The Conspiracy of Piso and the Fall of Nero (65–68 CE)

The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 65 CE marked a turning point in Emperor Nero’s reign, reflecting the widespread dissatisfaction among the Roman elite over his increasingly despotic and erratic rule.

• Piso, a prominent senator, sought to overthrow Nero, rallying support from senators, equestrians, military officers, and even some of Nero’s inner circle.
• The plot was discovered, leading to mass executions, including the deaths of the philosopher Seneca, the poet Lucan, and the general Faenius Rufus.
• Paranoia consumed Nero, as he increasingly alienated the Senate, the Praetorian Guard, and provincial governors, accelerating his downfall.

By 68 CE, multiple governors and legions revolted, and the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the state (hostis publicus). Facing certain execution, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 CE, famously lamenting:

"Qualis artifex pereo!" (What an artist dies in me!).

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The Year of the Four Emperors (68–69 CE): Rome in Chaos

Following Nero’s death, Rome was plunged into civil war, as multiple generals vied for the throne. Over a tumultuous eighteen months, the empire saw the rise and fall of four emperors:

1. Galba (June 68 – January 69 CE)

   • The Senate declared Galba emperor, but he alienated the Praetorian Guard by refusing to pay them a promised donative.
   • His harsh governance led to his assassination by supporters of Otho.

2. Otho (January – April 69 CE)

   • Otho quickly seized power, but his reign was challenged by Vitellius, who had the backing of the German legions.
   • After losing the Battle of Bedriacum, Otho committed suicide rather than prolong the civil war.

3. Vitellius (April – December 69 CE)

   • Initially victorious, Vitellius' reign was marred by extravagance, incompetence, and brutality.
   • His rule was challenged by Vespasian, the commander of the eastern legions, who had secured the loyalty of Syria, Egypt, and Judea.
   • Vitellius was captured and killed by Vespasian’s forces.

4. Vespasian (July 69 – 79 CE)

   • Vespasian consolidated power, bringing an end to the civil war and establishing the Flavian dynasty.

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Broader Consequences of the Political Anarchy

The instability of 69 CE had far-reaching effects, extending beyond Rome:

• The Batavian Rebellion (69–70 CE)

  • The Batavi, a Germanic auxiliary people in Germania Inferior (modern Netherlands), led a major revolt against Roman rule.
  • Led by Julius Civilis, they exploited Rome’s civil war to briefly expel Roman forces from the Rhine frontier.
  • Vespasian’s general, Petillius Cerialis, eventually crushed the rebellion, restoring Roman authority.

• The Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE)

  • The Jewish Revolt in Judea, which had begun in 66 CE, remained unresolved during the Roman civil war.
  • After securing the throne, Vespasian left the final suppression of the revolt to his son, Titus, who would capture and destroy Jerusalem in 70 CE.

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Legacy of the Year of the Four Emperors

• The chaos of 68–69 CE revealed the fragility of imperial succession, demonstrating that power lay in the hands of the legions rather than the Senate.
• The Flavian dynasty, established by Vespasian, marked the beginning of a more stable and militarized Rome, ensuring that future emperors would need strong military backing to maintain power.
• The pattern of civil wars and contested successions would repeat throughout Roman history, particularly during the Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 CE).

The Piso Conspiracy, Nero’s downfall, and the Year of the Four Emperors signified the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the beginning of a new era, where military loyalty determined imperial legitimacy.

The Iranian-speaking Sarmatians, a combination of tribes who have overwhelmed and replaced the Scythians, their distant kinsmen, in eastern Europe, penetrate the Roman province of Lower Moesia (present Bulgaria) during the time of Nero's rule (54-68).

Like the Scythians, the Sarmatians are highly developed in horsemanship and warfare.

Their administrative capability and political astuteness contribute to their gaining widespread influence.

Owing to their common nomadic and Central Asian heritage, Sarmatian society parallels that of the Scythians, but there are many differences.

The Scythian gods are those of nature, while the Sarmatians venerate a god of fire to whom they offer horses in sacrifice.

In contrast to the reclusive, domestic role of Scythian women, unmarried Sarmatian females, especially in the society's early years, take arms alongside men.

Sarmatian female warriors may have inspired the Greek tales of the Amazons.

The disorders of 69, the so-called year of the four emperors ushered in by the death of Nero, take troops away from the Rhine and Danube frontiers.

Sarmatians thereupon raid the Danubian lands.

The assailants are repelled without undue difficulty; but the Sarmatian Iazyges, now firmly in control of the region between the Tisza and Danube rivers, pose a threat for the future.

