Year of the Four Emperors

E67863

Roman historical period civil war succession crisis

The Year of the Four Emperors was a tumultuous period of civil war in 69 AD during which four different men successively claimed the Roman imperial throne before stability was restored under Vespasian.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Roman civil war of 69 AD	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Roman historical period ⓘ civil war ⓘ succession crisis ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	annus quattuor imperatorum ⓘ
cause	lack of clear imperial succession ⓘ suicide of Nero ⓘ
conflictType	Roman civil wars ⓘ surface form: Roman civil war
country	Roman Empire ⓘ
endTime	AD 69 ⓘ
firstEmperor	Galba ⓘ
followedBy	Flavian dynasty ⓘ reign of Vespasian ⓘ
follows	Julio-Claudian dynasty ⓘ reign of Nero ⓘ
fourthEmperor	Vespasian ⓘ
hasEmperor	Galba ⓘ Otho ⓘ Vespasian ⓘ Vitellius ⓘ
historicalSource	Cassius Dio’s Roman History ⓘ De vita Caesarum ⓘ surface form: Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars Annals by Tacitus ⓘ surface form: Tacitus’s Histories
involvedMilitaryUnit	Praetorian Guard ⓘ eastern legions ⓘ legions of Lower Germany ⓘ legions of Upper Germany ⓘ
languageOfName	Latin ⓘ
location	Italy ⓘ Rome ⓘ
mainBelligerent	supporters of Galba ⓘ supporters of Otho ⓘ supporters of Vespasian ⓘ supporters of Vitellius ⓘ
notableCommander	Antonius Primus ⓘ Vitellius ⓘ surface form: Aulus Vitellius Otho ⓘ surface form: Marcus Salvius Otho Mucianus ⓘ Vespasian ⓘ surface form: Titus Flavius Vespasianus
result	accession of Vespasian ⓘ end of the Julio-Claudian line ⓘ establishment of the Flavian dynasty ⓘ
secondEmperor	Otho ⓘ
significantEvent	Battle of Bedriacum ⓘ Battle of Bedriacum ⓘ surface form: First Battle of Bedriacum Battle of Bedriacum ⓘ surface form: Second Battle of Bedriacum capture of Rome by Flavian forces ⓘ siege and capture of Rome by Vitellius’s forces ⓘ
startTime	AD 69 ⓘ
thirdEmperor	Vitellius ⓘ
timePeriod	1st century AD ⓘ

Referenced by (14)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Vespasian → cameToPowerDuring → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Galba → conflict → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Galba → dynasty → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Praetorian Guard → engagedIn → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Julio-Claudian dynasty → followedBy → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Vitellius → militaryConflict → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

this entity surface form: Roman civil war of 69 AD

Galba → partOf → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Batavi tribe → participatedIn → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

subject surface form: Batavi

Suetonius → periodDescribed → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Pisonian conspiracy → relatedEvent → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Flavian dynasty → significantEvent → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus → succeededBy → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ

Tacitus → wroteAbout → Year of the Four Emperors ⓘ