precisely because Vespasian needs to begin his reign as emperor with a triumph over the Judeans. This is what is setting the timetable.
Very good point. We know Vespasian is here to stay until his natural death millenia later, but at the time neither Titus nor anyone else can be sure Vespasian will hang around any longer than the previous three guys. If the Year of the Four Emperors proved one thing, then that the rules from the last century don't apply anymore. Anyone (with an army or two) can become Emperor, and they can be deposed as quickly if they don't demonstrate something that makes them different.
Brushing up my Suetonius has also reminded me that people at the time when Titus post victory at Jerusalem made a little detour to Egypt before heading home to Italy were wildly speculating whether he's going to turn this into the era of the Five Emperors and make his own bid for the throne. (For symbolic reasons - apparantly Titus observed the ritual of the Apis bull, which is something Alexander did back in the day when in Egypt - and also because Egypt is still the breadbasket of the ancient world and whoever has troops there could cut off Rome's supply of grain very fast.) Which he doesn't do, but it gives one a sense of the atmosphere at the time, everything still very jittery and up in the air, with a sense that anything is possible.
Another Suetonius tidbit, this time from the Domition bio, is the reminder that one consequence of the Jewish defeat was that Vespasian ordered the tax the Jews had previously paid to the Temple to be paid to him instead where it was used to rebuild the Temple of Jupiter that had been burned down in the grand climax of the Year of the Four Emperors (with young Domitian and Vespasian's brother inside). (The Temple of Jupiter in Rome and the Second Temple in Jerusalem burning down a year or so apart begs for some mythological connection, btw, but for once, Suetonius, who otherwise loves a good omen, doesn't go there.) Domitian keeps this tax when the Jupiter Temple has finished rebuilding - of course he does - but he also introduces the novelty of people suspected of being undercover Judeans tax evaders having to show their penises to prove they aren't (because of circumsision), and Suetonius comments he can still renember that from being a boy. Good grief.
It is interesting that (6.115) some of the upper-class citizens and priests leave Jerusalem and are sent by Vespasian to Gophna. Gophna (just north of Jerusalem) is not the same as Yavneh (Jamnia to the Greeks), but they sound extremely similar. I wonder if J has heard something about the escape of R' Yohanan and his disciples, but has mistakenly inferred that Vespasian sent them to the much nearer city of Gophna rather than to Yavneh, on the basis of the similarity of sounds?
Could be!
As you say, it seems uncharacteristic for a Roman historian to say much about skin color, nor was skin color prejudice a major factor in Roman ethnic stereotypes. Perhaps we are just to infer that the glorious Titus can inspire men of any nationality to feats of reckless heroism?
I guess. Or it's like with the Essenes - for some reason lost on us Josephus goes into details (in this case, skin colour) that don't really seem to contribute something to the narrative.
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Re: Recap
Date: 2026-04-21 10:59 am (UTC)Very good point. We know Vespasian is here to stay until his natural death millenia later, but at the time neither Titus nor anyone else can be sure Vespasian will hang around any longer than the previous three guys. If the Year of the Four Emperors proved one thing, then that the rules from the last century don't apply anymore. Anyone (with an army or two) can become Emperor, and they can be deposed as quickly if they don't demonstrate something that makes them different.
Brushing up my Suetonius has also reminded me that people at the time when Titus post victory at Jerusalem made a little detour to Egypt before heading home to Italy were wildly speculating whether he's going to turn this into the era of the Five Emperors and make his own bid for the throne. (For symbolic reasons - apparantly Titus observed the ritual of the Apis bull, which is something Alexander did back in the day when in Egypt - and also because Egypt is still the breadbasket of the ancient world and whoever has troops there could cut off Rome's supply of grain very fast.) Which he doesn't do, but it gives one a sense of the atmosphere at the time, everything still very jittery and up in the air, with a sense that anything is possible.
Another Suetonius tidbit, this time from the Domition bio, is the reminder that one consequence of the Jewish defeat was that Vespasian ordered the tax the Jews had previously paid to the Temple to be paid to him instead where it was used to rebuild the Temple of Jupiter that had been burned down in the grand climax of the Year of the Four Emperors (with young Domitian and Vespasian's brother inside). (The Temple of Jupiter in Rome and the Second Temple in Jerusalem burning down a year or so apart begs for some mythological connection, btw, but for once, Suetonius, who otherwise loves a good omen, doesn't go there.) Domitian keeps this tax when the Jupiter Temple has finished rebuilding - of course he does - but he also introduces the novelty of people suspected of being undercover Judeans tax evaders having to show their penises to prove they aren't (because of circumsision), and Suetonius comments he can still renember that from being a boy. Good grief.
It is interesting that (6.115) some of the upper-class citizens and priests leave Jerusalem and are sent by Vespasian to Gophna. Gophna (just north of Jerusalem) is not the same as Yavneh (Jamnia to the Greeks), but they sound extremely similar. I wonder if J has heard something about the escape of R' Yohanan and his disciples, but has mistakenly inferred that Vespasian sent them to the much nearer city of Gophna rather than to Yavneh, on the basis of the similarity of sounds?
Could be!
As you say, it seems uncharacteristic for a Roman historian to say much about skin color, nor was skin color prejudice a major factor in Roman ethnic stereotypes. Perhaps we are just to infer that the glorious Titus can inspire men of any nationality to feats of reckless heroism?
I guess. Or it's like with the Essenes - for some reason lost on us Josephus goes into details (in this case, skin colour) that don't really seem to contribute something to the narrative.