They present the Roman army with a new and formidable challenge along the Danube frontier, since at least some of the Sarmatian cavalrymen are armored in the Parthian fashion.

However, such warriors are comparatively few in number, big horses and armor being always expensive, and the Sarmatian feudal polity makes them unable to organize large-scale raids.

As a result, the Roman limes will hold for another two centuries.

The Middle East: 64–75 CE

Parthian Cultural Revival and Roman Diplomacy

The reign of Vologases I of the Parthian Empire marks a deliberate departure from the Hellenistic influences that had permeated the region since Alexander’s conquests. Vologases spearheads a significant cultural revival, reasserting traditional Iranian customs and reintroducing ancient Persian traditions rooted in the Achaemenid dynasty. As part of this deliberate policy, he restores original Iranian names to cities previously renamed by Greek rulers, underscoring his commitment to Iran’s native heritage.

In a move of profound cultural significance, Vologases commissions the collection and preservation of the ancient Avestan texts, fundamental scriptures of the Zoroastrian religion. Coins minted under his authority depict fire temples, emphasizing his devotion to the traditional Persian religion—a symbolic tradition sustained throughout the subsequent Sassanian dynasty.

Vologases also demonstrates considerable initiative as an urban planner and builder. He establishes the city of Vologesocerta (variously known as Balashkert, Balashgerd, or Balashkard), strategically located near the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, in an effort to draw residents away from the Hellenistic stronghold of Seleucia on the Tigris. He further founds the city of Vologesias, situated near a canal branching from the Euphrates River south of Babylon, close to the future site of Hirah.

Diplomatic relations between Parthia and Rome remain cordial under Vologases, exemplified by his offer of 40,000 Parthian archers to the Roman Emperor Vespasian to support him in his conflict against Vitellius. However, relations are later tested when the Alans, a powerful nomadic tribe from beyond the Caucasus, invade Media and Armenia. Vologases’ plea for assistance from Vespasian is denied, reflecting the pragmatic limits of Roman support.

Despite Vologases’ considerable efforts, Parthia struggles to regain control of lost territories in its eastern dominions. The kingdom of Hyrcania, in particular, maintains its autonomy, signaling the continued fragility and complexity of Parthian political control.

Dioscorides and the Legacy of Medical Knowledge

This era is also notable for the enduring contributions of Pedanius Dioscorides, a physician from Anazarbus in Cilicia, Asia Minor, who compiles his seminal work De Materia Medica between 50 and 70 CE. Written in Greek, this comprehensive five-volume treatise meticulously documents drugs of plant, animal, and mineral origin, providing detailed descriptions of their dosage, application, and medicinal properties. It becomes the foremost medical reference across both the Greco-Roman and Islamic worlds, continuously used and referenced for over 1,500 years.

Notably, Dioscorides recognizes the association between zinc ores and brass production, observing the mineral cadmia (zinc oxide) deposited in metal-smelting furnaces. His documentation preserves not only medical and botanical knowledge but also historical linguistic records, including rare Dacian and Thracian plant names that might otherwise have been lost to history.

Thus, the era from 64 to 75 CE sees significant cultural realignment under Parthian rule, alongside the establishment of a lasting scientific and medicinal legacy through Dioscorides’ influential writings.

The reign of Vologases I of Parthia, ruler of the Parthian Empire, is marked by a decided reaction against Hellenism.

He is influential in reverting Hellenization by returning to Iranian customs and traditions of the Achamenids’ time.

He reverts the Greek names of Iranian cities to Iranian names.

According to Zoroastrian texts, Vologases ordered the collection of the ancient Avestan texts.

On some of his coins a fire temple can be seen; this tradition will continue for several hundred years to the end of the Sassanian dynasty.

He builds cities, including Vologesocerta (Balashkert or Balashgerd or Balashkard, literally Balash built it) in the neighborhood of Ctesiphon, with the intention of drawing to this new town the inhabitants of Seleucia on the Tigris.

Another town founded by him is Vologesias on a canal of the Euphrates, south of Babylon (near Hirah).

Vologases has good relations with Vespasian, to whom he offers an army of forty thousand archers in the war against Vitellius.

Soon afterwards the Alans, a great nomadic tribe beyond the Caucasus, invade Media and Armenia; Vologases applies in vain for help to Vespasian.

It appears that the Persian losses in the east also cannot be repaired; Hyrcania remains an independent kingdom.

De Materia Medica is the premiere historical source of information about the medicines used by the Greeks, Romans, and other cultures of antiquity.

