Vespasian's eastern frontier : the reorganization of Galatia / Cappadocia

During the reign of Vespasian, AD 69-AD 79, the Roman province of Galatia / Cappadocia was reorganized to include two permanent legionary bases and given a consular governor where no legionary forces and a Roman eques had been before. This provided the Roman empire with a militarized frontier along the length of the upper Euphrates River from Syria to the Black Sea. Though this is a considerable change, the circumstances surrounding the addition of the legions and the situation facing Vespasian in the east demonstrate that this happened based more on ad hoc decisions, rather than as some deliberate and long term strategic policy.