Guarding the Caesars

This book is the story of the survival of the Flavian emperors in Rome, a place where seventy-five percent of all emperors died of assassination. It explores the methods used by the emperor Vespasian to establish a new dynasty out of the chaos of civil war, to maintain his power, and to pass along the dynasty to his two sons, Titus and Domitian.

Guarding the Caesars is the story of the survival of the Flavian emperors in Rome. The dynasty produced three of the most famous and productive rulers in the Roman Empire. Vespasian built the Colosseum. Titus won the Great Jewish War of 66–70, and his men were responsible for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Domitian, perhaps Rome’s greatest builder, is responsible for many of the buildings we connect with Rome today. He was without a doubt among the most controversial of all Roman rulers and the subject of much debate still today.

The Flavian dynasty begins with the death of the four successors to the Julio-Claudians and ends with the dramatic assassination of Domitian in his own palace. In between, there are numerous attempts to kill the sitting emperor. Seventy-five percent of all Roman emperors died of assassination—the highest rate of any monarchy in the world. This is the story of how the emperors’ security services tried to keep three of them alive.