The death of Domitian brought with it an initial period of danger when the new regime had to pass the test of loyalty. The praetorians were unhappy with the new emperor but with the involvement of their prefects in the conspiracy they had no leadership and so were powerless to act. The provincial armies may have hesitated in taking the oath of loyalty to Nerva. Coins with the reverse legend CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM (Harmony of the Armies) are not issued without necessity.

The urban population received the news of Domitian’s murder with indifference. The lesson of Galba, who had refused to grant a congiarium to the people, was not lost on the new emperor, and Nerva made the customary payment of money to the public. Part of this sum may have been realized from the melting of gold and silver statues of the dead emperor. He ordered the palace Domitian built on the Palatine to be called House of the People (Pliny, Panegyricus. 47.4). Nerva chose to live at the Horti Sallustiani, also Vespasian’s favorite residence.

Except for Domitian’s supporters, the Senate rejoiced at the news. They promptly voted a damnatio memoriae on Domitian: his acts were abolished, his name was erased, his triumphal arches and statues were pulled down (Dom. 23.1). Nerva was certainly identified with the pro-Domitianic group in the Senate prior to the emperor’s assassination. As the new emperor, he was able to exercise his diplomacy to bring around the anti-Domitianic senators to find him acceptable. Some of these opponents, such as Pliny the Younger, had benefited under Domitian’s reign in spite of their politics and were open to compromise with the new emperor.

The propaganda that Nerva, even though a supporter of Domitian, was actually threatened by his old benefactor helped the new emperor’s cause.

Nerva took an oath before the Senate that he would refrain from executing its members. Among the titles voted to the new emperor was pater patriae, which usually was given after the passage of time. This is an indication of the good will he had achieved among the senators. Those who had been imprisoned by Domitian were release and exiles were recalled, at least those who had not been found guilty of a serious crime. Valerius Licinianus, who had been banished in the scandal of the chief Vestal Cornellia, was only allowed to change his place of exile. Persons exiled for their opposition to Domitian, such as Arria and Fannia, were recalled and their possessions restored. No one was permitted to accuse anyone of Judaism and the harsh methods employed to collect the Jewish tax were abolished.

The most dubious measure that Nerva allowed was the prosecution of informers by the Senate. Such a measure may appear to be inspired by justice but it lead to chaos. Everyone acted for themselves and leveled accusations at personal enemies. Nerva’s first appointed consul, Tiberius Catius Fronto, a distinguished lawyer, commented, "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). On hearing of this remark, Nerva intervened to end the witch-hunt.

Those who suffered from this rash of accusation were those in low positions. Slaves and freedmen who had denounced their masters were condemned. There were no proceedings against senators, so that those who had been shameless in leveling accusations, such as M. Aquilius Regulus and Publicius Certus (who had been responsible for the condemnation of Helvidius Priscus), did not suffer harm. Regulus was not even expelled from the Senate

and when Pliny the Younger spoke against Certus the latter was defended by A. Didius Gallus Fabricus Veiento, one of Domitian’s ablest councilors (Letters 9.13).

Veiento is an example of a pro-Domitianic senator, who had long served the Flavians, that was the kind of man Nerva selected as one of his own amici. He is indicative of Nerva’s own feelings of survivorship from one regime to another. The new emperor no doubt angered some anti-Domitianic senators with his choice of associates and friends from among their "enemies." On the other hand, these were the men who had a close connection with the prior regime and were necessary to Nerva for what they knew.

Veiento’s interesting career is worth a brief examination. He had been adopted by an eminent senator, A. Didius Gallus (governor of Britain from 52 to 57). During his praetorship under Nero, he dealt with striking horse breeders and charioteers who were unwilling to take part in circus races by training dogs to run in place of horses (Dio 61.6.2-3). Later, Nero sent Veiento into exile for libelous writings and the sale of patronage (Annals 14.50). He may have returned from exile before Nero’s suicide but was certainly recalled afterward. He endeared himself to the Flavians and received a consulship from Titus in 80 and another from Domitian in 83. He was among Domitian’s closest advisors, especially since both had an interest in religion, and appears in Juvenal’s Fourth Satire that satirizes Domitian’s court. Veiento was wrongly thought to have been an informer.[1]  On Nerva’s ascension he remained one of the imperial amici and his importance is underscored by his presence at a dinner seated next to the emperor, even leaning on Nerva’s shoulder.

