Flavier

The Flavians were a Roman ruling family. In principle, all other bearers of the Roman name Flavius can also be referred to as Flavier .

The Flavian Emperors (69–96 AD)

From 69 to 96 the House of Flavians had three Roman emperors :

Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian for short)
Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Titus for short), the older son
Titus Flavius Domitianus ( Domitian for short), the younger son

The reign of the dynasty ended with the assassination of Domitian on September 18, 96.

The Flavians did not come from the old senate aristocracy like the previous Roman emperors, but from an Italian knightly family from Latium . It was Vespasian who was promoted to consul and thus accepted into the imperial aristocracy. Despite their rule of only 27 years in total, they had a lasting impact on the Roman Empire and laid the foundation for the greatest expansion of the empire in history, which came about under their indirect successor, the adoptive emperor Trajan , whose political career was significantly shaped by the Flavian model .

After Nero's rule, Vespasian in particular rehabilitated the financially ailing and corruption-ridden state system and was also able to achieve far-reaching stabilization in foreign policy. His son Titus continued his father's successful policy and completed the construction of the famous Colosseum begun by Vespasian during his tenure . The assessment of the last Flavier emperor Domitian is controversial today. He also used the Flavian talent for administration and organization profitably, but came more and more into conflict with the Roman Senate and the aristocracy due to his authoritarian ruling style , which ultimately led to his assassination.

The name Flavius in later times

Since the Flavian emperors carried out many releases and the granting of civil rights, which always led to the adoption of the gentile noun "Flavius" by the beneficiaries, "Flavius" remained a fairly common part of Roman names in the following centuries.

Under Constantine the Great , who also bore this name, the name Flavius almost became part of the title of ruler. The Constantinian dynasty is therefore also referred to as the Second Flavian Dynasty or, especially in the English-speaking world, as the Neo-Flavian dynasty . From the 4th to the 6th century, not only almost all other emperors, but also most of the officials in the imperial service bore the name Flavius, which in late antiquity had practically developed into a title that demonstrated a close relationship with the emperor. Probably since the 4th century one had the right to replace one's gentile noun with Flavius when reaching a certain career level .

The main inner belt asteroid (2588) Flavia was named after the Flavians.

literature

Hermann Bengtson : The Flavians. Vespasian, Titus, Domitian. History of a Roman Imperial House. Beck, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-406-04018-7 (representation that is highly controversial in terms of content and source criticism).
Miriam Griffin : The Flavians. In: Alan K. Bowman , Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone (eds.): The High Empire, AD 70-192 (= The Cambridge Ancient History . Volume 11). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, ISBN 0-521-26335-2 , pp. 1-83.
Stefan Pfeiffer : The time of the Flavians. Vespasian, Titus, Domitian. Darmstadt 2009, ISBN 978-3-534-20894-4 ( scientific review ).
Andrew Zissos (Ed.): A Companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome. Wiley, Chichester / Malden 2016, ISBN 978-1-4443-3600-9 ( academic review ).

Web links

Commons : Flavier - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Flavier - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Cf. Andras Mócsy: The name Flavius as a designation of rank in late antiquity . In: Files of the 4th international congress for Greek and Latin epigraphy , Vienna 1964, pp. 257–263.
↑ See JG Keenan: The Names Flavius and Aurelius as Status Designations in Later Roman Egypt . In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 11 (1973), pp. 33-63.
^ Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition. Ed .: Lutz D. Schmadel. 5th edition. Springer Verlag , Berlin , Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7 , pp. 186 (English, 992 pp., Link.springer.com [ONLINE; accessed on August 24, 2019] Original title: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . First edition: Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg 1992): “1981 VQ. Discovered 1981 Nov. 2 by BA Skiff at Anderson Mesa. "
↑ See the very critical review Werner Eck : Hermann Bengtson: Die Flavier. Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. In: Gnomon . Volume 53, 1981, pp. 343-347.

[1] Cf. Andras Mócsy: The name Flavius as a designation of rank in late antiquity . In: Files of the 4th international congress for Greek and Latin epigraphy , Vienna 1964, pp. 257–263.

[2] See JG Keenan: The Names Flavius and Aurelius as Status Designations in Later Roman Egypt . In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 11 (1973), pp. 33-63.

[3] Lutz D. Schmadel : Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition. Ed .: Lutz D. Schmadel. 5th edition. Springer Verlag , Berlin , Heidelberg 2003, ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7 , pp. 186 (English, 992 pp., Link.springer.com [ONLINE; accessed on August 24, 2019] Original title: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . First edition: Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg 1992): “1981 VQ. Discovered 1981 Nov. 2 by BA Skiff at Anderson Mesa. "

[4] See the very critical review Werner Eck : Hermann Bengtson: Die Flavier. Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. In: Gnomon . Volume 53, 1981, pp. 343-347.