazipaşa, Antalya in south-central Turkey) :(
-Also built a new highway from Beneventum (modern-day Benevento, Campania) to Brundisium (modern-day Brindisi, Apulia) because the Appian Way (which led from Rome to Brundisium through Beneventum) was such a clusterfuck.
-Other roads were built upon, improved, and expanded as well, including bridges designed by the genius Apollodorus.
-Unfortunately in later centuries these roads and bridges would allow for the barbarian hordes to travel throughout the empire with startling speed...
-A lot of what we know about Trajan comes from his colleague, the historian Pliny the Younger.
-Born in 61 AD to an Equestrian family. Father died when he was young.
-Educated by Lucius Verginius Rufus (remember him? He was the governor of Germania Superior during the end of Nero's reign and had stayed loyal to Nero and crushed Gaius Julius Vindex's rebellion in Gaul in 68 AD, and had also been so popular with his troops that they had been ready to straight-up declare him princeps! Of course, Verginius had refused to betray Nero).
-Pliny the Younger eventually moved to Rome and continued to be educated, but this time by his famous uncle, the naturalist (and writer, philosopher, former military commander, and personal friend of Vespasian) Pliny the Elder!
-Unfortunately, Pliny the Elder was killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (died in Stabiae (modern-day Castellammare di Stabia, Campania)).
-Left all of his property and wealth to Pliny the Younger, who was also to be posthumously adopted as his son.
-Thus, Pliny the Younger quickly moved up the cursus honorum, and eventually became a well-respected lawyer, senator, and administrator.
-During this time he also be came good friends with the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, as well as Trajan.
-He was so trusted by Trajan that in 110 AD, Trajan sent Pliny to go manage the province of Bithynia, which was falling apart due to shitty administration.
-It took Pliny two years to clean up the situation, but during this time Pliny and Trajan sent each other letters which we still have today and gives us valuable insight as to how the empire managed all of its provinces, as well as Trajan's philosophy of how shit should be run (based on common sense, tradition, and Trajan's own intuition/judgement).
-One interesting tidbit with these letters involved discussion of what to do about the mysterious new cult of Christianity, which was quickly spreading throughout the eastern half of the empire.
-Governors across the empire were confused about what to do with Christians. Christians refused to worship the Roman gods or accept the divinity of the Roman emperors, and many governors feared that the cult would foment eventually foment civil unrest wherever it had a significant presence.
-There was a greater fear that the cult would eventually encourage rebellion. Obviously, it was illegal in the empire to form independent political parties or movements.
-However, Trajan encouraged caution about persecuting alleged Christians, especially because using paid informants or rumors would just make the governors more tyrannical and create more political unrest, so he made sure to stress that alleged Christians should be given a fair trial, but always be given the chance to renounce their faith. However, if they refuse to renounce Christianity, they must be punished!
-The problem of what to do with Christians would be a pain in the ass for administrators for the next 200 years (until Constantine converts!)
-Anyway, Trajan was thus far proving to be a badass ruler, and was given the honorific title "Optimus" ("the Best").
-110 AD- Meanwhile, more drama was going down in Armenia.
-As we may remember, Rome and Parthia shared hegemony over the kingdom. The Parthians got to choose the Armenian king, but Rome had veto power.
-Anyway, when King Sanatruk (AKA Sanatruces) of Armenia died in 110 AD, Parthia chose a dude named Axidares (AKA Ashkadar/Exedares/Exedates), the son of Pacorus II (a former Parthian king) and nephew of Osroes I (the Parthian king at this time), to replace him. However, Parthia had not consulted Rome about this and just had Axidares enthroned without Rome's consent.
-While Rome actually had no problem with Axidares, they were pissed off that Parthia hadn't consulted them about this, considering them to be a sign of grave disrespect (and, by extension, a possible invitation to war). So, hoping to avoid war with Rome, Osroes I had Axidares deposed and replaced by Axidares' brother, Parthamasiris (AKA Partamasia / Parthomasiris).
-It probably also didn't hurt that Osroes I had considered Axidares to be a shitty ruler, anyway.
-Anyway, because the Romans were pissed about this whole situation, Trajan declared war on Parthia!
-Of course, it's also possible that Trajan just wanted an excuse to pick a fight with Parthia :)
-113 AD- Trajan invaded Armenia, and by the following year the Romans had crushed the Armenian defenses and had Parthamasiris dethroned (and possibly executed).
-Armenia was then officially annexed as a Roman province.
-Of course, Trajan didn't just stop here, and continued to wage war against the Parthians.
-115 AD- Trajan invades Mesopotamia (Parthian territory).
-This was also a great time for Rome to invade, as Parthia was kind of fucked up during this part of its history due to political infighting and just not having their shit together.
-116 AD- Mesopotamia was officially annexed as a new Roman province.
-One of the most important cities conquered by Rome during this time was the ancient city of Babylon (modern-day Hillah, Iraq).
-The Romans then sailed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, eventually caputring the Parthian capital Ctesiphon (outside of modern-day Baghdad, Iraq).
-The Romans eventually made it so far downriver that they soon arrived at the Persian Gulf, where Trajan famously stated that he was saddened because he wouldn't be able to see the Romans march into India (like Alexander the Great) because he was too old that point.
-All of this was annexed into the Roman Empire.
-Osroes I was then dethroned and replaced by his son, Parthamaspates, as a puppet king.
-It seems likely that Trajan's ultimate goal was to just straight-up conquer the entire Parthian Empire and annex it into the Roman Empire!
-Of course, the Parthian Empire was pretty big, so even though the Romans had taken over Ctesiphon the Parthians still hadn't given up!
-An army was raised by Mithridates IV (brother of Osroes I) and his son Sanatruces II, and they began launching attacks against the Romans, although they were ultimately defeated.
-Also, a serious revolt in Judea was also getting worse, so Trajan decided to retreat and consolidate his forces.
-Unfortunately for Trajan, he was getting old and it was hot as fuck in Mesopotamia, so he suffered from heat stroke. Realizing that he would probably die if he continued to personally wage war in Mesopotamia, he decided to have the legions stay and try and pacify Mesopotamia while he himself returned to Rome to recover.
-However, the long trek had take a serious toll on Trajan's health, not to mention the stress of running the empire and the seemingly endless military campaigns, and so he died in the city of Selinus, Cilicia (modern-day Gazipaşa, Antalya in south-central Turkey) :(
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
The Dacian Wars
-98 AD- Trajan was now princeps!
-One of the greatest Roman emperors of all time!
-Spent his first year in office travelling around the Roman frontiers of the Rhine and Danube rivers.
-Eventually arrived in the province of Moesia (next to the kingdom of Dacia) and concluded that the Dacians were obviously preparing for war with Rome.
-Domitian had sent a bunch of money to Decebalus (king of Dacia) in exchange for Dacia to become a client kingdom of Rome, but Domitian had expected Decebalus to use this money to build up their fortifications and protect themselves neighboring barbarian hordes. However, it was clear that the Dacians were instead using these funds to build up their fortifications to protect themselves from Rome instead!
-99 AD- Trajan finally arrived in Rome and held a triumph to celebrate his enthronement.
-Surprisingly entered the city on foot (as opposed to a horse or chariot) and greeted the common folk personally on his way into the city.
-Promised the Senate that he would continue Nerva's policy of "no treason trials".
-Interestingly enough, the Senate actually hated Trajan initially because he was a provincial from Hispania (in addition to being someone who had replaced Nerva without their own say in the matter), but after meeting him they immediately grew to like him.
-Trajan soon announced that he was going back to the old Augustine model of referring to himself as "princeps" ("first", i.e. "first among equals"), which I guess emperors in the past hadn't been doing.
-Trajan also freed many of the remaining aristocratic political personas who had been held prisoner by Domitian, and returned lots of their confiscated property.
-Also, Trajan was kind of a libertarian- he had no interest in running an autocratic state, and envisioned all of the provinces governing themselves autonomously, with the emperor or Senate only issuing orders when it was absolutely necessary.
-He also didn't have time to micromanage the provinces anyway, as he was busy preparing for the war with Dacia!
-Dismantled Domitian's central executive branch that managed the empire.
-Trajan then raised two legions and reorganized where the troops were stationed.
-Also improved the road networks of Moesia in order to minimized fuck-ups involving supply routes.
-Regarding the Dacian Wars, Trajan became legendary not because of his battle plans (which were fine), but because of his logistical planning (which was genius).
-One of the key Roman engineers during this time was a genius dude named Apollodorus of Damascus, one of the greatest engineers/architects in all of history!
-Apollodorus was Trajan's chief architect for everything.
-One Trajan felt that he had prepared enough, he received the Senate's blessing (a formality) and decided to move forward with the war with Dacia.
-101 AD- in March, Trajan personally led the legions into Dacia.
-Once again, a battle was fought near Tapae, and the Dacians actually put up a really good fight, with the Romans experiencing a surprisingly high number of casualties.
-Technically the Romans won because the Dacians fled after a storm came, but this was definitely a Pyrrhic victory for Trajan.
-Winter was also on the way, so Trajan quickly made the decision to retreat back into Moesia to regroup and make additional plans.
-However, when winter came, the Danube River froze and Decebalus decided to launch an offensive on Moesia!
-Unfortunately for him, the Danube River hadn't quite frozen as much as he'd thought, and he lost a bunch of troops due to thin ice and shit.
-Demoralied, they launched a shitty attack on Moesia and were easily repelled by the Roman defenses.
-102 AD- Trajan decided to invade Dacia again in the spring, but this time Decebalus decided to surrender and sue for peace.
-It was obvious to Trajan that the problem wasn't Dacia's independence, but rather it was Decebalus' belligerence and an apparent lack of honor. So, he accepted Decebalus' surrender, but imposed far harsher penalties on Dacia.
-Dacia had to give part of its territory to Rome and also had to tear down their fortifications and shit that had been set up to defend against Rome.
-So, Trajan was satisfied and returned to Rome, where he held a triumph.
-Decebalus, of course, had other plans. He saw no reason to actually submit to Rome, so he didn't take this surrender seriously and just used the money Trajan sent to do the same old shit as before.
-Trajan acknowledged that it was possible, of course, for the Romans to have to invade Dacia again, so he had Apollodorus build what would come to be known as "Trajan's Bridge", a big-ass stone bridge across the Danube River which at that point was the first bridge to be built across that particular river, but it was also to be the longest bridge ever built for the next 1000 years! It was 1,100 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 19 meters tall.
-106 AD- Trajan ends up invading Dacia once again in the spring, leading the troops personally just like before.
-Decebalus had been trying to agitate neighboring barbarian tribes to attack the Romans, so Trajan had finally decided that enough was enough.
-This time, Trajan decided that Decebalus was to be killed and the entire kingdom of Dacia be brought under Roman rule as an annexed territory of Rome.
-The legion marched straight for the capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia, and when they arrived there the besieged the city.
-However, once again the Dacians proved to be surprisingly tenacious in their defense, so Trajan finally resorted to destroying the city's aqueducts so that they were cut off from their water supply.
-Of course, this caused the city to surrender.
-Decebalus was on the run after this, but he eventually committed suicide before he could be caught. His decapitated head was sent to Trajan.
-Trajan then ordered that Sarmizegetusa Regia be razed, and he had a new provincial capital be built roughly 40 km away (its official name was "Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa").
-Dacia was to be hte last major province added to the empire. It would remain in the empire until the 270s AD.
-Dacia proved to be a great addition to the empire because it had vast amounts of resources such as iron and shit.
-When Trajan returned back to Rome, he brought with him all of Decebalus' treasures, a scene not witnessed since the days of Pompey returning after his conquests in the East.
-Rome was now extremely rich and not hurting for money at all.
-Trajan and Apollodorus began planning for a bunch of new projects, and the future looked very bright indeed!
-One of these projects was the huge "Trajan's Forum", another was "Trajan's Column".
-Trajan's Column was 100 feet high, and covered by 600 feet of sculptures telling the story of Trajan's victories; it actually is still standing today!
-Much of the info we get about the Dacian Wars is from Trajan's Column, so of course a lot of the info is propaganda and shit and should be taken with a grain of salt (like all historical sources!).
-One of the greatest Roman emperors of all time!
-Spent his first year in office travelling around the Roman frontiers of the Rhine and Danube rivers.
-Eventually arrived in the province of Moesia (next to the kingdom of Dacia) and concluded that the Dacians were obviously preparing for war with Rome.
-Domitian had sent a bunch of money to Decebalus (king of Dacia) in exchange for Dacia to become a client kingdom of Rome, but Domitian had expected Decebalus to use this money to build up their fortifications and protect themselves neighboring barbarian hordes. However, it was clear that the Dacians were instead using these funds to build up their fortifications to protect themselves from Rome instead!
-99 AD- Trajan finally arrived in Rome and held a triumph to celebrate his enthronement.
-Surprisingly entered the city on foot (as opposed to a horse or chariot) and greeted the common folk personally on his way into the city.
-Promised the Senate that he would continue Nerva's policy of "no treason trials".
-Interestingly enough, the Senate actually hated Trajan initially because he was a provincial from Hispania (in addition to being someone who had replaced Nerva without their own say in the matter), but after meeting him they immediately grew to like him.
-Trajan soon announced that he was going back to the old Augustine model of referring to himself as "princeps" ("first", i.e. "first among equals"), which I guess emperors in the past hadn't been doing.
-Trajan also freed many of the remaining aristocratic political personas who had been held prisoner by Domitian, and returned lots of their confiscated property.
-Also, Trajan was kind of a libertarian- he had no interest in running an autocratic state, and envisioned all of the provinces governing themselves autonomously, with the emperor or Senate only issuing orders when it was absolutely necessary.
-He also didn't have time to micromanage the provinces anyway, as he was busy preparing for the war with Dacia!
-Dismantled Domitian's central executive branch that managed the empire.
-Trajan then raised two legions and reorganized where the troops were stationed.
-Also improved the road networks of Moesia in order to minimized fuck-ups involving supply routes.
-Regarding the Dacian Wars, Trajan became legendary not because of his battle plans (which were fine), but because of his logistical planning (which was genius).
-One of the key Roman engineers during this time was a genius dude named Apollodorus of Damascus, one of the greatest engineers/architects in all of history!
-Apollodorus was Trajan's chief architect for everything.
-One Trajan felt that he had prepared enough, he received the Senate's blessing (a formality) and decided to move forward with the war with Dacia.
-101 AD- in March, Trajan personally led the legions into Dacia.
-Once again, a battle was fought near Tapae, and the Dacians actually put up a really good fight, with the Romans experiencing a surprisingly high number of casualties.
-Technically the Romans won because the Dacians fled after a storm came, but this was definitely a Pyrrhic victory for Trajan.
-Winter was also on the way, so Trajan quickly made the decision to retreat back into Moesia to regroup and make additional plans.
-However, when winter came, the Danube River froze and Decebalus decided to launch an offensive on Moesia!
-Unfortunately for him, the Danube River hadn't quite frozen as much as he'd thought, and he lost a bunch of troops due to thin ice and shit.
-Demoralied, they launched a shitty attack on Moesia and were easily repelled by the Roman defenses.
-102 AD- Trajan decided to invade Dacia again in the spring, but this time Decebalus decided to surrender and sue for peace.
-It was obvious to Trajan that the problem wasn't Dacia's independence, but rather it was Decebalus' belligerence and an apparent lack of honor. So, he accepted Decebalus' surrender, but imposed far harsher penalties on Dacia.
