Reply To: R Yohanan motivation

Additional food for thought: V was pronounced Emperor first by legions in Alexandria July 1, 69 [sivan 23, shabbat], then by legions in Judea July 3 and others after that. Looks like V was scheming for this proclamation for several months before that. And it also looks like V left for Egypt after the proclamation and there learned in December about current emperor Vitellius killed by generals who joined V. That would make July 2 or 3rd a day of the announcement arriving (from Egypt, not Rome, but from a Roman official).

The official who proclaimed V emperor in Alexandria was praefectus Aegypti was Tiberius Julius Alexander – who was Jewish and a relative of Philo… praefectus also sounds somewhat similar to feristaka that Gemora uses as a title of the messenger to Vespasian.

To deepen the story – according to Roman stories, apparently Romans picked up on the idea of savior coming from Judea and Vespasian applied that to himself and his vanity and aspirations were already known. Josephus (who was captured earlier than this meeting) claims in “Wars” that he also foretold Vespasian’s accession to emperor.