Domitian: Power-Hungry Madman? Or Victim of Ancient Propaganda?
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Thank you for supporting Imperium Romanum, regards, the Greek Gods.
Do emperor Aurelian!
Hello,
Can you make a biography about Peter Hagendorf?
A mercenary who wrote a diary during the 30 year war and thus presented the life of the mercenary during this time.
Can you make a documentary about Cincinnatus, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Marcus Cocceius Nerva, Antoninus Pius, Septimius Severus, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus and Flavius Valerius Constantinus Maximus Augustus. LOL
Sources? I’m interested in further reading
"He bestowed no honour on his brother, save for deification-"
The idea that "only" declaring your brother a *god* would be considered an insult is just...wild.
But weren't all Roman emperors considered gods, so saying he was a god on his death bed was basically saying nothing new?
@@amandajones661 Not all Roman emperors were deified posthumously: Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellus, and Julianus weren't, just to name a few. One of the few bad emperors to be deified was Commodus, and that was done by Severus in order to suck up to the bastard's family.
@@amandajones661 no, deification was technically something that had to voted on by the senate. While it was customary to diefy all but the worst emperors upon their death, it was sometimes a challenge for a new emperor to convince the senate to vote a diefication for their predecessor. Probably the most famous example is that of Antoninus Pius trying to get Hadrian diefied. During their lifetime the emperors were explicitly not considered to be divine or living gods, in fact quite the opposite, they were merely the “first citizen” especially in the first century after Augustus. The emperor and imperial family by extension were supposed to have the favour of the gods and citizens prayed for the protection and fortune and protection of the imperial family, but it wasn’t even to the level of medieval Europe divine right kings, that would come later during the “dominate” phase of the empire.
@@pyromania1018 To be fair, Commodus' family is full of good Emperors
@@amandajones661 Even if all Roman emperors were deified, can you imagine being declared a capital-g God and still feeling unappreciated? I think even Kanye West would be satisfied with godhood.
How hell was the fact that Domitian was the only Emperor to deal effectively with inflation not mentioned.
Domitian had a very responsive fiscal policy, he re-valued the denarius in both directions during his reign. He was a big believer in strong coinage but (probably reluctantly) devalued it in the mid-80s, which suggests a pragmatic and conscientious approach to monetary policy. Without him, the peace of the 2nd century and the "five" (there were actually eight) good emperors wouldn't have happened
Makes him better than Biden then!
How the hell does anyone ever please you?
@@michaelhurley3171 It's incredibly easy to be better than Biden. However, some emperors were so bad (Caracalla, Elagabalus and especially that WORM Honorius), Biden would look like Washington himself in comparison.
@@elistavinger3059 "(There were actually eight)"
Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian?
Domitian is very underrated:
The only Emperor to balance the budget I believe. And strengthened the economy overall.
His building programs and reforms.
Cracked down on corruption.
Did not rely on nepotism like his father and brother had.
Was very active and energetic as a ruler.
Etc.
His big undoing was that he ticked off the Senators who wrote a lot of the histories after his death. So they smeared him.
I think he may also be the only Emperor who killed his own assassin. Frustratingly, I never see this mentioned in videos about him, but apparently he mortally wounded Stephanus in the subsequent scuffle.
Domitian should be in the list of 5 great emperors with Trajan and not Nerva, i even think that he was the best emperor in the 1 centruy besides Augustus and Vesspasian
I agree . The Senate were corrupted . Domitian knew this , so he cleaned house .
@@freyasslain2203 It was the other way around
@@davidmoser3535 not according to bryan jones who wrote a biography on Domitian and Mike Duncan on his 179 part Roman Empire podcast.
Absolutely thrilled you're back to doing biographies of the Roman emperors in order. I've been waiting for this for months.
He's mentioned on other channels on how much doing roman history bores him. For your sake hopefully he continues with them but if not that's why lol.
Me too man I like these more than all the others but Simon can't stand doing them. Hopefully he will suck it up & give us a cple more atleast
@@drewlovely2668 Roman history is the best history though! Point blank period!
@@CameronJames5 I diddnt say it wasn't! Simon did!
It's important to recognize that Suetonius was the ancient TMZ. Not everything he said was considered close to accurate
If you think Suetonius was the Roman world's TMZ, check out the Historia Augusta
He definitely preferred to talk about scandal, or supposed scandal, than good works.
