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Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome.

Episode 78 Imperial Stopgap

The assassination of Demission threatened to bring the Flavian dynasty full circle.

Political chaos and its bosom buddies, violence, destruction, and death had brought the family to power 25 years before,

and now, with no air to speak of, the sudden murder of the emperor stood ready to open the door to another round of bitter civil war.

But no one had forgotten the horrors of 68 and 69 AD, least of all the Senate, and the elites in Rome moved quickly to find someone, anyone, to rally behind, before the provincial general started dreaming imperial dreams.

But finding the perfect candidate would not be easy. Preferably, he would be an ally of the Flavians, so it could be plausibly argued that the new emperor did not necessarily represent a break with the previous dynasty.

He should also be an older man, so that if, in their haste to find a successor, they picked a bad one, at least they would not have to live with their mistake for long.

And if they could scrounge up a childless old man, that would be best of all.

Everyone agreed that finding an emperor now, now, now, was the most important thing, and that unanimity was needed to make the choice stick.

But unanimity now could be achieved best if every senator could imagine that his own preferred candidate would eventually be adopted by whatever old childless man they brought in now.

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