Assassination
Domitian was murdered as the result of a palace
conspiracy on September 18, 96. Ironically, the conspirators were not noble but came from
the very heart of his household. The plot had been carefully planed leaving no doubt that
the time and place were chosen with deliberation. Suetonius (Dom. 17) gives the
most detailed account of Domitian's assassination, received in part from a boy present
during the murder who was attending to the Lares shrine. He names Parthenius (a highly
influential chamberlain who was allowed to carry a sword) as the organizer of the plot
(16.2) and Stephanus, the steward of his niece Domitilla. Other conspirators were
Clodianus, Satur (a head chamberlain and Parthenius's freedman), Maximus and an unnamed
gladiator. Dio names Stephanus and Parthenius as conspirators and includes Segeras and
Entellus, not mentioned by Suetonius (Dio 67.15-16). He adds that the plot had the
support of the praetorian prefects Petronius Secundus and Norbanus and names Domitia as
knowing about the conspiracy. It would have been impossible for the conspiracy to succeed
if at least one of the prefects had not been involved.
The murder took place around midday. Domitian had foreknowledge of the
hour of his death, fearing the fifth hour.[1] When Domitian asked the time of day from an
unnamed servant he was given the wrong time (Dom. 16.1). Put off-guard, Domitian
was unsuspecting when Stephanus asked urgently to see the emperor with information
regarding a conspiracy. While the emperor read a document Stephanus gave him, the steward
stabbed him in the groin with a dagger concealed on his left arm by bandages from a mock
injury. Domitian fought back, disarming Stephanus and injuring his assailant. Domitian
called to the boy to give him a dagger kept hidden under a pillow but the weapon had had
its blade removed. The remaining conspirators were close by and rushed the emperor when
they realized Stephanus was in trouble, stabbing Domitian seven more times.
The probable pretext for the conspiracy was the execution of Flavius
Clemens and Domitian's secretary Epaphroditus, who had been Nero's secretary and helped
him to commit suicide (Nero 49). Domitian's increasingly suspicious nature had
alarmed his courtiers to protect themselves. On the part of Stephanus, revenge for the
execution of Clemens and exile of Domitilla may have been a factor. Dio gives the reason
for the assassination that Domitian had "conceived a desire" to kill the
conspirators and had written their names on a tablet of linden-wood, which was discovered
and given to Domitia (Dio 67.15.3). An improbable scenario. Later, Dio more
pragmatically says the executions of Flavius Clemens and Epaphroditus (67.14.4)
precipitated the assassination. Suetonius gives as reasons that Domitian had executed
senators (Dom. 10-11), he was too rigorous in the enforcement of his financial
policy (Dom. 12) and his increasing arrogance (Dom. 13.) Although Domitia is
not mention by Suetonius, she may have realized that political reality dictated the death
of her husband. Whatever her role, 25 years later she continued to refer to herself as
"Domitian's wife" when she could have avoided it. (Corpus Inscriptionum
Latinarum 15.548a-9d). Procopius also recorded an act of her devotion when Domitia
ordered a statue of her husband to be made (Secret History 8.12-22).
Nerva, also, is not mentioned by Suetonius but Dio says he was fully
informed. Philostratus suggests that Nerva conspired with Apollonius of Tyana against
Domitian (Vita Apol. 7.8, 20, 32) but this is certainly a fabrication. He was not
the nominee of the Senate being chosen by the praetorian prefect after discussing the
subject with a number of men who did not accept, as they thought their loyalty was being
tested (Dio 67.15.5). Why did Nerva accept without question? It is apparent that he
knew in advance of the assassination.
Nerva had connections to the principate on both sides of his family. His
uncle, also named M. Coccieus Nerva, had accompanied Tiberius into exile. He had a slender
relationship to the Julio-Claudians through his mother, Sergia Plautilla. Nerva was a
favorite of Nerva for his elegies and was one of four men the emperor rewarded for
services revealing Piso's conspiracy (Annals 15.72.1-5). He received the same
honors as Tigellinus, the praetorian prefect and enjoyed the exceptional honor of having
his portrait in the palace. For unspecified services for Vespasian during the Civil War
Nerva was granted the rare privilege of an ordinary consulship with the emperor in 71, the
only time Vespasian did not hold the consulship with Titus. Then, for loyal services
during the revolt of Saturninus in 89, Nerva held an ordinary consulship with Domitian in
90. His career was otherwise undistinguished; he had not been an visible figure but lived
a quiet life content to have influence at court, behind the scenes. Nerva had made himself
indispensable because of a network of spies and informers that kept him abreast of events.
Uncharacteristically, Nerva chose to back himself rather than remain loyal
to Domitian. Stories that his life was in danger and that he suffered exile are
fabrications created to disassociate himself with his predecessor (Vita Apol. 7.8; De
Caes. 12; Dio 67.15.5-6.) However, Nerva was a committed Flavian and as emperor
maintained good relations with the pro-Domitian faction in the Senate, and was notorious
for it (Letters 4.22). For the conspirators Nerva was a perfect choice as emperor
postponing a possible power struggle between generals, such as Trajan (who was governor of
Upper Germany), and he was old, sick and childless.[2]
Conclusion
In his study of Tiberius, Domitian probably came across the comment that
being in control of the state was like holding a wolf by the ears. The message was clear:
relaxation of power brings disaster. Domitian’s display of magnificence was little
different from Augustus promoting his regime, although the princeps was more flexible in
dealing with the Senate. Vespasian, too, had worked with the Senate but dominated the
senators by keeping ordinary consulships in his family to firmly establish a dynasty.
