Early Career
Domitian
was born in Rome on 24 October A.D. 51, the youngest
son of Vespasian, Roman emperor (A.D. 69-79) and
Domitilla I, a treasury clerk's daughter.[[1]]
Despite a literary tradition that associated
Domitian with Flavian poverty, the family's status
remained high throughout his early years: Vespasian
was appointed to the prestigious proconsulship of
North Africa in A.D. 59, and seven years later was
granted a special command in the East by the emperor
Nero (A.D. 54-69) to settle a revolt in Judaea;
Titus, Domitian's older brother by at least ten
years and Vespasian's eventual successor as emperor,
had married well in the 60's and was chosen as a
legionary legate under Vespasian in the East.[[2]]
Unlike Titus, Domitian was not educated at the
emperor's court, yet he received sound training in
Rome in the same way as any member of the senatorial
elite of his day. The imperial biographer Suetonius
records that Domitian gave public recitals of his
works, conversed elegantly, and produced memorable
comments; as emperor, he would write and publish a
book on baldness.[[3]] Domitian's adolescence was
also marked by isolation. His mother had long been
dead, he was considerably younger than his brother,
and his father was away for much of his teenage
years, first in Africa and then in Judaea.[[4]] An
obvious outcome of all of this was his preference
for solitude, a trait that would contribute
significantly to his difficulties with various
constituents as emperor.[[5]]
Little is known about Domitian in the turbulent 18
months of the three emperors, but in the aftermath
of the downfall of Vitellius in A.D. 69 he presented
himself to the invading Flavian forces, was hailed
as Caesar, and moved into the imperial
residence.[[6]] Guided by Gaius Licinius Mucianus,
Vespasian's chief advisor, Domitian represented the
family in the senate and suggested that other issues
be postponed until Vespasian's arrival from the
East. Eager for military glory himself, Domitian
soon led reinforcements to Germany, where the
Batavian auxiliaries of the Rhine legions had
revolted. The uprising failed before he could
arrive, however, and the literary accounts of his
achievements are not to be trusted.[[7]] It was also
during this period, perhaps in late A.D. 70, that he
married Domitia Longina, daughter of the highly
regarded general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, whom Nero
had forced to commit suicide in A.D. 66. For all
appearances, it was an excellent choice. The name of
Corbulo was synonymous with military achievement,
and the general had left behind a substantial
clientela. Even so, the marriage was troubled. An
only child died young, and Domitia was probably
exiled by her husband c. A.D 83. Later, she would be
recalled to the palace, where she lived with
Domitian until his death.[[8]]
Domitian's role in the 70's was determined largely
by Vespasian's choice of Titus as his successor. To
him fell a series of ordinary consulships, the
tribunician power, the censorship, and the
praetorian prefecture. Domitian, on the other hand,
was named six times to the less prestigious suffect
consulship, retained the title of Caesar, and held
various priesthoods. He was given responsibility,
but no real power. Nothing changed when Titus
acceded to the throne, as Domitian received neither
tribunician power nor imperium of any kind. The
brothers were never to become close, and as Titus
lay dying in September 81, Domitian hastened to the
praetorian camp, where he was hailed as emperor. On
news of Titus' death, the senate chose first to
honor the dead emperor before elevating his brother,
an early indication perhaps of Domitian's future
troubles with the aristocracy. At any rate, after
waiting an extra day, Domitian received imperium,
the title Augustus, and tribunician power along with
the office of pontifex maximus and the title pater
patriae, father of his country.[[9]]
Administration
As emperor, Domitian was to become one of Rome's
foremost micromanagers, especially concerning the
economy. Shortly after taking office, he raised the
silver content of the denarius by about 12% (to the
earlier level of Augustus), only to devaluate it in
A.D. 85, when the imperial income must have proved
insufficient to meet military and public
expenses.[[10]] Confiscations and the rigorous
collection of taxes soon became necessary. On
another front, he sought to promote grain production
by calling for empire-wide limitations on
viticulture, but the edict met with immediate
opposition and was never implemented.[[11]] On the
other hand, there were notable successes. The great
fire of A.D. 64, the civil wars of A.D 68-69, and
another devastating fire in A.D. 80 had left Rome
badly in need of repair. Domitian responded by
erecting, restoring, or completing some 50
structures, including the restored Temple of Jupiter
on the Capitol and a magnificent palace on the
Palatine. The building program, ambitious and
spectacular, was matched by hardly any other
emperor.[[12]] He was also able to maintain the
debased currency standard of A.D. 85, which was
still higher than the Vespasianic one, until the end
of his reign. The economy, therefore, offered a
ready outlet for Domitian's autocratic tendencies.
