Domitian Flashcards
Funny
Accession
Suetonius: wept bitterly at his funeral … Domitia denied any happening
Dio: ‘As the emperor lay dying … his way to the praetorian camp … donative … hailed as emperor’ - was wholly focused on his goal of accession, characterised as scheming and vile in character and countenance
Character
Nearly Wholly Negative portrayal of C:
Suet: early part of his reign … shrank from any form of bloodshed … display of mercy did not last long
Dio: hardly relevant … historical record (his stabbing flies with stylus) … good indication of his character
Dio: refers to conflict with his father and brother ‘he hated them … not … heed to his every … unreasonable request’
Constructed statue the Equus Maximus, giant equestrian statue (Statius mentions this in his poem Silviae, and also appears on a bronze sestertius of Domitian - displayed and equestrian and also commemorated Danube and Chatti)
Tacitus: generally treats AUGUSTUS as negative, becoming an issue as this could be reflective of his attitude on Domitian (Parallels between their characters)
Administration
Suet: ‘Did away with donations of food … revived formal dinners’
Suet: ‘Made an edict … forbidding … vines … planted …’ (Thinking that food was being subsided for vines)
Suet: ‘made rapacious through greed’ then lists off the increase in pay for legionnaires from 900 to 1200 annual, frequent Congriaria and ‘costly games’
Devaluation of Coinage:
Suetonius: ‘made rapacious through greed … resorted to every form of Robbery’ aligns in 85 with his devaluation of the coinage around this period (Prev restored by him)
Suet: ‘among other tax … levied that of the Jews’
Pliny Younger: As pontifex Maximus, punished leader of the Vestal virgins for her breaking this: ‘make his reign more memorable through examples of this kind’
Juvenal: lampoons Domitian’s claim he restored Roman values as Censor
Military Challenges
Britain:
Dio: ‘war broke out once again in Britain’ (Frequent)
Gnaeus Julius Agricola: Tacitus: 84 ‘Britain was left to defend itself no sooner … conquest complete’
Tacitus: ‘as popular opinion demanded’ - taken after Mons Grappius either A. because of Domitian jealousy or B. To utilise in Judea
Dio: Agricola was murdered allegedly
Tacitus: rumours of this poisoning (good view based off of his being his son in law)
Chatti: Possibly to parallel Titus’ own campaign successes
Suet: ‘quite unjustified’ by military necessity
Dio: returned ‘without having set eyes on warfare’
Sestertius of Domitian, 85: commemorated the victory over the Chatti
Tacitus: ‘false triumph’ (Coincided with Agricola’s British triumph)
Saturnitus’ rebellion:
Of little actual consequence, very short accounts in both Suetonius’ accounts and Plutarch’s - Suet: ‘amazing stroke of luck … froze over’ were prevented from marching to Rome
Danube:
Dio: ‘the greatest war’ which the Roman’s waged in this period
Dio: ‘physically soft and, at heart, a coward’ - Barely saw any combat if any at all
Essentially, Dacian’s broke off a pact with the Roman’s, won a large series of engagements, and became a client kingdom rather than a province, receiving stipends from Rome, the Tacitus: ‘false triumph’ coming for both of these
Opposition
Tacitus: Paetus and Priscus both opposed Flavian rule, Domitian killed them, their works ‘savaged’
Dio: Domitian executed the stoics in 93
Propaganda
Aureus of 85: depicted Romulus and Remus with their mother on the reverse, essentially drawing parallels between him and the founder of Rome
Dupondius of 83: displayed title of Germanicus, to the masses
Literary Propaganda:
Sillius Italicus: ‘You, Germanicus, shall surpass your race’
Use of Games:
Suet: Capitoline games revised to take place every four years, with music and games taking place consistently
Secular Games: Supposed to only be every 110 years, Augustus broke this in 17, Claudius again in 47 AD, now broken in 88
Building programmes
Suet: ‘allowed no names to be inscribed except his own, not even the original builders’
Plutarch: ‘someone might say … not pious … just like the well known Midas’
Statius: Domus Flavia- utilises high degree of hyperbole to describe it’s look
Exxageration
Religion, Imp and foreign Cults
Religion:Much more in the case of Foreign cults
Suet: ‘morning (fled) disguised in the garb of a follower of Isis’ Egyptian god of motherhood and fertility
Favourited Foreign cults
Pliny Younger: foreign cult members entered a banquet with Domitian and displayed ‘obscene behaviour’
Aureus of Vespasian 84: Altars to Domitian in Rome
Dio: venerated Minerva above all else
Chronicle 356: constructed temple of Minerva in Chalcis
Martial: refers to Domitian as Jove (Jupiter) multiple times
Martial: ‘the hallowed home … gave the world … Crete … gave the sky’ (Temple made out of Domitian’s childhood home acc to Suet as well
Aureus of Domitilla: commemorated Vesp wife or sister
Aureus of Domitian 82/83: commemorated Domitian’s son
All Flavian Divi (Titus, Vesp, Julia Titi, Domitila and his son) aside from vesp deified by him
Death
Lampooned after his death
Characters such as Martial even rescinded their support, and there was a large degree of Damnatio Memoria
Military- Britain- (Ethan)
Dio- war broke out in britain again
Tacitus- took agricola- ‘britain left to defend itself no sooner…conquest completed’
‘Popular opinion demanded’ Took either for jelousy or for use in judea
Dio- murdered,
supported by tactius- talks of rumours- was his son in law
Military- plonker- (Ethan)
Dio- ‘soft, at heart a coward’
Chatti
Tacitus- ‘false triumph’
Seut- ‘quite unjustifeied’
Sesterces domition 85 ckmmemorates
Others:
Saturnitus- seutonius ‘amazing stroke kf luck’
Danube-
