n the following account by Davis:"Sometimes the most major events take place so quietly. Caenis was to live with Vespasian: it was as simple as that." (Davis p.263)The following primary source backs this up:"(Vespasian) took up again with Caenis, his former mistress and one of Antonia's freedwomen and secretaries, who remained his wife in all but name even when he became Emperor".The question which needs to be asked is whether Davis has felt sympathetic towards Caenis as a woman who waited around for a man her whole life and simply created the story around her. She is glorified into someone who was "the woman who exerted the greatest influence on the future Emperor." (www.photo.stockton.edu/roman/all-records.cfm) when she is not present in most primary sources, and only given a brief notice in a secondary source, as follows:"Caenis, who had been a freedwoman of Antonia, she too died before Vespasian did." (www.britannica.com) "The Course of Honour" finishes with a happy ending, where Caenis' own slave proclaims Vespasian as: "Titus Flavius Vespasianus, Conqueror of Britan and Hero of Judaea; Vespasianus Caesar Augustus - Consul, Chief Priest, father of his country and Emperor of Rome!" (Davis p.331) Vespasian was a much-loved leader during his reign, although this isn't too obvious in the book because the goings-on of Rome are seen through Caenis' own eyes which are more focused on Vespasians personal characteristics rather than what he had achieved politically. However, a satisfying quote by Josephus which sums up the Romans adoration of Vespasian follows:"Neither Senate nor people will put up with a filthy lout like Vitellius instead of a clean-living man like Vespasian, or turn down a kindly leader in favour of a despotic brute, or choose a childless man as their chief rather than a father, for the best guarantee of peace is the outstanding excellence of princes." (Josephus, p.281)Throughout her book "The Course of Honour", Lindsey D...
