Arvee and welcome to Emperor of Rome, a podcast about the rulers of the ancient Roman Empire.

I'm your host Matt Smith and with me as always is Dr.

Rianna Evans, a lecturer in ancient Mediterranean studies at Latrobe University.

This is episode X, X, X, V, I, I, I, I, I, GALBA.

The Giulio-Claudean dynasty has fallen and into the power vacuum steps four contenders

to be the next emperor. They will all have their turn at power in the

year 69 CE and the first is an aging governor from Spain named Galba. He's

Rianna Evans. Galba is from a very aristocratic family.

He's a Roman who is born about 3B.

And therefore, by the time we get to the death of Nero in 68,

he's already quite an old man. But in between he has had the

regular career of a Roman aristocrat, particularly the military career. His full name

Servius Sulpicius Galba and the Galba's are a pretty renowned family.

They go back a long way and Galba's father was a console, although their fortunes have kind of gone up and down.

They haven't always risen to the highest office.

He is born quite near Rome, so he's kind of at the center of power right from the beginning.

And he sort of crops up all the way along the Julia Claudians that we've talked about in the past.

So being born in 3

b. C. E he's born sort of halfway through Augustus's reign.

You might think, well, he's out of the running to have any kind of influence

under Augustus, which is true. But we're told that Livia was quite

close to him. Remember, Livia died in 29 CE, so Galba would have been in his 20s.

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