Introduction

In their contributions, the scholars take different methodological approaches to varying types of evidence to show that the Flavian emperors did not categorically or uniformly oppose Nero. From Vespasian’s claim to power onwards, aspects of Nero’s legacy were integrated into the Flavians’ policies, building projects, and imperial representations. Through discussions of visual (self-)representations in material culture, literary analyses, and considerations of architectural remains, the contributions to this volume demonstrate how distinctions between Nero’s Rome and that of the Flavian emperors were regularly deconstructed and reconstructed, thereby characterizing and (de)legitimizing the individual Flavian emperors and their abilities to rule, and articulating their relation to imperial predecessors. Overall, by highlighting continuities between the Neronian and Flavian eras and by exploring imperial individuality within the Flavian dynasty, we hope that this volume provides a stimulus to our understanding of the evolution of the principate, especially regarding issues of dynasty and succession in the first century CE. At the same time, the papers in this volume highlight the complex nature of many of our different types of evidence for Flavian Rome, offering ref lections on the difficulties involved in negotiating these complexities in our acts of interpretation and reminding us of the risks of over-ideologization.