Such was the course of these events; and following them Vespasian was
declared emperor by the senate also, and Titus and Domitian were given
the title of Caesars. The consular office was assumed by Vespasian and
Titus while the former was in Egypt and the latter in Palestine. Now
portents and dreams had come to Vespasian pointing to the sovereignty
long beforehand. Thus, as he was eating dinner on his country estate,
where most of his time was spent, an ox approached him, knelt down and
placed his head beneath his feet. On another occasion, when he was also
eating, a dog dropped a human hand under the table. And a conspicuous
cypress tree, which had been uprooted and overthrown by a violent wind,
stood upright again on the following day by its own power and continued
to flourish. From a dream he learned that when Nero Caesar should lose
a tooth, he himself should be emperor. This prophecy about the tooth
became a reality on the following day; and Nero himself in his dreams
once thought that he had brought the car of Jupiter to Vespasian's
house. These portents needed interpretation; but not so the saying of a
Jew named Josephus: he, having earlier been captured by Vespasian and
imprisoned, laughed and said: "You may imprison me now, but a year from
now, when you have become emperor, you will release me."
Thus Vespasian, like some others, had been born for the throne. While
he was still absent in Egypt, Mucianus administered all the details of
government with the help of Domitian. For Mucianus, who claimed that he
had bestowed the sovereignty upon Vespasian, plumed himself greatly
upon his honours, and especially because he was called brother by him,
and had authority to transact any business that he wished without the
emperor's express direction, and could issue written orders by merely
adding the other's name. And for this purpose he wore a ring, that had
been sent him so that he might impress the imperial seal upon documents
requiring authorization. In fact, he and Domitian gave governorships
and procuratorships to many and appointed prefect after prefect and
even consuls. In short, they acted in every way so much like absolute
rulers that Vespasian once sent the following message to Domitian: "I
thank you, my son, for permitting me to hold office and that you have
not yet dethroned me."
Now Mucianus was gathering countless sums into the public treasury with
the greatest eagerness from every possible quarter, thereby relieving
Vespasian of the censure what such a proceeding entailed. He was for
ever declaring that money was the sinews of sovereignty; and in
accordance with this belief he not only constantly urged Vespasian to
raise funds from every source, but also continued from the very first
to collect money himself, thus providing large amounts for the empire
and at the same time acquire large amounts for himself.
In the province of Germany various uprisings against the Romans took
place that are not worth being mentioned by me, at least, but there was
one incident that must occasion surprise. A certain Julius Sabinus, one
of the foremost of the Lingones, collected by his own efforts an
independent force of his own and took the name of Caesar, claiming to
be a descendant of Julius Caesar. Upon being defeated in several
engagements he fled to a country estate, where he descended into a
subterranean vault beneath a monument, which he first burned to the
ground. His pursuers thought that he had perished in the flames, but as
a matter of fact he remained hidden there with his wife for nine years
and had two sons by her. The troubles in Germany were settled by
Cerialis in the course of numerous battles, in one of which so great a
multitude of Romans and barbarians was slain that the river flowing
near by was dammed up by the bodies of the fallen.
Domitian became afraid of his father because of what he himself had
done and far more of what he had intended to do; for he was quite
ambitious in his projects. So he spent most of his time in the
neighbourhood of the Alban Mount and devoted himself to his passion for
Domitia, the daughter of Corbulo. He had taken her away from her
husband, Lucius Lamia Aelianus, and at this time had her for one of his
mistresses, though later he married her.
Titus, who had been assigned to the war against the Jews, undertook to
win them over by certain representations and promises; but, as they
would not yield, he now proceeded to wage war upon them. The first
battles he fought were indecisive; then he got the upper hand and
proceeded to besiege Jerusalem. This city had three walls, including
the one that surrounded the temple. The Romans, accordingly, heaped up
mounds against the outer wall, brought up painter engines, joined
battle with all who sallied forth to fight and repulsed them, and with
their slings and arrows kept back all the defenders of the wall; for
they had many slingers and bowmen that had been sent by some of the
barbarian kings. The Jews also were assisted by many of their
countrymen from the region round about and by many who professed the
same religion, not only from the Roman empire but also from beyond the
Euphrates; and these, also, kept hurling missiles and stones with no
little force on account of their higher position, woman being flung by
the hand and some hurled by means of engines. They also made sallies
both night and day, whenever occasion offered, set fire to the siege
engines, slew many of their assailants, and undermined the Romans'
mounds by removing the earth through tunnels driven under the wall As
for the battering-rams, sometimes they threw ropes around them and
broke them off, sometimes they pulled them up with hooks, and again
they used thick planks fastened together and strengthened with iron,
which they let down in front of the wall and thus fended off the blow
of still others. But the Romans suffered most hardship from the lack of
water; for their supply was of poor quality and had to be brought from
a distance. The Jews found in their underground passages a source of
strength; for they had these tunnels dug from inside the city and
extending out under the walls to distant points in the country, and
going out through them, they would attack the Romans' water-carriers
and harass any scattered detachments. But Titus stopped up all these
passages.
