Editing Domitian (section)

=== Rule ===
[[File:Domitian Tetradrachm 1.jpg|thumb|400px|left|A silver tetradrachm of Domitian from the Antioch Mint in Syria. c 91–92 AD.{{efn|Obverse: Laureate bust of Emperor Domitian facing right, Classical Medusa at the nick of Domitians neck. Legend reads: AYTO. KAIΣAP ΔOMITIANOΣ ΣEB. ΓEPM. (imp. caesar Domitianus Avg. Germ.) Reverse: Eagle standing on a thunderbolt, palm before, wings open, head facing right, holding wreath in its beak. Legend reads: ETOYΣ NEOY ΙEPOY ENΔEKATOY (new sacred year eleventh) Size: 27mm, 14.8g Reference: Prieur p. 22, no. 147S}}]]

As emperor, Domitian quickly dispensed with the republican facade his father and brother had maintained during their reign.<ref name=jones-22>Jones (1992), p. 22</ref> By moving the centre of government to the imperial [[royal court|court]], Domitian openly rendered the Senate's powers obsolete.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Brian W. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43660547 |title=Pallas |date=1994 |issue=40 |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Midi |page=331 |jstor=43660547 |issn=0031-0387}}</ref> According to Pliny the Younger, Domitian believed that the Roman Empire was to be governed as a [[Divine Right of Kings|divine monarchy]] with himself as the [[Benevolent dictatorship|benevolent despot]] at its head.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brunt |first=P. A. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/299067 |title=The Journal of Roman Studies |date=1979 |volume=69 |page=173 |publisher=Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, Cambridge University Press |doi=10.2307/299067 |jstor=299067 |s2cid=163284681 |issn=0075-4358}}</ref> In addition to exercising absolute political power, Domitian believed the emperor's role encompassed every aspect of daily life, guiding the Roman people as a cultural and [[moral authority]].<ref name=jones-99>Jones (1992), p. 99</ref> To usher in the new era, he embarked on ambitious economic, military, and cultural programs with the intention of restoring the Empire to the splendour it had seen under the Emperor [[Augustus]].<ref name=jones-72>Jones (1992), p. 72</ref>

Despite these grand designs, Domitian was determined to govern the Empire conscientiously and scrupulously. He became personally involved in all branches of the administration: [[edict]]s were issued governing the smallest details of everyday life and law, while taxation and public morals were rigidly enforced.<ref name=jones-107>Jones (1992), p. 107</ref> According to Suetonius, the imperial [[bureaucracy]] never ran more efficiently than under Domitian, whose exacting standards and suspicious nature maintained historically low corruption among [[Roman governor|provincial governors]] and elected officials.<ref name=jones-109>Jones (1992), p. 109</ref><ref name="suetonius-domitian-8">Suetonius, Life of Domitian [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Domitian*.html#8 8]</ref> Although he made no pretence regarding the significance of the Senate under his absolute rule, those senators he deemed unworthy were expelled from the Senate, and in the distribution of public offices he rarely favoured family members, a policy that stood in contrast to the [[nepotism]] practiced by Vespasian and Titus.<ref name=jones-164>Jones (1992), p. 164</ref>

Above all, however, Domitian valued loyalty and malleability in those he assigned to strategic posts, qualities he found more often in men of the equestrian order than in members of the Senate or his own family, whom he regarded with suspicion, and promptly removed from office if they disagreed with imperial policy.<ref name=jones-178>Jones (1992), pp. 178–179</ref> The reality of Domitian's autocracy was further highlighted by the fact that, more than any emperor since [[Tiberius]], he spent significant periods of time away from the capital.<ref name=jones-150/> Although the Senate's power had been in decline since the fall of the Republic, under Domitian the seat of power was no longer even in Rome, but rather wherever the Emperor was.<ref name=jones-22/> Until the completion of the [[Flavian Palace]] on the [[Palatine Hill]], the imperial court was situated at [[Villa of Domitian|Alba]] or [[Villa of Domitian (Sabaudia)|Circeii]], and sometimes even farther afield. Domitian toured the European provinces extensively, and spent at least three years of his reign in Germania and [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], conducting military campaigns on the frontiers of the Empire.<ref name=jones-26>Jones (1992), pp. 26–28</ref>