Assassination of Domitian (September 18, AD 96)

The Palatine: remains of Domitian’s palace. Photograph by Fratelli Alinari, 19th century. An image related to the event, not a record made at the time.

Domitian feared the fifth hour, foretold to him in his youth. On September 18, AD 96, servants in on the plot told him it was already the sixth. The chamberlain Parthenius stopped him on the way to the bath; Stephanus, the steward of Flavia Domitilla, was waiting in the bedroom. Suetonius names the conspirators; Dio adds that the emperor’s wife and both praetorian prefects knew of the plot.

The conspirators had chosen a successor beforehand, Nerva. The soldiers wanted to avenge the emperor but had no leaders.

Related

Articles

Sources

  • Image: Fratelli Alinari, 19th century, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Learn in the app