Qiang rebellions, which are to be a…

The authority of the Roman Senate had largely eroded since the fall of the Republic.

The quasi-monarchical system of government established by Augustus, known as the Principate, had allowed the existence of a de facto dictatorial regime, while maintaining the formal framework of the Roman Republic.

Most Emperors have upheld the public facade of democracy, and in return the Senate has implicitly acknowledged the Emperor's status as a de facto monarch.

Some rulers handle this arrangement with less subtlety than others however, among them Domitian.

From the outset of his reign, he has stressed the reality of his autocracy.

He dislikes aristocrats and has no fear of showing it, withdrawing every decision-making power from the Senate, and instead relying on a small set of friends and equestrians to control the important offices of state.

The dislike is mutual.

Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that Domitian did make concessions toward senatorial opinion.

Whereas his father and brother had concentrated consular power largely in the hands of the Flavian family, Domitian has admitted a surprisingly large number of provincials and potential opponents to the consulship, allowing them to head the official calendar by opening the year as an ordinary consul.

Whether this was a genuine attempt to reconcile with hostile factions in the Senate cannot be ascertained.

By offering the consulship to potential opponents, Domitian may have wanted to compromise these senators in the eyes of their supporters.

When their conduct proved unsatisfactory, they were almost invariably brought to trial and exiled or executed, and their property was confiscated.

Both Tacitus and Suetonius speak of escalating persecutions toward the end of Domitian's reign, identifying a point of sharp increase around 93, or sometime after the failed revolt of Saturninus in 89.

At least twenty senatorial opponents were executed, including Domitia Longina's former husband Lucius Aelius Lamia and three of Domitian's own family members, Titus Flavius Sabinus IV, Titus Flavius Clemens and Marcus Arrecinus Clemens.

Some of these men were executed as early as 83 or 85 however, lending little credit to Tacitus' notion of a "reign of terror" late in Domitian's reign.

According to Suetonius, some were convicted for corruption or treason, others on trivial charges, which Domitian justified through his suspicion: He used to say that the lot of Emperors was most unfortunate, since when they discovered a conspiracy, no one believed them unless they had been murdered.

(Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, "Life of Domitian", 21) Josephus, in his Jewish Antiquities, published in 93, covers the history of the Jews from the Creation on, delivering a particularly full account of the Maccabees and the dynasty of Herod.

In his historical works, as well as his apologia entitled Against Apion.

Though scorned as a traitor by many of his Jewish contemporaries for his subservience to Rome, Josephus is a passionate defender of Jewish religion and culture.

The Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, is written probably about 95 during the reign of Domitian according to second-century CE theologian Irenaeus.

Also called the Apocalypse—the only piece of New Testament writing cast almost entirely in the apocalyptic mode—the title of Revelation comes from the first verse of the text, "the revelation of Jesus Christ...to his servant John."

The author of Revelation identifies himself several times as "John."

The author also states that he was on Patmos when he received his first vision.

As a result, the author of Revelation is sometimes referred to as John of Patmos.

Following a prologue, the first part of Revelation, which contains letters to the seven churches of Asia, cautions them against false teachers and offering encouragement.

These are followed by a series of visions, characteristic of the apocalyptic writing currently in fashion, replete with allegories, numbers and other symbols, and a strong eschatological message.

The author, undoubtedly speaking to the situation of his day, interprets the significance of the cross and resurrection for the future, declaring their meaning for time and history until the end and communicating a vision of God's final triumph over evil.

Domitian titles himself “perpetual censor” in CE 95, assigning himself the right to supervise the Senate’s behavior.

The emperor tolerates foreign religions insofar as they do not interfere with public order, or could be assimilated with the traditional Roman religion.

The worship of Egyptian deities in particular has flourished under the Flavian dynasty, to an extent that will not be seen again until the reign of Commodus.

Veneration of Serapis and Isis, who are identified with Jupiter and Minerva respectively, is especially prominent.

Fourth century writings by Eusebius of Caesarea maintain that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign.

The Book of Revelation is thought to have been written during this period.

However, no nonpartisan, secular convincing evidence exists of any widespread religious oppression under Domitian.

Although Jews are heavily taxed, no contemporary authors mention trials or executions based on religious offenses other than those within the Roman religion.

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (anglicized to Quintilian), a noted Roman professor and educational theorist of Spanish origin, writes Institutio Oratoria, in about 95.

A thorough and elegant textbook in twelve parts on the art of oratory, The Education of the Orator uses the rhetorical school of Isocrates as a model and shows the influence of Cicero.

The work treats all aspects of Roman education and public speaking, including the organization of a speech, the use of argument, stylistic devices, the technique of memorization, and the art of delivery.

Quintilian also emphasizes the importance to the speaker of having good character, possessing some knowledge of philosophy, and being thoroughly conversant with Greek and Latin literature.

