Vespasian

Vespasian, Titus Flavius (Vespasianus) (November 17, 9 CE, near Reate – June 24, 79 CE, ibid.), Roman Emperor (69–79 CE), and founder of the Flavian dynasty.

During Vespasian’s reign, the revolt in Pontus–Colchis was suppressed. He dispatched a strong detachment of legionaries under the command of the general Virdius Geminus.

At the beginning of the AD (during the time of Vespasian and his successors), the relations between Rome and Iberia were friendly and allied. It is testified by the building stone discovered in Mtskheta in 1867, bearing a Greek inscription carved in 75 AD: “The Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus... and the Emperor Titus Caesar, son of Augustus, and Domitian Caesar, son of Augustus, strengthened these walls for the King of the Iberians, Mithridates, son of King Pharasmanes and Iamasaspo, friend of Caesar and friend of the Romans, and the people.”

This inscription confirms the alliance and Roman support for the Iberian ruling dynasty.

Sources: სვეტონიუს გაიუს ტრანკვილიუსი, თორმეტი კეისრის ცხოვრება, თარგმნა მ. გულიაშვილმა, თბ., 1994.

Literature: ს ა ნ ი კ ი ძ ე  ლ., რომის იმპერია, თბ., 1984; წ ე რ ე თ ე ლ ი  გ., მცხეთის ბერძნული წარწერა ვესპასიანეს ხანისა, თბ., 1958; Ковалев С.  И., История Рима, [Л.], 1948; Ш т а е р м а н  Е.  М., Кризис 68–69 гг. и деятельность Веспасиана, «Вестник древней истории», 1951, №3.

L. Sanikidze