Vespasian died in 79 and was succeeded by Titus, whose own reign came to an unexpected end when he was struck by a fatal illness in 81.

Because Titus effectively acted as co-emperor with his father, no abrupt change in Flavian policy occurred when Vespasian died on 23 June 79.

His wife Domitilla and his daughter Domitilla both died before Vespasian became Emperor in 69.

The reasons for this long absence are unclear, but have been linked to possible opposition to her presence by Gaius Licinius Mucianus, a political ally of emperor Vespasian who died sometime between 72 and 78.

She appeared to have died, before Commagene, was annexed by Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72.

Gaius Valerius Flaccus ( Setinus Balbus ) ( died c. AD 90 ) was a Roman poet who flourished in the " Silver Age " under the emperors Vespasian and Titus and wrote a Latin Argonautica that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes ' more famous epic.

Domitilla the Elder died before Vespasian became emperor.

* Gaius Valerius Flaccus ( died 1st century ), Latin poet at the time of Vespasian

When he died, his friend Vespasian thought very highly of him and dedicated a sporting festival called the Balbillean Games, named and held in honor of his memory which was held at Ephesus from 79 until into the 3rd century.

As no mention is made of Mucianus during the reigns of Titus or Domitian, he probably died during the reign of Vespasian.

Because Titus ' father, Vespasian, has died, everyone assumes that Titus will now be free to marry his beloved Bérénice, queen of Palestine.

The Roman province by that name had been on hiatus from 27 BC and re-established by Emperor Vespasian only in 72 AD.

This early dating is centered on the preterist interpretation of chapter 17, where the seven heads of the " beast " are regarded as the succession of Roman emperors up to the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Caligula through Vespasian.

Domitian was born in Rome on 24 October 51, the youngest son of Titus Flavius Vespasianus — commonly known as Vespasian — and Flavia Domitilla Major.

When Otho was defeated by Vitellius at the First Battle of Bedriacum however, the armies in Judaea and Egypt took matters into their own hands and declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July 69.

A strong force drawn from the Judaean and Syrian legions marched on Rome under the command of Mucianus, while Vespasian himself travelled to Alexandria, leaving Titus in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion.

To foster the worship of the imperial family, he erected a dynastic mausoleum on the site of Vespasian's former house on the Quirinal, and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, a shrine dedicated to the worship of his deified father and brother.

After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.

* 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city's Third Wall to the northwest.

Once he realised his support was wavering, Vitellius prepared to abdicate in favour of Vespasian, but was executed in Rome by Vespasian's soldiers on 22 December 69.

The terms of resignation had actually been agreed upon with Marcus Antonius Primus, the commander of the sixth legion serving in Pannonia and one of Vespasian ’ s chief supporters, but the praetorians refused to allow him to carry out the agreement, and forced him to return to the palace, when he was on his way to deposit the insignia of empire in the Temple of Concord.

In response, the armies in Egypt and Judaea declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July.

Returning from Africa, Vespasian toured Greece in Nero's retinue, but lost Imperial favour after paying insufficient attention ( some sources suggest he fell asleep ) during one of the Emperor's recitals on the lyre, and found himself in the political wilderness.

While under the emperor's patronage, Josephus wrote that after the Roman Legio X Fretensis, accompanied by Vespasian, destroyed Jericho on 21 June 68, Vespasian took a group of Jews who could not swim ( possibly Essenes from Qumran ), fettered them, and threw them into the Dead Sea to test the sea's legendary buoyancy.

Josephus ( as well as Tacitus ), reporting on the conclusion of the Jewish war, claimed that it was Vespasian who was predicted in Jewish scripture to be the messiah.

* June 23 – Vespasian dies of fever from diarrhea, his last words on his deathbed are: " I think I'm turning into a god.

According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, " the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general's share of the booty.

When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion.

Titus was born in Rome, probably on 30 December 39 AD, as the eldest son of Titus Flavius Vespasianus — commonly known as Vespasian — and Domitilla the Elder.

When the news spread across the armies in Judaea and Ægyptus, they took matters into their own hands and declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July 69.

A strong force drawn from the Judaean and Syrian legions marched on Rome under the command of Mucianus, while Vespasian travelled to Alexandria, leaving Titus in charge to end the Jewish rebellion.

By the end of 69, the forces of Vitellius had been beaten, and Vespasian was officially declared emperor by the Senate on 21 December, thus ending the Year of the Four Emperors.

Vespasian (; ; 17 November 9 – 23 June 79 ) was Roman Emperor from AD 69 to AD 79.

* June 23 – Roman emperor Vespasian

This situation remained unchanged when Titus succeeded Vespasian as Emperor on June 23, 79, leading both ancient and modern authors to suggest a mutual animosity between the two brothers.

Between June 68 and December of 69, Rome witnessed the successive rise and fall of Galba, Otho and Vitellius until the final accession of Vespasian, first ruler of the Flavian Dynasty, in July 69.

* 9 – Emperor Vespasian, Roman emperor ( d. 79 )

* Titus Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor ( Vespasian, 69 — 79 )

* November 17 – Vespasian, Roman emperor ( d. 79 )

His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded his father since Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79.

Despite concerns over his character, Titus ruled to great acclaim following the death of Vespasian in 79, and was considered a good emperor by Suetonius and other contemporary historians.

When in 79, a plot by Aulus Caecina Alienus and Eprius Marcellus to overthrow Vespasian was uncovered, Titus invited Alienus to dinner and ordered him to be stabbed before he had even left the room.

The coins issued 75 – 79 AD under Vespasian show Aeternitas holding a head in each hand representing Sol and Luna.

Chester was founded as a " castrum " or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in the year 79 by the Roman Legio II Adiutrix during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian.

So highly was Musonius esteemed in Rome that Vespasian allowed him to remain in Rome when the other philosophers were banished from the city ( 71 AD ), but eventually he was exiled anyway ( perhaps around 75 AD ), only returning after Vespasian's death ( 79 AD ).

Most were struck in the mint of Rome but from AD 64 during the reign of Nero ( AD 54 – 68 ) and Vespasian ( AD 69 – 79 ), the mint of Lyon ( Lugdunum ), supplemented production.

In 79 AD it was enlarged to accommodate gladiator fights by Vespasian and to be completed in 81 AD under emperor Titus.

The Flavian dynasty was a Roman Imperial Dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian ( 69 – 79 ), and his two sons Titus ( 79 – 81 ) and Domitian ( 81 – 96 ).

In 79 he was implicated, along with Eprius Marcellus, in a conspiracy against Vespasian, and was put to death by order of Titus.

* 79, Downfall of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Death of Emperor Vespasian.