The authority of the Roman Senate had…

93 CE

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.