-Dacia had to give part of its territory to Rome and also had to tear down their fortifications and shit that had been set up to defend against Rome.
-So, Trajan was satisfied and returned to Rome, where he held a triumph.
-Decebalus, of course, had other plans. He saw no reason to actually submit to Rome, so he didn't take this surrender seriously and just used the money Trajan sent to do the same old shit as before.
-Trajan acknowledged that it was possible, of course, for the Romans to have to invade Dacia again, so he had Apollodorus build what would come to be known as "Trajan's Bridge", a big-ass stone bridge across the Danube River which at that point was the first bridge to be built across that particular river, but it was also to be the longest bridge ever built for the next 1000 years! It was 1,100 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 19 meters tall.
-106 AD- Trajan ends up invading Dacia once again in the spring, leading the troops personally just like before.
-Decebalus had been trying to agitate neighboring barbarian tribes to attack the Romans, so Trajan had finally decided that enough was enough.
-This time, Trajan decided that Decebalus was to be killed and the entire kingdom of Dacia be brought under Roman rule as an annexed territory of Rome.
-The legion marched straight for the capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia, and when they arrived there the besieged the city.
-However, once again the Dacians proved to be surprisingly tenacious in their defense, so Trajan finally resorted to destroying the city's aqueducts so that they were cut off from their water supply.
-Of course, this caused the city to surrender.
-Decebalus was on the run after this, but he eventually committed suicide before he could be caught. His decapitated head was sent to Trajan.
-Trajan then ordered that Sarmizegetusa Regia be razed, and he had a new provincial capital be built roughly 40 km away (its official name was "Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa").
-Dacia was to be hte last major province added to the empire. It would remain in the empire until the 270s AD.
-Dacia proved to be a great addition to the empire because it had vast amounts of resources such as iron and shit.
-When Trajan returned back to Rome, he brought with him all of Decebalus' treasures, a scene not witnessed since the days of Pompey returning after his conquests in the East.
-Rome was now extremely rich and not hurting for money at all.
-Trajan and Apollodorus began planning for a bunch of new projects, and the future looked very bright indeed!
-One of these projects was the huge "Trajan's Forum", another was "Trajan's Column".
-Trajan's Column was 100 feet high, and covered by 600 feet of sculptures telling the story of Trajan's victories; it actually is still standing today!
-Much of the info we get about the Dacian Wars is from Trajan's Column, so of course a lot of the info is propaganda and shit and should be taken with a grain of salt (like all historical sources!).
Monday, January 15, 2018
Imperial Stop Gap
-So Domitian was dead, and Nerva was now princeps of Rome.
-Nerva had been an adviser to Domitian and the other Flavian emperors (and even as far back as Nero!), so he was a safe pick to be princeps by the Senate because he was old, had no sons, had stayed in the background during his career, and had no military experience.
-He was also seen as a stop gap so that a proper emperor could be chosen to replace him once he croaked, since Domitian had been assassinated and no proper heir had been prepared. So, essentially Nerva was basically a session emperor.
-For the first time since Augustus, the Senate felt like it had power again.
-Nerva immediately declared an end to "treason trials" and an end to the executions of senators. Also, political prisoners were freed, confiscated property was returned, and many who were exiled were recalled.
-However, although the Senate was happy, the Praetorian Guard and the provincial legions felt like they had been left out in the cold, especially since they had loved Domitian and couldn't believe that Nerva had pardoned his assassins. In response, Nerva tried to give everyone a bonus in pay or something, but this didn't help to improve their opinion of him as little more than a puppet of the corrupt Senate.
-Nerva probably meant well with his economic policies (lower taxes, expanded social welfare programs, among a bunch of other stuff).
-To support his various schemes, Nerva began issuing loans to those who wished to buy up property in Italy (with 5% interest) as the imperial treasury was running low.
-However, the scheme just wasn't working quickly or efficiently enough, so Nerva set up a commission to figure out how to cut spending by getting rid of some of the fat.
-The commission was actually a success and did manage to come up with some good ideas.
-For example, Domitian had held so many game days an festival celebrations and shit to make everyone happy, but Domitian had been able to do this because taxes were so high. When Nerva lowered the taxes, the games and festivals were way too expensive. Therefore, the commission recommended that Nerva trim down the public celebrations to only the necessary religious holidays, which Nerva did. The commission also recommended melting down all of his Domitian's gold statues and treasure and shit, which there were a bunch of. They also held a public auction for all of his treasure, which he had hoarded the entire time he was in power.
-Unfortunately, because Nerva had made it clear that there would be no political purges to keep the Senate in line, it quickly devolved into political gridlock and corruption.
-Nerva allowed this because the Senate were his only allies in terms of power.
-Tyranny had been exchanged for anarchy!
-Soon, because of the chaos everyone began to view Nerva as weak and inefficient as a leader. It was obvious that he wasn't suited for the job.
-A conspiracy to overthrow Nerva (led by a senator named Calpurnius Crassus) was uncovered, and even then Nerva refused to have the conspirators executed!
-97 AD- the Praetorians were realizing tat the situation was unraveling rapidly, so they began to plan a coup, seeing him as a spineless puppet of the Senate.
-Led by the new prefect Casperius Aelianus led by the Praetorians in revolt against Nerva, besieged the imperial palace, and took Nerva hostage.
-Fearing for his life, Nerva agreed to bring Domitian's killers to justice (in which he was successful), and was then forced to publicly thank the Praetorians for "reminding him to do his duty" (whoa!).
-Nerva knew he was in bad shape and that if he didn't name an heir and were to die soon or lose power, then the empire would fall into chaos again. So, he decided to choose an heir that was popular with the legions (in an attempt to get them on his side)- Marcus Ulpius Traianus (AKA Trajan), a legionary commander.
-This really helped alleviate the tension that had been mounting (except of course with the Senate, who liked that Nerva had no control over them).
-Trajan was born in the town of Italica in the province of Hispania Baettica (outside of modern-day Santiponce, Seville, Spain).
-His place of birth is important because Trajan would be Rome's first princeps that wasn't born in Italia. However, it's unclear as to if Trajan's family were Romans (as in, from the city of Roman), native Iberians, or a mix. However, it's obvious that they weren't a traditional patrician family (at least, not until Trajan's father became a senator under Vespasian and/or Titus before going on to become the governor of Syria in 76 AD).
-Family rose to prominence under the Flavian dynasty.
-Because of the family (or at least Trajan with his father) relocating to Syria, Trajan eventually went on to serve as military tribune of the legions stationed in Syria, and soon began to quickly ascend the cursus honorum.
-Became praetor in 85 AD and was appointed as commander of the legions in Hispania Tarraconensis. As commander, Trajan was a natural leader and brilliant tactician, and was very inspiring but also could be laid-back, strict but fair, etc. (i.e. quite versatile depending on the situation). In this way he was very similar to Julius Caesar. He was a great administrator, too.
-Favored by Domitian due to to his (Trajan's) support during Saturninus' rebellion.
-At some point in the 90s AD Trajan married a noblewoman named Pompeia Plotina.
-91 AD- Trajan was appointed consul and soon after served as governor in Moesia and Germania Superior.
-98 AD- Trajan was named consul again, and Nerva died soon after (after having been in office for only 16 months).
-Because he was so popular and the obvious next logical choice for princeps, Trajan became the next emperor of the Roman Empire!
-Nerva had been an adviser to Domitian and the other Flavian emperors (and even as far back as Nero!), so he was a safe pick to be princeps by the Senate because he was old, had no sons, had stayed in the background during his career, and had no military experience.
-He was also seen as a stop gap so that a proper emperor could be chosen to replace him once he croaked, since Domitian had been assassinated and no proper heir had been prepared. So, essentially Nerva was basically a session emperor.
-For the first time since Augustus, the Senate felt like it had power again.
-Nerva immediately declared an end to "treason trials" and an end to the executions of senators. Also, political prisoners were freed, confiscated property was returned, and many who were exiled were recalled.
-However, although the Senate was happy, the Praetorian Guard and the provincial legions felt like they had been left out in the cold, especially since they had loved Domitian and couldn't believe that Nerva had pardoned his assassins. In response, Nerva tried to give everyone a bonus in pay or something, but this didn't help to improve their opinion of him as little more than a puppet of the corrupt Senate.
-Nerva probably meant well with his economic policies (lower taxes, expanded social welfare programs, among a bunch of other stuff).
-To support his various schemes, Nerva began issuing loans to those who wished to buy up property in Italy (with 5% interest) as the imperial treasury was running low.
-However, the scheme just wasn't working quickly or efficiently enough, so Nerva set up a commission to figure out how to cut spending by getting rid of some of the fat.
-The commission was actually a success and did manage to come up with some good ideas.
-For example, Domitian had held so many game days an festival celebrations and shit to make everyone happy, but Domitian had been able to do this because taxes were so high. When Nerva lowered the taxes, the games and festivals were way too expensive. Therefore, the commission recommended that Nerva trim down the public celebrations to only the necessary religious holidays, which Nerva did. The commission also recommended melting down all of his Domitian's gold statues and treasure and shit, which there were a bunch of. They also held a public auction for all of his treasure, which he had hoarded the entire time he was in power.
-Unfortunately, because Nerva had made it clear that there would be no political purges to keep the Senate in line, it quickly devolved into political gridlock and corruption.
-Nerva allowed this because the Senate were his only allies in terms of power.
-Tyranny had been exchanged for anarchy!
-Soon, because of the chaos everyone began to view Nerva as weak and inefficient as a leader. It was obvious that he wasn't suited for the job.
-A conspiracy to overthrow Nerva (led by a senator named Calpurnius Crassus) was uncovered, and even then Nerva refused to have the conspirators executed!
-97 AD- the Praetorians were realizing tat the situation was unraveling rapidly, so they began to plan a coup, seeing him as a spineless puppet of the Senate.
-Led by the new prefect Casperius Aelianus led by the Praetorians in revolt against Nerva, besieged the imperial palace, and took Nerva hostage.
-Fearing for his life, Nerva agreed to bring Domitian's killers to justice (in which he was successful), and was then forced to publicly thank the Praetorians for "reminding him to do his duty" (whoa!).
-Nerva knew he was in bad shape and that if he didn't name an heir and were to die soon or lose power, then the empire would fall into chaos again. So, he decided to choose an heir that was popular with the legions (in an attempt to get them on his side)- Marcus Ulpius Traianus (AKA Trajan), a legionary commander.
-This really helped alleviate the tension that had been mounting (except of course with the Senate, who liked that Nerva had no control over them).
-Trajan was born in the town of Italica in the province of Hispania Baettica (outside of modern-day Santiponce, Seville, Spain).
-His place of birth is important because Trajan would be Rome's first princeps that wasn't born in Italia. However, it's unclear as to if Trajan's family were Romans (as in, from the city of Roman), native Iberians, or a mix. However, it's obvious that they weren't a traditional patrician family (at least, not until Trajan's father became a senator under Vespasian and/or Titus before going on to become the governor of Syria in 76 AD).
-Family rose to prominence under the Flavian dynasty.
-Because of the family (or at least Trajan with his father) relocating to Syria, Trajan eventually went on to serve as military tribune of the legions stationed in Syria, and soon began to quickly ascend the cursus honorum.
-Became praetor in 85 AD and was appointed as commander of the legions in Hispania Tarraconensis. As commander, Trajan was a natural leader and brilliant tactician, and was very inspiring but also could be laid-back, strict but fair, etc. (i.e. quite versatile depending on the situation). In this way he was very similar to Julius Caesar. He was a great administrator, too.
-Favored by Domitian due to to his (Trajan's) support during Saturninus' rebellion.
-At some point in the 90s AD Trajan married a noblewoman named Pompeia Plotina.
-91 AD- Trajan was appointed consul and soon after served as governor in Moesia and Germania Superior.
-98 AD- Trajan was named consul again, and Nerva died soon after (after having been in office for only 16 months).
-Because he was so popular and the obvious next logical choice for princeps, Trajan became the next emperor of the Roman Empire!
Sunday, January 14, 2018
What Time is It?
-January 1, 89 AD- two legions in Germania Superior, led by the provincial governor Lucius Antonius Saturninus, refused to renew their paths to Domitian, so the stability of the empire was once again in jeopardy. It's also possible that there was a wider conspiracy as well with other senators.
-This rebellion echoed Vitellius' revolt 20 years earlier.
-However, unlike Galba, the legions loved Domitian.
-Because of this, the uprising was easily quelled by Labius Maximus, governor of Germania Inferior. However, all of Saturninus' records were burned, so any possible evidence of a wider conspiracy was lost.
-All we do know is that Saturninus had allegedly struck a deal with the Chatti tribe to conbine forces and take on Domitian. The Chatti were to cross where the Rhine was frozen; however, there was an early thaw, so during this time the Chatti were stuck on the German side of the river.
-In response to the rebellion, Domitian had not only ordered Maximus to attack Saturninus, but had also moved north himself with his own Praetorian army.
-He also ordered a legion from Hispania Terraconense to march towards Germania Superior.
-This legion was led by Marcus Ulpius Traianus (AKA future princeps Trajan!).
-Anyway, because the Chatti had been unable to cross the Rhine, Saturninus' plans were fucked. Thus, he ended up surrendering to Maximus.
-Saturninus and his officers were executed, and Saturninus' legions were relocated to the province of Pannonia.
-Maximus was then given the governorship of Syria, while Trajan was given the consulship in 91 AD (he would also go on to be a governor of either Pannonia or Germania Superior, it's unclear which one).
-90 AD- Domitian appointed himself consul and appointed as his co-consul a dude named Marcus Cocceius Nerva (future princeps Nerva).
-Kind of a mystery as to why Nerva was chosen, as he was a bit of a dark horse candidate.
-He had played a major role in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy during Nero's reign, so maybe that had something to do with it?
-Nerva bio:
-Born in 30 AD to a prominent family of the Italian peninsula (not nobility, however).
-Grandfather had connections with Tiberius and had spent time in Capri ;)
-Father had served as consul under Caligula.
-Nerva himself never seemed to actively pursue power, instead preferring to work behind the scenes as a loyal adviser. He was also loved by Nero.
-Friends with Vespasian.
-Sister was married to Otho's brother, but surprisingly Nerva stayed loyal to Vespasian, not Otho.
-Named consul in 71 AD, which was usually reserved for a member of the imperial family, so this was a big deal.
-Nerva was a powerful member of the political scene during the Flavian dynasty, even if it was not officially documented in the chronicles at the time.
-Doesn't officially pop up until 90 AD (when he is appointed as Domitian's co-consul).
-Anyway, Saturninus' rebellion seemed to be the last straw for Domitian, finally pushing him into full paranoia mode, which only grew worse over time.
-It was this period in which Domitian's bad reputation really stems from.
-However, Domitian had every right to be paranoid, and even he knew that he was spinning out of control. Unfortunately, he felt that he had no choice to be ruthless, so it was around this time that he brought back the "treason trials" (i.e. purges) that had previously been outlawed by Titus.
-Eventually began to confiscate the property of the executed and exiled, which wasn't a good look.
-96 AD- the beginning of Domitian's downfall.
-Court officials began conspiring against him, believing that if they didn't do something ASAP then they were doomed.
