Divination See augurs and augury; augurium
CANARIUM.
Dolabella, Publius Cornelius (fl. first century b. c.e.) A profligate and ambitious young aristocrat A member of the wealthy patrician family of Cornelia in 51 B. C.E. Dolabella married Cicero’s daughter Tullia, over
I8o dolphin
Her father’s protests. He served as a legate to Caesar during the Civil War and fought at the battle of pharsalus in 48 B. C.E. Caesar rewarded him with a consulship in 44 B. C.E. but was assassinated soon after. After Caesar’s murder, Dolabella allied himself with Marc Antony, using his power as consul to crush the turbulent mobs throughout the city. Through Antony’s patronage he became governor of the province of SYRIA in 43 B. C.E. Marching east, he plundered Greece, Asia, and most of Asia Minor, earning the enmity of the senate. Cassius sailed to syria, amassed as many legions as possible and awaited the arrival of the appointed governor. Dolabella was blockaded at Laodicea and, defeated, he committed suicide.
Dolphin Small, toothed whale long held to be sacred by both the Greeks and the Romans and protected by various divinities.
Domestici, protectores The personal bodyguard of rulers in later eras of the Roman Empire. Composed of two different formations, they were also called protectores et domestici. After Constantine eradicated the old praetorian GUARD in 312 C. E., he instituted the scholae PALATINAE and the protectores et domestici to assume Praetorian duties. Constantine granted the greatest privileges of the Praetorians to the protectores domestici, and they stood in higher rank than the scholae. Their commander was the comes domesticorum, and their division into smaller units followed the pattern of the scholae: 10 cohorts of around 50 men. The protectores domestici possessed considerable social status, similar to the tribunes or high-ranked officers of the earlier years of the empire.
Their responsibilities included personal attendance to the emperor, especially in the field. Just as the Praetorian guardsmen might have been sent on missions to the provinces, so were the soldiers of the protectores domestici. Any possible task could be given them, from delivering messages to governors or generals to being seconded to the staff of a MAGISTER MlLlTUM for a period of time. They were generally well paid.
Domitia (d. 59 c. e.) Aunt of Emperor Nero Sister to Domitia lepida, Domitia was the mother of Claudius Empress messallina. Domitia was a formidable person within the imperial palace and the most bitter of the many enemies of agrippina the younger. When Domitia Lepida was sentenced to death in 54 C. E., Domitia lost an ally but soon found another in Junia silana, who used two clients, iturius and Calvisius, to accuse Agrippina of plotting against her son Nero. Domitia’s freedman Atimetus immediately informed the famous actor PARIS, a favorite of Nero who related the accusation to the emperor. Agrippina barely escaped execution. By 59, Domitia had fallen from favor and was seriously ill. Nero poisoned her, intending to lay his hands on her vast estates near Ravenna and Baiae. Domitia was also involved in a legal case surrounding the freedman Paris, who claimed that he had been born free and should thus receive back the money given to buy his freedom. When a court examined the case, Nero, who not only admired Paris but was also distrustful of Domitia, instructed the magistrate to find in favor of the actor.
Domitia Lepida See lepida, domitia.
Domitia Longina (fl. late first century b. c.) Empress from 81 to 96 c. e.
Wife of DOMITIAN and daughter of the famous general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Domitia was originally married to Lucius Aelianus Lamia, but Domitian forced her to divorce him in 70 c. e. She subsequently lived with the emperor at his estate near Mount Alban, although he eventually married her. she bore him a daughter and a short-lived son in 73. Domitian was insanely jealous of his wife’s rumored affairs. His brother titus supposedly had committed adultery with her, and the actor PARIS was slain in the street because of the same suspicion. Domitia was divorced sometime around 83. She would have been murdered by Domitian but for the influence of the adviser Ursus, who counseled a separation instead. Domitian then involved himself with his niece JULIA (7) but could not bear to be away from Domitia. Although he hated her, a reconciliation was made in 83. Domitian continued his relationship with Julia at the same time.
By 96, her life was in constant danger, as Domitian executed anyone that he suspected of disloyalty. According to the historian Dio, Domitia found her name on a list of those to be destroyed. she took the list to her own allies, people plotting the emperor’s assassination. Armed with the names, the conspirators were able to accelerate their plans. Domitian died soon after. Domitia lived on for many years, held in high esteem by the Romans.
Domitia Lucilla See lucilla, domitia.
Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus) (51-96 c. e.) Emperor from 81 to 96 C. E.; the son of Vespasian and the brother of Titus, both emperors in their own time As a ruler, Domitian was grim but proved himself an able administrator and a surprisingly competent general. He was born on October 24, 51 C. E., in Rome to Flavia Domitilla and Vespasian, who was the consul-elect at the time. Most of his youth was spent in poverty, and he remained at home when Vespasian and titus marched off to command the East.
