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The Top Benevolent and Malevolent Dictators From History

Khalid Elhassan November 30, 2020 32 min

Augustus - Ancient Rome — 'The Emperor Augustus Rebukes Cornelius Cinna for His Treachery', by Etienne Jean Delecluze, 1814 - Augustus pardoned Cinna and gave him a government job. Van Go Yourself

3. Vespasian Lived Through The Year of the Three Emperors, and Decided to Make it the Year of the Four Emperors

Battle of the Medway during the Roman invasion of Britain, in which Vespasian shone. British Battles

Vespasian reemerged from retirement after Emperor Claudius’ death, and won favor with his successor, Emperor Nero. However, his revived career was derailed when he gave offense by falling asleep while Nero was giving a lyre recital. Vespasian’s fortunes sank so low, that he was forced to become a muleteer in order to make ends meet. His fortunes revived once again in 67 AD, when he was appointed to suppress the Great Jewish Revolt.

Vespasian was busily engaged in doing that, when Nero was forced to flee Rome and driven to suicide in 68 AD. In the subsequent scramble for power, competing governors and generals mounted the throne in quick succession. By April, 69 AD, the year was already known as “The Year of the Three Emperors”. Vespasian reasoned why not four?

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.