-This conspiracy was allegedly formed after Domitian executed an ex-slave of Nero's who had helped Nero escape the palace and commit suicide, claiming that this slave hadn't been "loyal enough" even though he had served the princeps for years.
-The conspirators included Parthenius (Domitian's chamberlain), Maximus (Parthenius' ex-slave), and Stephanus (a steward of Flavia Domitilla, Domitian's niece), and maybe some others, but it's unclear.
-The legend is that Domitian was told by a seer that he would die around lunchtime, so he always got antsy arouind that time and would always ask what time it was until the hour passed.
-However, on the day of his assassination, one of his servants lied to Domitian and said it was later than it actually was, so Domitian relaxed and was in his room. Stephanus then came in and attacked him with a knife he had sneaked in his bandaged arm and sling (he had been pretending to be injured). Domitian did end up putting up a good fight, but eventually others came in and helped stab him to death. Domitian was 45 years old, and had ruled the empire for 15 years.
-His body was then smuggled out of the palace and cremated.
-Speculation abounds as to who exactly was involved in the conspiracy, and it was definitely shady that Nerva, who was named princeps after Domitian's death, didn't really seem to work that hard to get to the bottom of who was really behind Domitian's assassination. Additionally, those who WERE caught weren't actually punished harshly at all!
-The Senate then passed a bunch of laws and decrees that tried to erase Domitian's memory completely- statues and art of Domitian was changed to look like Nerva, Domitian's name was removed from public works, etc.
-The masses (including the legions (but not including the officers)), however, were pissed! They had really loved Domitian!
-This rebellion echoed Vitellius' revolt 20 years earlier.
-However, unlike Galba, the legions loved Domitian.
-Because of this, the uprising was easily quelled by Labius Maximus, governor of Germania Inferior. However, all of Saturninus' records were burned, so any possible evidence of a wider conspiracy was lost.
-All we do know is that Saturninus had allegedly struck a deal with the Chatti tribe to conbine forces and take on Domitian. The Chatti were to cross where the Rhine was frozen; however, there was an early thaw, so during this time the Chatti were stuck on the German side of the river.
-In response to the rebellion, Domitian had not only ordered Maximus to attack Saturninus, but had also moved north himself with his own Praetorian army.
-He also ordered a legion from Hispania Terraconense to march towards Germania Superior.
-This legion was led by Marcus Ulpius Traianus (AKA future princeps Trajan!).
-Anyway, because the Chatti had been unable to cross the Rhine, Saturninus' plans were fucked. Thus, he ended up surrendering to Maximus.
-Saturninus and his officers were executed, and Saturninus' legions were relocated to the province of Pannonia.
-Maximus was then given the governorship of Syria, while Trajan was given the consulship in 91 AD (he would also go on to be a governor of either Pannonia or Germania Superior, it's unclear which one).
-90 AD- Domitian appointed himself consul and appointed as his co-consul a dude named Marcus Cocceius Nerva (future princeps Nerva).
-Kind of a mystery as to why Nerva was chosen, as he was a bit of a dark horse candidate.
-He had played a major role in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy during Nero's reign, so maybe that had something to do with it?
-Nerva bio:
-Born in 30 AD to a prominent family of the Italian peninsula (not nobility, however).
-Grandfather had connections with Tiberius and had spent time in Capri ;)
-Father had served as consul under Caligula.
-Nerva himself never seemed to actively pursue power, instead preferring to work behind the scenes as a loyal adviser. He was also loved by Nero.
-Friends with Vespasian.
-Sister was married to Otho's brother, but surprisingly Nerva stayed loyal to Vespasian, not Otho.
-Named consul in 71 AD, which was usually reserved for a member of the imperial family, so this was a big deal.
-Nerva was a powerful member of the political scene during the Flavian dynasty, even if it was not officially documented in the chronicles at the time.
-Doesn't officially pop up until 90 AD (when he is appointed as Domitian's co-consul).
-Anyway, Saturninus' rebellion seemed to be the last straw for Domitian, finally pushing him into full paranoia mode, which only grew worse over time.
-It was this period in which Domitian's bad reputation really stems from.
-However, Domitian had every right to be paranoid, and even he knew that he was spinning out of control. Unfortunately, he felt that he had no choice to be ruthless, so it was around this time that he brought back the "treason trials" (i.e. purges) that had previously been outlawed by Titus.
-Eventually began to confiscate the property of the executed and exiled, which wasn't a good look.
-96 AD- the beginning of Domitian's downfall.
-Court officials began conspiring against him, believing that if they didn't do something ASAP then they were doomed.
-This conspiracy was allegedly formed after Domitian executed an ex-slave of Nero's who had helped Nero escape the palace and commit suicide, claiming that this slave hadn't been "loyal enough" even though he had served the princeps for years.
-The conspirators included Parthenius (Domitian's chamberlain), Maximus (Parthenius' ex-slave), and Stephanus (a steward of Flavia Domitilla, Domitian's niece), and maybe some others, but it's unclear.
-The legend is that Domitian was told by a seer that he would die around lunchtime, so he always got antsy arouind that time and would always ask what time it was until the hour passed.
-However, on the day of his assassination, one of his servants lied to Domitian and said it was later than it actually was, so Domitian relaxed and was in his room. Stephanus then came in and attacked him with a knife he had sneaked in his bandaged arm and sling (he had been pretending to be injured). Domitian did end up putting up a good fight, but eventually others came in and helped stab him to death. Domitian was 45 years old, and had ruled the empire for 15 years.
-His body was then smuggled out of the palace and cremated.
-Speculation abounds as to who exactly was involved in the conspiracy, and it was definitely shady that Nerva, who was named princeps after Domitian's death, didn't really seem to work that hard to get to the bottom of who was really behind Domitian's assassination. Additionally, those who WERE caught weren't actually punished harshly at all!
-The Senate then passed a bunch of laws and decrees that tried to erase Domitian's memory completely- statues and art of Domitian was changed to look like Nerva, Domitian's name was removed from public works, etc.
-The masses (including the legions (but not including the officers)), however, were pissed! They had really loved Domitian!
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Mock Triumphs
-How did Domitian pay for all of his construction projects and shit?
-By using his efficient bureaucracy to tax the fuck out of the rich!
-He had undercut the elite politically, and was now doing so economically.
-Eventually, he would just start to straight-up jack elites' property by confiscating it in the name of the government.
-In the past, emperors usually just borrowed money without ever worrying about how to pay it back.
-Domitian also tried to bring back moral legislation (the "Lex Julias") as an attempt to emulate Augustus.
-Of course, the Lex Julia was very unpopular with just about everyone.
-85 AD- Domitian appointed himself censor in order to officially legislate public morality.
-For example, adultery was now highly illegal, and banging the Vestal Virgins was now a capital offense.
-Specific examples: an Equestrian was banned from the Senate for acting on stage (which Domitian considered to be worse than prostitution (haha)!
-While the Lex Julia stuff concerning sex was dumb (which everyone knew), the anti-corruption stuff was clearly much needed.
-As a final "fuck you" to the elites, he even limited the amount of land that they could use for vineyards!
-As for the common folk, opinions were mixed about Domitian- he was simultaneously loved, hated, respected, and feared, depending on who you asked.
-Most of the regular soldiers in the legions loved him too, but the officers did not.
-Regular soldiers loved him because he gave them a big pay raise, and therefore Domitian almost never had to worry about a revolt.
-The pay raise was the result of the legions' victory against the Chatti, a warlike Germanic tribe. It's unclear as to why exactly Domitian ordered a war with the Chatti, but many sources suggest that Domitian was looking for a reason to fight so he could glorify himself with a military victory and triumph (which included games and parties and shit).
-Because of this victory, Domitian gave himself the additional name "Germanicus".
-Tacitus (among others) famously called this celebration a "mock triumph".
-Because of the "mock triumph" (or maybe just because it was time), Agricola was recalled from Britannia in 85 AD.
-Around this time many of the legions in Britannia were transferred to Germania to fight against Dacia (the Dacians were closely related to Thracians), a powerful Carpathian kingdom which was growing to be a really serious threat.
-This was Domitian's first real test as princeps.
-Domitian was not interested in expanding the empire's borders, believing that the legions should be used primarily for the empire's defense; wars of expansion were just a monumental waste of time and resources.
-Therefore, Domitian's greatest achievement in terms of the military was his establishment of the "Limes Germanicus", a line of frontier fortifications built along the Rhine and Danube rivers (eventually stretching to a total of 350 miles (560 km)!).
-Included approximately 60 forts and 900 watchtowers.
-However, it should be noted that Domitian neither started nor complete this project, but he was a key figure in getting most of it done (before it was finally completed by Hadrian).
-Of course, the military elites felt that Domitian was just being a pussy and that the legions should be used primarily for offense, NOT defense!
-Anyway, because of all of the chaos of 69 AD and the years surrounding it, the Germanic hordes had become more bold in their raids on Roman lands.
-Shit finally reached a head when the Dacians invaded the Roman province of Moesia (basically modern-day Serbia and Kosovo).
-Domitian personally led a force to Moesia (along with some Praetorians and Cornelius Fuscus, a Praetorian prefect.
-Domitian quickly drove off the Dacian army and then returned to Rome to celebrate his second triumph. However, this triumph was premature, as when Fuscus was securing Moesia with four of the leftover legions, he stupidly led them into Dacia, thinking that the the territory was populated by a loose collection of tribes.
-However, Dacia was in fact a legitimate kingdom and had been united under a powerful king named Decebalus by the Romans (which literally meant "He With the Strength of 10 Men"). Fuscus marched his legions right into a trap near Tapae (a fort located in modern-day Transylvania, Romania). There, Fuscus and his army were completely slaughtered by the Dacians. The Praetorian standard was also captured!
-Because of this epic blunder, Domitian marched three of the legions back to Moesia to secure it and to make sure that the Dacians wouldn't attempt a counterattack.
-87 and 88 AD- Domitian sent Roman legions into Dacia to crush Decebalus.
-A second battle was actually fought again at Tapae, but this time the Romans achieved victory.
-January 1, 89 AD- Lucius Antonius Saturninus, a Roman senator and governor of Germania Superior, decided to lead a revolt against Domitian with his two legions.
-Panicked, Domitian surprisingly signed a treaty with Decebalus which made Dacia a client kingdom of Rome (and also paid the kingdom a bunch of money to not invade Moesia), and in return Dacia would provide additional troops to help Domitian take on Saturninus.
-Of course, once word got out about what went down it ended up being a huge political scandal for Domitian.
-By using his efficient bureaucracy to tax the fuck out of the rich!
-He had undercut the elite politically, and was now doing so economically.
-Eventually, he would just start to straight-up jack elites' property by confiscating it in the name of the government.
-In the past, emperors usually just borrowed money without ever worrying about how to pay it back.
-Domitian also tried to bring back moral legislation (the "Lex Julias") as an attempt to emulate Augustus.
-Of course, the Lex Julia was very unpopular with just about everyone.
-85 AD- Domitian appointed himself censor in order to officially legislate public morality.
-For example, adultery was now highly illegal, and banging the Vestal Virgins was now a capital offense.
-Specific examples: an Equestrian was banned from the Senate for acting on stage (which Domitian considered to be worse than prostitution (haha)!
-While the Lex Julia stuff concerning sex was dumb (which everyone knew), the anti-corruption stuff was clearly much needed.
-As a final "fuck you" to the elites, he even limited the amount of land that they could use for vineyards!
-As for the common folk, opinions were mixed about Domitian- he was simultaneously loved, hated, respected, and feared, depending on who you asked.
-Most of the regular soldiers in the legions loved him too, but the officers did not.
-Regular soldiers loved him because he gave them a big pay raise, and therefore Domitian almost never had to worry about a revolt.
-The pay raise was the result of the legions' victory against the Chatti, a warlike Germanic tribe. It's unclear as to why exactly Domitian ordered a war with the Chatti, but many sources suggest that Domitian was looking for a reason to fight so he could glorify himself with a military victory and triumph (which included games and parties and shit).
-Because of this victory, Domitian gave himself the additional name "Germanicus".
-Tacitus (among others) famously called this celebration a "mock triumph".
-Because of the "mock triumph" (or maybe just because it was time), Agricola was recalled from Britannia in 85 AD.
-Around this time many of the legions in Britannia were transferred to Germania to fight against Dacia (the Dacians were closely related to Thracians), a powerful Carpathian kingdom which was growing to be a really serious threat.
-This was Domitian's first real test as princeps.
-Domitian was not interested in expanding the empire's borders, believing that the legions should be used primarily for the empire's defense; wars of expansion were just a monumental waste of time and resources.
-Therefore, Domitian's greatest achievement in terms of the military was his establishment of the "Limes Germanicus", a line of frontier fortifications built along the Rhine and Danube rivers (eventually stretching to a total of 350 miles (560 km)!).
-Included approximately 60 forts and 900 watchtowers.
-However, it should be noted that Domitian neither started nor complete this project, but he was a key figure in getting most of it done (before it was finally completed by Hadrian).
-Of course, the military elites felt that Domitian was just being a pussy and that the legions should be used primarily for offense, NOT defense!
-Anyway, because of all of the chaos of 69 AD and the years surrounding it, the Germanic hordes had become more bold in their raids on Roman lands.
-Shit finally reached a head when the Dacians invaded the Roman province of Moesia (basically modern-day Serbia and Kosovo).
-Domitian personally led a force to Moesia (along with some Praetorians and Cornelius Fuscus, a Praetorian prefect.
-Domitian quickly drove off the Dacian army and then returned to Rome to celebrate his second triumph. However, this triumph was premature, as when Fuscus was securing Moesia with four of the leftover legions, he stupidly led them into Dacia, thinking that the the territory was populated by a loose collection of tribes.
-However, Dacia was in fact a legitimate kingdom and had been united under a powerful king named Decebalus by the Romans (which literally meant "He With the Strength of 10 Men"). Fuscus marched his legions right into a trap near Tapae (a fort located in modern-day Transylvania, Romania). There, Fuscus and his army were completely slaughtered by the Dacians. The Praetorian standard was also captured!
-Because of this epic blunder, Domitian marched three of the legions back to Moesia to secure it and to make sure that the Dacians wouldn't attempt a counterattack.
-87 and 88 AD- Domitian sent Roman legions into Dacia to crush Decebalus.
-A second battle was actually fought again at Tapae, but this time the Romans achieved victory.
-January 1, 89 AD- Lucius Antonius Saturninus, a Roman senator and governor of Germania Superior, decided to lead a revolt against Domitian with his two legions.
-Panicked, Domitian surprisingly signed a treaty with Decebalus which made Dacia a client kingdom of Rome (and also paid the kingdom a bunch of money to not invade Moesia), and in return Dacia would provide additional troops to help Domitian take on Saturninus.
-Of course, once word got out about what went down it ended up being a huge political scandal for Domitian.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
The Forgotten Son
-81 AD- Titus had died, so his younger brother, Domitian, was now princeps.
-It's highly possible that historical sources are heavily biased against Domitian, especially by later historians due to his aggressive persecution of Christians.
-However, 20th century historians have been less harsh, pointing out that while he was certainly an autocrat, he seems to have been more efficient and rational than some of the previous emperors.
-Domitian was born in 51 AD, a son of Vespasian and younger brother of Titus.
-Because Titus was older, Vespasian naturally began to prep his as his heir to the throne.
-He grew up with his mom and sister (Domitilla the Younger) in Rome and was kind of a loner.
