Vespasian slowly builds his alliance across the eastern part of the empire, being hailed as Lord Caesar, Augustus, the saviour and benefactor of Rome. His reasons for challenging Vitellius aren’t entirely clear but we suspect it has a lot to do with the ambition of his two sons, Titus and Domitian.

If you're seeing this message, it means you aren't logged in as a subscriber. If want to listen to the premium episodes of the series - hundreds of episodes on the lives of Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and the Year of the Four Emperors - you’ll need to become one of our subscribers. REGISTER NOW to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's (thank you, Jesus, for that quote).