All I know is that under Domitian's rule, the denarius was 96% pure silver - the highest in the history of the Empire. Of course that shouldn't be the only metric used to measure the goodness of his rule, but it IS one. Rather like the similarly-named Diocletian who came later, Domitian was a superb administrator who wasn't a very good general. I'd put him in "A Tier".
Still the army and people loved him. Just the senators hated him. I don't know he was a bad commander. I read somewhere he was just average, nothing special but that he was loved by both army and the people. His brother was a good general. Sadly he died at 41 years old afther being emperor for only 2 years.
1:40 - Chapter 1 - Early years
4:00 - Chapter 2 - The reformer
7:40 - Mid roll ads
9:05 - Chapter 3 - The builder
11:45 - Chapter 4 - The soldier
16:30 - Chapter 5 - The madman
I think that the poor relationship between Titus and Domitian like many other parts of Domitian’s reign is exaggerated in the historical sources. The brothers were not close, but that was mostly on account of the fact that there was a 12 year age gap between them, and while Titus was raised by Vespasian, Domitian was mostly raised by his Uncle Sabinus, Vespasian’s brother.
It would have been interesting to see, had Titus lived longer, if they might have struck a balance and split some of the duties of empire, Titus focusing on military affairs, with Domitian focusing more on civil affairs, not entirely unlike Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus a century later.
I think a lot of modern historians (and mediaeval historians) get Titus/Domitian confused with Geta/Caracalla.
Domitian didn't love Titus but I think he did *admire* his brother. I don't believe the guff about his envy. We know what Domitian's envy looked like - Agricola.
Geta and Caracalla on the other hand hated each other.
@@zimriel ancient historians were focused on depicting domitian as enyous of his far better and greater brother titus ( far better and greater because titus pamperd the senators wich made him a just ruler in their eyes) to make him look bad and to spread rumors that he might have killed his brother. But I do think domitian held some resentment towards his father and brother, both didnt play much of a role in his childhood and both didnt give him big titles during their emperorship.
I think it's very possible Domitian killed Titus. No proof of course, but much of still existing texts are obfuscations and BS anyway.
In Roman history you can see a pattern. If a emperor was benevolent and submissive towards senate (Nerva, Trojan) he was painted by historians like best emperor ever. If he wanted to limit senate power and preferred common people, was painted as monster and madman (Domitian, Caligula, Nero or even Gallienus)
In fairness, the senate disliked/were lukewarm towards Nerva initially since they were actually mad at him for appointing Trajan as his son and heir. Trajan, by their standards, was some barbarian from Hispania with no real ties to Italy. Even by their standards, this was very ignorant since hispania had been part of Rome for almost 300+ years at that point.
The Senate later would name Trajan Rome's best Emperor when he died. Funny how that works.
Not to mention that Nerva had to spend a lot of money to please the plebs which made the senate hate him even more.
@@JustinCage56This is honestly what keeps critical academic discourse on these men alive.
How do you read inbetween the lines?
@@hihi-nm3uy If I understand your question correctly
It's pretty common for senators to damn the memory of emperors who treated them like crap (Domitian, Nero, Caligula etc) even if said emperor was pretty solid (In this case, Domitian)
Nero wasn't so bad either (minus the Christian genocides) but he's name gets trashed a lot by ancient historians because he treated them like crap and took away what little power they had left.
Trajan, despite being from Spain with no real ties to Rome other than a few distant relatives, treated the senate with respect and gave them some power back (but he was the real power behind the empire at the end of the day) So, the senate treated him fairly.
Simon a month ago "Ugh, I'm getting sick of videos about ancient Rome"
Simon today " So Domitian...." 👍😃
I am sick of endless videos on Americans, especially gangsters, which seems to be an obsession...I suppose we all have our crosses to bear.
Domitian did have a sense of dark humor. In 90 A.D. when his bloody reputation was at its peak, he invited a group of senators and their wives to what became known as "The Black Banquet". Already afraid by just being invited to the palace, they were led to a banquet room painted black and draped in black fabric. Each person was shown to their seat where they found a gravestone with their name upon it along with black napkins. Food was brought in by naked servants painted black and the food itself had been dyed black and served on onyx plates. When Domitian entered he gave a speech about death. Afterward he provided litters to take them home, though by now they were sure they would be taken somewhere and murdered. But no, they were in fact brought to their homes. Later Domitian's servants came by with gifts for everyone that included silver replicas of their grave stones. Funny guy, Domitian.
Saddam Hussein did a similar thing with his ministers, I believe.
That's both fucked up and amusing as hell😁
My kind of emporer
dang ,, that's some wild stuff... I get you never recover from something like that . I couldn't imagine living in such fearful time's.
