Rome: The Rise And Fall Of Vespasian

Actually, this miraculous act was later used by the emperors themselves. By the time of Vespasian, a story reached us about the miraculous power of the Emperor that was given to him by the aid of Serapis. we were informed that when the emperor was in Alexandria previous to his accession, two men, one blind, the other with a maimed hand, came to him seeking a cure on the directive of Sarapis. After some delay for consultation with physicians as to whether these infirmities could be overcome, Vespasian affected the desired cures. This was mentioned in the Historiae of Tacitus:

Actually, this miraculous power had a political goal. It was well known that the year preceded the reign of Vespasian was known as “the year of the four Emperors”,
According to the Egyptians, the Emperor, unlike the Ptolemies, was not a god. Therefore, no private imperial cult was practiced by the populace outside the official imperial centers and there were no native priests for this cult, the priest of this cult were Romans. However, in certain events the imperial cult was used in achieving political goals. This can be noticed during the reign of Caligula, who was known for his fondness of Egypt and the Egyptian religion. This was probably due to his father Germanicus, who showed an interest in this cult, and the atmosphere in which he was raised at his Grandmother Antonia's house along with the Egyptian princes. We know from Philo that he wished to be called Soter, Eurgetes, and Epiphanus the epithets of the Ptolemies. Philo and Suetonius mentioned that Caligula wished to make Alexandria his capital city, but he died before executing this project. He was also the one that introduced the idea that the Roman ruler was already divine in his lifetime. He also chose to be married to his sister Drusilla like the Ptolemies. In his palace the majority of the servants had an Egyptian origin. He was nearly the only Emperor that made a statue of his own depicting as a Pharaoh. In order to create a close bond with the Alexandrians, he issued a decree ordering the Jews to venerate his statue. When the Jews refused to obey this decree, the persecution broke out in 38 AD. The Alexandrians demanded that statues of the emperor be erected in the synagogues. Flaccus, the Roman governor, from his knowledge of the emperor's peculiarities, did not dare to oppose them; he acceded to all the demands. In quick succession, Flaccus ordered the placing of statues in the synagogues; and finally permitted a general persecution of them. Some of the synagogues were destroyed, and some desecrated with an image of