-Allegedly liked to spend time stabbing flies with pens (haha).
-He was also in Rome during all the chaos leading up to Nero's suicide and the turmoil of 69 AD.
-It was probably obvious to Domitian that loyalty didn't mean shit and power could shift at the drop of a hat.
-During the chaos he was placed under house arrest by Vitellius during Vespasian's rebellion.
-During the siege of Rome, soon after his uncle (Vespasian's brother) Sabinus was killed Domitian was snuck out of the palace dressed as an Isis cult member.
-Before his dad arrived in Rome, Domitian was technically supposed to rule in Vespasian's place until his father could take over, as Titus was also with Vespasian during this time. However, Domitian was overshadowed by Mucianus, and it was here that Domitian probably grew to hate the Senate and bureaucrats, recognizing that they were usually just blowhards with no real power.
-When his father officially became princeps, Domitian craved respect and wanted to join the legions, and actually ended up convincing his dad to let him do so! However, although he was sent to command troops to crush the Batavian revolt, it ended before he got there! He then tried to join the legions in Germania, but was ignored.
-Domitian was stuck. He was shut out of political and military power, and Vespasian seemed to not give a shit, only focusing on Titus.
-Thus, Domitian just spent most of his time in the palace reading and writing.
-However, it does appear that Titus tried to make an effort to include Domitian in stuff like political offices and stuff.
-70 AD- married Domitia Longina, youngest daughter of Corbulo. This was a great match betcause Domitia's family hated Nero and this solidified the Flavians as a truly anti-Nero dynasty.
-Surprisingly, they actually were in love and seemed like a happy couple!
-When Titus became princeps, though, Domitian continued to be snubbed in terms of moving up in political power.
-It's here that historians begin to claim that Domitian began to grow actively spiteful of his brother and started plotting against his life.
-Of course, when Titus died, there were conspiracy theories that Domitian was somehow involved, especially since he didn't seem too shaken up by his brother's death.
-Domitian had a totally different approach to ruling as princeps than any previous emperors before him.
-All the previous emperors at least tried (or pretended to try) to have a balance of power or acknowledge the legitimacy of political entities like the Senate or the consuls.
-However, Domitian saw these institutions as inefficient at best, and dangerous at worst.
-The Republic had been dead for a century, so why pretend any other way? In his mind, what Rome truly needed was simply a powerful, enlightened dictator, and anything else was a waste of time.
-His model? Augustus. However, Domitian failed to realize that Augustus may have had all the power, but always worked hard to give the illusion that he shared his power with others, and then would privately reward those who supported him.
-Case in point- Augustus was revered as a god! Domitian, unfortunately, was not.
-Domitian's first task was to reinforce the belief that the imperial dynasties were divinely ordained, and the previous emperors were gods/demigods, including his older brother and father (which also implied that he was of divine lineage also, of course).
-He also finished construction on the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, as well as the Arch of Titus.
-He then stripped the Senate of all of its authority and input on imperial decision-making.
-Of course, this caused the elites to completely despise of him, but, of course, Domitian DGAF.
-The common people loved him for this, especially since he seemed to really want to cut out all the excess fat and corruption of the government.
-Instead of taking on senators as members of his administration, he instead took on equestrians, who otherwise would have been blocked from these posts.
-He also refused to appoint family members just because they were family, instead choosing those whom he deemed best for the job.
-Based on these changes, Domitian was actually shaping up to be a pretty good emperor!
-It's highly possible that historical sources are heavily biased against Domitian, especially by later historians due to his aggressive persecution of Christians.
-However, 20th century historians have been less harsh, pointing out that while he was certainly an autocrat, he seems to have been more efficient and rational than some of the previous emperors.
-Domitian was born in 51 AD, a son of Vespasian and younger brother of Titus.
-Because Titus was older, Vespasian naturally began to prep his as his heir to the throne.
-He grew up with his mom and sister (Domitilla the Younger) in Rome and was kind of a loner.
-Allegedly liked to spend time stabbing flies with pens (haha).
-He was also in Rome during all the chaos leading up to Nero's suicide and the turmoil of 69 AD.
-It was probably obvious to Domitian that loyalty didn't mean shit and power could shift at the drop of a hat.
-During the chaos he was placed under house arrest by Vitellius during Vespasian's rebellion.
-During the siege of Rome, soon after his uncle (Vespasian's brother) Sabinus was killed Domitian was snuck out of the palace dressed as an Isis cult member.
-Before his dad arrived in Rome, Domitian was technically supposed to rule in Vespasian's place until his father could take over, as Titus was also with Vespasian during this time. However, Domitian was overshadowed by Mucianus, and it was here that Domitian probably grew to hate the Senate and bureaucrats, recognizing that they were usually just blowhards with no real power.
-When his father officially became princeps, Domitian craved respect and wanted to join the legions, and actually ended up convincing his dad to let him do so! However, although he was sent to command troops to crush the Batavian revolt, it ended before he got there! He then tried to join the legions in Germania, but was ignored.
-Domitian was stuck. He was shut out of political and military power, and Vespasian seemed to not give a shit, only focusing on Titus.
-Thus, Domitian just spent most of his time in the palace reading and writing.
-However, it does appear that Titus tried to make an effort to include Domitian in stuff like political offices and stuff.
-70 AD- married Domitia Longina, youngest daughter of Corbulo. This was a great match betcause Domitia's family hated Nero and this solidified the Flavians as a truly anti-Nero dynasty.
-Surprisingly, they actually were in love and seemed like a happy couple!
-When Titus became princeps, though, Domitian continued to be snubbed in terms of moving up in political power.
-It's here that historians begin to claim that Domitian began to grow actively spiteful of his brother and started plotting against his life.
-Of course, when Titus died, there were conspiracy theories that Domitian was somehow involved, especially since he didn't seem too shaken up by his brother's death.
-Domitian had a totally different approach to ruling as princeps than any previous emperors before him.
-All the previous emperors at least tried (or pretended to try) to have a balance of power or acknowledge the legitimacy of political entities like the Senate or the consuls.
-However, Domitian saw these institutions as inefficient at best, and dangerous at worst.
-The Republic had been dead for a century, so why pretend any other way? In his mind, what Rome truly needed was simply a powerful, enlightened dictator, and anything else was a waste of time.
-His model? Augustus. However, Domitian failed to realize that Augustus may have had all the power, but always worked hard to give the illusion that he shared his power with others, and then would privately reward those who supported him.
-Case in point- Augustus was revered as a god! Domitian, unfortunately, was not.
-Domitian's first task was to reinforce the belief that the imperial dynasties were divinely ordained, and the previous emperors were gods/demigods, including his older brother and father (which also implied that he was of divine lineage also, of course).
-He also finished construction on the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, as well as the Arch of Titus.
-He then stripped the Senate of all of its authority and input on imperial decision-making.
-Of course, this caused the elites to completely despise of him, but, of course, Domitian DGAF.
-The common people loved him for this, especially since he seemed to really want to cut out all the excess fat and corruption of the government.
-Instead of taking on senators as members of his administration, he instead took on equestrians, who otherwise would have been blocked from these posts.
-He also refused to appoint family members just because they were family, instead choosing those whom he deemed best for the job.
-Based on these changes, Domitian was actually shaping up to be a pretty good emperor!
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Friends, I Have Wasted a Day
-During Vespasian's time as princeps, the Romans had expanded significantly into Britannia.
-Troops were led by General Gnaeus Julius Agricola.
-Born in 40 AD into a family of senators in the province of Gallia Narbonensis .
-His father had been executed by Caligula.
-58 AD- served as a military tribune in 58 AD during Boudica's Rebellion.
-64 AD- served as quaestor in the province of Asia in 64 AD.
-During this time his wife gave birth to Julia Agricola (who would eventually marry the historian Tacitus).
-66 AD- served as pleb tribune.
-68 AD- served as praetor.
-69 AD- mother (Julia Procilla) was (accidentally?) killed by Otho's marauding troops when they raided her estate (unclear as to what exactly went down) in northwest Italia (modern-day Liguria) which obviously caused him to support Vespasian during the Year of the Four Emperors.
-Vespasian rewarded Agricola's loyalty by putting him in charge of the troops in Britannia.
-There had been so much chaos in Britannia during this time in terms of revolts and uprisings and shit due to the lack of order in Rome, and Agricola's main assignment was pacifying the Brigantes, a Britannic tribe based out of modern-day Yorkshire.
-Although Agricola was relatively successful in managing the troops in Britannia, he never truly pacified the region, and eventually the future princeps Hadrian would be construct a wall (Hadrian's Wall) to try and divide the territory in order to cut off supply lines and reinforcements from the untamed wilds of Caledonia (modern-day Scotland).
-Agricola then served as governor in Gallia Aquitania in 73/74 AD.
-In 76/77 AD he served as consul before finally returning to Britannia as a governor in 78 AD. He would remain there for seven more years.
-As governor, his first challenge was against the Ordovices, a Britannic tribe based out of modern-day Wales who were rising up against the Romans.
-During this time Agricola also developed a reputation as being strict and no-nonsense, but also honest and fair (with both his Roman troops AND the native population).
-Also introduced education programs for local children of the nobility in order to try and make the region more civilized (as opposed to a provincial backwater).
-Also tried to implement Roman-style city planning to make the cities less barbaric and more organized.
-79 AD- Agricola led a campaign north into Caledonia to try and conquer the entire island of Britannia.
-While he did make it all the way to the northern coast of Britannia, Caledonia was never truly pacified.
-79 AD- Titus (eldest son of Vespasian) was now princeps of the Roman Empire.
-Born in 39 AD and raised in Rome.
-Classmate of Claudius' son Brittanicus (before he died (or was murdered), of course).
-Talented orator and athlete, was appointed as military tribune in 57 AD in Germania before being transferred to Britannia in 59 AD during Boudica's Rebellion (possibly serving alongside Agricola).
-63 AD- married Arrecina Tertulla (came from a prominent Equestrian family), but she died soon after this.
-65 AD- married Marcia Furnilla (came from a powerful noble family), but her family was involved in the Pisonian Conspiracy so he divorced her to avoid any unnecessary drama.
-He never remarried, but he definitely had plenty of mistresses.
-66 AD- when Vespasian was assigned to crush the Jewish Revolt in 66 AD, he brought Titus with him as a part of his entourage, as Titus was by now a skilled tactician and diplomat.
-When Vespasian began working to secure imperial rule, he left Titus in charge of managing the Jewish Revolt.
-When Titus returned to Rome, he was awarded a triumph for his victories!
-He then had a bunch of responsibilities, but his main job was being Praetorian prefect.
-Unfortunately, because he was the "enforcer" of Vespasian's will, he gained a reputation for being harsh and ruthless, not hesitating to execute anyone whom he suspected of being an enemy of the state. Also, because he wasn't married, rumors spread that he was a sex fiend and loved to engage in wild debauchery, so the public began to fear that he was another Nero in the making.
-It was also scandalous that he had been hooking up with the Jewish puppet queen Berenice who had fled Judea during the Revolt and had been living with Titus since 75 AD.
-Because the Romans were not down with Eastern queens (everyone STILL had a bad taste in their mouth from Cleopatra), pressure from public opinion eventually caused Titus to send her back to Judea.
-Once Titus became princeps, he put everyone's minds to ease because he was definitely NOT like Nero.
-He immediately abolished the treason courts and became renowned for his generosity.
-However, it's also possible that he was built up to be this amazing emperor in order to contrast with how shitty his younger brother, Domitian, would be when he became the next princeps.
-August/October 79 AD- Titus' first challenge was managing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed Pompeii and other cities in Campania.
-It's estimated that between 10,000-25,000 people died, including Pliny the Elder!
-The only good thing about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was that it almost completely preserved the city of Pompeii, which is good news for us (but obviously pretty shitty for all of the people that died at the time!).
-80 AD- another fire hits Rome, so Titus devotes much of the imperial treasury to relief and rebuilding efforts.
-He also finishes construction on the Colosseum! Because of this, the people really loved him.
-However, Titus' glorious reign was to be short-lived :( In September 81 AD he got sick while traveling in Italia and died.
-His last words were quite mysterious- "I have made but one mistake..." (whatever the fuck that means! Maybe something to do with Domitian?).
-Troops were led by General Gnaeus Julius Agricola.
-Born in 40 AD into a family of senators in the province of Gallia Narbonensis .
-His father had been executed by Caligula.
-58 AD- served as a military tribune in 58 AD during Boudica's Rebellion.
-64 AD- served as quaestor in the province of Asia in 64 AD.
-During this time his wife gave birth to Julia Agricola (who would eventually marry the historian Tacitus).
-66 AD- served as pleb tribune.
-68 AD- served as praetor.
-69 AD- mother (Julia Procilla) was (accidentally?) killed by Otho's marauding troops when they raided her estate (unclear as to what exactly went down) in northwest Italia (modern-day Liguria) which obviously caused him to support Vespasian during the Year of the Four Emperors.
-Vespasian rewarded Agricola's loyalty by putting him in charge of the troops in Britannia.
-There had been so much chaos in Britannia during this time in terms of revolts and uprisings and shit due to the lack of order in Rome, and Agricola's main assignment was pacifying the Brigantes, a Britannic tribe based out of modern-day Yorkshire.
-Although Agricola was relatively successful in managing the troops in Britannia, he never truly pacified the region, and eventually the future princeps Hadrian would be construct a wall (Hadrian's Wall) to try and divide the territory in order to cut off supply lines and reinforcements from the untamed wilds of Caledonia (modern-day Scotland).
-Agricola then served as governor in Gallia Aquitania in 73/74 AD.
-In 76/77 AD he served as consul before finally returning to Britannia as a governor in 78 AD. He would remain there for seven more years.
-As governor, his first challenge was against the Ordovices, a Britannic tribe based out of modern-day Wales who were rising up against the Romans.
-During this time Agricola also developed a reputation as being strict and no-nonsense, but also honest and fair (with both his Roman troops AND the native population).
-Also introduced education programs for local children of the nobility in order to try and make the region more civilized (as opposed to a provincial backwater).
-Also tried to implement Roman-style city planning to make the cities less barbaric and more organized.
-79 AD- Agricola led a campaign north into Caledonia to try and conquer the entire island of Britannia.
-While he did make it all the way to the northern coast of Britannia, Caledonia was never truly pacified.
-79 AD- Titus (eldest son of Vespasian) was now princeps of the Roman Empire.
-Born in 39 AD and raised in Rome.
-Classmate of Claudius' son Brittanicus (before he died (or was murdered), of course).
-Talented orator and athlete, was appointed as military tribune in 57 AD in Germania before being transferred to Britannia in 59 AD during Boudica's Rebellion (possibly serving alongside Agricola).
-63 AD- married Arrecina Tertulla (came from a prominent Equestrian family), but she died soon after this.
-65 AD- married Marcia Furnilla (came from a powerful noble family), but her family was involved in the Pisonian Conspiracy so he divorced her to avoid any unnecessary drama.
-He never remarried, but he definitely had plenty of mistresses.
-66 AD- when Vespasian was assigned to crush the Jewish Revolt in 66 AD, he brought Titus with him as a part of his entourage, as Titus was by now a skilled tactician and diplomat.
-When Vespasian began working to secure imperial rule, he left Titus in charge of managing the Jewish Revolt.
-When Titus returned to Rome, he was awarded a triumph for his victories!
