On the 18th of September 96 AD the Roman Emperor
Domitian was assassinated in a plot orchestrated by his wife.
The jury is still out on Domitian, and whether it will ever
return to give its verdict is another matter. Some historians reckon that he
was among the cruellest and most bloodthirsty of the emperors, while others
maintain that he has had a bad press over the centuries and was not as evil as
previously believed.
Domitian was the son of an emperor (Vespasian) and the brother
of another (Titus), both of whom generally get the “thumbs up” when their
reigns are weighed up in terms of good versus bad. Domitian was kept well away
from the business of government during their reigns, and when he got the job
for himself he did rather let things go to his head, insisting on being
addressed as “master and god”, for example.
There seems little doubt that life during Domitian’s reign
was a chancy business if you were a senator or in any way close to the seat of
power, and a number of summary executions did take place of individuals who
caused offence to the emperor. However, much of the evidence comes from the pen
of one man, namely the historian Suetonius, who seems to have taken a distinct
dislike to Domitian.
Domitian’s main problem was that he wanted to rule as an
absolute monarch, whereas Vespasian and Titus had involved the Senate in their
decision-making, and there were elements of the old Roman Republic in the way
they went about things. Having been sidelined by the new emperor, the
senatorial class was never going to regard him favourably, and neither was
Suetonius.
Whatever the facts of Domitian’s reign, those relating to
its end seem undisputed. Enough people went in fear of their lives to make
assassination a real possibility. One of these people was Domitian’s wife,
Domitia Longina, and another was Stephanus, the steward of the emperor’s niece
Domitilla. Stephanus had been accused of embezzlement, so had good reason to be
fearful. The two hatched their plot together with members of Domitian’s personal
staff.
Stephanus pretended to have hurt his arm, which he wrapped
with a bandage. Domitian therefore had no suspicion that anything was amiss as
Stephanus went about his business for several days in this state, although he
was actually carrying a dagger inside the bandage.
On the morning of 18th September Stephanus approached
Domitian with a scroll that he wanted to show the emperor. Once Domitian was
distracted, Stephanus whipped out the dagger and stabbed Domitian in the leg,
which was probably not where he intended the first blow to fall. Domitian
fought to defend himself and the two men rolled around on the floor until other
members of the plot could land their dagger blows, which were better aimed.
The number of Roman emperors who died peacefully in their
beds was not a large one. Domitian was one of many who came to a violent end.
© John Welford
No comments:
Post a Comment