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Domitian

Reece Period attributed: Period 4

Obverse image of a coin of Domitian

Member of the The Flavians dynasty.

Coins for this issuer were issued from 81 until 96.

Titus Flavius Domitianus was born in AD 51 and spent a poverty-stricken youth in Rome. He laid low during the war with Vitellius and enjoyed an appointment as city praetor when his family emerged victorious. He planned an unnecessary expedition into Gaul to try to win popularity and honour on par with his brother Titus, and engaged in affairs with many women.

When Titus died, Domitian did little to honour his memory and instead turned to providing extravagant entertainment in the amphitheatre and Circus. He sought to improve public morals and took his duties of justice very seriously, but was also cruel and cunning towards rivals and enemies. His high-handed behaviour led his friends, freedmen, and wife to conspire for his murder, and he died at the hands of a servant in September of AD 96.

Suetonius describes Domitian as tall and well-made, with large weak eyes and a modest expression. He was very self-conscious of being bald.

Other resources about Domitian

View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Domitian.

Information from Wikipedia

  • Preferred label: Domitian
  • Full names:
    • Domitian
  • Title:
  • Predecessor: Titus
  • Successor: Nerva
  • Definition: Domitian (/dəˈmɪʃən, -iən/; Latin: Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a ruthless but efficient autocrat", his authoritarian style of ruling put him at sharp odds with the Senate, whose powers he drastically curtailed. Domitian had a minor and largely ceremonial role during the reigns of his father and brother. After the death of his brother, Domitian was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. His 15-year reign was the longest since that of Tiberius. As emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the empire, and initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome. Significant wars were fought in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, where Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against King Decebalus. Domitian's government exhibited strong authoritarian characteristics. Religious, military, and cultural propaganda fostered a cult of personality, and by nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public and private morals. As a consequence, Domitian was popular with the people and the army, but considered a tyrant by members of the Roman Senate. Domitian's reign came to an end in 96 when he was assassinated by court officials. He was succeeded the same day by his advisor Nerva. After his death, Domitian's memory was condemned to oblivion by the Senate, while senatorial and equestrian authors such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius propagated the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. Modern revisionists instead have characterized Domitian as a ruthless but efficient autocrat whose cultural, economic, and political programs provided the foundation of the peaceful second century.
  • Parents:
  • Birth place: Rome, Roman Italy, Roman Empire
  • Death place: Roman Italy, Rome
  • Spouse:
  • Other title(s):
    • List of early imperial Roman consuls
    • List of Roman emperors
  • Came After:
    • Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91)
    • Gaius Antistius Vetus (consul 96)
    • Quintus Peducaeus Priscinus
    • Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus
    • Vespasian VI
    • Marcus Asinius Atratinus
    • Marcus Asinius Pollio Verrucosus
    • Titus IV
    • Titus Aurelius Fulvus (father of Antoninus Pius)
    • Sextus Pompeius Collega
    • Gaius Manlius Valens
    • Trajan
  • Came before:
    • Titus III
    • Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus (consul 94)
    • Vespasian IX
    • Titus Aurelius Fulvus (father of Antoninus Pius)
    • Titus VII
    • Vespasian V
    • Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Torquatus Asprenas
    • Trajan
    • Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91)
    • Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus
    • Marcus Asinius Atratinus
    • Marcus Asinius Pollio Verrucosus
  • Subjects on wikipedia:

Types issued

Adrian Murdoch's Emperor's of Rome

This video has been embedded from Adrian Murdoch's series of podcasts on the Emperors of Rome. Many thanks to him for allowing us to use these podcasts.

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