In the course of these operations many on both sides were wounded and
killed. Titus himself was struck on the left shoulder by a stone, and
as a result of this accident that arm was always weaker. In time,
however, the Romans scaled the outside wall, and then, pitching their
camp between this and the second circuit, proceeded to assault the
latter. But here they found the conditions of fighting different; for
now that all the besieged had retired behind the second wall, its
defence proved an easier matter because its circuit was shorter. Titus
therefore once more made a proclamation offering them immunity. But
even then they held out, and those of them that were taken captive or
deserted kept secretly destroying the Romans' water supply and slaying
any troops that they could isolate and cut off from the rest; hence
Titus would no longer receive any Jewish deserters. Meanwhile some of
the Romans, too, becoming disheartened, as often happens in a
protracted siege, and suspecting, furthermore, that the city was really
impregnable, as was commonly reported, went over to the other side. The
Jews, even though they were short of food, treated these recruits
kindly, in order to be able to show that there were deserters to their
side also.
Though a breach was made in the wall by means of engines, nevertheless,
the capture of the place did not immediately follow even then. On the
contrary, the defenders killed great numbers that tried to crowd
through the opening, and they also set fire to some of the buildings
near by, hoping thus to check the further progress of the Romans, even
though they should gain possession of the wall. In this way they not
only damaged the wall but at the same time unintentionally burned down
the barrier around the sacred precinct, so that the entrance to the
temple was now laid open to the Romans. Nevertheless, the soldiers
because of their superstition did not immediately rush in; but at last,
under compulsion from Titus, they made their way inside. Then the Jews
defended themselves much more vigorously than before, as if they had
discovered a piece of rare good fortune in being able to fight near the
temple and fall in its defence. The populace was stationed below in the
court, the senators on the steps, and the priests in the sanctuary
itself. And though they were but a handful fighting against a far
superior force, they were not conquered until a part of the temple was
set on fire. Then they met death willingly, some throwing themselves on
the swords of the Romans, some slaying one another, others taking their
own lives, and still others leaping into the flames. And it seemed to
everybody, and especially to them, that so far from being destruction,
it was victory and salvation and happiness to them that they perished
along with the temple. Yet even under these conditions many captives
were taken, among them Bargiora, their leader; and he was the only one
to be executed in connexion with the triumphal celebration.
Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which
even now the Jews reverence most. From that time forth it was ordered
that the Jews who continued to observe their ancestral customs should
pay an annual tribute of two denarii to Jupiter Capitoline. In
consequence of this success both generals received the title of
imperator, but neither got that of Judaïcus, although all the
other honours that were fitting on the occasion of so magnificent a
victory, including triumphal arches, were voted to them.
Following Vespasian's entry into Alexandria the Nile overflowed, having
in one day risen a palm higher than usual; such an occurrence, it was
said, had only taken place only once before. Vespasian himself healed
two persons, one having a withered hand, the other being blind, who had
come to him because of a vision seen in dreams; he cured the one by
stepping on his hand and the other by spitting upon his eyes. Yet,
though Heaven was thus magnifying him, the Alexandrians, far from
delighting in his presence, detested him so heartily that they were for
ever mocking and reviling him. For they had expected to receive from
him some great reward because they had been the first to make him
emperor, but instead of securing anything they had additional
contributions levied upon them. In the first place, he collected large
sums from them in various ways, overlooking no source, however trivial
or however reprehensible it might be, but drawing upon every source,
sacred and profane alike, from which money could be secured. He also
renewed The taxes that had fallen into disuse, increased many that were
customary, and introduced still other new ones. And he adopted this
same course later in the rest of the subject territory, in Italy, and
in Rome itself. Hence the Alexandrians, both for these reasons and also
because he had sold the greater part of the palace, were angry and
hurled many taunts at him, this among others: "Six obols more you
demand of us." Vespasian, consequently, although the most good-natured
of men, became angry, and gave orders that six obols should be exacted
from every man, and he thought seriously about punishing them besides.