In 69, vitellius, recently placed on the throne, faced a revolt of the legions under Vespasian. At first Vitellius refused to make use of Domitian as hostage, but his position deteriorated late in the year, and he ordered Domi-tian’s arrest. Domitian fled with his uncle Flavius and was put under siege, escaping a second time when the emperor’s soldiers broke through his defenses. Domitian finally made his way to the advancing units of Vespasian’s army, under the command of Antonius primus. He returned to Rome in triumph after Vitellius’s death and was subsequently embroiled in arguments with Vespasian’s representative, mucianus, over control of the city. Domitian tried to make personal appointments and was prevented from riding to Germany to put down the revolt of CIVILIS.
Throughout Vespasian’s reign, Domitian was given little honor, while Titus grew in fame and stature as both a general of renown and Vespasian’s aide. When Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79, Dio reports, Domitian complained that his father had actually intended the power to be shared by the brothers and even charged that Titus had forged the will. Domitian’s role in imperial affairs increased and, upon Titus’s death in 81 C. E., he was bequeathed the throne. There has been some speculation as to Domitian’s part in Titus’s demise, but his accession to the throne marked the beginning of his attempts to outdo his brother and father in grandeur.
Domitian launched a campaign against the chatti in 83, crushing the tribe and making the Roman presence in GERMANIA felt to a greater degree. In 85 he moved quickly to MOESIA to aid the province against an invasion by the Dacians, under decebalus. Domitian led the counterattack, which drove off the enemy and returned to Rome to celebrate the double triumphs. While he was rejoicing, however, his Praetorian Prefect Cornelius FUSCUS was routed and killed, and only a victory at the battle of tapae in 88 by Tettius Julianus regained Roman supremacy Domitian returned to the Danube frontier only to be denied final victory over Decebalus because of the revolt of Lucius Antonius saturninus, commander of the legions in Germania Superior. The legate in Germania
Silver denarius, Domitian, struck in 87-88 in Rome (Courtesy Historical Coins, Inc.)
Inferior, Lappius Maximus, marched against Saturninus and killed him, thanks in part to the absence of Saturni-nus’s German allies, who could not cross the Rhine because of an early thaw.
Under Domitian the lot of soldiers improved, their pay was increased and the bureaucracy of the legions reformed. As a general, Domitian conducted intelligent campaigns, especially against the Chatti, using forts and massive defensive foundations to curb unrest and to secure the Roman advances. Domitian was popular with his troops in the field and started wearing military costume even when in Rome. An admirer of Tiberius, Domi-tian was suspicious of plots around him, and senators, freedmen, and others were arrested, tortured, and executed on charges of conspiracy, including the one-time prefect of the Guard, Arrecinus Clemens. This massacre of the nobles and the Senate made Domitian feared by the Romans and contributed to his eventual assassination.
During his reign, Domitian held many games, finished the colosseum and constructed several temples at great expense. He also built the domus flavia, the palace of the emperors until the reign of Diocletian. Festivals were provided to entertain the mobs, where various forms of the CONGIARIUM, or largess, were given out. Public morals were also strictly supervised, and Domitian ordered several vestal virgins put to death for impurity. Jews were treated harshly, and Vespasian and Titus were reduced in the public memory while Domitian elevated himself in various ways. September and October were briefly renamed after him, and he held 17 consulships, a record.
DOMITIA LONGINA, Domitian’s wife, had been declared an Augusta in 81, and was subsequently divorced and reinstated. Aware of Domitian’s suspicious nature, she was compelled to join a conspiracy with the prefects nor-BANUS and Petronius secundus. The assassin chosen for their ends was a former slave named stephanus, who stabbed the emperor repeatedly but died in the struggle. Domitian died of his wounds on September 18, 96. His body was taken away by his old nurse, Phyllis, who cremated him and then mixed his ashes with those of Julia in the Temple of the Flavians on the Quirinal Hill.
Domitian was treated harshly by most of the writers and historians of Rome. Dio called him treacherous and secretive. pliny the younger wrote of his extreme nervous condition, while tacitus was equally hostile, due mainly to Domitian’s recall in 85 C. E. of his father-in-law, Agricola, from his triumphant campaigns in Britain. SUETONIUS wrote that he was tall, with a ruddy complexion, and was quite conscious of going bald. Domitian had a tendency toward laziness and had a peculiar habit of trapping and killing flies with his pen. He was a diligent reader of law.
