Who Were the Flavian Emperors?

The Flavian dynasty consisted of three emperors — Vespasian (reigned AD 69–79), his elder son Titus (AD 79–81), and his younger son Domitian (AD 81–96) — who together ruled Rome for 27 years and built the Colosseum. The Flavians came to power after the chaos of the Year of the Four Emperors, restored the finances and administration of a state Nero had emptied, and left as their principal architectural legacy the amphitheatre that still dominates central Rome. Their family name was Flavius; their dynasty’s monuments dominated the skyline for the next two thousand years.

Flavian Dynasty Quick Facts

  • Dynasty founder: Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian)
  • Total reign: AD 69–96 (27 years)
  • Family origin: Reate (modern Rieti), central Italy — provincial, not aristocratic
  • Colosseum construction: began under Vespasian c. AD 70–72, inaugurated by Titus AD 80, extended by Domitian through c. AD 96
  • Other major Flavian monuments: Arch of Titus, Temple of Peace, Domus Augustana on the Palatine
  • Dynastic end: Domitian’s assassination in AD 96, succeeded by Nerva

How Did the Flavians Come to Power?

Vespasian became emperor through military rather than dynastic succession. After Nero’s suicide in AD 68, Rome experienced the Year of the Four Emperors — a rapid succession of claimants (Galba, Otho, Vitellius) each briefly holding power before being killed. Vespasian, at the time commanding Roman forces against the Jewish revolt in Judaea, was acclaimed emperor by his troops in July AD 69. By December, his supporters had taken Rome, and the Senate confirmed him.

The Flavians were not an aristocratic family. Vespasian’s grandfather had been a minor municipal official in central Italy, and Vespasian himself rose through the military. This provincial background shaped the dynasty’s politics: the Flavians emphasised competence, efficiency and public works over the cultural refinement that Julio-Claudian emperors had claimed. Where Nero had written poetry and performed on stage, Vespasian famously joked about imposing a urine tax — unglamorous but financially sound.

Vespasian: What Did He Do?

Vespasian reigned from AD 69 to AD 79 and spent his decade in power rebuilding the Roman state. He restored the treasury, which Nero had drained, through a combination of new taxes, public land sales and the proceeds of the Jewish War. He passed legal reforms including the Lex de Imperio Vespasiani, which formalised the legal powers of the emperorship. And he invested heavily in public building, including the Temple of Peace, the Temple of the Deified Claudius, and the Colosseum itself.

Vespasian’s personal reputation survived relatively intact because he was seen as practical and unpretentious. Ancient sources describe his humour, his unflashy habits and his willingness to laugh at himself. His deathbed quip — “I think I’m becoming a god” (Vae, puto deus fio) — mocks the convention that deceased emperors were posthumously deified. He did become a god by Senate decree, but the joke survived him.

Titus: The Inaugurator of the Colosseum

Titus reigned from AD 79 to AD 81 — just over two years — but his short reign included both the completion of the Colosseum and several of the best-documented catastrophes of the ancient world. He had served as his father’s second-in-command, completing the Jewish War with the sack of Jerusalem in AD 70 and taking personal responsibility for the games and the monuments commemorating that campaign.

Titus’s brief reign is associated with three events. First, the inauguration of the Colosseum in AD 80 with 100 days of games. Second, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August AD 79 (two months after his accession), which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. Third, a major fire in Rome in AD 80, which damaged multiple public buildings. Titus responded to the disasters with substantial relief funds and emerged politically unscathed — contemporary and later sources consistently describe him as unusually popular. He died of natural causes, probably a fever, in September AD 81, at age 41.

The historian Suetonius famously called Titus amor ac deliciae generis humani — “the love and delight of the human race”. Whether this reflects reality or successful propaganda is debated; what is not debated is that the reputation survived him.

Domitian: The Expansion of the Colosseum

Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, succeeded his brother in AD 81 and reigned until AD 96 — 15 years, the longest of the three Flavian reigns. His contribution to the Colosseum was structural: he built the hypogeum (the underground service complex), added the fourth storey of the façade, and built the gladiator training schools including the Ludus Magnus adjacent to the amphitheatre. Most of what makes the Colosseum technically impressive dates to Domitian’s additions rather than the original construction.

Domitian’s broader reign is more controversial. He centralised power, restricted the Senate’s influence, executed political opponents, and demanded the honorific dominus et deus (“lord and god”) — a form of address no earlier emperor had required. Ancient sources, particularly Tacitus and Suetonius, were hostile to him, and he is conventionally classified among Rome’s “bad emperors” alongside Caligula, Nero and Commodus.