For the words in themselves were insulting enough, and there was
something about their broken anapaestic rhythm that roused his ire.
Titus, however, begged that they might be forgiven and Vespasian spared
them. Yet they would not let him alone, but in a crowded assembly all
loudly shouted in chorus at Titus these words: "We forgive him; for he
knows not how to play the Caesar." So the Alexandrians at that time
went on with these foolhardy demonstrations, took their fill without
restraint of that impudent licence which is always working to their
detriment, and abused the good nature of the emperor. But Vespasian
soon ceased to notice them. He sent a despatch to Rome rescinding the
disfranchisement of those who had been condemned by Nero and succeeding
rulers for acts of maiestas, as they were called. This order applied to
the living and to the dead alike; and he put an end to the indictments
based on such complaints. He banished the astrologers from Rome, even
though he was in the habit of consulting all the best of them himself,
and, by way of showing a favour to Barbillus a man of that profession,
had even permitted the Ephesians to celebrate some sacred games, a
privilege that he granted to no other city.
He soon restored order in Egypt and sent thence a large supply of grain
to Rome. He had left his son Titus at Jerusalem to storm the place, and
was waiting for its capture in order that he might return to Rome with
him. But as time dragged on and the siege continued, he left Titus in
Palestine and took passage himself on a merchantman; in this manner he
sailed as far as Lycia, and from there he proceeded partly by land and
partly by sea to Brundisium.
Vespasian had later come to Rome, after meeting Mucianus and other
prominent men at Brundisium and Domitian at Beneventum. The latter,
because of his consciousness both of what he was planning and of what
he had already done, was ill at ease, and furthermore he sometimes even
feigned madness. At any rate, he spent most of his time at the Alban
Villa and did many absurd things, one of them being to impale flies on
a stylus. Unworthy as this incident is of the dignity of history, yet,
because it shows his character so well and particularly because he
still continued the practice after he became emperor, I have felt
obliged to record it. In view of this habit of his, someone, in answer
to the question, "Where is Domitian?" made the witty reply: "He is
living in retirement, without even a fly to keep him company."
Vespasian now proceeded to humble this son's pride, but greeted all the
rest, not as an emperor, but as a private citizen; for he was mindful
of his own past fortune.
On reaching Rome he bestowed gifts upon both the soldiers and the
populace. He also repaired the sacred precincts and the public works
which had suffered injury and rebuilt such as had already fallen into
ruin; and upon completing them he inscribed upon them, not his own
name, but the names of those who had originally built them.
He immediately began to construct the temple on the Capitoline. He was
himself the first to carry out a load of soil, thereby evidently
bidding all the other leading citizens to do likewise, in order that
the rest of the populace might have no excuse for shirking this service.
The property of his opponents who had fallen in the various conflicts
he left to their children or other kinsmen of theirs; furthermore, he
destroyed the notes that were long overdue belonging to the public
treasury.
Although he invariably expended in most munificent fashion all that was
requisite for the public welfare and carried out the festivals of a
most sumptuous scale, his own style of living was very far from costly
and he spent no more than was absolutely necessary. Therefore even in
the taverns he allowed nothing cooked to be sold except pulse. Thus he
made it most evident that he was amassing money, not for his own
enjoyment, but for the needs of the people.
Vespasian was laughed at every time he would say, when spending money: "I am paying for this out of my own purse."
He was neither of noble birth nor rich.