Suggested Readings: Jones, Brian W Domitian and the Senatorial Order: A Prosopographical Study of Domitian’s
Relationship with the Senate, A. D. 81-96. Philadelphia:
American Philosophical Society, 1979; -. The
Emperor Domitian. London: Routledge, 1992; Southern, Pat. Domitian: Tragic Tyrant. New York: Routledge, 1997; Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Translated by and with an introduction by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1979; Tacitus, Cornelius. Empire and Emperors: Selections from Tacitus’ Annals. Translated by Graham Tingay New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983;-. The His
Tories. New York: Penguin, 1989.
Domitianus, Gaius (fl. third century c. e.) A usurper circa 270 c. e.
Mentioned in several sources as the victor over macri-ANUS, another usurper. Domitianus apparently set himself up as a pretender to the imperial power. He claimed descent from DOMITIAN and struck his own coinage in Gallia Aquintania, of which one piece has been found.
Domitilla, Flavia (1) (d. before 69 c. e.) Wife of Vespasian
Daughter of Flavius Liberalis, a quaestor’s clerk, who pleaded successfully to give his child full Roman citizenship instead of a Latin one, she was, for a time, the mistress of an Equestrian from Africa, Statilius capella, but married Vespasian sometime before 41 c. e. Flavia had three children: titus in 41; domitian in 51; and Flavia DOMITILLA (2). She died perhaps during the reign of Claudius or Nero. Vespasian then lived with his mistress, CAENIS, who was disliked by Domitian.
Domitilla, Flavia (2) (d. before 69 c. e.) The daughter of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla (1)
Sister of titus and domitian, little is known about Domi-tilla’s life, except for the fact that she was married, bore three children, and the noted rhetorician and writer QUINTILIAN was the tutor to her two sons. Her daughter was given the same name and became famous in the reign of Domitian for aiding Christians.
Domitilla, Flavia (3) (d. c. 95 C. E.) Granddaughter of Vespasian
Daughter of Flavia domitilla (2), Domitilla was the niece of Emperor domitian. Her connection to the royal family was strengthened by her marriage to Flavius CLEMENS, a first cousin of Domitian. Domitilla is thought to have supported and possibly converted to Christianity. In 95, Flavius Clemens and Domitilla, as well as several of their friends, were accused of impiety and favoring Christian and Jewish festivals. Domitian executed Clemens and exiled his niece to the island of Pandateria. Her two sons, designated as successors to the throne, had their names changed by the emperor to Vespasian and Domitian.
Domitius Ahenobarbus Name of the Roman family whose members achieved considerable notoriety and success in the years of the Republic and the empire. Legend provided a source for the appellation of Ahenobarbus, or “Red Beard.” The DIOSCURI, Castor and Pollux, promised to one of the earliest Domitians victory in the battle of Lake Regillus over the Latins in 494 b. c.e. To prove the veracity of their word they placed a hand on the black beard of their client, turning it red. Men of the Ahenobar-bus clan were perpetually known as rough, harsh, arrogant, and cruel. nero, who displayed many of these characteristics, was the son of Domitius Ahenobarbus. The family tombs were prominently displayed on the Pin-cian Hill.
Domitius Ahenobarbus (1), Gnaeus (d. c. 31 b. c.e.) A consul in 32 b. c.e. and a participant in the Civil Wars of the terminal period of the Republic
The son of Lucius domitius ahenobarbus (1), Domitius stood with his father at Corfinium in 49 b. c.e. and observed the battle of pharsalus in 48 b. c.e. Returning to Italy in 46, he was pardoned by Julius Caesar but was later accused of participating in the murderous plot against the dictator and condemned. The historian Suetonius wrote that he was not a member of the conspiracy; he nevertheless traveled with Marcus brutus to Macedonia and took command of the sizable fleet from the first civil war. As its admiral he reorganized the ships and proved an able strategist in the campaign for control of the Adriatic. In 40, however, he negotiated to bring his fleet over to Antony. The price of his allegiance was a full pardon. Of all of the condemned officials under the lex Pedia, which prosecuted the murderers of Julius Caesar, Ahenobarbus alone escaped punishment.
For the next nine years he served as a loyal officer to Antony, participating in the political spoils after the TREATY OF BRUNDISIUM and receiving a governorship in Bithynia. In 36, he joined Antony in his Parthian war and then fought against the pirate Sextus pompey, with Furnius, the governor of Asia. His political career culminated in the consulship in 32 b. c.e. By 31, however, as a client of Marc Antony, Ahenobarbus was unsafe in Rome. He fled to Antony and served on his staff until offered a command in the forces of Antony and Cleopatra. Terminally ill, Ahenobarbus left Antony’s cause and went over to the side of Octavian (Augustus), leaving one son, Lucius DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (2).
World History
