DOMITIAN, TITUS FLAVIUS (Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus), ROMAN EMPEROR. — Born in Rome on 24 Oct. 51 AD, died on 18 Sept. 96. He succeeded his brother Titus on 13 Sept. 81. Of a harsh and irascible temperament, he ascended the throne embittered by a long wait. At first, however, he showed himself liberal and moderate, combining the firmness of his father with the gentleness of his brother. He restored and built many temples and public buildings, gave lavish spectacles, attended to justice and public morals, and exterminated informers. He fought successfully in Britain and Germany against the Chatti and the Dacians, extending and consolidating the Empire’s borders. Soon, however, he revealed his dictatorial spirit, making himself hated by the Senate, which hatched continual conspiracies, all of which only served to make Domitian ever more suspicious and tyrannical, increasing proscriptions, vexations, and executions.
The heavy expenditures he incurred had emptied the imperial treasury. Domitian then sought to remedy this by more rigorously exacting the Jewish didrachma tax and extending it to all who professed or seemed to live according to Jewish customs. Among these were included the Christians, who were not yet clearly distinguished from the Jews in the eyes of Roman authorities. The refusal of the Christians, for religious and social reasons that are easily understood, together with the suspicions and calumnies of interested parties, appears to have been the cause of a persecution against them, which is attested with certainty by ancient writers of reliable credibility. Among the victims were the emperor’s own cousin, Flavius Clemens, who had been consul in 95, along with his wife Flavia Domitilla, and many others accused of impiety and profession of Judaism; Acilius Glabrion, accused of conspiracy and of following new superstitions. Another victim was the Apostle St. John, who, according to the testimony of Tertullian (*De praescr. haeret.*, 36), was immersed in Rome in a cauldron of boiling oil, emerged unharmed, and was then banished to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse. In this same work there are also references to the persecution and martyrs of Asia Minor, among whom Antipas is expressly named (v. *Apoc. 2:8-13; 6:9 ff; 7:13 ff; 12:11 ff.*). The persecution, though severe, was soon revoked, especially after Domitian realized that some relatives of Jesus, accused as conspirators, were merely poor and peaceful peasants. A palace conspiracy, in which even his own wife took no part, finally brought down the tyrant, who was killed in Sept. 96.
Cubiculum with the inscription *Ampliatl* discovered by De Rossi in 1881 (*Il cubicolo di Ampliatio nel cimitero di D.*, in *Bull. d’Arch. crist.*, 3rd ser., 6 [1881], pp. 53-74, 123). It cannot, however, be dated to
DOMITIAN, TITUS FLAVIUS — Contemporary portrait.
Rome, Capitoline Museum.