DOMITIAN: PRINCEPS AD 81-96 with Minerva
DOMITIAN S ADMINISTRATION and HIS COURT 1. We noted before that, with the sudden death of Titus in AD 81, the imperial office passed smoothly to his brother DOMITIAN. 2. Described as Rome s foremost micromanager, Domitian insisted on efficiency (especially in the economy) and expected all appointees to be vigilant. 3. The economy offered a way to release his autocratic tendencies and he appears to have left the treasury with a healthy surplus.
4. Although he had to abandon his reform in AD 85, he was able to raise the silver content of the denarius by 12% (to the Augustan standard) for 4 years and even after AD 85 the currency was still at a higher standard than under his father. 5. The evidence seems to suggest that it was Domitian too who, out of concern about efficiency in the municipalities of Italy, introduced the office of curator - a man sent out by Rome to investigate and oversee the finances of citycouncils. All of these developments a very responsible (if at times authoritarian ) approach to economic considerations. Let us look at a few of Domitian s coins.
n AD 85: celebrating the MINT (MONETA)
DENARIUS of late AD 81 honouring MINERVA
Honouring Jupiter the Preserver IVPPITER CONSERVATOR
AD 82: legionary standards & a legionary eagle AD 85: Domitian with soldiers AD 85: celebrating victories in Germany
DOMITIAN S PERSONNEL His appointees at the highest level (including consuls) can be divided roughly into two groups, especially where senators were concerned: a) the grand set and b) the power set (at least according to the Australian scholar Brian W. Jones The Emperor Domitian [1992]).
THE GRAND SET 1. Senators who were either patricians or from families who had a long history of senatorial status and distinction i) moved rapidly under Domitian, after serving as praetors, to (usually) suffect [ replacement ] consulships. ii) They did so so quickly that they had no time to be legionary commanders or provincial governors (let alone governors of provinces with legionary troops); 2. a) This seems to be how Domitian tried to win the support of such men and their families: rather than ignoring them or pushing them aside, he awarded them honourable positions which they believed was their birth-right.
b) He even seems to have appointed members of the opposition - perhaps to compromise them. c) Whatever the case, DOMITIAN did not want them to gain military experience. Things were different with the POWER SET.
THE POWER SET The Power Set comprised senators and equestrians who were handpicked not so much for their ancestry or even their ability as for their loyalty: i) they governed imperial provinces (especially militarized ones) [This required 16 senators and 10 equestrians] ii) they commanded legions [This required about 26] iii) they served (if equestrians) in the Major Prefectures. There were not that many senators in total (perhaps 40 or so senior senators serving outside Rome in a military capacity from a Senate of about 600). c) Domitian also seems to have surrounded himself with a relatively small group of men whom he believed he could rely on in particular as very close advisors.
d) These were (as with other emperors) amici principis (formal friends of the emperor). e) Amongst these men in Domitian s case was his immediate successor, Nerva; and possibly Nerva s successor, Trajan Marcus Cocceius NERVA Marcus Ulpius Traianus (TRAJAN)
Domitian s Court, then, was clearly the centre of power not a new phenomenon but a part of the administration that was becoming more and more important. DOMITIAN S RELATIONS with THE SENATE 1. Relations with the Senate as a body were very bad for the whole of Domitian s reign. 2. a) While Vespasian and Titus, although autocrats, had tried to show great respect to the Senate at all times, Domitian made it clear from the start that he had no intention of trying to disguise the virtually absolute power he had been granted. b) He cared little for senatorial sensitivities.
3. a) Vespasian and Titus had held the office of censor together for 18 months. b) Domitian did not hesitate to hold the office of censor for life (censor perpetuus) from AD 85 4. He used the censorial powers to adlect new men to the Senate especially prominent men from the Greek-speaking provinces.