The general routine of life that he followed was as follows. He lived
but little in the palace, spending most of his time in the Gardens of
Sallust. There he received anybody who desired to see him, not only
senators but also people in general. With his intimate friends he would
hold converse even before dawn while lying in bed; and others would
greet him on the streets. The doors of the palace stood open all day
long and no guard was stationed at them. He regularly attended the
meetings of the senate, whose members he consulted on all matters, and
he frequently dispensed justice in the Forum. Whatever messages he was
prevented by old age and whatever communications he sent to the senate
when unable to be present, he usually caused to be read by his sons,
thus showing honour to that body even in this detail. Every day he made
many of the senators and others his guests at table, and he himself
often dined at the houses of his intimate friends. In short, he was
looked upon as emperor only by reason of his oversight of the public
business, whereas in all other respects he was democratic and lived on
a footing of equality with his subjects. For example, he indulged in
jests like a man of the people and enjoyed jokes at his own expense;
and whenever any anonymous bulletins, such as are regularly addressed
to the emperors, were posted, if they contained scurrilous references
to himself, he would simply post a reply in kind, without showing the
least resentment. One day Phoebus approached him to make an apology. It
seems that once, during Nero's reign, Vespasian while in the theatre in
Greece had frowned when he saw the emperor behaving himself in unseemly
fashion, whereupon Phoebus had angrily bidden him go away. And when
Vespasian asked, "Go where?" Phoebus had replied, "To the deuce." So
when Phoebus now apologized for this remark, Vespasian did him no harm,
and gave him no answer other than this same retort: "To the deuce with
you." Again, when Vologaesus sent him a letter of which the salutation
ran thus: "Arsaces, King of Kings, to Flavius Vespasian, Greeting," the
emperor did not rebuke him at all but wrote a reply in the same style,
adding none of his imperial titles.
Helvidius Priscus, the son-in-law of Thrasea, had been brought up in
the doctrines of the Stoics and imitated Thrasea's frankness of speech,
sometimes unseasonably. He was at this time praetor, but instead of
doing aught to increase the honour due to the emperor he would not
cease reviling him. Therefore the tribunes once arrested him and gave
him in charge of their assistants, a procedure at which Vespasian was
overcome by emotion went out of the senate-chamber in tears, saying
merely: "My successor shall be my son or no one at all."
After Jerusalem had been captured Titus returned to Italy and both he
and his father celebrated a triumph, riding in a chariot. Domitian, who
was consul, also took part in the celebration, mounted upon a charger.
Vespasian afterwards established in Rome teachers of both Latin and
Greek learning, who drew their pay from the public treasury.
Inasmuch as many others, too, including Demetrius the Cynic, actuated
by the Stoic principles, were taking advantage of the name of
philosophy to teach publicly many doctrines inappropriate to the times,
and in this way were subtly corrupting some of their hearers, Mucianus,
prompted rather by anger than by any passion for philosophy, inveighed
at length against them and persuaded Vespasian to expel all such
persons from the city.
Mucianus desired to be honoured by all and above all, so that he was
displeased not only when any man whatever insulted him, but also when
anyone failed to extol him greatly. Hence, just as he could never
honour enough those who assisted him to even the smallest extent, so
his hatred was most fierce against all who were not disposed to do so.
Mucianus made a great number of remarkable statements to Vespasian
against the Stoics, asserting, for instance, that they are full of
empty boasting, and that if one of them lets his beard grow long,
elevates his eyebrows, wears his coarse brown mantle thrown back over
his shoulder and goes barefooted, he straightway lays claim to wisdom,
bravery and righteousness, and gives himself great airs, even though he
may not know either his letters or how to swim, as the saying goes.
They look down upon everybody and call a man of good family a
mollycoddle, the low-born slender-witted, a handsome person licentious,
an ugly person a simpleton, the rich man greedy, and the poor man
servile.
And Vespasian immediately expelled from Rome all the philosophers
except Musonius; Demetrius and Hostilianus he even deported to islands.
Hostilianus, though he decidedly would not desist when he was told
about the sentence of exile (he happened to be conversing with
somebody), but merely inveighed all the more strongly against monarchy,
nevertheless straightway withdrew. Demetrius, on the contrary, would
not yield ee then, and Vespasian commanded that this message should be
given to him: "You are doing everything to force me to kill you, but I
do not slay a barking dog."
It became strikingly clear that Vespasian hated Helvidius Priscus, not
so much on his own account or that of his friends whom the man had
abused, as because he was a turbulent fellow who cultivated the favour
of the rabble and was for ever denouncing royalty and praising
democracy. Helvidius' behaviour, moreover, was consistent with this
opinion of him; for he banded various men together, as if it were the
function of philosophy to insult those in power, to stir up the
multitudes, to overthrow the established order of things, and to bring
about a revolution. He was Thrasea's son-in-law and affected to emulate
his conduct, but he fell far short of doing so. For whereas Thrasea,
though living in Nero's time and displeased with him, nevertheless had
neither said nor done anything that was insulting to him, save merely
that he refused to share in his practices, Helvidius, on the other
hand, bore a grudge against Vespasian and would not let him alone
either in private or in public. Thus by his conduct he was courting
death and by his meddlesome interference he was destined eventually to
pay the penalty.