-He then had a bunch of responsibilities, but his main job was being Praetorian prefect.
-Unfortunately, because he was the "enforcer" of Vespasian's will, he gained a reputation for being harsh and ruthless, not hesitating to execute anyone whom he suspected of being an enemy of the state. Also, because he wasn't married, rumors spread that he was a sex fiend and loved to engage in wild debauchery, so the public began to fear that he was another Nero in the making.
-It was also scandalous that he had been hooking up with the Jewish puppet queen Berenice who had fled Judea during the Revolt and had been living with Titus since 75 AD.
-Because the Romans were not down with Eastern queens (everyone STILL had a bad taste in their mouth from Cleopatra), pressure from public opinion eventually caused Titus to send her back to Judea.
-Once Titus became princeps, he put everyone's minds to ease because he was definitely NOT like Nero.
-He immediately abolished the treason courts and became renowned for his generosity.
-However, it's also possible that he was built up to be this amazing emperor in order to contrast with how shitty his younger brother, Domitian, would be when he became the next princeps.
-August/October 79 AD- Titus' first challenge was managing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed Pompeii and other cities in Campania.
-It's estimated that between 10,000-25,000 people died, including Pliny the Elder!
-The only good thing about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was that it almost completely preserved the city of Pompeii, which is good news for us (but obviously pretty shitty for all of the people that died at the time!).
-80 AD- another fire hits Rome, so Titus devotes much of the imperial treasury to relief and rebuilding efforts.
-He also finishes construction on the Colosseum! Because of this, the people really loved him.
-However, Titus' glorious reign was to be short-lived :( In September 81 AD he got sick while traveling in Italia and died.
-His last words were quite mysterious- "I have made but one mistake..." (whatever the fuck that means! Maybe something to do with Domitian?).
The Only One Who Improved
-December 69 AD- Vespasian was now princeps.
-However, it got off to a rough start. Antonius' army was raiding and sacking Rome due a to a lack of order (the Praetorians were either dead or captured).
-Tacitus estimates that the death toll was at around 50,000, but who knows.
-January 70 AD- Gaius Licinius Mucianus (governor of Syria) arrived in Rome with his army to calm shit down.
-Antonius' troops were ordered out of Rome and back to their original posts (or to the Rhine).
-Mucianus, acting in Vespasian's name, got Antoninus out of Rome by giving him Galba's old job (governor of Hispania Terraconensis).
-He also kept Vespasian's son, (future princeps) Domitian, who was living in Rome, under tight control so that he wouldn't try and and assume power in the name of his dad.
-Vespasian finally arrived later in 70 AD and immediately went to work with a propaganda campaign to try and encourage stability and legitimize his reign.
-Also, although he was good at promoting positive rumors, omens, and other kinds of mystical prophecies about himself, IRL he was actually quite genuine, down-to-earth, and even self-deprecating!
-He also liked regular food, dirty jokes, and was just like a normal bro.
-He was also a big patron of the arts and really promoted education- he made the position of teacher a government job! He also had historical chronicles written to fit his new dynasty's narrative.
-Vespasian's main goal as princeps was to rebuild the empire and its infrastructure, in addition to improving its financial stability.
-One way he did this was by doubling taxes in the provinces, which I'm sure went down well with the people there.
-Vespasian wasn't perfect, however- he was actually fairly corrupt.
-He would accept bribes in order to make certain legal decisions (such as court cases) or to determine what kind of government positions certain people attained.
-He encouraged price-gouging when a private organization held a monopoly, and also allowed for governors to go hogwild in collecting taxes. However, once they had gotten too much money, Vespasian would have them arrested and would then seize their assets for himself (or the government?) (thus, these governors were known as "Vespasian's Sponges" because they would soak up all the money before Vespasian would wring them out).
-Also imposed new taxes on the citizens of Rome, the most famous being the "toilet tax".
-Urine was collected in giant cesspools and then sold for industrial purposes, so Vespasian introduced a tax on these sales. There was much public outcry over this, including protests from Vespasian's other son, (future princeps) Titus, but Vespasian DGAF!
-As for the infrastructure of the city itself, Vespasian introduced a bunch of building repairs and dismantled Nero's giant palace, starting construction on a giant amphitheater instead.
-This amphitheater would eventually come to be known as The Colosseum!
-Vespasian was also really on the ball with managing natural disasters and shit (not just in Rome, but all over the empire!).
-Vespasian was also surprisingly quite fair in terms of managing the Senate.
-Instead of a violent purge, he simply kept the efficient politicians in the Senate and kicked out the lazy/incompetent ones.
-He also encouraged political honesty and debate; he never had treason trials and shit over political slights, although he would occasionally exile excessively annoying politicians.
-Meanwhile in Judea, the revolt against the Romans continued!
-Vespasian assigned Titus to go handle the situation.
-Thus began the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
-As the Romans camped outside, inside was hell- there was much infighting, violence, and starvation.
-The Romans were finally able to break through the walls and slay the defenders, and then they began to rape and pillage, even setting fire to the Herod's Temple (AKA Second Temple), much to the horror of Titus.
-Afterwards, it was alleged that over one million people were killed and 100,000 enslaved, but these numbers seem highly exaggerated (as was typical during these times).
-This was the end, more or less, of the First Jewish-Roman War (AKA the Great Revolt).
-Titus was relocated to Rome even though the revolt still wasn't 100% over, as there remained some pockets of resistance, most notably at Masada (which housed 960 Sicarii).
-Took a year for the Romans to even climb the mesa successfully.
-April 16, 73 AD- the Romans finally broke through the fortifications, but everyone inside had already committed suicide in order to avoid being captured and enslaved.
-The ruins of Masada still remain today as a testament to Jewish independence.
-However, during this time there was also a serious revolt going on in Gaul.
-There was a bit of a power vacuum once Vitellius took most of the troops out of Gaul to march on Rome.
-The Batavi, a Germanic tribe that lived along the Rhine delta that had provided lots of men for the Roman legions there, decided that they had had enough of Roman rule and being overtaxed, so they decided to rebel. These rebels were led by a dude named Gaius Julius Civilis.
-Also in Gaul, there was a dude named Julius Sabinus who claimed that he was a descendant of Julius Caesar and was therefore the rightful ruler of Gaul!
-The two Roman legions stationed in Gaul were overwhelmed and surrounded, but instead of being allowed safe passage out of Gaul they were massacred by the Batavi!
-As a result, Vespasian raised a huge army to go crush them.
-However, Civilis had been counting on the distraction in Judea to occupy Rome's attention, so once he found out it was over and that the legions were coming for him, he surrendered. Thus, he was forced to sign a new treaty with rules and restrictions for the Batavi.
-Although Vespasian's reign went relatively smoothly, that's not to say that there weren't any conspiracies or assassination attempts against him.
-Anyway, Vespasian died in June 79 AD. He was replaced as princeps by Titus.
-However, it got off to a rough start. Antonius' army was raiding and sacking Rome due a to a lack of order (the Praetorians were either dead or captured).
-Tacitus estimates that the death toll was at around 50,000, but who knows.
-January 70 AD- Gaius Licinius Mucianus (governor of Syria) arrived in Rome with his army to calm shit down.
-Antonius' troops were ordered out of Rome and back to their original posts (or to the Rhine).
-Mucianus, acting in Vespasian's name, got Antoninus out of Rome by giving him Galba's old job (governor of Hispania Terraconensis).
-He also kept Vespasian's son, (future princeps) Domitian, who was living in Rome, under tight control so that he wouldn't try and and assume power in the name of his dad.
-Vespasian finally arrived later in 70 AD and immediately went to work with a propaganda campaign to try and encourage stability and legitimize his reign.
-Also, although he was good at promoting positive rumors, omens, and other kinds of mystical prophecies about himself, IRL he was actually quite genuine, down-to-earth, and even self-deprecating!
-He also liked regular food, dirty jokes, and was just like a normal bro.
-He was also a big patron of the arts and really promoted education- he made the position of teacher a government job! He also had historical chronicles written to fit his new dynasty's narrative.
-Vespasian's main goal as princeps was to rebuild the empire and its infrastructure, in addition to improving its financial stability.
-One way he did this was by doubling taxes in the provinces, which I'm sure went down well with the people there.
-Vespasian wasn't perfect, however- he was actually fairly corrupt.
-He would accept bribes in order to make certain legal decisions (such as court cases) or to determine what kind of government positions certain people attained.
-He encouraged price-gouging when a private organization held a monopoly, and also allowed for governors to go hogwild in collecting taxes. However, once they had gotten too much money, Vespasian would have them arrested and would then seize their assets for himself (or the government?) (thus, these governors were known as "Vespasian's Sponges" because they would soak up all the money before Vespasian would wring them out).
-Also imposed new taxes on the citizens of Rome, the most famous being the "toilet tax".
-Urine was collected in giant cesspools and then sold for industrial purposes, so Vespasian introduced a tax on these sales. There was much public outcry over this, including protests from Vespasian's other son, (future princeps) Titus, but Vespasian DGAF!
-As for the infrastructure of the city itself, Vespasian introduced a bunch of building repairs and dismantled Nero's giant palace, starting construction on a giant amphitheater instead.
-This amphitheater would eventually come to be known as The Colosseum!
-Vespasian was also really on the ball with managing natural disasters and shit (not just in Rome, but all over the empire!).
-Vespasian was also surprisingly quite fair in terms of managing the Senate.
-Instead of a violent purge, he simply kept the efficient politicians in the Senate and kicked out the lazy/incompetent ones.
-He also encouraged political honesty and debate; he never had treason trials and shit over political slights, although he would occasionally exile excessively annoying politicians.
-Meanwhile in Judea, the revolt against the Romans continued!
-Vespasian assigned Titus to go handle the situation.
-Thus began the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
-As the Romans camped outside, inside was hell- there was much infighting, violence, and starvation.
-The Romans were finally able to break through the walls and slay the defenders, and then they began to rape and pillage, even setting fire to the Herod's Temple (AKA Second Temple), much to the horror of Titus.
-Afterwards, it was alleged that over one million people were killed and 100,000 enslaved, but these numbers seem highly exaggerated (as was typical during these times).
-This was the end, more or less, of the First Jewish-Roman War (AKA the Great Revolt).
-Titus was relocated to Rome even though the revolt still wasn't 100% over, as there remained some pockets of resistance, most notably at Masada (which housed 960 Sicarii).
-Took a year for the Romans to even climb the mesa successfully.
-April 16, 73 AD- the Romans finally broke through the fortifications, but everyone inside had already committed suicide in order to avoid being captured and enslaved.
-The ruins of Masada still remain today as a testament to Jewish independence.
-However, during this time there was also a serious revolt going on in Gaul.
-There was a bit of a power vacuum once Vitellius took most of the troops out of Gaul to march on Rome.
-The Batavi, a Germanic tribe that lived along the Rhine delta that had provided lots of men for the Roman legions there, decided that they had had enough of Roman rule and being overtaxed, so they decided to rebel. These rebels were led by a dude named Gaius Julius Civilis.
-Also in Gaul, there was a dude named Julius Sabinus who claimed that he was a descendant of Julius Caesar and was therefore the rightful ruler of Gaul!
-The two Roman legions stationed in Gaul were overwhelmed and surrounded, but instead of being allowed safe passage out of Gaul they were massacred by the Batavi!
-As a result, Vespasian raised a huge army to go crush them.
-However, Civilis had been counting on the distraction in Judea to occupy Rome's attention, so once he found out it was over and that the legions were coming for him, he surrendered. Thus, he was forced to sign a new treaty with rules and restrictions for the Batavi.
-Although Vespasian's reign went relatively smoothly, that's not to say that there weren't any conspiracies or assassination attempts against him.
-Anyway, Vespasian died in June 79 AD. He was replaced as princeps by Titus.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Vitellius and Vespasian
-Vitellius was in Lugdunum, Gallia Lugdunensis (modern-day Lyon, France) when he received the news that Otho was dead.
-Vitellius recalled his generals back to him and they had a huge victory party!
-The history records, of course, were influenced by Vespasian (so we don't actually know what he was really like), but as far as we can tell Vitellius was a big party animal that led a debauched march with his troops all the way to Rome.
-Vitellius left most of the management of things to his commanders, Aulus Caecina Alienus and Fabius Valens.
-These two absolutely hated each other and were always working to undermine each other.
-As princeps, Vitellius raised taxes, threw games, and tried to manage the promises previous princepes had made to everyone in order to maintain stability.
-Most importantly, he disbanded the existing Praetorian Guard and then built it up again with his own loyal troops.
-This was really stupid and backfired on Vitellius because all of the ex-Praetorians just flocked to Vespasian!
-What was Vespasian up to in 69 AD?
-When he found out that Nero had died, he sent his son (and future princeps), Titus, to go figure out WTF was going on exactly in Rome. However, when Titus arrived in Rome he found out that Galba had already been killed, so he returned to his father in order to not get caught up in all the chaos and turmoil.
-After Titus returned to his father, Vespasian decided to lay low and chill out. He also began to consider that maybe it was even possible for himself to become princeps!
-What pushed him to finally go for it was the encouragement of the governor of Syria, Gaius Licinius Mucianus, who himself dreamed of expanding his power as well.
-Also influenced by Tiberius Julius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, who had been an ally of Nero's and believed that supporting Vespasian would spare him from a potential purge.
-Vespasian was then able to get the legions stationed in the Balkans to join him because they were to be punished anyway for supporting Otho!
-Mucianus was then sent with 18,000 troops to invade as Vespasian relocated to Alexandria.
-Vespasian was smart to have secured a peace treaty with the Parthians before doing this, however.
-The plan was for Mucianus' troops to travel through the Balkans and link up with the legions there on the way to Rome. However, one general, Marcus Antonius Primus, decided to jump the gun and invade with his own troops first, breaking away from the other Balkan legions!
-This tipped off Vitellius that an invasion was imminent, so he sent Caecina to fight off Antonius' forces. However, Caecina, who had been increasingly marginalized by Vitellius (who was increasingly favoring Valens over Caecina), decided to defect with his army to Vespasian's side!
-Unfortunately for Caecina, his men didn't agree with this, so they had Caecina arrested and then disappeared from Antonius' camp! Confused, Antonius decided to still go ahead and strike at Cremona (in the modern-day region of Lombardy, Italy), where most of Vitellius' forces were.
-They finally clashed at the Battle of Bedriacum (near Cremona in modern-day Calvatone, Lombardy), in a battle that lasted all night (which was rare)!
-Famously, when the dawn came some of Antonius' legions, who had previously been stationed in Syria, saluted the sun (a local Syrian practice they had picked up during their time in the province). Caecina's forces thought that Vespasian reinforcements had arrived, so they fled to Cremona.
-Antonius' forces followed, besieged the town, and then raided and destroying it, completely slaughtering Caecina's forces.
-However, this really pissed off Vespasian, but he realized that basically Vitellius had been crushed, as Valens' army wasn't strong enough. Also, governors of the West were flocking to Vespasian.
-Valens tried to then gather reinforcements in Gaul, but ex-Praetorians (who had formerly served under Otho) captured him and had him decapitated.
-Vitellius knew that he was doomed, so he quickly tried to work out negotiations for his peaceful abdication.
-He announced his resignation, but his Praetorians and soldiers knew that this would possibly be the end of their power too, so they forced him to take back the resignation and remain princeps.
