Domitian - Roman Emperor: 81-96 A.D. -
Silver Denarius 19mm (2.6 grams) Rome mint: 80 A.D.
Reference: RIC 41 corrected (Titus), BMC 86 (Titus), BN 72 (Titus), S 2674
CAESARDIVIFDOMITIANVSCOSVII - Laureate head right.
PRINCEPSIVVENTVTIS - Minerva advancing right, aiming javelin and holding shield.
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Minerva (Menrfa, or Menrva) was the
Roman goddess whom Hellenizing Romans from the second century BC onwards
equated with the Greek
goddess
Athena. She was
the virgin goddess of
warriors,
poetry,
medicine,
wisdom,
commerce,
weaving, crafts,
magic and the
inventor of music.[1]
She is often depicted with an owl, her sacred creature and, through this
connection, a symbol of wisdom.
This article focuses on Minerva in ancient Rome and in
cultic practice. For information on Latin literary mythological accounts of
Minerva, which were heavily influenced by
Greek mythology, see
Pallas Athena, where she is one of three virgin goddesses along with
Artemis and
Hestia.
Titus Flavius Domitianus (24 October 51 – 18
September 96), known as Domitian, was a
Roman
Emperor
who
reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the third and last
emperor of the
Flavian dynasty, the house which ruled the
Roman
Empire between 69 and 96 and encompassed the reigns of Domitian's father
Vespasian
(69–79), his older brother
Titus (79–81),
and that of Domitian himself.
Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his
brother Titus, who gained military renown during the
First Jewish-Roman War. This situation continued under the rule of
Vespasian, who became emperor on 21 December 69 following the
civil war
known as the
Year of the Four Emperors. While Titus effectually reigned as co-emperor
with his father, Domitian was left with honours but no responsibilities.
Vespasian died on 23 June 79 and was succeeded by Titus, whose own reign came to
an unexpected end when he was struck by a fatal illness on 13 September 81. The
following day Domitian was declared emperor by the
Praetorian Guard, commencing a reign which lasted fifteen years—longer than
any man who had governed Rome since
Tiberius.[1]
As emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the
Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the Empire, and initiated a
massive building programme to restore the damaged city of
Rome. Significant
wars were fought in Britain, where
Gnaeus Julius Agricola expanded the Roman Empire as far as modern day
Scotland,
and in Dacia,
where Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against king
Decebalus.
Domitian's government nonetheless exhibited
totalitarian characteristics. As emperor, he saw himself as the new
Augustus,
an enlightened despot destined to guide the Roman Empire into a new era of
Flavian renaissance. 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 despised by members of the
Roman
Senate as a tyrant.
Domitian's reign came to an end on 18 September 96 when he was assassinated
by court officials. The same day he was succeeded by his friend and advisor
Nerva, who
founded the long-lasting
Nerva-Antonine dynasty. After his death, Domitian's memory was
condemned to oblivion by the Roman Senate, while senatorial authors such as
Tacitus,
Pliny the Younger and
Suetonius
published histories propagating the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid
tyrant. Modern history has rejected these views, instead characterising Domitian
as a ruthless but efficient autocrat, whose cultural, economic and political
programme provided the foundation of the peaceful 2nd century.
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