ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the period between the accession of Vespasian and the death of Hadrian. It examines the solidification of Vespasian’s power via the lex de imperio Vespasiani, and the legacy of Augustus in Vespasian’s approach to finding peace in the empire through the Templum Pacis. It also considers trade networks in the Mediterranean, and between the ports of Berenike and Myos Hormos and the trading centres of India such as Arikamedu, as well as the importance of trading centres like Spasinou Charax (Characene) and Palmyra. It briefly discusses the movements of goods and ceramics along these routes, as well as the ‘silk roads’. The careers of Titus and Domitian are considered and the development of the provinces is discussed. Epigraphic and papyrological evidence is examined throughout, and the letters of Pliny the Younger concerning the eruption of Vesuvius and the subsequent devastation of Pompeii are matched with the geological/stratigraphical evidence. A full consideration is given to Trajan’s approach to governance, including his correspondence with Pliny the Younger, as well as to his campaigns against Decebalus in Dacia and Vologases/Osroes in Parthia, resulting in the extension of Roman rule beyond the Euphrates. Trajan’s rule also involved the annexation of Nabataea as the province of Arabia and further witnessed the Diaspora Revolt, and the third and final Jewish revolt took place under Hadrian. This conflict, the Bar Kochba war, resulted from Hadrian’s colonisation of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina; the development of early Christianity in its aftermath is discussed briefly. Hadrian travelled widely with Sabina and his lover Antinous; the architectural legacy of his travels in places like Palmyra, Gerasa (Jerash), Petra, and his villa at Tivoli are also considered.
