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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Pompeius, post: 2901558, member: 88278&quot;]I present the Flavian collection, collected recently. There is such a joy in finally finishing a set</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]698974[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Emperors</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Vespasian</p><p><img src="http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2014/01/vespasian.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Vespasian came to power in 69 CE, inheriting an empire in chaos. He possessed revolts across the Empire. He came forth with a raising of taxes, allowing him to be able to obtain the estimated 40,000,000,000 sesterces required to rebuild the empire. Some of his notable taxes include the Tax on Jews; a tax of two denarii on every male Jew to rebuild the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, mocking the Jewish temple tax of two shekels, and the tax on urine; the taxing of urine which was used by launderers, leading to the famous expression by Vespasian that &quot;Money doesn&#039;t stink.&quot; He was able to gain enough money to even build his own forum, the Forum of Peace, as well as construct the Colosseum, designed by Augustus many years before. He was a humble and humorous man, mocking attempts by his supporters to create a pedigree for him, but nevertheless slightly authoritarian, exiling his detractors. But he was still a kind person, with Suetonius recording that Vespasian attempted to turn back his assassins from one of his enemies. He died in 79 CE, a year before the opening of the Colosseum. He was succeeded by his sons, as he had wanted with him being recorded as having said, &quot;My sons succeed me or none.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Titus</p><p>&nbsp;<img src="https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/titus-3.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Titus was thought to be the next Nero. He was a lover of an exotic princess, Beatrice of Judea, as well as a violent man, having killed a traitor Caecina after having had dinner with him. He had conquered Jerusalem in 71 CE, destroying the Great Temple for a final time, followed by a great triumph in Rome. During his father&#039;s reign, he had taken many responsibilities as opposed to his brother Domitian, relatively neglected. When he took power, he proved those doubts wrong, showing himself as kind and generous, helping deliver aid after the Great Fire, as well as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He also presided in the opening of the Colosseum, actively interacting with the crowd. Tragically, he died soon after in 81 CE from disease, with some commentators suggesting Domitian had a part in the death, jealous over his lack of authority. The Jewish Talmud suggests that a fly had entered Titus&#039; brain through his nose as conquest for his destruction of the Temple, saying the fly had slowly killed him in revenge.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Domitian</p><p><img src="https://www.ancient.eu/uploads/images/1154.jpg?v=1485680398" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Domitian was the younger Flavian son, neglected in his childhood. His mother had died at a young age, and while his father and brother were off in Judea, he was stuck in Rome with his uncle, barely escaping death when angry Vitellius supporters attacked the Temple of Jupiter where he was hiding. When he became Emperor, with his summoning of the Praetorian Guard soon after Titus&#039; death, he quickly showed his authoritarian tendencies. He gave large bonuses to the troops and to the people, lavishing them with great games. He raised taxes significantly to pay for this, enough so that he was able to raise the denarius from 90% to 98% in purity, and then back to 93 5 after an economic crisis. The empire&#039;s income was very high during his rule, estimated at over 1.2 billion sestertii. He also built another forum, the Forum Transitorium, now known as Nerva&#039;s Forum, and expanded the palace on the Palatine. He also added the role of censor to the Emperor, and personally interfered with mundane matters, with with him ignoring the Senate and not acknowledging their &quot;power&quot; as his father and brother had done, angering the nobles and causing him bad PR for eternity from the senatorial historians. This increase in imperial authority allowed future emperors such as Trajan to expand Rome and increase its power. He fought the Chatti, giving himself the title of Germanicus, a move mocked by those who saw it as ostentatious, as it was a relatively minor victory in comparison with the previous holders of the title. He later fought with the rising Dacians, losing only because of a revolt by Saturninus that was quickly put down, causing him to sink into paranoia and seek new measures against the aristocrats. He was devoted to Minerva, causing him to depict her on many of his coins. He died in 96 CE, victim to a plot that installed his advisor Nerva in power. </p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for reading, I really do love those crazy Flavians.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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