[Avodah] Vespasian

[Micha Berger]

On 25/07/2012 3:10 PM, Rich, Joel wrote:
> Any thoughts on the fact that our version of the story has messengers
> arriving from Rome telling Vespasian that the elders had appointed
> him Emperor while the secular version has the armies of Egypt and
> Judea declaring him Emperor and then going to Rome to defeat Vitellius?

On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 04:54:22PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
> The message may not have come from Rome but from Egypt, and "the important
> people of Rome" may refer to the army leaders who had decided to make him
> emperor.  RYBZ, not being up on Roman politics, may not have understood
> these details.

RZS tries to make the stories jibe. But the gemare (Gittin 56b) has the
messenger coming from Rome, not only that the Roman nobility called for
him. It's not just someone's impression, the gemara states it as
fact.

More significantly, the message says that Caesar had died. However,
this was "The Year of the Four Emperors". Nero comitted suicide in
June 68. Then the Caesars were:
    June   68    Galba 
    Jan  2 69    Otho
    Apr 16 69    Vitellius
    Dec 21 69    Vesapsian

So, it could well be that Vespasian was sent for by a Roman faction who
decided he would be next when Otho (or perhaps even Galba) died. Things
didn't go that way, and so some point after getting to Italy his soldiers
(the Danubian Legions, to be exact) killed the current encumbent,
Vitellus.

(Aren't Google and Wikipedia wonderful?)

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Zion will be redeemed through justice,
micha at aishdas.org        and her returnees, through righteousness.
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