Domitian took the office of emperor to its logical progression: autocracy. As the third
member of his dynasty, power had been established among the Flavians, so pleasing the
Senate was not a concern. Although the powers of the Senate were minimal they guarded
their privileges and were alarmed at being reduced to merely assenting to Domitian's
policy, and threatened by the admitting of new members who owed allegiance only to the
emperor. In spite of this, Domitian granted honors to even his most implacable enemies. If
Domitian was heavy-handed when wielding power he also possessed a sense of duty and skill
at governing that cannot be underestimated.
Domitian is described as tall and reasonably handsome with a tendency to
blush (Dom. 18). Like his father he became bald as he aged and wrote a pamphlet
titled The Care of the Hair, in which he quoted a line from the Iliad on the
short-lived quality of beauty. His choice of words indicates that Domitian was a realist.
Martial made reference to Domitian’s baldness in a poem (5.49) and suffered no bad
effects from the comment, so the emperor can be said to have had a tolerant disposition.
Rather than being sexually promiscuous, he seems to have been something of a prude.
Domitian refused to kiss the hand of Caenis, his father’s mistress, disapproving of
her relationship with his father. His enforcement of morality laws followed the example of
Augustus in upholding traditional virtues. The message on the extant portions of the
frieze of the Temple of Minerva in Domitian’s forum is clear that duty, the
assumption of one’s proper place in society and obedience were the virtues the
emperor wished to instill.
Domitian spent about three years on campaign, at the time a substantial
period spent outside Rome.[3] He has been criticized for needless military exploits and
incompetence in the loss of legions and the treaty with Decebalus. Instead,
Domitian’s military policy reflects his careful management of the empire. The
situation on the Danube became critical with Roman troops faced with fighting on more than
one front. Had there been more coordination on the part of the Germanic tribes and the
Dacian’s the frontier could have been breached. By paying off the Dacians and
attempting to set one tribe against the other, Domitian sought to save the situation as
best he could. Fighting one enemy at a time was better than being overwhelmed!
The military situation on the Danube made it necessary to remove forces
from Scotland, giving up some conquered territory. This was a sound decision that future
emperors followed in turn. There was little in Britain the made it cost-effective to
conquer. Domitian was heaped with criticism for his decision but he must be credited with
the good sense to realize his military priority was elsewhere. Agricola had the glory of
conquering Britain but not the good sense to realize it was not worth it.
A sense of his sophistication is found in his devotion to the arts, by
surrounding himself with poets, creating beautiful buildings with his architect, Rabirius,
and his devotion to Greek culture.
Domitian was a solitary individual in contrast to his gregarious father
and brother. To his contemporaries, this need to disappear from the public eye fostered
opinions of a cold-blooded autocrat who spent his time torturing flies. But the need for
solitude is different from adopting the life of a recluse. Domitian separated his private
life from his public duties, as evidenced by the construction of a palace with clearly
defined areas for both aspects of his life. His relationship with his family is impossible
to gauge. His greatest affection seems to have been for only Domitia, particularly since
the empress remained faithful to the memory of her husband. Julia Titi remained resident
in the imperial palace during her widowhood, indicating she was not on bad terms with her
uncle. While a love affair with Julia is possible there is no evidence to suggest that it
ever happened. Toward Vespasian and Titus, Domitian performed his duty; seeing to the
deification of his brother, completing family building projects and establishing a cult
temple. There is no evidence either way to suggest good or bad feelings among them. It is
unknown what Domitian may have felt for his sister, Domitilla, his mother and his uncle,
T. Flavius Sabinus.
Domitian’s obsessive devotion to Minerva has been considered a
substitute for an absent mother, however, the goddess suited the aims of Domitian
particularly well. The Sabine country, the ancestral home of the Flavians, was the place
of origin for Minerva’s cult and the palladium, one of the goddess’
emblems, was associated as the symbolic transmission of power during the empire. The
goddess had a martial aspect that suited Domitian’s military actions and she
represented the duties of domestic life (through spinning and weaving) and civic duty to
the state.
Domitian was an authoritarian figure for whom people were a means to an
end. The elaborate facade of grandeur that he built for the office of emperor has been
impossible to breach to find the man behind the mask. His morality was strict and
punitive, as was his inflexible application of the rule of law. A quote of Domitian that
nobody believes in conspiracies until the emperor is dead reveals the paranoia that
motivated him, particularly following the rebellion of Saturninus. Greater security,
however, was his ultimate undoing. It is ironic that Domitian’s courtiers were those
who murdered him, fearful of the unpredictable nature of their master, while the Senate
remained impotent to take action.
After Domitian’s death, aristocratic members of the Senate rejoiced.
They saw to it that a damnatio memoria that was passed but this measure appears to
have had mixed results. Only 37% of Domitian’s extant inscriptions throughout the
empire were re-cut.[4] The reign of Nerva, in contrast, was greeted as a restoration of
liberty. But his fellow-consul, Fronto, had the last word on his colleague remarking,
"that it was bad to have an emperor under whom nobody was permitted to do anything,
but worse to have one under whom everybody was permitted to do everything." (Dio
68.1.3).