There were failures, but he also left the treasury
with a surplus, perhaps the best proof of a
financially sound administration.
Domitian's reach extended well beyond the economy.
Late in A.D. 85 he made himself censor perpetuus,
censor for life, with a general supervision of
conduct and morals. The move was without precedent
and, although largely symbolic, it nevertheless
revealed Domitian's obsessive interest in all
aspects of Roman life. An ardent supporter of
traditional Roman religion, he also closely
identified himself with Minerva and Jupiter,
publicly linking the latter divinity to his regime
through the Ludi Capitolini, the Capitoline Games,
begun in A.D.86. Held every four years in the early
summer, the Games consisted of chariot races,
athletics and gymnastics, and music, oratory and
poetry. Contestants came from many nations, and no
expense was spared; the emperor himself awarded the
prizes.[[13]] In the same manner, Domitian offered
frequent and elaborate public shows, always with an
emphasis on the innovative: gladiator contests held
at night; female combatants and dwarves; food
showered down upon the public from ropes stretched
across the top of the Amphitheater.[[14]] Thus did
the emperor seek to underscore not only Rome's
importance but also his own and that of the Flavian
regime. Beyond Rome,
Domitian taxed provincials rigorously and was not
afraid to impose his will on officials of every
rank. Consistent with his concern for the details of
administration, he also made essential changes in
the organization of several provinces and
established the office of curator to investigate
financial mismanagement in the cities. Other
evidence points to a concern with civic improvements
of all kinds, from road building in Asia Minor,
Sardinia and near the Danube to building and
defensive improvements in North Africa.[[15]] Less
easy to gauge is Domitian's attitude toward
Christians and Jews, since reliable evidence for
their persecution is difficult to find. Christians
may have been among those banished or executed from
time to time during the 90's, but the testimony
falls short of confirming any organized program of
persecution under Domitian's reign. On the other
hand, there is clear evidence that Jews were made to
feel uneasy under Domitian, who scrupulously
collected the Jewish tax and harassed Jewish tax
dodgers during much of his rule. As with Christians,
such policies did not amount to persecution, but it
does help to explain the Jewish fears of expulsion
present in the sources.[[16]] On balance, the
tradition of Domitian as persecutor has been greatly
overstated, yet given his autocratic tendencies and
devotion to Roman pagan religion, it is easy to see
how such stories could have evolved and multiplied.
Military Affairs
While the military abilities of Vespasian and Titus
were genuine, those of Domitian were not. Partly as
an attempt to remedy this deficiency, Domitian
frequently became involved in his own military
exploits outside of Rome. He claimed a triumph in
A.D. 83 for subduing the Chatti in Gaul, but the
conquest was illusory. Final victory did not really
come until A.D. 89. In Britain, similar propaganda
masked the withdrawal of Roman forces from the
northern borders to positions farther south, a clear
sign of Domitian's rejection of expansionist warfare
in the province.[[17]] The greatest threat, however,
remained on the Danube. The emperor visited Moesia
in A.D. 85 after Oppius Sabinus, the Moesian
governor, had been killed by invading Dacians. In
the First Dacian War, initial success against the
aggressors by Domitian's praetorian prefect,
Cornelius Fuscus, allowed the emperor to celebrate
his second triumph at Rome in A.D. 86. Fuscus was
subsequently killed trying to avenge Sabinus' death,
however, and Domitian soon returned to the Danube,
where Roman forces, under the newly appointed
governor of Upper Moesia, Tettius Julianus, defeated
the Dacians at Tapae in the Second Dacian War, most
likely in A.D. 88. Matters remained far from
settled. In January, A.D. 89, the governor of Upper
Germany, L. Antonius Saturninus, mutinied at Mainz.