-Vespasian's brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, a politician, had been pronounced princeps as a placeholder until Vespasian himself arrived, but Vitellius' forces went insane and tried to storm the city themselves to hold onto power.
-Sabinus' family escaped, but Sabinus himself was captured and killed as parts of the city were destroyed due to fire and general mayhem (including the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus).
-Antoninus then led his troops to besiege Rome, eventually taking the city.
-Vitellius was captured, paraded around the city, and then decapitated!
-December 20, 69 AD- the Senate unanimously declared Vespasian the new princeps!
-The chaos was finally over; it was the dawn of the Flavian dynasty!
-Vitellius recalled his generals back to him and they had a huge victory party!
-The history records, of course, were influenced by Vespasian (so we don't actually know what he was really like), but as far as we can tell Vitellius was a big party animal that led a debauched march with his troops all the way to Rome.
-Vitellius left most of the management of things to his commanders, Aulus Caecina Alienus and Fabius Valens.
-These two absolutely hated each other and were always working to undermine each other.
-As princeps, Vitellius raised taxes, threw games, and tried to manage the promises previous princepes had made to everyone in order to maintain stability.
-Most importantly, he disbanded the existing Praetorian Guard and then built it up again with his own loyal troops.
-This was really stupid and backfired on Vitellius because all of the ex-Praetorians just flocked to Vespasian!
-What was Vespasian up to in 69 AD?
-When he found out that Nero had died, he sent his son (and future princeps), Titus, to go figure out WTF was going on exactly in Rome. However, when Titus arrived in Rome he found out that Galba had already been killed, so he returned to his father in order to not get caught up in all the chaos and turmoil.
-After Titus returned to his father, Vespasian decided to lay low and chill out. He also began to consider that maybe it was even possible for himself to become princeps!
-What pushed him to finally go for it was the encouragement of the governor of Syria, Gaius Licinius Mucianus, who himself dreamed of expanding his power as well.
-Also influenced by Tiberius Julius Alexander, prefect of Egypt, who had been an ally of Nero's and believed that supporting Vespasian would spare him from a potential purge.
-Vespasian was then able to get the legions stationed in the Balkans to join him because they were to be punished anyway for supporting Otho!
-Mucianus was then sent with 18,000 troops to invade as Vespasian relocated to Alexandria.
-Vespasian was smart to have secured a peace treaty with the Parthians before doing this, however.
-The plan was for Mucianus' troops to travel through the Balkans and link up with the legions there on the way to Rome. However, one general, Marcus Antonius Primus, decided to jump the gun and invade with his own troops first, breaking away from the other Balkan legions!
-This tipped off Vitellius that an invasion was imminent, so he sent Caecina to fight off Antonius' forces. However, Caecina, who had been increasingly marginalized by Vitellius (who was increasingly favoring Valens over Caecina), decided to defect with his army to Vespasian's side!
-Unfortunately for Caecina, his men didn't agree with this, so they had Caecina arrested and then disappeared from Antonius' camp! Confused, Antonius decided to still go ahead and strike at Cremona (in the modern-day region of Lombardy, Italy), where most of Vitellius' forces were.
-They finally clashed at the Battle of Bedriacum (near Cremona in modern-day Calvatone, Lombardy), in a battle that lasted all night (which was rare)!
-Famously, when the dawn came some of Antonius' legions, who had previously been stationed in Syria, saluted the sun (a local Syrian practice they had picked up during their time in the province). Caecina's forces thought that Vespasian reinforcements had arrived, so they fled to Cremona.
-Antonius' forces followed, besieged the town, and then raided and destroying it, completely slaughtering Caecina's forces.
-However, this really pissed off Vespasian, but he realized that basically Vitellius had been crushed, as Valens' army wasn't strong enough. Also, governors of the West were flocking to Vespasian.
-Valens tried to then gather reinforcements in Gaul, but ex-Praetorians (who had formerly served under Otho) captured him and had him decapitated.
-Vitellius knew that he was doomed, so he quickly tried to work out negotiations for his peaceful abdication.
-He announced his resignation, but his Praetorians and soldiers knew that this would possibly be the end of their power too, so they forced him to take back the resignation and remain princeps.
-Vespasian's brother, Titus Flavius Sabinus, a politician, had been pronounced princeps as a placeholder until Vespasian himself arrived, but Vitellius' forces went insane and tried to storm the city themselves to hold onto power.
-Sabinus' family escaped, but Sabinus himself was captured and killed as parts of the city were destroyed due to fire and general mayhem (including the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus).
-Antoninus then led his troops to besiege Rome, eventually taking the city.
-Vitellius was captured, paraded around the city, and then decapitated!
-December 20, 69 AD- the Senate unanimously declared Vespasian the new princeps!
-The chaos was finally over; it was the dawn of the Flavian dynasty!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Galba and Otho
-68 AD- Nero was dead, and Galba was now princeps.
-Nymphidius Sabinus, prefect of the Praetorian guard (from 65-68 AD), was instrumental in shifting support among the Praetorians from Nero to Galba, promising them riches and all sorts of rewards if they opposed Nero.
-However, when Galba arrived to Rome and was declared princeps, he didn't give a fuck about the promises Sabinus had made to the other Praetorians. Galba was an OG military dude who didn't believe in bribery, ONLY unquestioning loyalty!
-Before Galba arrived in Rome, he took a month to raise a legion and organize the province (Hispania Tarraconensis) so that it would still be administrated well after he left.
-He left in charge of the province a dude named Cluvius Rufus, an established senator with zero military experience.
-He did this because he didn't like having powerful men as provincial governors.
-Also, before he arrived Galba received word that Sabinus was drunk with power and was now claiming that HE was the rightful princeps because he was actually an illegitimate son of Caligula. However, this was simply too much for the Praetorians to swallow, so they ended up killing him.
-Galba was set up pretty well, but unfortunately for him, due to his harsh, uncompromising, brutal nature and leadership style, his legion grew to hate him as they traveled from Hispania Tarraconensis to Rome.
-Also, it didn't help that he immediately opened his reign with a purge of all those who he had deemed enemies, often without a trial. He would also sack random cities on the way to Rome for whatever reason.
-He even had some legionaries killed when they approached him to try and get him to agree to their demands of promotion- thousands were killed, and the survivors were decimated. That really hurt his support.
-Galba wasn't necessarily crazy or uncaring, he was just old, incompetent, strict, and totally manipulated by his three advisers.
-It also didn't help that by the time of Nero's death, Rome was completely broke due to Nero's reckless spending.
-Galba made matters worse by seizing various private properties and then auctioning them off, but a lot of it was just bought by his advisers (who were growing more and more wealthy during this time, of course).
-He also refused to start up the free grain allotments to the masses (which had been cancelled by Nero in order to pay for the damages caused by the Great Fire), so now pretty much EVERYONE hated Galba.
-In fact, the legions in Germania began to revolt, hailing the governor of Germania Superior, Vitellius, as princeps!
-Anyway, Galba was already old, so the big question was- who was going to replace him?
-He wasn't married and had no kids (he was most likely a homosexual).
-We already know how the rest of Galba's reign plays out (see the earlier post "Three Emperors"), so just refer to that for more info.
-Nymphidius Sabinus, prefect of the Praetorian guard (from 65-68 AD), was instrumental in shifting support among the Praetorians from Nero to Galba, promising them riches and all sorts of rewards if they opposed Nero.
-However, when Galba arrived to Rome and was declared princeps, he didn't give a fuck about the promises Sabinus had made to the other Praetorians. Galba was an OG military dude who didn't believe in bribery, ONLY unquestioning loyalty!
-Before Galba arrived in Rome, he took a month to raise a legion and organize the province (Hispania Tarraconensis) so that it would still be administrated well after he left.
-He left in charge of the province a dude named Cluvius Rufus, an established senator with zero military experience.
-He did this because he didn't like having powerful men as provincial governors.
-Also, before he arrived Galba received word that Sabinus was drunk with power and was now claiming that HE was the rightful princeps because he was actually an illegitimate son of Caligula. However, this was simply too much for the Praetorians to swallow, so they ended up killing him.
-Galba was set up pretty well, but unfortunately for him, due to his harsh, uncompromising, brutal nature and leadership style, his legion grew to hate him as they traveled from Hispania Tarraconensis to Rome.
-Also, it didn't help that he immediately opened his reign with a purge of all those who he had deemed enemies, often without a trial. He would also sack random cities on the way to Rome for whatever reason.
-He even had some legionaries killed when they approached him to try and get him to agree to their demands of promotion- thousands were killed, and the survivors were decimated. That really hurt his support.
-Galba wasn't necessarily crazy or uncaring, he was just old, incompetent, strict, and totally manipulated by his three advisers.
-It also didn't help that by the time of Nero's death, Rome was completely broke due to Nero's reckless spending.
-Galba made matters worse by seizing various private properties and then auctioning them off, but a lot of it was just bought by his advisers (who were growing more and more wealthy during this time, of course).
-He also refused to start up the free grain allotments to the masses (which had been cancelled by Nero in order to pay for the damages caused by the Great Fire), so now pretty much EVERYONE hated Galba.
-In fact, the legions in Germania began to revolt, hailing the governor of Germania Superior, Vitellius, as princeps!
-Anyway, Galba was already old, so the big question was- who was going to replace him?
-He wasn't married and had no kids (he was most likely a homosexual).
-We already know how the rest of Galba's reign plays out (see the earlier post "Three Emperors"), so just refer to that for more info.
History of the Roman Wedding
-Marriage in Rome was usually not an expression of love, but a practical arrangement between families or groups of people.
-Actual love in a marriage was rare and often seen as humorous.
-Love was a concept for poets and philosophers.
-Two kinds of marriage:
-One was for the woman to be the property of her husband.
-The other was for the woman to still be property of her father (unless he was dead, then she was possibly free and independent! This was known as a "free marriage").
-For the transfer of the woman as property: three kinds of weddings-
-Elaborate and formal.
-Less formal, but still had a ceremony.
-Common-law marriage that occurred if a man and a woman lived together for at least a year.
-Roman girls were eligible for marriage at age 12, men at 14.
-Men could marry women at any age, but it was taboo for a woman to marry a younger man.
-It was shocking when Augustus married Scribonia (his first wife), who was much older than him.
-Marriage was arranged by the patriarchs of the families.
-To be married under Roman law, the bride and groom had to be old enough, had to be Roman citizens, and not be married to someone else.
-Polygamy was not allowed, nor was marriage to foreigners.
-Augustus used this to attack Marc Antony's character when he was with Cleopatra in Egypt but was still married to Octavia (who was back in Rome).
-Originally it wasn't cool for a patriarch to marry a pleb, but over time this changed and it was just more about family line distinction.
-This was especially noted by how many offices your family members had held.
-Personal character was actually surprisingly important concerning marriage selection as well.
-A charismatic, natural leader would have an advantage over like some lazy drunk.
-A woman was expected to be dutiful, loyal, and obedient. Of course, beauty was also important, too.
-It was common for couples to have engagement parties. Brides also got engagement rings, worn on the ring finger of their left hand.
-Ceremonies and receptions were usually held at the father of the bride's house.
-June was considered the best month for a wedding, but not on the 1st, 5th, or 13th of ANY month, and February and May were considered unlucky as well.
-At least 10 witnesses were required to participate in the wedding ceremony.
-The bride wore all white with a floral veil and some other shit.
-The ceremony involved standing in front of a priest exchanging vows, making a sacrifice (usually a pig or animal, but sometimes they would also destroy a cake or something).
-After the ceremony there was usually a procession to the new husband's home, where the husband would meet the bride and sometimes pick her up and carry her inside the home. Then there would be a huge party and the bride and groom would go off to go consummate the marriage in the wedding bed.
-Actual love in a marriage was rare and often seen as humorous.
-Love was a concept for poets and philosophers.
-Two kinds of marriage:
-One was for the woman to be the property of her husband.
-The other was for the woman to still be property of her father (unless he was dead, then she was possibly free and independent! This was known as a "free marriage").
-For the transfer of the woman as property: three kinds of weddings-
-Elaborate and formal.
-Less formal, but still had a ceremony.
-Common-law marriage that occurred if a man and a woman lived together for at least a year.
-Roman girls were eligible for marriage at age 12, men at 14.
-Men could marry women at any age, but it was taboo for a woman to marry a younger man.
-It was shocking when Augustus married Scribonia (his first wife), who was much older than him.
-Marriage was arranged by the patriarchs of the families.
-To be married under Roman law, the bride and groom had to be old enough, had to be Roman citizens, and not be married to someone else.
-Polygamy was not allowed, nor was marriage to foreigners.
-Augustus used this to attack Marc Antony's character when he was with Cleopatra in Egypt but was still married to Octavia (who was back in Rome).
-Originally it wasn't cool for a patriarch to marry a pleb, but over time this changed and it was just more about family line distinction.
-This was especially noted by how many offices your family members had held.
-Personal character was actually surprisingly important concerning marriage selection as well.
-A charismatic, natural leader would have an advantage over like some lazy drunk.
-A woman was expected to be dutiful, loyal, and obedient. Of course, beauty was also important, too.
-It was common for couples to have engagement parties. Brides also got engagement rings, worn on the ring finger of their left hand.
-Ceremonies and receptions were usually held at the father of the bride's house.
-June was considered the best month for a wedding, but not on the 1st, 5th, or 13th of ANY month, and February and May were considered unlucky as well.
-At least 10 witnesses were required to participate in the wedding ceremony.
-The bride wore all white with a floral veil and some other shit.
-The ceremony involved standing in front of a priest exchanging vows, making a sacrifice (usually a pig or animal, but sometimes they would also destroy a cake or something).
-After the ceremony there was usually a procession to the new husband's home, where the husband would meet the bride and sometimes pick her up and carry her inside the home. Then there would be a huge party and the bride and groom would go off to go consummate the marriage in the wedding bed.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Three Emperors
(-NOTE: This episode is a quick overview of the timeline between Galba's ascension to the throne and Vitellius' rebellion.)
-Now that Nero was dead, shit was really awkward because he had no successor!
-The law had been set up so that the office of princeps was to go to the princep's heir after he died, so what to do?
-Galba had taken the initiative and been appointed to the throne, but who was he exactly?
-He was born in 3 BC near modern-day Terracina (approximately 75 km southeast of Rome) to an elite family.
-Father was an attorney and former consul (he also had a hunchback).
-Mother was a granddaughter of Quintus Catullus, a famous conservative politician from back in the day.
-Unfortunately, Galba's mom had died when he was a child, so he was actually raised by his father's second wife, a beautiful rich woman.
-Older brother tried to be a politician but he sucked at it and eventually ended up committing suicide.
-Anyway, Galba got into politics as he got older and served as praetor before being elected consul in 33 AD.
-Found favor with Liva when Tiberius was princeps.
-Was always loyal to the princeps, and thrived under their reign by attaining a variety of governorships all over the empire.
-Retired around the time Nero became princeps in order to lay low, as he had made an enemy out of Agrippina when he turned her town for sex (according to Suetonius, he was gay).
-Returned to politics after Nero killed Agrippina and was awarded the governorship of Hispania Tarraconensis in 61 AD.
-Was governor for seven years until he was declared princeps in 68 AD.
-Galba's character was similar to Cato the Elder- he was a humorless conservative.
-Known for refusing to be corrupted, but was almost TOO austere.
-Believed in strict, unquestioning, harsh discipline.
