Vespasianus: Celebrating Emperor’s Birth Anniversary

Italy celebrates this year the 2,000th birth anniversary of Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus responsible for many of the Roman buildings, including the Colosseum. He also took drastic measures to restore sanity to the Roman Empire’s finances, which had been emptied by Nero’s extravagance (One is tempted to make comparisons with the present times!!!).

The Independent pays handsome tribute to Emperor Vespasian: “In the judgement of one contemporary historian, Vespasian was the first emperor whose character actually improved after he attained the throne.

“…in his achievements he succeeded in transcending his humble origins and the brutalising years of military service: he created schools for grammar and oratory – thus laying the foundations for classical education all over Europe.

“He recruited a new class of administrators from the business class to run the empire on more professional lines.

“And he set in train the greatest building boom of the century. When he came to power, Rome was full of ruins and abandoned sites, the result of the civil war that had preceded his coronation. To bring the city back to its former glory, Vespasian gave anyone with the desire and the necessary funds the right to build on those sites.

“The result was many of the breathtaking buildings in and around the Roman Forum that tourists still admire to this day. They include the Temple of Peace, the Domus Flavia and the Temple of Divo Vespasiano, his own cult.

“To mark Vespasian’s big day, Rome is breathing new life into the ancient city he did so much to change. Busts, bas-reliefs, weapons, coins and paintings are among the 110 archaeological treasures that will be exhibited from today until next January in the Colosseum, the Curia in the centre of the Forum and the Criptoportico, a building on the Palatine Hill that has never before been open to the public.” More here…