Vespasian (Rome)

Nero dispatches Vespasian to Judea in 67 with three legions to crush the revolt, choosing him precisely because his undistinguished origins make him unlikely to become a political threat. He methodically reduces Galilee first, capturing Yodfat after a long siege, where the commander Yosef ben Matityahu surrenders and predicts that Vespasian will become emperor — a prophecy that saves his life and turns him into Flavius Josephus, the historian on whom nearly all knowledge of the war depends. When Nero's death triggers the Year of the Four Emperors, Vespasian leaves the Judean campaign to his son Titus, marches on Rome, and founds the Flavian dynasty on the prophecy's fulfillment. He also grants Yochanan ben Zakkai permission to establish the academy at Yavne, a decision that inadvertently preserves rabbinic Judaism after the Temple falls.