-This came back to bite him in the ass later; Caligula had brought in Galba to restore order to the legions stationed near the Rhine River in Germania (after an assassination attempt had been made on Caligula), as Galba had been so harsh and strict with the troops that the legions hated him.
-By the time Galba became princeps, he was already an old man; he didn't have the energy to rule properly and relied heavily on three advisers (known as "The Three Pedagogues"):
-Titus Vinius, the most influential of the advisers; always involved in drama and was absolutely hated by Tacitus.
-Cornelius Laco- Galba's legal adviser. Honest but lazy, he was appointed as a Praetorian prefect by Galba even though he had zero military experience.
-Icelus Marcianus- an ex-slave equestrian; very corrupt.
-Because Galba was so old, many courtiers were already hoping to get him to adopt them as his heir so they could become princeps after he died.
-One such politician was Marcus Salvius Otho, governor of the province of Lusitania, whom an astrologer had told would one day be princeps.
-Otho was born in 32 AD in Farentium (modern-day Ferentino, 65 km southeast of Rome).
-He was of Etruscan lineage; his family were new elites due to their closeness with Livia.
-Had been one of Nero's best friends; Otho loved to party all night and shit.
-However, Nero and Otho had a falling out due to Nero falling in love with Otho's wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had secretly been banging Nero on the side.
-As we know, Poppaea would go on to marry Nero later after Otho was assigned the governorship in Lusitania as a sort of exile-promotion in order for Nero to get Otho out of the way so he could be with Poppaea.
-Otho had tried really hard to gain Galba's favor, but was having no luck. So, he made a plan to try and marry Titus Vinius' daughter.
-Otho believed that he was going to on day be princeps so strongly that when he found out that Galba had named Lucius Calpernius Piso as heir, he blew a fuse and began plotting to assassinate Galba instead!
-Also, he established communication with the Praetorians (who hated Galba), so eventually the Praetorians decided to hail Otho as princeps in rebellion against Galba, and ended up assassinating both Galba AND Piso!
-It should also probably be mentioned that Otho most likely paid a lot of money to have this happen.
-Anyway, Otho was then officially declared princeps of the empire by the Praetorians!
-Meanwhile, up in Germania, a military commander named Aulus Vitellius was amassing a lot of power...
-Born in 15 AD (birthplace unknown) to an elite family, Vitellius was warned by his parents to avoid seeking a life of military or political power due to ill omens during his birth.
-Undeterred, Vitellius went into politics, but his influential father always ensured that Vitellius was assigned to provinces without much military power.
-However, he did eventually serve as a military commander under Galba in Germania (more on this in a bit).
-Served as consul under Claudius in 48 AD.
-Became proconsul under Nero in the province of Africa in 60/61 AD.
-Vitellius was also really fucking lazy, gluttonous, and loved to gamble, but he seemed to actually be a relatively good administrator, was well-liked by his subordinates, and was generally considered to be a nice dude!
-In January 69 AD (when Vitellius was serving as a military commander for the legions in Germania), the legions of Germania were to renew their vows to Galba but they refused! Instead, they declared their allegiance to Vitellius!
-Even Vitellius was shocked at this sudden twist!
-Now that Nero was dead, shit was really awkward because he had no successor!
-The law had been set up so that the office of princeps was to go to the princep's heir after he died, so what to do?
-Galba had taken the initiative and been appointed to the throne, but who was he exactly?
-He was born in 3 BC near modern-day Terracina (approximately 75 km southeast of Rome) to an elite family.
-Father was an attorney and former consul (he also had a hunchback).
-Mother was a granddaughter of Quintus Catullus, a famous conservative politician from back in the day.
-Unfortunately, Galba's mom had died when he was a child, so he was actually raised by his father's second wife, a beautiful rich woman.
-Older brother tried to be a politician but he sucked at it and eventually ended up committing suicide.
-Anyway, Galba got into politics as he got older and served as praetor before being elected consul in 33 AD.
-Found favor with Liva when Tiberius was princeps.
-Was always loyal to the princeps, and thrived under their reign by attaining a variety of governorships all over the empire.
-Retired around the time Nero became princeps in order to lay low, as he had made an enemy out of Agrippina when he turned her town for sex (according to Suetonius, he was gay).
-Returned to politics after Nero killed Agrippina and was awarded the governorship of Hispania Tarraconensis in 61 AD.
-Was governor for seven years until he was declared princeps in 68 AD.
-Galba's character was similar to Cato the Elder- he was a humorless conservative.
-Known for refusing to be corrupted, but was almost TOO austere.
-Believed in strict, unquestioning, harsh discipline.
-This came back to bite him in the ass later; Caligula had brought in Galba to restore order to the legions stationed near the Rhine River in Germania (after an assassination attempt had been made on Caligula), as Galba had been so harsh and strict with the troops that the legions hated him.
-By the time Galba became princeps, he was already an old man; he didn't have the energy to rule properly and relied heavily on three advisers (known as "The Three Pedagogues"):
-Titus Vinius, the most influential of the advisers; always involved in drama and was absolutely hated by Tacitus.
-Cornelius Laco- Galba's legal adviser. Honest but lazy, he was appointed as a Praetorian prefect by Galba even though he had zero military experience.
-Icelus Marcianus- an ex-slave equestrian; very corrupt.
-Because Galba was so old, many courtiers were already hoping to get him to adopt them as his heir so they could become princeps after he died.
-One such politician was Marcus Salvius Otho, governor of the province of Lusitania, whom an astrologer had told would one day be princeps.
-Otho was born in 32 AD in Farentium (modern-day Ferentino, 65 km southeast of Rome).
-He was of Etruscan lineage; his family were new elites due to their closeness with Livia.
-Had been one of Nero's best friends; Otho loved to party all night and shit.
-However, Nero and Otho had a falling out due to Nero falling in love with Otho's wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had secretly been banging Nero on the side.
-As we know, Poppaea would go on to marry Nero later after Otho was assigned the governorship in Lusitania as a sort of exile-promotion in order for Nero to get Otho out of the way so he could be with Poppaea.
-Otho had tried really hard to gain Galba's favor, but was having no luck. So, he made a plan to try and marry Titus Vinius' daughter.
-Otho believed that he was going to on day be princeps so strongly that when he found out that Galba had named Lucius Calpernius Piso as heir, he blew a fuse and began plotting to assassinate Galba instead!
-Also, he established communication with the Praetorians (who hated Galba), so eventually the Praetorians decided to hail Otho as princeps in rebellion against Galba, and ended up assassinating both Galba AND Piso!
-It should also probably be mentioned that Otho most likely paid a lot of money to have this happen.
-Anyway, Otho was then officially declared princeps of the empire by the Praetorians!
-Meanwhile, up in Germania, a military commander named Aulus Vitellius was amassing a lot of power...
-Born in 15 AD (birthplace unknown) to an elite family, Vitellius was warned by his parents to avoid seeking a life of military or political power due to ill omens during his birth.
-Undeterred, Vitellius went into politics, but his influential father always ensured that Vitellius was assigned to provinces without much military power.
-However, he did eventually serve as a military commander under Galba in Germania (more on this in a bit).
-Served as consul under Claudius in 48 AD.
-Became proconsul under Nero in the province of Africa in 60/61 AD.
-Vitellius was also really fucking lazy, gluttonous, and loved to gamble, but he seemed to actually be a relatively good administrator, was well-liked by his subordinates, and was generally considered to be a nice dude!
-In January 69 AD (when Vitellius was serving as a military commander for the legions in Germania), the legions of Germania were to renew their vows to Galba but they refused! Instead, they declared their allegiance to Vitellius!
-Even Vitellius was shocked at this sudden twist!
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
What an Artist the World is Losing
-65 AD- Nero now realized the extent to which he was hated in Rome.
-A smarter man would have tried to maybe remedy the situation by finding out maybe WHY exactly he was hated. Unfortunately, Nero stubbornly doubled-down on his rule and just had a massive purge that lasted for years (up until his own death) which obviously just created more enemies for him.
-Also during this time, Poppaea died while she was pregnant with their second child. It's unclear as to if Nero had her killed during an argument or if she died while giving birth. Either way, Nero seemed to be really sad, but seemingly to distract himself from his grief he just got way more into his hobbies (like music or watching sports).
-Nero actually participated in the Olympic Games at Olympia in Greece! In fact, he almost died after being thrown from his chariot during a race.
-During this time was also the first Jewish-Roman War (66-73 AD) in Judea, also known as the Great Revolt.
-There had been problems between the Jews and Romans ever since the Romans invaded Judea and Pompey entered the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 63 BC.
-It also didn't help that Caligula had tried to get a statue of himself installed in the Second Temple (or Herod's Temple at this point).
-Claudius had done a pretty good job of managing Judea, but Nero had not.
-However, the main problem was actually financial, not religious- Judea was overtaxed by the Romans due to the corrupt tax system of private tax collectors and shit. Also, unemployment was high because the economy had become severely weakened under the rule of Herod the Great.
-Eventually, the Jews finally revolted by rioting and seizing the ancient fortification of Masada.
-This was accomplished by the Sicarii, an organization of fanatical Jewish zealots who were notorious for going around and stabbing to death Romans (and thus any perceived Roman accomplices/sympathizers).
-An angry mob also killed all the Roman soldiers who were garrisoned in Jerusalem. In response to this and in order to restore order, Rome sent a legion from Syria into Judea. However, they were ambushed by rebels at Bethoron (Beth-Horon) and were surprisingly defeated! 6,000 Roman soldiers were slaughtered!
-66 AD- shit was getting really serious in Judea, so Nero sent the commander Titus Flavius Vespasianus (AKA future Roman princeps Vespasian!) to go quell the rebellion.
-Born in 9 AD in the village of Falacrine (unclear as to where exactly this village was, but we're P sure it was somewhere in central Italy), Vespasian came from an elite family.
-Elected military tribune of Thrace when he was only 19! Also served in a bunch of other high-ranking offices, too.
-Married in 38 AD, had two sons (both future princeps as well!):
-Titus Flavius Vespasianus (same as his dad) (born in 39 AD)
-Titus Flavius Domitianus (born in 51 AD)
-Vespasian had also served as a commander during Claudius' invasions of Britannia, and had been very successful.
-Elected consul in 51 AD, then retired until 63 AD, when he was appointed governor of the province of Africa, building up a vast network of clients and amassing power and shit.
-After governing Africa, Vespasian was summoned to join Nero's entourage.
-However, he fell out of favor with Nero when he fell asleep (or something) during one of Nero's lyre performances.
-That being said, this didn't stop him from being appointed by Nero to go quell the rebellion in Judea. Accompanying him were two legions along with a third legion which was led by his son Titus (not Domitian).
-These forces were augmented by Herod Agrippa II's (Rome's client king of Judea) army, as well as other smaller bands. In total, Vespasian had like 60,000 men at his disposal.
-Vespasian first went to work on the northern half of the kingdom, pacifying or destroying towns (depending on their degree of hostility) as he went.
-By 68 AD, the northern half of the province was pacified.
-What helped him also was that there was much infighting among the Jewish resistance leaders who couldn't decide on which course of action to take. They did, however, at least all agree to flee to Jerusalem.
-As Vespasian and Titus worked on plans to besiege Jerusalem, they were shocked when they received word that Nero had committed suicide in Rome and that Lucius Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba, the provincial governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, was now princeps!
-WTF happened to Nero? Why was Galba now ruling the empire?
-Well, during this time Nero had become increasingly obsessed with games and not caring about managing the empire (except of course executing any perceived enemies; even the mighty Corbulo had been forced to commit suicide in 67 AD!).
-Gaius Julius Vindex, provincial governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, finally had had enough of Nero's insane taxation policies and other bullshit, so he started a rebellion against Rome!
-Vindex had stressed, however, that he was not looking to become princeps; instead he had nominated Galba for that job (should he join in Vindex's rebellion). However, Galba had not been ready to commit to Vindex, so instead Vindex was all alone and was soon crushed by the armies of Lucius Verginius Rufus, provincial governor of Germania Superior (as ordered by Nero).
-Rather than be Nero's prisoner, Vindex committed suicide :( However, in a bizarre twist of fate, Verginius' troops then declared that, should Verginius accept, they would name HIM as princeps in rebellion against Nero! Unfortunately for them, Verginius declined, instead preferring to stay out of all the drama.
-Anyway, even though Galba had not joined Vindex's rebellion, Nero was still paranoid about Galba potentially usurping the throne, so he declared Galba an enemy of the state, essentially forcing Galba to rebel!
-Of course, this backfired on Nero, as the Praetorian Guard began to shift their support to Galba! Paranoid, Nero fled from Rome to the town of Ostia (just outside of modern-day Rome, on the coast), where he hoped to sail to Greece, but he was refused passage by the soldiers there! So, he returned to Rome, where he contemplated begging for his life to Galba, seeking refuge with the Parthians, and other desperate measures.
-He then decided to flee Rome once again. He went to a small villa outside of Rome where he ordered his slaves to build him a grave. Then he received word that the Senate had declared him an enemy of the state :/
-According to legend, he kept on repeating, "What an artist the world is losing!"
-Thus, before he could be captured, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 AD.
-This was the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty! The line of inheritance was broken! The Julio-Claudian dynasty had ruled the Roman Empire for almost 120 years!
-Who would now rule the empire? A princeps, or would this be a return to the Republic??
-A smarter man would have tried to maybe remedy the situation by finding out maybe WHY exactly he was hated. Unfortunately, Nero stubbornly doubled-down on his rule and just had a massive purge that lasted for years (up until his own death) which obviously just created more enemies for him.
-Also during this time, Poppaea died while she was pregnant with their second child. It's unclear as to if Nero had her killed during an argument or if she died while giving birth. Either way, Nero seemed to be really sad, but seemingly to distract himself from his grief he just got way more into his hobbies (like music or watching sports).
-Nero actually participated in the Olympic Games at Olympia in Greece! In fact, he almost died after being thrown from his chariot during a race.
-During this time was also the first Jewish-Roman War (66-73 AD) in Judea, also known as the Great Revolt.
-There had been problems between the Jews and Romans ever since the Romans invaded Judea and Pompey entered the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 63 BC.
-It also didn't help that Caligula had tried to get a statue of himself installed in the Second Temple (or Herod's Temple at this point).
-Claudius had done a pretty good job of managing Judea, but Nero had not.
-However, the main problem was actually financial, not religious- Judea was overtaxed by the Romans due to the corrupt tax system of private tax collectors and shit. Also, unemployment was high because the economy had become severely weakened under the rule of Herod the Great.
-Eventually, the Jews finally revolted by rioting and seizing the ancient fortification of Masada.
-This was accomplished by the Sicarii, an organization of fanatical Jewish zealots who were notorious for going around and stabbing to death Romans (and thus any perceived Roman accomplices/sympathizers).
-An angry mob also killed all the Roman soldiers who were garrisoned in Jerusalem. In response to this and in order to restore order, Rome sent a legion from Syria into Judea. However, they were ambushed by rebels at Bethoron (Beth-Horon) and were surprisingly defeated! 6,000 Roman soldiers were slaughtered!
-66 AD- shit was getting really serious in Judea, so Nero sent the commander Titus Flavius Vespasianus (AKA future Roman princeps Vespasian!) to go quell the rebellion.
-Born in 9 AD in the village of Falacrine (unclear as to where exactly this village was, but we're P sure it was somewhere in central Italy), Vespasian came from an elite family.
