ABSTRACT
The Julio-Claudian dynasty had come to an end in circumstances similar to those that had characterised the end of the old Republic. In Ad 69, as at Actium a century before, events produced a ‘saviour’; just as in 31 Bc, Augustus Caesar had emerged from the turmoil to restore and rebuild, so in 69, Vespasian, twice consul and governor of Judaea, found himself cast in a very similar role.
