Introduction

A tacitist claims that the year 69 AD was very nearly the last of Rome's existence. If things had gone on like they had been going since Nero, the Romans could have been facing the end of their civilization. Luckily for the Romans, by the time the Senate recognized Vespasian as Emperor in the last days of December 69 AD, the Civil Wars had already swept up all the legions from Spain to Syria and deposited them in Italyto fight it out.