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Titus Flavius Domitianus

Titus Flavius Domitianus lived from 24 October 51 to 18 September 96 and was commonly known as Domitian. Being the son of Vespasian, by his wife Domitilla, and brother of Titus, he became the Roman Emperor on 14 October, 81. Domitian was born in Rome while his father was still a politician and military commander. He received the education of a young man of the privileged senatorial class. He studied rhetoric and literature, publishing some of his writings on law and administration. In his biography Suetonius describes him as a learned and educated adolescent, with elegant conversation. Unlike his brother, Titus, who was much older, Domitian did not join his father's campaigns in the African provinces and Judea. During the Year of the Four Emperors ,69 A.D., Domitian assumed a cautious, discreet position, but moved immediately to the imperial palace once his father was proclaimed emperor. He was the representative of the Flavius family in the senate prior to Vespasian and Titus' arrival in Rome. With the rise to power of his father, Domitian grew bolder. In 70 he forced the divorce of Domitia Longina in order to marry her. Lucius Aelius Lamia, her husband, could not prevent the prince's will, and so Domitia became daughter in law of the emperor. Despite its initial recklessness, the alliance was very prestigious for both sides. Domitia Longina was the younger daughter of general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, one of the victims of Nero's terror, remembered as a worthy commander and a honored politician. They had a son in 71 and a daughter in 74, but both died young. The marriage was far from being traditional: Domitian was a notorious womaniser and his wife was not jealous. Some sources refer that she would join Domitian in his escapades with his mistresses. As a second son, Domitian was spared from responsibilities. He held several honorary consulships and several priesthoods but no office with imperium. During the reign of his brother Titus, his situation remained essentially the same, since nobody saw him as future emperor. But Domitian certainly had his ambitions. When Titus was dying, he managed to be hailed as his successor by securing the Praetorian Guard's support. As an administrator, Domitian soon proved to be a disaster. The economy first came to a halt and then went into recession, forcing him to heavily devalue the denarius. To further compensate for the economic situation, taxes were raised and discontent soon followed. Due to his love of the arts and to woo the population, Domitian invested large sums in the reconstruction and embellishment of the city, still suffering the effects of the great fire of Rome of 64 and the civil war of 69. Around fifty new buildings were erected and restored, including the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill and a palace in the Palatine Hill. In 85, Domitian nominated himself perpetual censor, the office which held the task of supervising Roman morals and conduct, a task he could hardly apply to himself. By 83, his own marriage was in rupture with continuous infidelities and scandals on both sides. In this year, Domitia Longina was caught with her lover, the actor Paris. The man was executed and the empress was exiled after a hasty divorce. In the next year he developed a passion for his niece Julia Flavia, daughter of Titus and, as in his first marriage, he kidnapped the girl by dismissing her husband. Julia Flavia died in 91 during an abortion, being deified afterwards. After this, Domitia Longina was recalled to the palace as Roman empress, despite the fact that Domitian never remarried her. Domitian's greatest passions were the arts and the games. He implemented the Capitoline Games in 86. Like the Olympic Games, they were to be held every four years and included athletic displays, chariot races, but also oratory, music and acting competitions. The Emperor himself supported the travels of competitors from the whole empire and attributed the prizes. He was also very fond of gladiator shows and added important innovations like female and dwarf gladiator fights. Domitian was not gifted as a military commander, due to his education in Rome, away from the legions. Probably because of this, the emperor limited Roman military enterprises during his reign. He claimed several Roman triumphs, namely over the Chatti and in Britain, but they were only propaganda manoeuvres, since these wars were still being fought. Nevertheless, several campaigns were fought during his reign, especially in the Danube frontier against Decebalus, king of Dacians. Domitian also founded Legio I Minervia in 82, to fight against Chatti. According to many historians, Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign. The Book of Revelation is thought by many scholars to have been written during Domitian's reign as a reaction to persecution. Other historians, however, have maintained that there was little or no persecution of Christians during Domitian's time. There is no historical consensus on the matter. The emperor is known, however, to have developed a paranoid fear of persecution that led him to kill or execute several members of the senatorial and equestrian orders. At least twenty political and ideological opponents were executed, including his cousin, the Consul Flavius Clemens. Domitian disliked aristocrats and had no fear of showing it, withdrawing every decision-making power from the Senate. He signed documents "God and Lord", and coins of the period represent him enthroned as "father of the gods". Domitian was murdered in September 96, in a plot organized by his enemies in the Senate, Stephanus ,the steward of the deceased Julia Flavia, members of the Praetorian Guard and empress Domitia Longina. The emperor knew that, according to an astrological prediction, he would die around noon. Therefore, he was always restless during this time of the day. In his last day, Domitian was feeling disturbed and asked a servant boy what time it was several times. The boy, included in the plot, lied, saying that it was much later. More at ease, the emperor went to his desk to sign some decrees, where he was stabbed eight times by Stephanus. Domitian was succeeded by Nerva by appointment of the senate. After his death the custom of damnatio memoriae was issued on Domitian, ordering the obliteration him from all public records. Domitian is the only known emperor to have officially received a damnatio memoriae, though others may have received de facto ones. Many of the images that survive of Domitian's successor Nerva were actually once Domitian but converted to Nerva after the damnatio was issued. Nearly all surviving images of Domitian were found in the provinces.www.roman-empire.net Bibliography

www.brittanica.com www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/domitian/domitian_bio.htm www.roman-emperors.org/domitian.htm

Domitian statue                             Temple of Domitian ￼￼