Complied between 50 and 70 CE by the physician Pedanius Dioscorides, a native of Anazarbus, Cilicia, Asia Minor, he has written a five-volume book in his native Greek, known in English by its Latin title De Materia Medica ("Regarding Medical Materials").

The oldest surviving text on drugs and their use, the work also records the Dacian and Thracian names for some plants, which otherwise would have been lost.

Dioscorides describes drugs of plant, animal, and mineral origin and give information on drug dosage, administration, and specific uses.

Dioscorides seems to have recognized a link between zinc minerals and brass describing how cadmia (zinc oxide) was found on the walls of furnaces used to heat either zinc ore or copper and explaining that it can then be used to make brass.

Unlike many classical authors, the work of Dioscorides works will not be "rediscovered" in the Renaissance, because his book never leaves circulation: it will remain in use until about CE 1600.

The apostle Thomas (according to legend which can be neither confirmed nor denied) arrives in India’s Malabar Coast circa 72, and establishes the church of the Malabar Christians (verifiable records, however, connect early Indian Christianity with the fifth-century missionary activity of the Nestorian church in Persia).

Saint Thomas' Mount in Madras is the traditional site of his martyrdom.

One Gondophares is connected to St. Thomas in early Christian traditions embodied in the Acts of Thomas.

In it, Thomas was sold in Syria to Habban, an envoy of Gondophares, and traveled in slavery by sea to India, was presented to Gondophares to undertake the erection of the building the king required.

Thomas instead spent all the king's money on alms, and as a consequence was imprisoned by him.

Allegedly, Gondophares ultimately rehabilitated Thomas and recognized the validity of Christianity.

Passing on to the realm of another king, named in the Syrian versions as "Mazdai,” he allegedly suffered martyrdom before being redeemed.

Saint Thomas thereafter went to Kerala and baptized the natives, whose descendants form the Saint Thomas Christians.

Near East (64–75 CE): The Great Jewish Revolt and Roman Suppression

The Near East during this period witnesses the eruption of the First Jewish-Roman War, commonly known as the Great Revolt, marking the first of three significant rebellions by Judea’s Jews against Roman rule. Judea, already fraught with internal sectarian divisions and a history of unrest, reaches a breaking point due to Roman offenses such as temple robberies and insensitivity toward Jewish religious practices, which Tacitus vividly describes as sparking disgust and resentment.

Initially, the Jewish forces achieve notable successes, including repelling the First Siege of Jerusalem and claiming victory at the Battle of Beth Horon. These early triumphs, however, attract intensified Roman military attention. In response, Emperor Nero appoints General Vespasian to decisively crush the rebellion. Vespasian systematically subdues the areas in revolt, progressively eliminating pockets of resistance across the region. By 68 CE, Jewish opposition in northern Judea is largely suppressed.

Final acts of defiance continue, with strongholds such as Masada and Jerusalem enduring protracted sieges. The Romans ultimately prevail, culminating in the brutal destruction of Jerusalem, effectively eradicating ancient Hebrew statehood and Jewish national autonomy. The Romans rename Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, sell thousands of Jews into slavery, and dramatically intensify the dispersion of Jews throughout the Roman world, amplifying the existing Jewish Diaspora.

Simultaneously, this period witnesses economic activities such as the operation of mines on Saint John's Island in the Red Sea, noted from at least 70 CE for producing peridot, a highly valued olive-green gemstone, indicative of the continued economic and strategic importance of the region despite its instability.

Legacy of the Era

The era from 64 to 75 CE is marked by significant upheaval, illustrating how mismanaged governance and cultural insensitivity can escalate into widespread conflict. The devastating outcome of the Great Revolt significantly reshapes Jewish life, disperses the population, and firmly integrates Judea into the Roman provincial system, setting lasting patterns for Jewish-Roman relations and the socio-political landscape of the Near East.

The first Jewish-Roman War, sometimes called The Great Revolt, is the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judea Province against the Roman Empire.

Judea is already a troubled region with bitter violence among several competing Jewish sects and a long history of rebellion.

The Jews' anger turns on Rome following robberies from their temples and Roman insensitivity—Tacitus says disgust and repulsion—towards their religion.

The Jews begin to prepare for armed revolt.

Early successes, including the repulse of the First Siege of Jerusalem and the Battle of Beth Horon, only attract greater attention from Rome and Emperor Nero appoints general Vespasian to crush the rebellion.

Vespasian leads his forces in a methodical clearance of the areas in revolt.

Jewish resistance in the North has been crushed by the year 68.

A few towns and cities hold out for a few years before falling to the Romans, leading in 73 to the Siege of Masada and the Second Siege of Jerusalem.