4. a) Relations with the bulk of the members of the Senate (essentially those who were not part of his administration [well over 500 of them]) were made even worse by Domitian s use of delatores (informers/spies) b) Paranoid about his personal safety, he saw senators as the most likely source of conspiracies against him and Suetonius (Life of Domitian 21) attributes to him a saying that the lot of emperors was a most unhappy one: no one believed them when they said that people were conspiring against them unless the conspirators succeeded.
5. His reign certainly saw its share of executions: a) Cassius Dio (writing after AD 200) and Orosius (writing in the 400s) talk about the frequent execution of senators. But we know the names of only 11 or so men of prominence (for example those who had held the consulship) who were executed. b) We must keep things in perspective: Domitian was the last member of a dynasty and senators applied damnatio memoriae (condemnation of all mention of him) at his death (as well as writing the accounts of his reign!) BUT [by way of contrast]
6. a) CLAUDIUS (emperor AD 41 54) is said to have executed 35 senators and well over 200 equestrians. AND the Senate deified him! b) NERO had cause to try to protect Claudius reputation: his own legitimacy rested in large part on the acts of his predecessor who had adopted him. 7. NERVA and TRAJAN, who succeeded Domitian and who had done well embarrassingly well - under him, will have preferred to forget any association that they had had with him!
The Revolt of Saturninus and the Reign of Terror 1. Supposedly the Revolt of Saturninus (an attempted coup d état) in January AD 89 marked a watershed in Domitian s time as head of state and contributed greatly to the alleged Reign of Terror which followed. 2. It occurred more or less half way through Domitian s 15 year reign - [conveniently so for those trying to stress a contrast ]. We need to touch on it and on the Reign of Terror etween AD 89 and 96 which supposedly followed it.
The Rebellion of Saturninus itself What happened? Was what happened serious? 1. In January AD 89 Lucius Antonius Saturninus, overall commander on the Upper Rhine, seized the savings of the two legions (legion XIV Gemina and legion XXI Rapax) in the double camp at Mainz (Moguntiacum) and had himself proclaimed imperator. 2. There is no evidence the other two legions under his command (legion VIII Augusta at Strasbourg and legion XI Claudia at Windisch) supported him.
MAINZ STRASBOURG WINDISCH
3. The German tribe opposite Mainz, the CHATTI, had agreed to support the uprising, but couldn t: the River Rhine thawed at the wrong time. 4. In any case the overall commander on the Lower Rhine, Aulus Buccius Lappius Maximus, with four legions under him (legions X Gemina at Nijmegen, XXII Primigenia at Xanten, VI Victrix at Neuss, I Minervia at Bonn), quickly put the rebellion down (with the help of Norbanus, the equestrian governor of Raetia [modern Swizerland]) - though not before a) Marcus Ulpius Traianus had set out from Spain with Spain s only legion (VII Gemina) and b) Domitian himself had set out from Rome with a contingent of the Praetorian Guard.
LOWER GERMANY THE CENTRE OF THE REBELLION RAETIA
5. It was a good moment to attempt a rebellion: the attention of Domitian and his advisors had been distracted elsewhere: a) the Dacians were causing problems on the Danube; b) there were problems in the east after a false Nero had appeared. 6. So.. What was the rebellion about? The answer isn t clear. i) Saturninus was obviously disaffected: it is not clear why. ii) It is possible that some legionary commanders on the Rhine were unhappy about Domitianic policy.
iii) Domitian had called a halt to expansion in Scotland and had recalled the successful governor of Britain, Julius Agricola; iv) The focus of attention was moving from the Rhine to the Danube. v) The Rhine commanders may have been concerned that there would be fewer prospects now for them now to advance in their careers and may have expressed their dissatisfaction. vi) a) The ordinary legionary soldiers may not have been too unhappy with Domitian: they had just been granted a 33% increase in their pay (for the first time since Augustus).
b) But they may have been unhappy all the same since they appear to have been spending most of their time making tiles and bricks. any mysteries then. hree other questions arise too: a) whether Saturninus had the support of any senators in Rome. b) whether Saturninus was tricked, then betrayed. c) how Domitian was affected by the rebellion.. Senators There is no firm evidence that any senators back in Rome were involved but a suspicious Domitian may have thought some were.
