Domitian - Titus Flavius Domitianus. Son of Vespasian and Domitilla the Elder; Brother of Titus and Domitilla the Younger; Husband of Domitia. They have two children - daughter and son whose names are unknown; Uncle of Julia Titi; Adoptive father and great-uncle of Vespasian Junior. Caesar together with Titus under Vespasian AD 69 - 71 Caesar under Vespasian and Titus as Imperator AD 71 - 79 Caesar under Titus AD 79 - 81

Mints: Rome, Lugdunum, Ephesus.

Biography: Son of Vespasian's and brother of Titus, Domitian was the first Roman emperor to have a Senatorial edict issued after his death that ordered the striking of his name from all monuments and inscriptions tat bore it while he was alive. This dubious fame of damnatio memoriae he fully earned. His first years were occupied with the ambition to match his father and brother on the military field, and kept him busy with campaigns on the lower Rhine and in Dacia. Then a revolt in Germany forced him to rush to suppress it in 89, just as he celebrated his triumph over the Dacians. All thus caused him to spent much of his time with his soldiers, who generally liked him, and to reform the army's appointment system. He had a lucid mind and in spite of his other repulsive qualities, was a very capable administrator. He also saw himself as upholder of traditional Roman justice, which led to the execution of several of the Vestal Virgins in 83, and then in 90 their mistress, Cornelia, in the brutal manner prescribed by ancient law, by immuring her alive. Proud with his autocracy, he built on a large scale, both public buildings, such as the temple of Jupiter Maximus on the Capitol, and private residences for himself on the Palatine Hill. In his later years he envisioned himself as an absolute ruler and managed to alienate the entire ruling class with repressions and frequent executions for real and alleged conspiracies. He grew cold and cruel, except toward his lovers, which might have been the reason why even his first love and wife of many years, Domitia Longina, joined the conspiracy which his two uneasy praetorian prefects, Petronius Secundus and Norbanus, hatched in 96 and executed with the help of an ex-slave whom Domitian fought desperately in a hand-to-hand combat, and managed to kill but fell mortally wounded himself.

List all Domitian coins in the Catalog.

Search Domitian coins in our Shopping Mall.

« back