It was at this time that Caenis, the concubine of Vespasian, died. I
mention her because she was exceedingly faithful and was gifted with a
most excellent memory. Here is an illustration. Her mistress Antonia,
the mother of Claudius, had once employed her as secretary in writing a
secret letter to Tiberius about Sejanus and had immediately ordered the
message to be erased, in order that no trace of it might be left.
Thereupon she replied: "It is useless, mistress, for you to give this
command; for not only this but as whatever else you dictate to me I
always carry in my mind and it can never be erased." And not only for
this reason does she seem to me to have been a remarkable woman, but
also because Vespasian took such excessive delight in her. This gave
her the greatest influence and she amassed untold wealth, so that it
was even thought that he made money through Caenis herself as his
intermediary. For she received vast sums from many sources, sometimes
selling governorships, sometimes procuratorships, generalships and
priesthoods, and in some instance even imperial decisions. For although
Vespasian killed no one on account of his money, he did spare the lives
of many who gave it; and while it was Caenis who received the money,
people suspected that Vespasian willingly allowed her to do as she did.
This was inferred from his other acts, a few of which, for the sake of
illustration, I will relate. When some persons voted to erect to him a
statue costing a million, he held out his hand and said: "Give me the
money; this is its pedestal." And to Titus, who expressed his
indignation at the tax placed upon public urinals,— one of the new
taxes that had been established,— he said, as he picked up some gold
pieces that had been realized from this source and showed them to him:
"See, my son, if they have any smell."
In the sixth consulship of Vespasian and the fourth of Titus the
precinct of Pax was dedicated and the "Colossus" was set up on the
Sacred Way. This statue is said to have been one hundred feet in height
and to have borne the features of Nero, according to some, or those of
Titus, according to others. Vespasian often gave wild-beast hunts in
the theatres, but he did not take much pleasure in armed combats
between men; yet Titus had once in the course of the youthful sports
which were celebrated in his native district engaged in a sham fight in
heavy armour with Alienus. When the Parthians, who had become involved
in war with some neighbours, asked for his help, he would not go to
their aid, declaring that it was not proper for him to interfere in
others' affairs.
Berenice was at the very height of her power and consequently came to
Rome along with her brother Agrippa. The latter was given the rank of
praetor, while she dwelt in the palace, cohabiting with Titus. She
expected to marry him and was already behaving in every respect as if
she were his wife; but when he perceived that the Romans were
displeased with the situation, he sent her wa. For, in addition to all
the other talk that there was, certain sophists of the Cynic school
managed somehow to slip into the city at this time, too; and first
Diogenes, entering the theatre when it was full, denounced the pair in
a long, abusive speech, for which he was flogged; and after him Heras,
expecting no harsher punishment, gave vent to many senseless yelpings
in true Cynic fashion, and for this was beheaded.
At this same period two other incidents occurred: such a quantity of
wine overflowed its cask in a certain tavern that it ran out into the
street; and Sabinus, the Gaul who, as said before, had once styled
himself Caesar and after taking up arms had been defeated and had
hidden himself in the monument, was discovered and brought to Rome.
With him perished also his wife Pepoila, who had previously saved his
life. She threw her children at Vespasian's feet and delivered a most
pitiful plea in their behalf: "These little ones, Caesar, I bore and
reared in the monument, that we might be a greater number to supplicate
you." Yet, though she cause both him and the rest to weep, no mercy was
shown to the family.
Meantime the emperor was the object of a conspiracy on the part of both
Alienus and Marcellus, although he considered them among his best
friends and bestowed every honour upon them without stint. But he did
not die at their hands, for they were detected. Alienus was slain at
once, in the imperial residence itself, as he rose from a meal with his
intended victim. Titus issued this order, desiring to forestall any act
of revolution that night; for Alienus had already got many of the
soldiers in readiness. Marcellus was brought to trial before the senate
and was condemned, whereupon he cut his own throat with a razor. Thus
not even kindness can subdue those who are naturally vicious, as is
shown by the plotting of these men against the one who had done them so
many kindnesses.
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End of Etext Cassius Dio Roman History Epitome of Book LXV