Assassination of Domitian (AD 96): End of the Flavian Dynasty

The assassination of Domitian took place on 18 September AD 96, when the Roman emperor was stabbed to death in his palace on the Palatine Hill by members of his own household. Domitian, the last ruler of the Flavian dynasty founded by his father Vespasian, had become feared and isolated after years of treason trials. His death brought the elderly senator Nerva to power and opened the period of the so-called Five Good Emperors.

Background: Domitian’s reign

Domitian became emperor on 14 September AD 81, the day after the death of his brother Titus, honoured by the Arch of Titus. He ruled for fifteen years, longer than any emperor since Tiberius.

His reign had real achievements. He completed the Colosseum, rebuilt the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol after a fire, and built a vast new palace on the Palatine. He supervised provincial governors closely and kept the currency strong. He also fought on the Rhine against the Chatti and on the Danube against the Dacians.

But his relations with the Senate were poor. He held the office of censor for life, behaved autocratically and, according to Suetonius, liked to be addressed as “lord and god”. After a revolt by Lucius Antonius Saturninus, governor of Upper Germany, in January AD 89, Domitian grew more suspicious. From about AD 93 a number of senators were executed or exiled, and philosophers were expelled from Rome.

In AD 95 he executed his cousin Titus Flavius Clemens, whose sons he had marked out as possible heirs, and banished Clemens’s wife Flavia Domitilla. This convinced many in the palace that no one was safe.

The plot

The ancient accounts, mainly Suetonius and Cassius Dio, agree that the conspiracy came from within the household. Its leading figure was the chamberlain Parthenius. Dio says the two praetorian prefects, Titus Petronius Secundus and Norbanus, were aware of the plan, as was the empress Domitia Longina, although modern scholars are cautious about her role. Dio also claims the conspirators sounded out Nerva in advance, which is uncertain.

The man who struck first was Stephanus, a steward of the exiled Flavia Domitilla, who had himself been accused of embezzlement. For several days he wore a bandage on his left arm, as if injured, and hid a dagger in it.

The killing

According to Suetonius, Domitian had long feared a prophecy that he would die at the fifth hour of that day. When servants told him it was already the sixth hour, he relaxed and went to bathe. Parthenius then announced that someone wished to see him with urgent news.

Stephanus was admitted to the bedroom and handed the emperor a document claiming to reveal a conspiracy. As Domitian read it, Stephanus stabbed him in the groin. The wounded emperor struggled and tried to reach a dagger he kept under his pillow, but its blade had been removed. Other conspirators, including a junior officer named Clodianus, a freedman of Parthenius called Maximus, the chief chamberlain Satur and a gladiator, joined the attack. Domitian died from seven wounds. Stephanus was killed in the struggle. Domitian was 44 years old.

Aftermath

The Senate quickly proclaimed Marcus Cocceius Nerva emperor. Nerva was about 65, respected and childless, an acceptable choice for a transitional ruler. The Senate also condemned Domitian’s memory: his statues were torn down and his name erased from many inscriptions, a practice modern historians call damnatio memoriae.

The reaction outside the Senate was different. Suetonius says the people were indifferent but the soldiers were angry and wanted Domitian deified. His old nurse Phyllis cremated his body privately and placed his ashes in the Temple of the Flavian family, mixed with those of his niece Julia.

The army’s anger soon surfaced. In AD 97 the Praetorian Guard under its new prefect, Casperius Aelianus, besieged the palace and forced Nerva to hand over Parthenius and Petronius Secundus, who were killed. Weakened, Nerva adopted the respected general Marcus Ulpius Traianus, Trajan, in October 97. When Nerva died in January 98, Trajan succeeded peacefully.

Timeline

• AD 81, 14 September: Domitian becomes emperor after the death of Titus.
• AD 89, January: the revolt of Saturninus in Upper Germany is crushed.
• c. AD 93: a wave of treason trials against senators begins.
• AD 95: Flavius Clemens is executed and Flavia Domitilla exiled.
• AD 96, 18 September: Domitian is assassinated; Nerva becomes emperor.
• AD 97, October: after a mutiny by the Praetorians, Nerva adopts Trajan.
• AD 98, January: Nerva dies and Trajan becomes emperor.

Why it matters

Domitian’s death ended the Flavian dynasty that had emerged from the Year of the Four Emperors. It began an era of emperors chosen by adoption rather than birth, from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius, later remembered as a golden age. It also shaped how Domitian himself was remembered, since most surviving accounts were written by senators who welcomed his fall.