Vespasianus

This name derives from the Ancient Greek “hespéra (ἑσπέρα) hésperos (ἕσπερος),” meaning “evening star, evening, western, (figuratively) western peoples.” Vespasian (Latin: Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus) was Roman Emperor from AD 69 to AD 79. Vespasian founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empire for twenty-seven years. Vespasian was from an equestrian family that rose into the senatorial rank under the Julio-Claudian emperors. In Greek mythology, Hesperus is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. He is the son of the dawn goddess Eos (Roman Aurora) and is the half-brother of her other son, Phosphorus (also called Eosphorus; the ‘morning star’).