@@Aester makes sense I heard he looked up to Hitler and Roman emperors etc
I think that Domitian could be better described in the middle between "power-hungry madman" and "victim of ancient propaganda".
Arguably the most underrated Princeps in Roman history. Really looking forward to watching this.
I get so excited when i get a notification for these vids!
Same
I disagree.
As do I lol
Domitian was NOT power hungry, nor was he a victim of ancient propaganda; he was a great leader who accomplished impossible tasks and made them possible. But even the greatest leaders have their fatal flaw, and his was a oversized God Complex that he just couldn't find out how to control. Many of the scholars whom he criticized knew this and refused to acknowledge it for what it was (mere misguidance due to several of his family members having taken the throne before he did and making a joke of it), and it was on this that he is best known for, the smearing done to him in death by the scholars whom he questioned because of his own oversized ego.
The man, as mentioned by someone else in the comments, accomplished very massive successful feats, including killing his own assassin. He was a real man's man but his ego was just too big for his own good.
He had to pay off the Dacians, thats weak
I would recommend all history lovers to read and learn more about Domitian, in my opinion he is one of Rome's greatest emperors and he should be in the list of 5 good emperors and not Nerva
Totally, I fully agree. Domitian was much better than nerva and the praetorians love for Domitian and want for his assassins punishment was why Nerva was captured by them in the first place. Fantastic administrator, clever and a realistic and efficient ruler. He wasn’t perfect for obvious reasons but I’m glad his legacy is returning
I’m curious. Why was Nerva not as good as the other good emperors?
@@Confederate-hj2dc he was weak and old and did very little in his short reign except steal some stuff that Domitian had done. The empire required a leader who could keep people in check by fear as well as good policy and Nerva was an alright ruler in the sense that he gave a lot of power back to the senate and was calm and diplomatic. But once the praetorians captured him, the entire empire then saw just how powerless he was, he couldn’t fight and he could barely command. But was intelligent in court/senate matters which wouldn’t have been enough in a soldiers uprising. It is said the best thing Nerva ever did was proclaim Trajan his heir.
@@Confederate-hj2dc Nerva littarly did nothing. First Domitian was a good emperor and was the only emperor who as able to ix the curancy what latary would be one of the reasons of the fall of the roman empire second Nevra was kidnapped by old soldiers loyal to Domitian and he was forced to execute the assassins and to adopted Trajan who was loyal to Domitian. The only reason that no civil war broke out after Domitian's death was that their was no appointed sucesur of Domitian. The only good he did was making Trajan emperor and he was forced to do that or Traja n would have done it him self. He doesn't belong in the list of good emperor, while Domitian does because he reformed the empire so it could even start a golden age. Trajan, Hadrian, marus areius all have te golden age because of what Domitian started
@@silkok6346 cool. I’m not arguing for Nerva. Just wanted an explanation. And yes, after watching this video, I do like Domitian a lot and think he may have been underrated.
I would love to see a video about Belisarius
Check out epic history TV. There’s a series on him. Much better.
What I remember about Domition was he was very paranoid and understood how duplicitous politics could be. He was hesitant to delegate or share power because he understood ambition could turn deadly.
He was probably right considering how corrupt and useless the Senate was
It feels like Domitian was the first guy since Sulla and Caesar to just treat the political situation without any needless pomp and circumstance. He knew his position and didn't pretend that the Senate mattered anymore.
I would love to see you guys do the emperor Gallienus. No emperor has seemed to try so hard to make things work while the empire crumbled around him. He's fascinating
A good indicator of whether or not an emperors reign was a stable one is to study the silver purity of the average denarius during their reign. They don’t lie!
What do you all think? Was he a power hungry madman or a victim of ancient propaganda?
Victim of propaganda, he was great but considering how much he trolled the senate its no surprised ancient historians hated him
The latter.
@@amienabled6665 I would say both
Victim I would say
Bit of both, I'd say
A video about Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule the Roman Empire before it was divided would be great
Would love to see a bio on King Decebalus of Dacia. He's quite a figure here in Romania
That is if we have enough info for a 30 minute video
Hope you made video about Constantine, Diocletian or Aurelian soon
Rome videos are my absolute favourites! Thank you Simon and the team for all your hard work :)
Domitian being proclaimed Emperor: "As long as I rule, all the citizens of Rome shall honor with the biggest respect and virtue the Gods and traditions that blessed the city"
*Some Years later*
Domitian: "IS THERE ANY VESTAL VIRGIN IN ROME WHO HASN'T SLEPT WITH SOMEONE?!"