The revolt was promptly suppressed and the rebel
leaders brutally punished. Later that same year,
Domitian attacked the Suebian Marcomanni and Quadi
in the First Pannonian War, while offering the
Dacian king Decebalus a settlement to avoid
conflicts on two fronts. Compelled to return to the
Danube three years later, Domitian fought the
combined forces of the Suebi and the Sarmatians in
the Second Pannonian War. Few other details are
available beyond the fact that a Roman legion was
destroyed in a campaign that lasted about eight
months. By January, A.D. 93, Domitian was back in
Rome, not to accept a full triumph but the lesser
ovatio, a sign perhaps of unfinished business along
the Danube. In fact, during the final years of
Domitian's reign, the buildup of forces on the
middle Danube and the appointment and transfer of
key senior officials suggest that a third Pannonian
campaign directed against the Suebi and Sarmatians
may have been underway. Even so, there is no
testimony of actual conflicts and the evidence does
not extend beyond A.D. 97.[[18]]
The Emperor's Court and His Relationship with the
Aristocracy
Domitian's autocratic tendencies meant that the real
seat of power during his reign resided with his
court. The features typically associated with later
courts - a small band of favored courtiers, a keen
interest in the bizarre and the unusual (e.g.,
wrestlers, jesters, and dwarves), and a highly
mannered, if somewhat artificial atmosphere,
characterized Domitian's palace too, whether at Rome
or at his Alban villa, some 20 kilometers outside of
the capital.[[19]] Courtiers included family members
and freedmen, as well as friends (amici), a group of
politicians, generals, and praetorian prefects who
offered input on important matters.[[20]] Reliance
upon amici was not new, yet the arrangement
underscored Domitian's mistrust of the aristocracy,
most notably the senate, whose role suffered as
Domitian deliberately concentrated power in the
hands of few senators while expanding the duties of
the equestrian class. Senatorial grievances were not
without basis: at least 11 senators of consular rank
were executed and many others exiled, ample
attestation of the emperor's contempt for the body
and its membership.[[21]] The senate's enthusiastic
support for the damning of Domitian's memory,
therefore, came as no surprise. Nevertheless, the
situation must be placed in its proper context. By
comparison, the emperor Claudius(A.D. 41-54)
executed 35 senators and upwards of 300 equestrians,
yet he was still deified by the senate![[22]]
Domitian's mistake was that he made no attempt to
mask his feelings about the senate. Inclined neither
by nature nor by conviction to include the body in
his emperorship, he treated the group no differently
than any other. Revenge would come in the form of an
aristocratically based literary tradition that would
miss no opportunity to vilify thoroughly both
emperor and his rule.
Death and Assessment
On 18 September, A.D. 96, Domitian was assassinated
and was succeeded on the very same day by M.
Cocceius Nerva, a senator and one of his amici. The
sources are unanimous in stressing that this was a
palace plot, yet it is difficult to determine the
level of culpability among the various potential
conspirators.[[23]]
In many ways, Domitian is still a mystery - a lazy
and licentious ruler by some accounts, an ambitious
administrator and keeper of traditional Roman
religion by others.[[24]] As many of his economic,
provincial, and military policies reveal, he was
efficient and practical in much that he undertook,
yet he also did nothing to hide the harsher despotic
realities of his rule. This fact, combined with his
solitary personality and frequent absences from
Rome, guaranteed a harsh portrayal of his rule. The
ultimate truths of his reign remain difficult to
know. Bibliography
The bibliography on Domitian is too vast for
thorough treatment here. The works listed below are
either main accounts of the emperor or pertain
directly to issues raised in the entry above. For a
comprehensive listing of sources, see Jones, The
Emperor Domitian, 238-255.
- Anderson, J.C."Domitian's Building Program.
Forum Julium and Markets of Trajan." ArchN 10
(1981):41-48.
- Atti congresso internazionale di studi
Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.