During this dinner the conversation had turned to Catullus Messalinus, a blind senator who had been a feared informer under Domitian and died before the emperor. Nerva put a question to those assembled as to what Messalinus would have been doing if he had been alive. The answer was given by Junius Mauricus, who had been exiled by Domitian in 93, that he would be dinning with them (Letters 4.22). Syme would have us believe that Nerva was laying a subtle trap to elicit a revealing response and thereby silence discussion on the subject.[2]  But this makes Nerva out to be more devious that his reputation warrants and separates him from the pro-Domitianic camp, which he never sought to do. Pliny may have been exasperated with the emperor but the anecdote he recorded is an example of Nerva’s ability to survive changes in government and straddle hostile factions. [3]

Nerva modeled himself after Augustus and sought to govern as a senatorial principate. There were limits to how closely he was willing to consult with the Senate, preferring the opinions of his own consilium, and he was less submissive than many senators would have liked. Nerva’s attitude may have been responsible for hostile discontent among several senators. [4]

In 97, C. Calpurnius Piso Crassus Frugi Licinianus, a descendant of Pompey and Crassus and consul in 87, formed a plot against the new emperor. The situation was defused when the emperor, once more fully informed, seated Crassus next to him during celebratory games. Nerva gave the conspirators swords to inspect, showing that he did not care if they acted then and there. Crassus did not call the emperor’s bluff. He confessed and was banished by Nerva, along with his wife, to Tarentum (Dio 68.3.2) and later by Trajan to an unknown island (Dio 68.16). Eventually, the ex-consul died during Hadrian’s reign during an escape attempt.

Financial Reforms, Laws and Public Works

Domitian had kept spending in balance through the ruthless collection of many taxes and confiscation of property of those found guilty of a crime. He had not left a surplus but neither had Domitian bankrupted the state. Nerva restored property to returning exiles and reformed the collection of taxes. He probably did not have much financial acumen. So, in early 97, Nerva appointed a commission of five consular senators, including Frontinus and Vestricius Spurinna, to give advice on reducing expenditure (Pan. 62.2; Letters 2.1). Nerva proceeded to abolish many sacrifices, races and games in order to save money. Later, when in an apparent financial pinch, Nerva sold the gold and silver vessels and furniture from the imperial residence and his own estates, along with clothing.

In general, the finances of the state continued to be good. Because he no longer allowed the charge of maiestas to be leveled, Nerva could expect no financial windfall. His measures of austerity were not intended to deal with a monetary crisis as much to avoid one. The sale of imperial property and reduction of games and sacrifices were more like cost of living reductions, and were part of Nerva’s ideal of paternalism and justice. Following upon the ostentatious spending of Domitian, Nerva was determined to make a break and set an example.[5]  His desire to have no golden or silver statues made of him follow the same idea of frugality and modesty.

For the urban poor of Italy Nerva granted allotments of land worth 60 million sesterces and he exempted parents and their children from a 5% inheritance tax (Pan. 37.6). He also instituted a new method of assisting the poor. The emperor made loans to Italian landowners on condition they pay interest of 5% to their municipality and that the revenue be provided as an allowance to the children of needy families. These so-called "alimentary institutions" were extended by Trajan, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian created a praefectus alementorum to supervise the administration of these grants. The loans also stimulated the growth of new landholders as the peasantry was able to obtain loans and farm for themselves. [6]  These measures continued the process of social leveling begun under the Flavians.

Land was the main investment of cities in the ancient world and municipalities often owned estates that were quite remote from them. The revenue derived from rents received from these lands were their chief source of income. Nerva, recognizing the need for some diversity in investment, gave city councils the right to take legacies. The Imperial post (cursus publicus) had been introduced by Augustus to provide rapid communication with officials in the provinces. The charge of this service had been placed on the communities through which the post traveled. Domitian had added Imperial transportation to the post so that the cost became ruinously expensive for municipalities. Nerva transferred the cost, only for Italian communities, to the state.

Nerva and Trajan were the last emperors to found colonies for veterans in Africa. The most numerous of non-Africans in the province were veterans sent to found colonies and those soldiers who chose to remain on their discharge. The pace of settlement had been strongest under the Republic and gradually diminished under the empire. Normal military privileges were continued and some auxiliary units assumed the epithet "Nervia" or "Nerviana." What military action may have taken place while Nerva was emperor is sketchy at best. [7]

Nerva’s public works were few. The forum that Domitian had built to connect the Forum of Augustus with the Forum of Peace was dedicated by Nerva in the period between September 18, 97 through January 98, based on the remains of the dedicatory inscription. It became known as the Forum of Nerva, or the more proper Forum Transitorium (Dom. 5.1). Granaries were build during his reign known as the hoarae Nervae. He made repairs to the Colosseum and when the Tiber flooded, Nerva took steps to restore the damage. The program of road repairs and building of provincial roads that the Flavians had inaugurated was continued.