You should do a series on the famous historians of the ancient world! Herodotus, Josephus, Pliny, etc.
We so often hear from them as ancient sources about others, but we rarely hear *about* them.
Could you please make a video about Aurelian, as he saved Rome from the Crisis of the Third Century.
Hey Simon! Loved your disease investigation series, are you planning on doing any more? If so, would you be able to talk about Ebola / Marburg virus? Thanks for your great content :)
As a new content provider I would like to reach out and say I have enjoyed your content and quality of that content for some time now. Your presentation and articulation, scope of work is tremendous. Thank you for the inspiration my friend.
Great content as always. Can you guys do a video on Cicero or the Gracchi?
Yes! Was looking forward to this one. Thanks Biographics
You should do the series on the third century crisis emperor after emperor.
Excellent choice for a video. So excited for this ! Would love to see a video on Emperor justinian as well.
Another great video!
Nero is another ruler who suffers from ancient propaganda as well. Nero loved the common people and focused on making their lives better in a time where classism was rampant and the noble class absolutely looking down on the common people. The assholes who believed themselves better than the commoners slandered Nero's name after he was assassinated.
Nero was the offspring of two very ancient, noble and incredibly rich families (gens Julia and gens Claudia). He grew completely detached by the common people. Didn't know them and didn't understand them. He "loved" a version of them that didn't exist in reality.
We, as modern people, can appreciate his effort to promote poetry, singing, or other form of sport, as an alternative to gladiatorial games, that he didn't like, or his appreciation for Greek culture in general. But the common people disliked what Nero liked, and they disliked the fact that a good chunk of the city of Rome was Nero's personal property, and ostensibly so.
Not by chance Vespasian (an equites, so a rich plebeian, that even worked as a livestock merchant), razed Nero's "domus aurea" and built the Coliseum on the site of Nero's private lake. He knew what common people wanted.
@@neutronalchemist3241 look at how they massacred my boy
When Simon does a video on Romans, Star Wars, or LOTR, I imagine him giving a big sigh and then diving in. 😅
Hey man! I really love your videos. Would you consider making a video about Max Manus, the Norwegian war hero. Thanks and keep up the great work 😀
my guess is that a video on Nerva would be a long but interesting one.
Awesome Sauce !
Domitian sounds like an Ancient Rome version of Lee Kuan Yew.
He micromanaged the empire with smart economic policy + anti-corruption policy and was very much just and fair. However he was also treacherous, cunning, and autocratic.
Only difference being that Domitian faced intense opposition from the legislature while LKY didn't.
Could you guys make a video about Thomas Mann, he was one of the most influential writers of 20th century and great enemy of nazi regime.
I once saw a mega yacht in the riviera named Domitian.
Nice video
Hi! Can you maybe make one for sijanus? Thanks! Great Video by the way.
Hey, I was hoping you could do Emperor Constantine the great at some point. Those later Roman emperors have a lot of interesting history worth looking into.
Hello Simon, love you videos. Where can I find the beautiful painting at 20:50? Does it depict Ostia? Thank you for you time, cheers!
Good video 👍
Simon, your back doing one of the things you're best at making videos about Roman emperors
Excellent video 📹
If you stack up Domitian's list of accomplishments there's no reason for him to not be considered in the top 10 best emperors to rule Rome:
1. His economic reforms rebalanced the economy and fixed the problem of inflation, the ONLY emperor who actually managed to so effectively do so.
2. He was one of the most competent administrators Rome ever saw; his bureaucracy was a meritocracy as he famously did not practice nepotism, and he ruthlessly cracked down on corruption.
3. He strengthened the empires defenses creating the Limes Germanicus, protecting the empire from its most volatile frontier for over 200 years. Also followed Augustus' edict on limiting needless wars of aggression and expansion, yet invigorated and re-moralized the military with a huge pay increase .
4. He was responsible for the Rome's largest infrastructure boost to date, constantly commissioning building projects empire wide.
5. He was invested in his empire; travelling more than any emperor since Augustus, personally involving himself in many local issues to help find a solution.
These are all things attested by the historians who gave him no quarter, the same ones who were quick to point out the flaws in his character and ultimately paint him in a negative light. Modern re-evaluation has also shown that persecutions of Christians was non-existent under Domitian, he tried to address the rampant degeneracy growing in the capital and preserve traditional Roman virtues, and that his infamous demand to be called "your Lord and God" was most-likely non-existent. He was a flawed man with his own personal problems, but I think he deserves to be remembered as one of Rome's best rulers, arguably one of the actual 5 good emperors (Nerva was just a stopgap for Trajan).