The Danubian frontier remains disturbed, and Domitian wisely strengthens its garrisons; by the end of his reign in 96 it contains nine legions, as against the Rhineland's six, and Pannonia will soon become the military center of gravity of the empire.

…Arnsburg—Inheiden—Schierenhof—Gunzenhausen—…

Domitian has apparently been unable to gain support among the aristocracy, despite attempts to appease hostile factions with consular appointments.

His autocratic style of government has accentuated the Senate's loss of power, while his policy of treating patricians and even family members as equals to all Romans has earned him their contempt.

Domitian’s excesses of the past several years have inspired conspiracies of the sort Domitian had feared in the first place.

He manages to survive them all until September 18, 96, when the autocratic emperor is assassinated under instructions from court officials in the pay of his wife, the Empress Domitilla, in part because of his liaison with his niece, Titus’ daughter Flavia Julia.

After Domitian's assassination, the senators of Rome rush to the Senate house, where they immediately pass a motion condemning his memory to oblivion.

Under the rulers of the successor Nervan-Antonian dynasty, senatorial authors will publish histories that elaborate on the view of Domitian as a tyrant.

The Fasti Ostienses, the Ostian Calendar, records that the same day the Senate proclaimed Marcus Cocceius Nerva emperor.

Despite his political experience, this is a remarkable choice.

Nerva is old and childless, and has spent much of his career out of the public light, prompting both ancient and modern authors to speculate on his involvement in Domitian's assassination.

According to Cassius Dio, the conspirators approached Nerva as a potential successor prior to the assassination, suggesting that he was at least aware of the plot.

He does not appear in Suetonius' version of the events, but this may be understandable, since his works were published under Nerva's direct descendants Trajan and Hadrian.

To suggest the dynasty owed its accession to murder would have been less than sensitive.

On the other hand, Nerva lacks widespread support in the Empire, and as a known Flavian loyalist, his track record would not have recommended him to the conspirators.

The precise facts have been obscured by history, but modern historians believe Nerva was proclaimed Emperor solely on the initiative of the Senate, within hours after the news of the assassination broke.

The decision may have been hasty so as to avoid civil war, but neither appears to have been involved in the conspiracy.

After the election of Nerva by the senate, the new emperor chooses as his co-consul for 97 the elderly Lucius Verginius Rufus, who is enticed out of retirement.

Rufus, after declining his troops’ acclamation of him as emperor after his defeat of Vindex at the beginning of the revolt known as Year of the Four Emperors, has lived calmly for thirty years at his estate at Alsium, on the coast of Etruria, where he studies, composes poems, and has a literary salon.

However, when Rufus is to hold a speech, he drops a book he is carrying, and while bending down to pick it up, slips and breaks his hip.

He dies not long afterward and is given a state funeral.

At the public burial with which he is honored, the historian Tacitus (now consul) delivers the funeral oration.

Pliny the Younger, his neighbor and ward, has recorded the lines which Verginius had ordered to be engraved upon his tomb: Hic situs est Rufus, pulso qui Vindice quondam Imperium asseruit non sibi sed patriae ("Here lies Rufus, who after defeating Vindex, did not take power, but gave it to the fatherland").

As modern medicine has discovered recently, falls by the elderly involving a broken hip are more likely preceded, rather than followed, by the fracture.

Roman poet Publius Papinius Statius, writing under the patronage of Domitian, pens occasional verses, Silvae (“Forests”) and two popular epics: the Thebaid, on the legendary war between the Theban brothers Eteocles and Polynices, and the unfinished Achilleid, on the youth of Achilles.

Statius' poetry is very popular in his lifetime, although he is not without his critics who apparently have problems with his ex tempore style.

Juvenal is thought to extensively lampoon Statius' type of court poetry in his fourth satire on the turbot of Domitian, but he also mentions the immense popularity of Statius' recitations in Satire 7.82ff.

Statius dies at Naples in 96.

The Romans under Julius Caesar in 58 to 50 BCE had first subdued the Treveri.

The Romans no later than 16 BCE had founded the city of Augusta Treverorum ("City of Augustus in the land of the Treveri") at the foot of the Petrisberg, upon which a military camp had been set up in 30 BCE and a few months later abandoned again.

The honor of being named after the Emperor is one shared only by Augsburg and Augst in northern Switzerland.

Emperor Augustus after the reorganization of the Roman provinces in Germany in 16 BCE had decided that the city should become the capital of the province of Belgica.

Here the Romans shortly before CE 100 construct an amphitheater, the signal sign of a city of any importance.

The area of the Agri Decumantes has been settled and colonized under the Flavian emperors, 69-96 CE.

A network of roads has eased legionary communications and improved protection from invading tribes using the region as a re-entry point to penetrate into the Gaulish provinces.

Frontier fortifications (limes) are constructed along a line running from Rheinbrohl—…

…Pförring.

The major places of Roman settlement are Sumolecenna (Rottenburg am Neckar), …