- Breeze, D. J. The Northern Frontiers of
Roman Britain. London, 1982.
- Carradice, I.A. "Coinage and Finances in the
Reign of Domitian, AD 81-96", BAR International
Series, 178, Oxford: British Archaeological
Reports, 1983.
- Coleman, K. M. "The Emperor Domitian and
Literature." ANRW II.32.5: 3087-3115.
- Friedländer, L. Roman Life and Manners under
the Early Empire (trans. of Darstellungen aus
der Sittengeschichte Roms in der Zeit von August
bis zum Ausgang der Antonine, 7th ed. by L. A.
Magnus), London, 1968.
- Garnsey, P. and Saller, R. The Early
Principate: Augustus to Trajan,[Greece and Rome
New Surveys in the Classics No. 15], Oxford,
1982.
- Girard, J-L. "Domitien et Minerve: une
prédilection impériale." ANRW II.17.1: 233-245.
- Griffith, J. G. "Juvenal, Statius and the
Flavian Establishment." Greece and Rome 16
(1969): 134-150.
- Heintz, Florent. "A Domitianic Fleet
Diploma." ZPE 120 (1998): 250-252.
- Jones, B. W. The Emperor Domitian. London,
1992.
- Levi, M.A. "I Flavi." ANRW II.2: 177-207.
- Levick, B. M. "Domitian and the Provinces."
Latomus 41 (1982): 50-7.
- Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. Continuity and
Change in Roman Religion. Oxford, 1979.
- McGinn, Thomas A. J. "Feminae Probosae and
the Litter" CJ 93 (1998): 241-250.
- McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A. G. Select
Documents of the Principates of the Flavian
Emperors, Including the Years of Revolution, AD
68-96. Cambridge, 1966.
- Millar, F. The Emperor in the Roman Word.
Ithaca, 1992.
- Platner, M. and Ashby, T. A Topographical
Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford, 1929.
- Southern, Pat. Domitian: Tragic Tyrant.
Indiana University Press, 1997.
- Syme, R. Tacitus. Oxford, 1958.
- ________. "Domitian, the Last Years." Chiron
13 (1983): 121-146.
- ________. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford,
1986.
- Talbert, R. J. A. The Senate of Imperial
Rome. Princeton, 1984.
- Vinson, M. "Domitia Longina, Julia Titi, and
the Literary Tradition." Historia 38 (1989):
431-450.
- Wallace-Hadrill, A. Suetonius: The Scholar
and His Caesars. London, 1983.
- Waters, K. H. "The Character of Domitian."
Phoenix 18 (1964): 49-77.
Notes
[[1]] Ancient sources: Tac. Agr.; Cass. Dio 67;
Plin. Pan.; Statius, Silv.; McCrum, M. and Woodhead,
A.G. Select Documents of the Principates of the
Flavian Emperors (Cambridge, 1966).
[[2]] Compare, however, Suetonius' claim at Dom.1:
"He is said to have spent a poverty-stricken and
rather degraded youth: without even any silver on
the table." The passage is typical of the hostility
directed toward Domitian in the literary sources.
[[3]] Suet. Dom. 18, 20;
in praise of his literary talents, see also: Plin.
NH Praef 5; Statius, Achil. 1.15; Silius Italicus,
Pun.3.621. But there were just as many hostile
accounts of his literary prowess: Tac. Hist. 4.86;
Suet. Dom. 2.2. Since none of this evidence
survives, there is no way to judge the validity of
these conflicting assessments. That the controversy
even exists, however, helps to confirm that Domitian
was well educated.
[[4]] Domitian was likely left in the care of his
uncle, Sabinus II. See Tac. Hist. 3.75. Whether he
resided in Rome with his uncle during this period is
less clear. [[5]]
Domitian's preference for solitude finds
particularly cruel expression in Suetonius, who
portrays him as spending hours alone every day
catching flies and stabbing them with a needle-sharp
pen while emperor. See Dom.3. Dio (66.9.5) also
cites Domitian's predilection for his own company.
