HIST 2100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Flavian Dynasty, Germanicus
19 Nov 2014
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Lecture 8: making sense of the early emperors: augustus" julio-claudian successors. Adoptive son of claudius: the flavian emperors. He was a tough, no-nonsense military man and successful commander. His assassination in ad 96 ended the flavian dynasty. Outraged the aristocracy by failing to conceal the reality of autocratic power. Executed several members of the senate based on charges of conspiracy against him. The accession of nerva in ad 96 and eventually his adoptive son, trajan (ad 96-117) Brought a new dynasty to the throne. Was greeted by the senatorial writers as a new era of freedom: the literary sources for the julio-claudian and flavian emperors. Two main historians for this period were tacitus and suetonius. Both men limited their work to the earlier dynasties, that is, leading up to the death of domitian in ad 96. Both historians, however, wrote about this period after the fact, and so cannot be relied upon as a contemporary source.
