1. Family-rise to the throne-death

The youngest son of the emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian and of Flavia Domitilla succeeded, due to lack of any other heirs, his brother Titus –successor of Vespasian- when he fell ill with fever and died in September 81 AD. A day after the death of his brother, on the 14^th September 81 AD, Domitian, the last of the dynasty of the Flavians, rushed to sit on the throne of the Roman Empire. He was proclaimed emperor within the Praetorian Guard and the senate just accepted the fact.¹

Having been ignored by Vespasian, as well as by Titus, he had acquired no military or administrative experience. From the first days of his reign he adopted an authoritarian attitude, resulting in a conflict with the senate. Ignoring tradition, he gave himself the right to the office of censor perpetuus and appointed himself consul seventeen times. He even reached the point initially to allow and then to impose to all of his attendance to call him “Lord and God” (Dominus et Deus). Like Vespasian and Titus, he promoted members of the class of the equestrians in positions which were until then accessible only to members of the senate.

Towards the end of his life and having already faced successfully a serious conspiracy against him in 89 AD –under Lucius Antonius Saturninus,² governor of Upper Germany and commander of two legions- he was obsessed by permanent phobias for his life and he only trusted spies and informers. Thus, he persecuted known members of the senate, competent governors of provinces, even members of his own family, including his niece Domitilla. When his wife Domitia Loggina discovered she was one of his next victims, she organized with other important members of the senate and two commanders of the Praetorian Guard a plot to assassinate him, which was eventually successful. In 96 AD Domitian was murdered by a dagger inside his bedroom and the senate voted for a damnatio memoriae.

2. Political life

Although the picture presented by the literary sources available for Domitian –mainly based on the comments of Tacitus,³ Dio Cassio⁴ and Pliny the Younger⁵ are exceptionally negative , it seems that the emperor tried to ensure the prosperity of his people without devalueing the Roman currency. He donated 225 sestertii to every one of the citizens of Rome three times, whereas many times he organized impressive spectacles in the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus for their entertainment. He gained the favour of the army by increasing the salary of the legionaries from 300 to 400 sestertii per year. He showed a remarkable zeal concerning the completion of many architectural works, such as the Colosseum, the Arch and the Baths of Titus, as well as of many temples in Rome –amongst them the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitolium- whereas he also renovated the Pantheon and the Baths of Agrippa. He also constructed many forts in Britain and along the frontier of the Rhine and the Danube.⁶

3. Military activity

In 85 AD Domitian turned against the young king of DaciaDecebalus, when the former invaded the Roman province of Moesia along the river Danube. In 89 AD he signed a peace treaty with him, recognizing him as the legal king of Dacia, thus securing an ally in an area where there was a permanent threat to the empire –on the one side Iazyges in Pannonia and on the other the German tribes of the Marcomanni and the Quadi. In 93 AD he had achieved peace along the whole Danubian frontier line.⁷

4. The policy of Domitian in the Province of Asia

In many cases Domitian adopted the policy of Vespasian. Concerning the administration of the Province, he proved to be prudent in maintaining competent officers, who had been chosen by Vespasian, at their positions –such as the father of the emperor Trajan-,⁸ as well as in choosing capable and honest dignitaries. Like his father, he chose people originating from the Province and not from Rome, resulting in, during the reign of Titus and Domitian, the first cases of consuls of provincial origin.⁹

The programme of road construction, which was started by Vespasian, continued in the years of Domitian. Thus, the coastal road leading from Pergamon to Ephesus was completed, as well as the road which, through northern Lydia, led to Thyateira and Sardis.¹⁰

In this period many donations from important equestrians to great cities of Asia Minor, such as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon and Miletus, are documented. These donations are connected with offers of large amounts of money for the construction of libraries, museums, gymnasiums, temples etc., as well as with offerings of statues from precious metals.¹¹ The emperor himself was not indifferent to the sufferings afflicted on regions of Asia Minor by catastrophic earthquakes or famines. For example, he offered an important help to Pisidian Antioch when a harsh famine stroke the city due to lack of grain.¹²

5. Domitian's cult in Asia Minor

Despite being the less favoured Flavian by the written sources, Domitian left his traces in Asia Minor, an indication that he was after all appreciated by the citizens of these regions.¹³ In Ephesus the ruins of a temple honouring him are preserved, which is dated towards the end of the 1^st century AD. In a series of votive inscriptions, the building is cited as “the temple at Ephesus of the Augusti common for Asia”. The statue of Domitian, of colossal size, stood near an altar, decorated with images of sacrifices. A nymphaeum, which was built between the years 4-14 AD and was near the temple, was extended by Domitian’s employees and was dedicated to him.¹⁴ Many small cities participated in his cult in Ephesus, probably with monetary contributions which were made directly to the temple.

After his assassination and the decision of the senate to impose a damnatio memoriae, the temple was dedicated to Vespasian –the first neokoria of this kind-, whereas his cult statue which until then represented his figure remained inside the temple for many years, it was, however, considered to represent his father.¹⁵ At the northern side of the North Agora of Miletus there was the base of a Hellenistic statue, which was used by a private family as an altar dedicated to Domitian.¹⁶At Priene, in a sanctuary at the Upper Gymnasium, a base of a statue dedicated to him was found. At Laodicea of Phrygia an imperial temple is preserved, which was dedicated in succession to Domitian, Trajan and Caracalla. Votive inscriptions in this temple call Domitian “epineikios” (victorious), something which agrees with his representation as a trophy bearer on coins of the abovementioned city.¹⁷ There was also a temple dedicated to him at Anazarbus in Cilicia.¹⁸