2. Betrayal a) Cassius Dio (Roman History 67. 11) makes a puzzling statement: he praises Lappius Maximus (who put the rebellion down) for destroying Saturninus papers to prevent their being used to blackmail anyone. b) Had he and Norbanus (both rewarded after the event by Domitian) promised support to Saturninus, only to stab him in the back to ingratiate themselves with Domitian? [a suggestion put forward by C.L. Murison]
3. Domitian s Reaction Reacting to the rebellion and its suppression, Domitian a) moved the two rebel legions from Moguntiacum (Mainz) to the Danube; b) banned double legionary camps in future; c) limited the amount of savings a soldier could deposit at camp HQ (since these are what Saturninus had seized); and d) supposedly) launched a Reign of Terror (especially against senators) for the next six years.
BUT there is no evidence that Domitian was any MORE hostile to the Senate and to senators after AD 89 than he had been before AD 89. 1. The list of consuls suggests Domitian now made an extra effort to appease senators - freeing up more of the coveted positions by not holding them himself. a) Before 90, of the 16 ordinary consulships, Domitian himself held 8, a family member held 1. b) From AD 90 to AD 96, of the 14 ordinary consulships, Domitian himself held 3, a family member held 1.
2. a) Of the 11 or 12 senators (who had been consuls) who were executed, we do not always know the year when they were executed (that is, they did not necessarily fall foul of Domitian during the Reign of Terror ); b) i) some of them may well have been involved in treason (maiestas); ii) others, where trivial reasons for execution are given in the sources, may have been accused of treason too but the hostile accounts listed only the trivial accusations - to make Domitian appear even more of a monster and to justify his assassination.
Just two examples of executions on trivial grounds would be: a) Sallustius Lucullus (governor of Britain) who named a new type of lance Lucullan (after himself); b) Mettius Pompusianus who i) had a horoscope saying he would be emperor, ii) owned a map of the world, iii) carried around speeches which Livy attributed to kings and generals, and iv) called two of his slaves Mago and Hannibal after Carthaginian military commanders. Examples of Domitian eliminated men he suspected unfairly?
3. And yet Suetonius, the earliest source for most of these executions on trivial charges, tells us (Life of Domitian 8.1) that Domitian administered justice carefully and diligently ( diligenter et industrie ). 4. Perhaps Domitian did feel a little more hostile towards the Senate in the 90 s but a specific reign Reign of Terror after Saturninus rebellion in AD 89 seems to be largely a myth: he never had good feelings about the Senate. 5. a) In September AD 96, of course, he became the victim of a palace plot and was assassinated. b) Whether any senators were involved in his death remains a matter of great controversy. Before looking at his death, we should look at his family life.
DOMITIAN S FAMILY Domitia Longina Domitian
Domitian with his wife DOMITIA LONGINA (daughter of Nero s great general Domitius Corbulo At some point in his marriage, Domitian is said to have divorced his prestigious wife because she had developed a passion for an actor, but he quickly remarried her!
DOMITIA LONGINA ca AD 53 ca AD 130
Domitian and Domitia had a baby son in AD 73 who died while very young. He deified after his father Became emperor in AD 81 a) The only scandal within the family arose from Domitian s supposed relations with and seduction of his niece, Julia. b) But the evidence is almost non-existent and the story is more likely attributable to gossip and later hostile sources.
1. With Domitian s murder another dynasty came to an end and a successor to him was quickly put in place (without any hint in AD 96, unlike AD 69) of any military conflict being required to fill a power vacuum. 2. That successor was MARCUS COCCEIUS NERVA. 3. At 66 he was considered elderly; he was not in good health; he had had no military experience of any sort. 4. Modern scholarship asks: a) Why Nerva? b) How long was he expected to last?