These are all real positives which benefitted the regular Roman people but his failure to deal with the Dacians forever ruined him in the eyes of the army. And when both the army and Senate hates a Roman Emperor, it's over.
@@varunrajesh6516 Except Domitian was beloved by the military, even after the first Dacian War. In fact, it was Nerva's (Domitian's immediate successor) reluctance in punishing Domitian's assassins that led to his falling out with the army and his appointing Trajan as his successor.
In a few years every biographies video is going to be 20 mins long and 10 mins of it will be "we've already done a video on that"
He set all the foundation for Roman's peaceful 2nd Century by solving the inflation problem
Hello,
Can you make a biography about Peter Hagendorf?
A mercenary who wrote a diary during the 30 year war and thus presented the life of the mercenary during this time.
Please do one about William of Orange
I’m still waiting for Woodrow Wilson
Clive Cussler might be a great biographic! Best selling author of 80 books, discovered 60 shipwrecks, collector of old cars. Tom Clancy read and liked his adventure novels.
Could you please do a bio on Ip Man? Thank you :)
I believe you can do Langston Hughes or Cab Calloway for black history month
Will we ever get a member option for add free videos? Seen some other creators do it
Titus' military strategy: "I will hurt those Jews so much that they will even pray to that carpenter they hate so much just for me to show them mercy"
Domitian's military strategy: "I'll just pay those barbarians monthly to stop bothering us"
Domitia: "But won't that make them stronger and capable of organizing a larger scale invasion?"
Domitian: "That's why I always prefer eunuchs to you"
They really need to make a video on Aurelian
Would love to see a video on Ian Fleming...he's well overdue having an episode dedicated to the creator of James Bond
Initial reaction to the title: he's Roman, so... yes.
After watching: Still yes, just also by Roman standards.
After playing Zelda Breath of the Wild too much, I cannot unsee that Simon's stamina wheel is full
It Would be great see a video on King Decebalus of Dacia.
Only emperor the only emperor who fixed the massive inflation problem in the empire.
4:06 "Dominius et deuce"
Nailed it.
Might as well finish off the Pax Romana and do Antoninus Pius
Seems like the tragedy of a competent man undone by his own insecurities.
That's a very good summary.
1:10 that looks painful
A Decebalus video would be nice, but chances might be low I guess
Remember the time when Simon said he'd like to never have to make a video on the Greeks or the Romans ever again?
I am once again wondering about Gebhardt von Blücher
Is a transcript of this video available?
Thankyou for covering Domitan, my favourit roman empire
The last, but the greatest emperor of the Flavian Dynasty. Also he was the Proto-Basil I.
Can you please do an episode on Voltaire?
Will you make a video about Caracalla Simon ?
My man Simon talking about Ancient Rome yessir!!!!!
theres not alot on nerva but can you do nerva?
Domitian’s bust looks like Ben Askren, retired UFC fighter
Okay we need a Decebalus episode.
Are you going to do a bio on Betty White?
We talked about him in my Latin 2 class in high school. He was not taught in a positive light to say the least.
This is the same as the stories about Caligula. His enemies gossip ended up being the story.
He looks like Bill from Bill and Ted's excellent adventure
When are you doing Caracalla
3:13 2 years as emperor and Vesuvius erupting is right in the middle of it. Bad luck!
That's quite the Cowardly Lion man-bun Domitian is portrayed with at 1:24. Maybe his contemporary critics just didn't like his fashion sense.
Please make a video on Anton Szandor LaVey.
Him and Nerva are the two emperors who are victimized by the ancient propaganda. They were disregarded in their administrative legacies and their deeds were more highlighted in the ancient sources.
The background music made me think my meditation app was running
Yes fact boi!!! More ancient Roman content
My man Domitian! Thanks for this one bro
Honestly if every Emperor was like this men the Western Roman empire would've existed a long time. Okay he was not polular amongst the senate, but the people and the legions liked him a lot. I think Domitian is underrated. He was a good emperor imo. But if Titus lived longer I think he could've thrown his towel in for amongst the best emperors. Sadly he died after 2 years being 1. And I don't think Domitian had a hand in it like many historians write.
*Any leader that practice anti nepotism is consider a good leader.*
Caracalla 😪😭😭. When are we going to get the video on Caracalla.