Modern historians have somewhat rehabilitated his reputation. Domitian’s administrative and financial management was effective, his public building programme was extensive, and the Empire’s frontiers were stable or expanding under his rule. His reputation may have suffered more from the political elite he alienated than from the population he actually governed — a distinction the surviving sources rarely make clear.

Domitian was assassinated in his palace in AD 96, probably by members of his own household. The Senate declared damnatio memoriae — official condemnation and removal of his name and images from public monuments — and the Flavian dynasty ended. He was succeeded by Nerva, the first of the “Five Good Emperors”.

What Did the Flavians Build Besides the Colosseum?

The Flavian building programme was substantial. Besides the Colosseum, major Flavian monuments include:

Temple of Peace

Built by Vespasian and dedicated in AD 75, the Temple of Peace (Templum Pacis) commemorated the end of the Jewish War and housed the treasures looted from the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Located immediately north of the Roman Forum, its remains are visible today in the Imperial Forums zone.

Arch of Titus

Built by Domitian around AD 81 to commemorate his elder brother’s victory at Jerusalem. Stands at the eastern end of the Roman Forum on the Via Sacra. Its interior reliefs, showing the menorah and other Temple treasures being carried in triumph, are among the most historically significant sculptural works in Rome.

Domus Augustana and Domus Flavia

The imperial palace complex on the Palatine Hill, built primarily under Domitian. The Domus Augustana was the emperor’s private residence; the Domus Flavia housed the state reception rooms. Their ruins remain substantial and are visible on the standard Palatine ticket.

Stadium of Domitian

A private racecourse-shaped garden on the Palatine, part of the imperial palace. Not to be confused with the public stadium Domitian also built in the Campus Martius, whose footprint survives as the Piazza Navona.

Forum of Nerva / Forum Transitorium

Begun by Domitian and completed by Nerva after Domitian’s death. The final of the Imperial Forums begun under successive emperors to expand the overcrowded original Roman Forum.

Why Do the Flavians Matter?

The Flavians matter for three reasons. First, they restored functional government after the Year of the Four Emperors and decades of Julio-Claudian excess, stabilising an Empire that had come close to civil war. Second, they built on a scale that defined the visual character of imperial Rome for the next three centuries — the Colosseum alone shaped the city’s skyline and became the global icon of ancient Rome. Third, they established the principle that imperial legitimacy derived partly from public works: emperors were expected to give the Roman people monuments, and failure to do so became politically costly.

The dynasty’s 27 years are short by later imperial standards. But the buildings, the institutional reforms and the political template all outlasted the family itself. When modern visitors photograph the Colosseum, they are photographing the most enduring Flavian monument — and the one that still carries the family name in its original Latin form (Amphitheatrum Flavium) even though popular usage long ago replaced it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who built the Colosseum?

The Flavian dynasty: Emperor Vespasian commissioned it around AD 70–72, his elder son Titus inaugurated it in AD 80, and his younger son Domitian completed significant additions including the hypogeum and fourth storey between AD 81 and AD 96.

Why is it called the Flavian Amphitheatre?

Because it was built by the Flavian dynasty (Flavius was the family name of Vespasian, Titus and Domitian). The original and official name is Amphitheatrum Flavium; the nickname “Colosseum” derives from the adjacent Colossus of Nero statue and displaced the original name during the medieval period.

How long did the Flavians rule?

27 years, from AD 69 (Vespasian) to AD 96 (assassination of Domitian). Three emperors, two generations, a single dynasty.

Who succeeded the Flavians?

Nerva, elected by the Senate after Domitian’s assassination in AD 96. Nerva founded what modern historians call the “adoptive succession” principle and is traditionally counted as the first of the Five Good Emperors, followed by Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

Were the Flavians popular?

Vespasian and Titus were broadly popular both during and after their reigns. Domitian was unpopular with the senatorial elite — the class that wrote most surviving sources — but may have been more popular with the wider population than hostile sources suggest.

See Flavian Rome on a Guided Tour

Our Colosseum tours include the wider Flavian context — the Arch of Titus, the Temple of Peace remains, the Palatine palace complex — because the amphitheatre is only fully comprehensible as part of this larger programme. Licensed guides draw together the buildings and the history into a single connected narrative.