Vespasian Proclaimed Emperor

About the same time grievous troubles gripped Rome as well. Vitellius had arrived from Germany with his army, dragging along a great crowd of others besides. Since the quarters assigned to the soldiers could not hold them, he made the whole of Rome his camp and filled every house with armed men. These men, seeing the wealth of Rome with eyes unused to it, and surrounded on every side by the gleam of silver and gold, could hardly restrain their greed from turning to plunder and to killing anyone who stood in their way. Such was the state of things in Italy.

When Vespasian had subdued the country near Jerusalem, he returned to Caesarea, and there he heard of the turmoil in Rome and that Vitellius was emperor. Though he knew how to be ruled as well as how to rule, this roused his indignation. He scorned as his master a man who had gone mad over the empire as though it had been left without an owner. Deeply pained by what had happened, he could not endure the torment or busy himself with other wars while his own country was being ravaged. But as much as his anger urged him on to vengeance, the thought of the distance held him back. Fortune might do much mischief before he could cross to Italy, sailing as he would be in the winter season. So he held in his anger, though it already raged within him.

But now the commanders and the soldiers began to meet in groups and openly discuss a change. Indignant, they cried out: “The soldiers at Rome live in luxury and cannot bear even to hear a rumor of war, yet they vote the empire to whomever they please and make men emperors in hope of gain. And we, who have gone through so many labors and grown old under our helmets, hand over this power to others, when we have among us a man more worthy to rule! What juster return could we ever make him for his goodwill toward us, if we throw away this opportunity? Vespasian’s claim to rule is juster than Vitellius’s by as much as we are better than those who set Vitellius up. We have fought wars no smaller than the troops from Germany, and we are not inferior in arms to those who brought that tyrant from there. There will be no need of a fight. The senate and the Roman people will not put up with the lechery of Vitellius in place of the self-control of Vespasian. They will not choose a most savage tyrant instead of a good ruler, or a childless man instead of a father to stand over them, for the greatest security of peace is the lawful succession of kings. If ruling calls for the experience of age, we have Vespasian; if for the strength of youth, Titus. The advantage of both their ages will be joined together. And it is not only we who will supply strength to the men we proclaim, with our three legions and the allied forces of the kings. All the East will stand with us, and as much of Europe as lies beyond the fear of Vitellius, and allies in Italy too: Vespasian’s brother and his other son. One of them will win over many of the young men of rank, and the other has been entrusted with guarding the city, no small part of a bid for the empire. In short, if we delay, the senate may soon proclaim a man whom the soldiers who have preserved the empire will hold in contempt.” [a]

This was how the soldiers talked in their groups. Then they gathered together, cheered one another on, proclaimed Vespasian emperor, and called on him to save the empire, which was in danger. He had long been concerned for the state as a whole, but he had not intended to rule himself. He thought himself worthy of it by his deeds, but he preferred the safety of private life to the dangers of high rank. When he refused, the commanders pressed him all the harder, and the soldiers crowded around him with drawn swords and threatened to kill him unless he was willing to live as he deserved. After urging many reasons against them for refusing the empire, at last, when he could not persuade them, he gave way to those who had named him. [d]

Mucianus and the other commanders, and the rest of the army too, now urged him on as emperor to lead them against every opponent. But his first concern was with Alexandria. He knew that Egypt was the most important part of the empire because it supplied the grain. If he held it and Vitellius dragged the struggle out, he hoped to bring him down by force, for the people of Rome would not put up with hunger. He also wanted to win over the two legions at Alexandria. He considered too that the country would be a bulwark for him against the uncertainties of fortune. For Egypt is hard to invade by land and has no harbors on the side of the sea. On the west it is shielded by the waterless parts of Libya; on the south by Syene, which divides it from Ethiopia, and by the cataracts of the river, which cannot be sailed; on the east by the Red Sea, which reaches up as far as Coptus. On the north it is walled by the land that stretches to Syria and by what is called the Egyptian Sea, which has no anchorage at all. So Egypt is walled in on every side. Its length from Pelusium to Syene is about 250 miles, and the voyage from Plinthine to Pelusium about 450 miles. The Nile can be sailed up as far as the city called Elephantine, beyond which the cataracts I have mentioned bar any farther passage. Even in peacetime the harbor of Alexandria is hard for ships to reach. The entrance is narrow, and underwater rocks force ships to turn aside from a straight course. Its left side is fenced in by man-made breakwaters. On the right lies the island called Pharos, which has a very great tower that shines out with fire to ships sailing in as far as thirty-seven miles away, so that at night they may anchor well off, because the approach is so difficult. Around this island huge man-made walls have been laid down. The sea beats against these and breaks on the barriers opposite, making the passage rough and the entrance through the narrow channel treacherous. But the harbor inside is very safe, and nearly four miles across. Into it is brought what the country lacks for its prosperity, and from it the surplus of the country’s goods is sent out to the whole inhabited world. [e]

With good reason, then, Vespasian aimed at mastering that country, to make the whole empire secure. He wrote at once to Tiberius Alexander, who governed Egypt and Alexandria, telling him how eager the army was, and that since he had been forced to take up the burden of the empire, he wanted Alexander as his fellow worker and helper. As soon as Alexander had read the letter aloud, he readily had the legions and the people take the oath of loyalty to Vespasian. Both did so gladly, for they knew the man’s merit from his command nearby. Alexander, now entrusted with Vespasian’s interests, made all ready for him, including his arrival. Rumor spread the news of an emperor in the East faster than thought. Every city held festivals for the good news and offered sacrifices on his behalf. The legions in Moesia and Pannonia, which had been stirred up a little before by the insolence of Vitellius, swore loyalty to Vespasian’s rule with all the greater joy. Vespasian left Caesarea and came to Berytus. There many embassies met him from Syria and many from the other provinces, bringing crowns from every city and decrees of congratulation. Mucianus, the governor of the province, came too, and reported how eager the peoples were and how city after city had taken the oath. [f]

Fortune was going his way everywhere, and things had for the most part fallen into his hands. Now it came home to Vespasian that he had not taken hold of the empire without divine providence, but that a just destiny had brought the rule of the world around to him. He called to mind the many other signs that had appeared to him everywhere foretelling his rule, and also the words of Josephus, who had dared to hail him as emperor while Nero was still alive. He was shocked that this man was still a prisoner in his hands. So he called Mucianus together with his other commanders and friends. First he told them how energetic a man Josephus was and how much trouble he had caused them at Jotapata. Then he told them of his predictions, which at the time he himself had suspected were inventions of fear, but which time and events had shown to be divine. “It is shameful,” he said, “that the man who foretold my rule to me, and was a servant of the voice of God, should still be treated as a captive and endure the lot of a prisoner.” He sent for Josephus and ordered him to be set free. From this reward to a foreigner the commanders were led to hope for brilliant things for themselves. Titus, who was with his father, said: “It is only just, Father, that Josephus should be freed from the disgrace along with the iron. He will be like a man who was never bound at all, if we do not untie his chains but cut them.” For this is what is done for those who have been bound unjustly. Vespasian agreed, and a man came forward and cut the chain through with an axe. So Josephus received back his full rights as the reward for what he had foretold, and from then on he was trusted about the future as well. [h]