God on Earth: Emperor Domitian: The Re-Invention of Rome at the End of the 1st Century AD

In life, the emperor Domitian (81-96 CE) marketed himself as a god; after his assassination he was condemned to be forgotten. Nonetheless he oversaw a literary, cultural, and monumental revival on a scale not witnessed since Rome’s first emperor, Augustus.

In tandem with an exhibition in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden and the Mercati Traianei in Rome, planned for 2021-2022, this volume offers a fresh perspective on Domitian and his reign. This collection of papers, produced by a group of international scholars, offers a wholistic and interdisciplinary approach to the emperor and his works that begins with an overview of Rome and its imperial system and ends with a reappraisal of Domitian and his legacy.

The subject of memory sanctions after his death, Domitian’s reputation has suffered as a result of the negative press he received both in antiquity and thereafter. Building upon recent scholarship that has sought to re-evaluate the last of the Flavian emperors, the papers in this volume present the latest research on Domitian’s building programs and military exploits as well as the literary sources produced during and after his reign, all of which paint a picture of an emperor who – despite being loathed by Rome’s elite – did much to shape the landscape of Rome as we know it today.

Table of Contents

Preface: Anchoring a New Emperor
André Lardinois, Ineke Sluiter

Introduction: Domitian, the Neglected Emperor Who Wished to Be God
Aurora Raimondi Cominesi, Nathalie de Haan, Eric M. Moormann & Claire Stocks

Part 1: Ruling the Empire

Emperorship and Emperors before the Flavians Came to Power
Olivier Hekster

Rome AD 69: the City at the Crossroads
Domenico Palombi

The Rise of the Flavians
Barbara Levick

Impact of Empire: Cremona, Bedriacum and Brescia
Francesca Morandini, Lilia Palmieri, Marina Volonté

Part 2: Building the Empire

Domitian’s Reshaping of Rome
Eric M. Moormann

The Arch of Titus in the Circus Maximus
Claudio Parisi Presicce

Material Culture in Britannia under Domitian; a Northern Focus
Barbara Birley, Frances McIntosh

Domitian and the Lower German Limes (The Netherlands)
Jasper de Bruin

Part 3: The Image of the Emperor

The Image of the Emperor: Seeing Domitian
Jane Fejfer

Historical Reliefs and Architecture
Paolo Liverani

The Image of the Emperor in Contemporary Epic Poetry
Claire Stocks

Imperial Women and the Dynamics of Power. Managing the Soft Power of Domitia Longina and Julia Titi
Lien Foubert

Part 4: The World of Domitian

Living Like the Emperor: A Portrayal of Domitian in his Villas and on the Palatine
Aurora Raimondi Cominesi and Claire Stocks

Between Magnificence and Misery: Living Conditions in Metropolitan Rome
Nathalie de Haan

Entertainment and Spectacle during Domitian’s Rule
Daniëlle Slootjes

Domitian and the Capitolia
Onno van Nijf, Robin van Vliet, Caroline van Toor

Archaeological Evidence from Domitian’s Palatine
Natascha Sojc

Albanum Domitiani, Domitian’s Villa in Castel Gandolfo
Claudia Valeri

Part 5: Man and God
Domitian and Religion
Frederick G. Naerebout

Master and God: Domitian’s Art and Architecture in Rome
Diane Atnally Conlin

Man and God: Literature
Antony Augoustakis, Emma Buckley

Anchoring Egypt. The Iseum Campense and Flavian Rome
Miguel John Versluys

Part 6: Fall and Afterlife Regime Change/Reputation in Antiquity

Portraiture and Memory Sanctions
Caroline Vout

Domitian and the Temples of Egypt
Olaf E. Kaper

Domitian’s Damned Memory in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries
Maria Paolo Del Moro

‘An Enemy of God’ on the Imperial Throne? The Reception of Domitian during the Middle Ages
Nine Miedema

Bibliography
Index of Names, Places, and Subjects