An edict of Nerva was quoted by Pliny (Letters 10.58), an excessively wordy and obscure document, casts some doubt on the emperor’s abilities as a legal expert. The edict promises to honor benefactions that were conferred upon individuals during the reigns of prior emperors. In other legislative matters, Nerva prohibited the castration of any man, slave or free, and prohibited marriages between an uncle and niece (Dio 68.2.4). The latter law is sometimes suggested to be in reaction to Domitian marrying his niece Julia. However, Domitian did not marry his niece, despite what Philostratus claims (Vita Apol. 7.7). The law possibly stems in part from the marriage of Claudius and Agrippina that needed sanction by the Senate. He expanded Titus’ edict against informers (Pan. 35.4). In the provinces, with the ever-vigilant eye of Domitian extinguished, governors felt they could resume the old way of business: embezzlement.

Nerva also restored public performances of pantomime that Domitian had declared could only be performed in private. This may have been done to replace some of the deleted spectacles. Trajan later countermanded Nerva’s law and pantomimes were once again performed privately.

Nerva’s Government

The major appointments that Nerva made favored the men whom he knew and trusted, and who had long served and been rewarded by the Flavians. These were among the men upon whom he relied when making decisions rather than consult the Senate.

For the consulship of 97, Nerva nominated the venerable Verginius Rufus to be his colleague. Rufus had been governor of Upper Germany in 68 and put down the revolt of Vindex against Nero. When his troop saluted him as emperor he refused. Much is made of the fact that Nerva trusted someone who had been saluted emperor but Rufus was in his 83rd year. It was something of a surprise that he came out of retirement to accept his third consulship. Unfortunately, Rufus broke his leg during his consulship, as he was about to enter the senate to deliver a panegyric on Nerva, and died later the same year (Dio 68.2.4; Letters 2.1).

Sextus Julius Frontinus, who had been consul under Vespasian and governor of Britain twenty years earlier, came out of retirement to become the curator of the water supply. This was an immense undertaking as the office of curator had been long subject to abuse and mismanagement. Frontinus came into office as a reformer and with Nerva and later Trajan’s support the abuses were arrested. Thanks to Nerva, we have Frontinus’ report on the water system: De Aquis urbis Romae. As a reward for his service Frontinus was given a second consulship in 98.

Corellius Rufus, even though he was an invalid, was persuaded to serve on an agrarian commission. Before too long, however, Rufus ended his own life by voluntary starvation having had the satisfaction of outliving Domitian (Letters 1.12). Arrius Antoninus, the grandfather of Antoninus Pius, who had been consul in 78 and proconsul of Asia was given his second consulship by Nerva in 97.

The Mutiny of the Praetorians

Casperius Aelianus had been a former praetorian prefect under Domitian when he was re-appointed by Nerva in October 97. The guards had clamored to have Domitian deified on the emperor’s assassination (Dom. 23.1) but their own prefects were part of the conspiracy so the protests of the troops went unanswered. Aelianus saw his opportunity and incited the guards to mutiny. Nerva was besieged in the palace and arrested. The emperor was held hostage as the guards demanded that Domitian’s murderers, Parthenius and Petronius, be handed over to them.

We are informed that Nerva was reluctant to fulfill the desires of the guards and bared his own throat to the points of their swords (Dio 68.3.3; Pan 6.1). True or not, the emperor relented and handed Parthenius and Petronius, and perhaps others, over to the guards for execution. Once this was accomplished, Aelianus forced Nerva to go to the Capitol and give a public speech of thanks on behalf of the rebels for having justly killed the men from whom he owed his throne.

Nerva’s speech of thanks stands in contradiction to his act of offering his own life in place of Parthenius and Petronius. For one prepared to give his life up to save Domitian’s murderers, why should Nerva become a witness to his own humiliation? Nerva had shown that he held his own safety and well-being above other concerns, so it is out of character for him to regard the loss of his life as something trivial. Nerva was more pragmatic than that. He probably realized, after futile attempts to reason with the guards and judging their mood, that he was forced to go along with their demands. The dramatic effect of Nerva baring his own throat, a story created to save face, is excellent propaganda especially considering his promise of justice.

The Adoption of Trajan

Nerva’s good will and authority had been shattered by the praetorian mutiny (Pan. 6.3). Instead of looking to Nerva as a figure of authority it was the next man, his successor, that beckoned. Something had to be done if he was going to survive.