-Elected military tribune of Thrace when he was only 19! Also served in a bunch of other high-ranking offices, too.
-Married in 38 AD, had two sons (both future princeps as well!):
-Titus Flavius Vespasianus (same as his dad) (born in 39 AD)
-Titus Flavius Domitianus (born in 51 AD)
-Vespasian had also served as a commander during Claudius' invasions of Britannia, and had been very successful.
-Elected consul in 51 AD, then retired until 63 AD, when he was appointed governor of the province of Africa, building up a vast network of clients and amassing power and shit.
-After governing Africa, Vespasian was summoned to join Nero's entourage.
-However, he fell out of favor with Nero when he fell asleep (or something) during one of Nero's lyre performances.
-That being said, this didn't stop him from being appointed by Nero to go quell the rebellion in Judea. Accompanying him were two legions along with a third legion which was led by his son Titus (not Domitian).
-These forces were augmented by Herod Agrippa II's (Rome's client king of Judea) army, as well as other smaller bands. In total, Vespasian had like 60,000 men at his disposal.
-Vespasian first went to work on the northern half of the kingdom, pacifying or destroying towns (depending on their degree of hostility) as he went.
-By 68 AD, the northern half of the province was pacified.
-What helped him also was that there was much infighting among the Jewish resistance leaders who couldn't decide on which course of action to take. They did, however, at least all agree to flee to Jerusalem.
-As Vespasian and Titus worked on plans to besiege Jerusalem, they were shocked when they received word that Nero had committed suicide in Rome and that Lucius Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba, the provincial governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, was now princeps!
-WTF happened to Nero? Why was Galba now ruling the empire?
-Well, during this time Nero had become increasingly obsessed with games and not caring about managing the empire (except of course executing any perceived enemies; even the mighty Corbulo had been forced to commit suicide in 67 AD!).
-Gaius Julius Vindex, provincial governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, finally had had enough of Nero's insane taxation policies and other bullshit, so he started a rebellion against Rome!
-Vindex had stressed, however, that he was not looking to become princeps; instead he had nominated Galba for that job (should he join in Vindex's rebellion). However, Galba had not been ready to commit to Vindex, so instead Vindex was all alone and was soon crushed by the armies of Lucius Verginius Rufus, provincial governor of Germania Superior (as ordered by Nero).
-Rather than be Nero's prisoner, Vindex committed suicide :( However, in a bizarre twist of fate, Verginius' troops then declared that, should Verginius accept, they would name HIM as princeps in rebellion against Nero! Unfortunately for them, Verginius declined, instead preferring to stay out of all the drama.
-Anyway, even though Galba had not joined Vindex's rebellion, Nero was still paranoid about Galba potentially usurping the throne, so he declared Galba an enemy of the state, essentially forcing Galba to rebel!
-Of course, this backfired on Nero, as the Praetorian Guard began to shift their support to Galba! Paranoid, Nero fled from Rome to the town of Ostia (just outside of modern-day Rome, on the coast), where he hoped to sail to Greece, but he was refused passage by the soldiers there! So, he returned to Rome, where he contemplated begging for his life to Galba, seeking refuge with the Parthians, and other desperate measures.
-He then decided to flee Rome once again. He went to a small villa outside of Rome where he ordered his slaves to build him a grave. Then he received word that the Senate had declared him an enemy of the state :/
-According to legend, he kept on repeating, "What an artist the world is losing!"
-Thus, before he could be captured, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 AD.
-This was the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty! The line of inheritance was broken! The Julio-Claudian dynasty had ruled the Roman Empire for almost 120 years!
-Who would now rule the empire? A princeps, or would this be a return to the Republic??
Monday, January 1, 2018
666
-What was Nero's personal life like?
-He was kind of a bro! Loved to chill, party, and enjoyed music and poetry and shit.
-Usually participated in crazy parties at night, causing public disturbances, etc.
-If Nero was partying all the time, then who was governing the empire?
-Seneca the Younger (before he was killed during one of Nero's purges) and Sextus Afranius Burrus (Praetorian prefect).
-Nero went from party bro to monster in the early 60s AD. What happened?
-In 58 AD, Nero met Poppaea Sabina, who at the time was wife of Marcus Salvius Otho (a powerful noble and future Roman princeps Otho!). It was love at first sight, and Nero was head over heels in love with her.
-There was even a rumor that Poppaea had specifically targeted Otho so she could get closer to Nero. Other rumors were that she was also behind convincing Nero to have his mom killed.
-62 AD- Poppaea was pregnant (with Claudia Augusta, who unfortunately died when she was only four months old in 63 AD due to illness), so Nero decided that he had had enough of his arranged marriage with Claudia Octavia, so he divorced her (claiming that she had committed adultery and/or was barren) and exiled her to the tiny island of Pandateria (modern-day Ventotene, approximately 70 km west of Naples). Around this same time, Poppaea divorced Otho and had Nero send her now ex-husband to the remote province of Lusitania (basically modern-day Portugal) in 58 AD (not sure which happened first, the divorce or Otho being sent away). Nero then married Poppaea (12 days after divorcing Claudia Octavia!) in an epic wedding.
-The people actually loved Claudia Octavia, so this was the starting point of when the public began to turn on Nero. They demanded that Octavia be brought back, but unfortunately she had already "committed suicide".
-At the same time, Burrus died (murdered?) during this year, too. Seneca the Younger was now alone, and it was obvious (based on the rumors floating around) that Poppaea wanted him dead too so she could have absolute control over everything.
-Burrus was replaced as prefect by a Praetorian named Ofonius Tigellinus, a brutal monster.
-Usually spent his time ordering the execution of his political enemies and participating in massive orgies.
-Burrus had tried to keep Nero in check, but Tigellinus encouraged Nero to indulge in his debauchery. Obviously, Tigellinus' influence combined with Poppaea's influence resulted in Nero descending into utter madness.
-64 AD- the Great Fire of Rome!
-The fact that everyone blamed Nero for starting the fire himself just shows how much he had become so hated in the city.
-Nero attempted to deflect the blame onto the strange new cult that had popped up throughout the empire- the Christians!
-Of the 14 districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed and seven were badly damaged.
-The fire was started near the Circus Maximus, and the fires burned for 5-7 days! Even the imperial palace and various important temples were at least partially burned (if not destroyed, which was the case for some of the buildings).
-The rumor was that Nero had started the fire to get rid of some buildings in order to make space for a new palace. However, it's worth pointing out that it WAS true that Nero had wanted to build a big ass pleasure palace for himself.
-It was also claimed that Nero played his lyre as he watched Rome burn.
-Other rumors said that Nero had burned the city to make an epic backdrop for a lyre concert for his friends, and that he had even dressed in a costume for the occasion.
-Tacitus, however, reports that Nero wasn't even in Rome at the time, and that when he heard about Rome burning he immediately rushed home to manage the situation.
-Anyway, after the fire, Nero updated the city's fire code and started some urban renewal projects (including his massive palace complex (100-300 acres!) in downtown Rome. Not a good look.
-Nero knew that everyone was blaming him for the fire, so it was obvious that he needed a scapegoat- of course, the cult of Christianity made perfect sense.
-Christian cults had been popping up all over the empire for the past 30 years.
-The cult had started in Judea and was usually comprised of converted Jews. However, as the cult spread to other parts of the empire, non-Jews started converting as well.
-According to the New Testament, Christianity was brought to Rome by a dude who would come to be known as "St. Peter" (AKA Simeon, Simon, or Simon Peter), who was allegedly executed during the Great Fire as a result of Nero's crackdown on Christians during the mid-60s AD.
-Fun fact: St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was allegedly built on top of St. Peter's tomb.
-During this time, most Christians in Rome were immigrants who spoke only Greek and/or Hebrew.
-After the fire, Nero had government thugs go out into the city and arrest Christians and torture them until they admitted to starting the fire. Once enough Christians had admitted to starting the fire, Nero initiated an all-out war with Christians in Rome by having them thrown to dogs in public games, crucified, and burned alive.
-This actually made people hate Nero even more to the sheer brutality of these executions, and this just caused Christianity to get more popular.
-As a result of the persecutions, obviously the Christians hated Nero with a passion.
-One theory is that the number "666" in the Book of Revelations is a code for Nero because the Greek spelling of Nero's name in Hebrew numerology is 666.
-Fun fact: after Nero committed suicide in 68 AD, the Christians feared that Nero hadn't really died and that he would return to persecute them again in the near future, so they made a coded reference to him so that Christians would always remember to remain ever-vigilant.
-Anyway, so Nero continued to be isolated politically as he grew further and further autocratic and his inner circle continued to grow smaller.
-65 AD- year of the Pisonian Conspiracy (the plot to assassinate Nero).
-Organized by the senator Gaius Calpurnius Piso (ex-husband of Livia Orestilla (Caligula's second wife)).
-Piso wanted to replace Nero with himself, as he wanted to rule in the style of Augustus, not whatever nonsense was going on now.
-Piso conspired with Tigellinus' prefect colleague Faenius Rufus (among others).
-The plan was to kill Nero and then have Piso led to the Praetorian Guard camp by Rufus where he would be declared the new princeps.
-Unfortunately for the conspirators, the plot was unsuccessful, as one of the conspirators betrayed the others by ratting them out in order to curry favor with Nero.
-As a result, Piso and the others were busted, and the various conspirators were either exiled or executed. Seneca the Younger had been one of the conspirators, so he was forced to commit suicide.
-Because of this assassination attempt, Nero, of course, started a massive purge, which just pissed off the Senate and nobles even more.
-He was kind of a bro! Loved to chill, party, and enjoyed music and poetry and shit.
-Usually participated in crazy parties at night, causing public disturbances, etc.
-If Nero was partying all the time, then who was governing the empire?
-Seneca the Younger (before he was killed during one of Nero's purges) and Sextus Afranius Burrus (Praetorian prefect).
-Nero went from party bro to monster in the early 60s AD. What happened?
-In 58 AD, Nero met Poppaea Sabina, who at the time was wife of Marcus Salvius Otho (a powerful noble and future Roman princeps Otho!). It was love at first sight, and Nero was head over heels in love with her.
-There was even a rumor that Poppaea had specifically targeted Otho so she could get closer to Nero. Other rumors were that she was also behind convincing Nero to have his mom killed.
-62 AD- Poppaea was pregnant (with Claudia Augusta, who unfortunately died when she was only four months old in 63 AD due to illness), so Nero decided that he had had enough of his arranged marriage with Claudia Octavia, so he divorced her (claiming that she had committed adultery and/or was barren) and exiled her to the tiny island of Pandateria (modern-day Ventotene, approximately 70 km west of Naples). Around this same time, Poppaea divorced Otho and had Nero send her now ex-husband to the remote province of Lusitania (basically modern-day Portugal) in 58 AD (not sure which happened first, the divorce or Otho being sent away). Nero then married Poppaea (12 days after divorcing Claudia Octavia!) in an epic wedding.
-The people actually loved Claudia Octavia, so this was the starting point of when the public began to turn on Nero. They demanded that Octavia be brought back, but unfortunately she had already "committed suicide".
-At the same time, Burrus died (murdered?) during this year, too. Seneca the Younger was now alone, and it was obvious (based on the rumors floating around) that Poppaea wanted him dead too so she could have absolute control over everything.
-Burrus was replaced as prefect by a Praetorian named Ofonius Tigellinus, a brutal monster.
-Usually spent his time ordering the execution of his political enemies and participating in massive orgies.
-Burrus had tried to keep Nero in check, but Tigellinus encouraged Nero to indulge in his debauchery. Obviously, Tigellinus' influence combined with Poppaea's influence resulted in Nero descending into utter madness.
-64 AD- the Great Fire of Rome!
-The fact that everyone blamed Nero for starting the fire himself just shows how much he had become so hated in the city.
-Nero attempted to deflect the blame onto the strange new cult that had popped up throughout the empire- the Christians!
-Of the 14 districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed and seven were badly damaged.
-The fire was started near the Circus Maximus, and the fires burned for 5-7 days! Even the imperial palace and various important temples were at least partially burned (if not destroyed, which was the case for some of the buildings).
-The rumor was that Nero had started the fire to get rid of some buildings in order to make space for a new palace. However, it's worth pointing out that it WAS true that Nero had wanted to build a big ass pleasure palace for himself.
-It was also claimed that Nero played his lyre as he watched Rome burn.
-Other rumors said that Nero had burned the city to make an epic backdrop for a lyre concert for his friends, and that he had even dressed in a costume for the occasion.
-Tacitus, however, reports that Nero wasn't even in Rome at the time, and that when he heard about Rome burning he immediately rushed home to manage the situation.
-Anyway, after the fire, Nero updated the city's fire code and started some urban renewal projects (including his massive palace complex (100-300 acres!) in downtown Rome. Not a good look.
-Nero knew that everyone was blaming him for the fire, so it was obvious that he needed a scapegoat- of course, the cult of Christianity made perfect sense.
-Christian cults had been popping up all over the empire for the past 30 years.
-The cult had started in Judea and was usually comprised of converted Jews. However, as the cult spread to other parts of the empire, non-Jews started converting as well.
-According to the New Testament, Christianity was brought to Rome by a dude who would come to be known as "St. Peter" (AKA Simeon, Simon, or Simon Peter), who was allegedly executed during the Great Fire as a result of Nero's crackdown on Christians during the mid-60s AD.
-Fun fact: St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was allegedly built on top of St. Peter's tomb.
-During this time, most Christians in Rome were immigrants who spoke only Greek and/or Hebrew.
-After the fire, Nero had government thugs go out into the city and arrest Christians and torture them until they admitted to starting the fire. Once enough Christians had admitted to starting the fire, Nero initiated an all-out war with Christians in Rome by having them thrown to dogs in public games, crucified, and burned alive.
-This actually made people hate Nero even more to the sheer brutality of these executions, and this just caused Christianity to get more popular.
-As a result of the persecutions, obviously the Christians hated Nero with a passion.
-One theory is that the number "666" in the Book of Revelations is a code for Nero because the Greek spelling of Nero's name in Hebrew numerology is 666.
-Fun fact: after Nero committed suicide in 68 AD, the Christians feared that Nero hadn't really died and that he would return to persecute them again in the near future, so they made a coded reference to him so that Christians would always remember to remain ever-vigilant.
-Anyway, so Nero continued to be isolated politically as he grew further and further autocratic and his inner circle continued to grow smaller.
-65 AD- year of the Pisonian Conspiracy (the plot to assassinate Nero).
-Organized by the senator Gaius Calpurnius Piso (ex-husband of Livia Orestilla (Caligula's second wife)).
-Piso wanted to replace Nero with himself, as he wanted to rule in the style of Augustus, not whatever nonsense was going on now.
-Piso conspired with Tigellinus' prefect colleague Faenius Rufus (among others).
-The plan was to kill Nero and then have Piso led to the Praetorian Guard camp by Rufus where he would be declared the new princeps.
-Unfortunately for the conspirators, the plot was unsuccessful, as one of the conspirators betrayed the others by ratting them out in order to curry favor with Nero.
-As a result, Piso and the others were busted, and the various conspirators were either exiled or executed. Seneca the Younger had been one of the conspirators, so he was forced to commit suicide.
-Because of this assassination attempt, Nero, of course, started a massive purge, which just pissed off the Senate and nobles even more.
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