in different quarters supported the claims of their favorite leaders. One after another the three aspirants named were killed in bloody struggles for the imperial purple. The last, Vitellius, was hurled from the throne by the soldiers of Flavius Vespasian, the old and beloved commander of the legions in Palestine, which were at this time engaged in a war with the Jews.
Reign of Vespasian (A.D. 69–79).—The accession of Flavius Vespasian marks the beginning of a period, embracing three reigns, known as the Flavian Age (A.D. 69–96). Vespasian's reign was signalized both by important military achievements abroad and by stupendous public works undertaken at Rome.
After one of the most harassing sieges recorded in history, Jerusalem was taken by Titus, son of Vespasian.
The Temple was destroyed, and more than a million of Jews that were crowded in the city are believed to have perished. Great multitudes suffered death by crucifixion. The miserable remnants of the nation were scattered everywhere over the world. Josephus, the great historian, accompanied the conqueror to Rome. In imitation of Nebuchadnezzar, Titus robbed the Temple of its sacred utensils, and bore them away as trophies. Upon the triumphal arch at Rome that bears his name may be seen at the present day the sculptured representation of the golden candlestick, which was one of the memorials of the war.
In the opposite corner of the empire a dangerous revolt of the Gauls was suppressed, and in the island of Britain the Roman commander Agricola subdued or crowded back the native tribes until he had extended the frontiers of the empire into what is now
