Titus Flavius Domitianus, English for "Domitian, Domitian", translated as King Domitian in Chinese theological books, October 24, 51 - September 18, 96. He succeeded his father Vespasian and his brother Titus as the last Roman emperor of the Flavian dynasty, reigning from 81 to 96. Due to his harsh executions of many patriarchs and persecution of Christians in the middle and late stages of his reign, his evaluation in later history books is generally poor.

Early life

Domitian was born in Rome when his father was about to become a Roman consul, and his family was not wealthy in his early years. While his father and brother were away in the military, he stayed in Rome to receive an aristocratic youth education, studying rhetoric and grammar.

In 69 AD, after Emperor Vitilius's army failed at the Second Battle of Bedriacum, troops supporting Vespartian were about to enter Rome. During the chaos in the city, Domitian and his uncle Sabinus, who was then the city governor, fled to the Temple of Jupiter on Capitori. However, the enemy broke in and set fire to the temple. Sabinus was arrested and executed by the emperor. Domitian, dressed as a priest of the goddess Isis, escaped the search of his pursuers. Soon after, Vitirius was defeated and died, and the army that supported his father's declaration of emperor entered Rome. Domitian was supported by the army and shouted "Caesar" and was granted the status of consul.

Although Vespasian had become the only Roman emperor in the empire, neither Vespasian nor Titus were in Rome at that time (early 70 AD), so the Roman center was controlled by Domitian, who was 18 years old at the time, in the name of the city judge, exercising the power of the state consul. Domitian arbitrarily assigned more than 20 positions in the capital and other places at that time, which caused dissatisfaction with his father who was still in Egypt; Vespasian complained and satirized more than once: "How strange, why didn't he appoint my heir as well?!" But Titus frequently softened his cheeks for his younger brother, so that their parent-child relationship was not adversely affected.

The young Domitian showed a pursuit of power. In order to increase his military merits, he volunteered to lead troops to the Gaul and Germanic regions to defuse Batavia. But before he reached the front line, Roman general Keeliaris had defeated the enemy, and leader Chiveris surrendered to Rome in the late summer of 1970 and ended the incident. Later, he volunteered to join the alliance with Parthian to attack the Alans in the East; but Vespaxian disagreed with Rome's intervention in Eastern affairs, which prevented Domitian from gaining glory on the battlefield.

In 79 AD, Vespaxian died of illness, and his eldest son Titus succeeded him as emperor. However, Domitian claimed that his father had originally planned for the two brothers to jointly govern the empire, and Titus secretly rewritten Vespartian's will. Domitian clearly showed his dissatisfaction with his brother and secretly planned a plot against Titus. But Titus took it lightly and did not publicly criticize his brother.

ascended the throne

In 81 AD, Titus died after only two years as emperor. Since Titus had no sons, the thirty-year-old Titus successfully ascended the throne of Rome. He increased the military allowance of Roman soldiers, which had not changed for 110 years, from 10 as (As, imperial copper coins) a day to 13 as, and institutionalized the pension of soldiers. Therefore, he was always loved by the soldiers throughout his reign.

public construction

The Temple of Jupiter in Rome was destroyed again in the 1980 fire. Domitian ordered a new construction, which was completed in 1982. He also built a new temple on Capitori, later known as the "Nerva Square."

At the same time, he also built the temple of the Flavius family, the Stadium Domitiani, the concert hall, and an artificial lake for naval battles, and rebuilt and completed the most famous Colosseum.

Erman Great Wall

For the defense of the imperial frontier, Domitian built the Limes Germanicus along the Rhine and Danube lines, and connected the Black Forest region. One side ensured the security of the Roman frontier, and at the same time reduced the burden of the Roman frontier garrison (the total number of corps on the Rhine was reduced from eight to six corps).

Dacia War

In 1986, Domitian waged two wars against the Dachians on the other side of the Danube. The first time he went to battle himself, and the second time he led the commander of the Guards. The wars between Rome and Dachia were won and lost. Later, in 89, Domitian decided to go on strike, and Rome paid to redeem the captured soldiers. The two sides negotiated peace. But Domitian held a triumphal ceremony for this.

A successful mutiny

Lucius Antony, the governor of Upper Germania, publicly declared himself emperor and planned to unite with local allied forces and revolt. However, the early thawing of the Rhine River prevented the Germans from crossing the river. The commander of the Lower Germanic Army immediately suppressed the rebellion that could not even be called a civil war, and only Anthony and his several hundred captains were executed.

