But not at all; they wanted a prince of their own manufacture.
They knew nothing of Vespasian, cared less; and into the Capitol
they chased the latter's partisans, his son Domitian as well. The
besieged defended themselves with masterpieces, with sacred urns,
the statues of gods, the pedestals of divinities. Suddenly the
Capitol was aflame. Simultaneously Vespasian's advance guard beat
at the gates. The besiegers turned, the mob was with them, and
together they fought, first at the gates, then in the streets, in
the Forum, retreating always, but like lions, their face to the
foe. The volatile mob, noting the retreat, turned from combatant
into spectator. Let the soldiers fight; it was their duty, not
theirs; and, as the struggle continued, from roof and window they
eyed it with that artistic delight which the arena had developed,
applauding the clever thrusts, abusing the vanquished, robbing the
dead, and therewith pillaging the wineshops, crowding the
lupanars. During the orgy, Vitellius was stabbed. The Flavians had
won the day, the empire was Vespasian's.
The use he made of it was very modest. In spite of his manifest
divinity he had nothing in common with the Caesars that had gone
before; he had no dreams of the impossible, no desire to frighten
Jupiter or seduce the moon. He was a plain man, tall and ruddy,
very coarse in speech and thought, open-armed and close-fisted,
slapping senators on the back and keeping a sharp eye on the
coppers; taxing the latrinae, and declaring that money had no
smell; yet still, in comparison with Claud and Nero, almost the
ideal; absolutely uninteresting also, yet doing what good he
could; effacing at once the traces of the civil war, rebuilding
the Capitol, calming the people, protecting the provinces,
restoring to Rome the gardens of Nero, clipping the wings of the
Palace of Gold, throwing open again the Via Sacra, over which the
Palace had spread; draining the lake that had shimmered before it,
and erecting the Colosseum in its place.
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