Tacitus' Portrayal Of The Emperor Vespasian

The works of Tacitus, an important historian in the early Roman Empire, are generally regarded as reliable history. But there is also the different opinion that Tacitus' descriptions of personalities are not objective in some respects because of the strong emotional color in his writings. Vespasian is a special one among the various figures in Tacitus' works on account of the private relationships between them. So, to research Tacitus' view of Vespasian may be helpful for the study of not only of the emperor, but the historian himself.Among the materials available to me, there are very few discussions specifically on this topic in both foreign and domestic scholarship. Thus, my thesis aims to provide an investigation on it with particular emphasis on the remaining Histories.Firstly, I explain Tacitus' relationship with the Flavians after providing an introduction to Vespasian and Tacitus' works. The main body of the thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter one explores Tacitus' evaluation of Vespasian, not just in the Histories, but with the help of the historian's other works, hi chapter two, I analyze the proclamations in different regions and show that Tacitus' picture of Vespasian, who made full preparations for the actions, is opposite to that presented in the Flavian propaganda. In chapter three, with Vespasian's conservative strategies explained, I point out that Tacitus is negative towards the strategies, hi chapter four, I investigate Tacitus' narrations of the internal unease in the Flavian camp after their victory and interpret that Vespasian in Tacitus' version successfully got rid of the obstacles of destabilization and established peace.My conclusion is that Tacitus acknowledges Vespasian's historical status and high capability, but does not always try to flatter him as other pro-Flavian writers do. So Tacitus gives us objective records on Vespasian's proclamation and accession.