When Domitian received news of the mutiny, the incident had subsided. Domitian appointed Trajan (later emperor) as commander of the Upper Germanic Army.

reign of terror

Domitian's emphasis on justice is similar to his personality cult of Tiberius, the second emperor of the empire, who often went to the courtroom in the square in the center of the city to hold special trials. According to Roman religious customs, Vestal virgins were required to swear a lifetime of purity, but in fact sexual relations with men often occurred. Domitian restored the ancient system of burying virgins alive who committed crimes, and beating their lovers to death with random rods. In addition, Domitian often imposed particularly strict potential penalties for crimes such as corruption and adultery. Literati who dared to allude to him with satirical poems were also tortured by him; later, anyone who he determined was undermining the dignity of the emperor by words or actions was sufficient to constitute grounds for conviction. Later, due to the tight state finances, he imposed special taxes on Jews and Christians; as long as circumcision was performed, additional taxes had to be paid.

Domitian took a hostile attitude towards the Senate. He often suspected that the senators were conspiring to overthrow his rule, so he encouraged many informers to collect various crimes of the aristocrats and bring them to court for trial, and even let the knight class openly try the senators. During his rule, many senators were executed, exiled, confiscated, and expelled, and all aristocrats often lived in fear.

assassinated

In the year of Domitian, Domitia Longina, the wife of Elius Lamia, was taken by force. Later, when Domitian ascended the throne, Domitia accepted the title of "Augusta" (queen). Later, Domitia fell in love with the actor Paris. After Domitian found out, he killed Paris and his friends and announced his divorce from the queen. However, Domitian recalled her soon after. After middle age, Domitian took his niece, Iulia (the daughter of Titus), but she was later exiled and died outside the country.

Out of suspicion, Domitian suddenly killed his cousin Flavius Clemmons. A series of actions caused panic among members of the royal family. With the secret support of the queen, Bartnius, the servant of the palace, Satur, the captain of the palace guard, Enter, the emperor's secretary, and Stepanus, the former steward of Uriah, joined forces to participate in the plan to assassinate the emperor.

At noon on September 18, 1996, Bartnius lied to Domitian that Stepanus wanted to report urgently to him. So, Domitian dismissed all his attendants and walked into the bedroom alone.

Stepanus pretended to be injured and wrapped his left arm with a wool bandage. Just as Stepanus approached the emperor with the excuse of exposing a conspiracy, he drew out the dagger hidden in the bandage and stabbed Domitian. Domitian tried to resist, but Satur, who was around him, and the freed slaves attacked him together. The emperor fled to the bedside of the bed to look for a weapon, but only found an empty sheath. They worked together to kill Domitian.

The emperor Domitian died at the age of 45 and reigned for 15 years. After he was killed, his body was left unattended. His wet nurse later cremated his body by the Latin Avenue and secretly took Domitian's ashes to the temple of the Flavius family to be buried with the ashes of Iulia. The Roman soldiers were so grieved that they planned to call him revenge immediately. Soon Stepanus and Baltenius were both tortured to death.

Domitian had a son and a daughter with Queen Domitia, but both died young. After Domitian's death, the Senate elected 66-year-old Nerva to succeed as emperor. The Flavian Dynasty ended.

evaluation

Historians 'Views

In Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius, Domitian was a tyrant. Before and at the beginning of his administration, he had a humble expression and a love for literature. He rewarded Quintilian, a famous rhetorical scholar, and matched it with his appearance in his youth: tall, ruddy, with big eyes, handsome and elegant, and was very popular among all walks of life in Rome. Loved. However, during the middle and late periods of his administration, he became fond of debauchery and gradually became cruel, focusing particularly on attacking the Senate aristocracy and adopting many new methods of torture against those who were arrested. So when news of his death came out, the Senate was particularly pleased. They passed a decree and decided to impose a "recall curse" on Domitian-erase all monuments left behind by Domitian: statues and inscriptions. Many contemporary first-hand historical records are of the senior class. Therefore, through their writing skills, future generations have a very bad impression of Emperor Tumitian.

Tacitus wrote: "The sea is full of ships that have been exiled to faraway places, and the rocks are covered with the blood of these victims." In fact, however, Tacitus exaggerated this slightly: in the fifteen years of Domitian's reign, the senators recorded eight or nine executions, five or six exiles, and three or four retreats in political despair.

perspective on Christian history

In the Christian view of history, it is often mentioned that Domitian threw believers into the great arena and was eaten by lions and other beasts; in fact, no verifiable evidence can be found in contemporary non-Christian historical sources, only appearing in the later church accounts. The reasons for the exile and execution of Domitian's niece Iulia and Clemons respectively are only recorded in the church because of their Christian beliefs, but also not in the works of Suetonius and Theo (Theo recorded Clemons as a crime of "not believing in God", but it has never been possible to reach a consensus on whether this crime is "equivalent to believing in Christianity").

In any case, Christianity traditionally regards Domitian as one of the early emperors who persecuted the believers. It is generally believed that the "number 666 of the devil" spoken in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament was a covert to Domitian himself.