[[6]] Tac. Hist. 4.86;
4.2. [[7]] Poetic
embellishment of Domitian's military achievements:
Statius, Theb. 1.21; Martial, 9.101.13; 9.10.15-16;
Jos. BJ 7.85; Silius Italicus, Pun.3.608.
[[8]] Long after Domitian's memory had been damned,
Domitia still referred to herself as the emperor's
wife, perhaps an indication that she maintained at
least some degree of affection for her husband. The
evidence is preserved on brick stamps datable to
A.D. 123; CIL 15.548a-9d.
[[9]] On honoring of Titus: Suet. Tit. 11.
[[10]] On the raising of the currency standard:
Walker, D.R. , "The Metrology of the Roman Silver
Coinage. Part I; From Augustus to Domitian," BAR
Supplementary Series 5, Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports, 120, 115; Carradice, I.A.
"Coinage and Finances in the Reign of Domitian, AD
81-96," BAR International Series 178, Oxford:
British Archaeological Reports, 9-56.
[[11]] Suet. Dom. 7.2; 14.2.
[[12]] For an excellent discussion of Domitian's
building program, see Jones, B. W. The Emperor
Domitian London, 1992, 79-98.
[[13]] Capitoline Games: Censorinus, De Die Natali
18.5. In A.D. 93, Domitian also established the Ludi
Saeculares (Secular Games), a celebration under the
supervision of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis,
an aristocratic priestly college. See Suet. Dom.
4.3; Stat. Silv. 1.4.17; 4.1.37; Martial, 4.1.7;
10.63.3. [[14]] Night
time shows and unusual combatants: Dio 67.8.4;
Amphitheater celebration: Stat. Silv. 1.6.75-78.
[[15]] On improvements in the different provinces:
Garzetti, A. From Tiberius to the Antonines: A
History of the Roman Empire, 14-192 (London,
1974),278, 652; Leglay, M. "Les Flaviens et
l'Afrique," MEFR 80 (1968):221-22, 230-232.
[[16]] For a careful and balanced treatment of
difficult evidence: Jones, The Emperor Domitian,
114-119. [[17]] That
the Chatti were not subdued in A.D. 83 is revealed
by their role in Saturninus' revolt (Suet. Dom. 6.2)
and by their interference with the Cherusci (Dio
67.5.1). On the Roman withdrawal to the south in
Britain, see Hobley, A.S. "The Numismatic Evidence
for the Post-Agricolan Abandonment of the Roman
Frontier in Northern Scotland," Britannia 20 (1989):
69-74. Numismatic evidence (ibid., 73) indicates
that the arch at Richborough was erected at this
same time. It is difficult to resist the conclusion
that the monument served to mask the Roman retreat.
[[18]] The presence of five Roman legions in
Pannonia, for example, is unusual and points to
genuine Roman concern with the region. See Dusanic,
S. and Vasic, M. R. "An Upper Moesian Diploma of AD
96," Chiron 7 (1977): 291-304; Jones, The Emperor
Domitian, 153-155.
[[19]] Domitian did not hesitate to conduct a
variety of imperial duties outside of the domus
Flavia in Rome. For some of his activities at Alba:
Plin. Ep. 4.11.6; Suet. Dom 4.4; Dio 67.1.2; Juv.
4.99. Tacitus (Agr. 45) and Juvenal (4.145) refer to
it as the arx Albana, "the Alban fortress," implying
the residence of a despot.
[[20]] On the emperor's amici, Jones, The Emperor
Domitian, 50-71.
[[21]] On the execution of ex-consuls: Suet. Dom.10
and Jones, The Emperor Domitian, 182-188; exiles:
ibid., 188-192. [[22]]
Claudius and executions: Suet. Claud. 29.2; Apocol.
13. [[23]] For a
collection of the ancient sources stressing a palace
plot: Gephardt, R. F. C. "C. Suetonii Tranquilli
Vita Domitiani: Suetonius' Life of Domitian with
Notes and Parallel Passages," dissertation,
University of Pennsylvania, 1922, 89. For the most
complete account: Suet. Dom. 14.
[[24]] Domitian as lazy and lustful: Suet. Dom. 19;
22.
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