Late in October 97, a laurelled letter arrived announcing a victory in Pannonia was won over the Germans; a welcomed diversion for the beleaguered emperor. Nothing much is known of the war in Pannonia; it could have begun under Domitian in 95. There is some evidence that the latter was able to celebrate a victory in the same conflict.[8]  Nerva took the laurels and, mounting the Capital, went to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus to lay the crown in the lap of the statue of Jupiter (Pan. 8.2). He came out to perform a sacrifice. Standing before the altar, he addressed those assembled saying: "May good fortune attend the Senate and the people of Rome and myself, I hereby adopt Marcus Ulpius Traianus."

The news was astonishing. At once, the inchoate threats against the principate dissipated (Pan. 8.5). Some senators must have been in an uproar; at a stroke the old emperor had removed the Illusion that the Senate had the right to nominate the "best man" as emperor. This was the most autocratic action of Nerva’s reign. Trajan, the Governor of Upper Germany, whom Nerva had appointed, received a message written by the emperor informing him of his decision. The formalities of adoption were completed and before the Senate Nerva had the new Caesar acclaimed imperator and arranged for the tribunicia potestas to be conferred on Trajan. Nerva’s public announcement of the adoption had the effect of accomplishing his settlement of the succession as fact; he had given no time for opposition to his decision.

There were several cousins, the blood relations of Tiberius, whom Nerva could have selected as his successor but none were distinguished or had high rank. He probably recalled Galba’s disastrous adoption of Piso who lacked the vital support of the army. He had not consulted with the Senate on his choice of successor and probably was guided only by his closest advisors. That he chose a Spaniard, a non-Italian, was something of an insult to his fellow-citizens, but Trajan clearly was deserving of the honor through his years of service to the state and his military background. Another influential reason may have been that Trajan could force events with his troops.

One advisor who may have tipped the balance toward Trajan was L. Licinius Sura, himself a Spaniard and an official in the Rhine region.[9]  The involvement of Sura makes it possible that Trajan had advance knowledge of his selection by Nerva if not his assent. There is no indication that the Senate influenced the choice of Trajan (Dio 68.4.1). Pliny in relating the adoption in his Panegyricus says nothing of a role played by the Senate (Pan. 7-8).

From the German victory Nerva assumed the epithet "Germanicus" and conferred the title on Trajan as well. In addition, Trajan was nominated by Nerva as his colleague in the consulship for 98. Pliny relates that Nerva was delighted by what was, in reality, his abdication, for the sharing of power with Trajan was tantamount to his resignation (Pan. 8.4-5). Victor erroneously states that Nerva actually did abdicate (De Caes. 12). It is difficult to believe that Nerva took much pleasure in being forced to surrender sole authority for he immediately became redundant. All eyes turned toward the new man: Trajan.

Death and Deification

On January, 1 98, Nerva assumed his fourth consulship with the absent Trajan, holding his second consulship, as his colleague. During an audience with a man named Regulus, Nerva was provoked to anger and was suddenly overcome by sweating, apparently suffering a stroke. For a time, he passed between periods of cold and shivering, then died on January 25 in his villa in the Gardens of Sallust. This date is not certain. Victor gives January 27 or 28 as the date (Epitome 12.2) and Dio says his reign lasted one year four months and 9 days (Dio 68.4.2), placing Nerva’s date of death on January 27. He probably was 67 years old.

Trajan had not come to Rome on his adoption or at the beginning of his consulship. Nor did he come to Rome when Hadrian brought news of the death of his adopted father. Trajan did not arrive in Rome until the spring or summer of 99. From his headquarters at Cologne, he insisted that Nerva’s ashes be placed in the mausoleum of Augustus and asked the Senate to vote on his deification. There was no sign that Trajan felt any esteem or gratitude toward his adoptive father. Pliny tells us that Trajan wept for Nerva and dedicated a temple to him but no trace of a temple is known to exist (Pan. 11.1). There was no commemorative series of coins for the Deified Nerva. The only such commemoration came ten years later (excluding the commemorative series by Decius) when Trajan issued a coin type with the legend "Divus Nerva" along with Divus Traianus Pater.

After Nerva’s death, Casperius Aelianus was summoned by Trajan to his headquarters in Germany. Perhaps Aelianus thought he would receive an honor but was executed instead (Dio 68.5.4). Having rebelled against one emperor he could not be trusted by another.

© David A. Wend 1997

Footnotes