ABSTRACT
Vespasian, noted for strenuousness in organizing and taking a personal lead in the Jewish War and for vigour in launching his coup, continued his habitual way of life, responding assiduously to the needs of the Empire, as only Augustus and Claudius had, until almost the end; Dio tells of occasions when old age kept him from the senate, but the Theatre of Marcellus saw him as an old man. As the sage Apollonius of Tyana was made to advise, and as leaders do who enjoy their position, he got up early and stayed up late, and he read his daily correspondence before admitting friends, talking with them as he put on his shoes and dressed. Vespasian was visited then by another early bird, the elder Pliny. When he had dealt with his day’s business he would relax with one of the ‘numerous’ women he kept after Caenis’ death; the bathing and eating that followed made him noticeably more inclined to grant requests. The improving nature of this portrait is obvious, but it was accepted by Tacitus, and Vespasian himself may have been its willing prisoner.1
