Editing Domitian (section)

===Religious policy===

[[File:Genius Domitian Musei Capitolini MC1130.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Genius (mythology)|genius]]'' of Domitian with the [[aegis]] and a [[cornucopia]], marble statue, [[Capitoline Museums]], Rome]]

Domitian firmly believed in the traditional [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]], and personally saw to it that ancient customs and morals were observed throughout his reign. In order to justify the divine nature of the Flavian rule, Domitian emphasized connections with the chief deity [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]],<ref name=jones-99/> perhaps most significantly through the impressive restoration of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. A small [[chapel]] dedicated to ''Jupiter Conservator'' was also constructed near the house where Domitian had fled to safety on 20 December 69. Later in his reign, he replaced it with a more expansive [[Temple of Jupiter Custos|building, dedicated to Jupiter Custos]].<ref name=jones-88>Jones (1992), p. 88</ref> The goddess he worshipped the most zealously, however, was [[Minerva]]. Not only did he keep a personal shrine dedicated to her in his bedroom, she regularly appeared on his coinage—in four different attested reverse types—and he founded a legion, [[Legio I Minervia]], in her name.<ref name=jones-100>Jones (1992), p. 100</ref>

Domitian also revived the practice of the [[imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]], which had fallen somewhat out of use under Vespasian. Significantly, his first act as emperor was the deification of his brother Titus. Upon their deaths, his infant son, and niece, Julia Flavia, were likewise enrolled among the gods. With regards to the emperor himself as a religious figure, both Suetonius and [[Cassius Dio]] allege that Domitian officially gave himself the title of ''Dominus et Deus'' ("Lord and God").<ref>Suetonius, ''Domitian'', 13:2</ref><ref>Dio, ''Roman History'', 67:4:7</ref> However, not only did he reject the title of ''Dominus'' during his reign,<ref name=jones-108>Jones (1992), p. 108</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Light From the Ancient East|last=contra Deissmann|first=Adolf|publisher=Hendrickson Publishers|year=1995|isbn=978-1-56563-155-7|location=Peabody, Massachusetts|pages=357, n. 1}}</ref> but since he issued no official documentation or coinage to this effect, historians such as Brian Jones contend that such phrases were addressed to Domitian by flatterers who wished to earn favors from him.<ref name=jones-109/> To foster the worship of the imperial family, he erected a dynastic [[mausoleum]] on the site of Vespasian's former house on the [[Quirinal Hill|Quirinal]],<ref name=jones-87>Jones (1992), p. 87</ref> and completed the [[Temple of Vespasian and Titus]], a shrine dedicated to the worship of his deified father and brother.<ref name=jones-93/> To memorialize the military triumphs of the Flavian family, he ordered the construction of the Templum Divorum and the Templum Fortuna Redux, and completed the Arch of Titus.

Construction projects such as these constituted only the most visible part of Domitian's religious policy, which also concerned itself with the fulfilment of religious law and public morals. In 85, he nominated himself perpetual censor, the office that held the task of supervising Roman morals and conduct.<ref name=jones-106>Jones (1992), p. 106</ref> Once again, Domitian acquitted himself of this task dutifully, and with care. He renewed the ''[[Lex Julia|Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis]]'', under which adultery was punishable by exile. From the list of jurors he struck an equestrian who had divorced his wife and taken her back, while an ex-quaestor was expelled from the Senate for acting and dancing.<ref name=jones-107/> As [[eunuch]]s were popularly used as servants, Domitian punished people who castrated others<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ranke-Heinemann|first=Uta|title=Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality, and the Catholic Church|publisher=Doubleday|year=1990|location=New York|pages=46|translator-last=Heinegg|translator-first=Peter}}</ref> and wanted to ban the eunuchs themselves.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Stephen O.|title=Homosexualities|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2000|pages=299}}</ref> Subsequent emperors made similar prohibitions, but Domitian may have been the first to do so.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guilland|first=Rodolphe|date=1943|title=Les Eunuques dans l'Empire Byzantin: Étude de titulature et de prosopographie byzantines|url=https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/guilland-eunuques.htm|journal=Études Byzantines|volume=1|issue=1 |pages=197–238|doi=10.3406/rebyz.1943.907}}</ref> Despite his moralizing, Domitian had his own favorite eunuch boy, Earinus,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Charles|first1=Michael B.|last2=Anagnostou-Laoutides|first2=Eva|date=2010|title=The Sexual Hypocrisy of Domitian: Suet., Dom. 8, 3|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/antiq_0770-2817_2010_num_79_1_3772|journal=L'Antiquité Classique|volume=79|issue=1|pages=173–187|doi=10.3406/antiq.2010.3772}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Galbi|first=Douglas|date=12 April 2020|title=Earinus, Emperor Domitian, and laws against castration|url=https://www.purplemotes.net/2020/04/12/earinus-domitian-castration/|access-date=12 July 2020|website=purple motes|language=en-US}}</ref> who was commemorated by the contemporary court poets [[Martial]] and [[Statius]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2002 |first=John T. |last=Quinn |title=Earinus the Eunuch: Martial (from Book 9) and Statius (Silvae 3.4)|url=https://diotima-doctafemina.org/translations/latin/earinus-the-eunuch-martial-from-book-9-and-statius-silvae-3-4/|access-date=16 September 2021|website=[[Diotíma (website)|Diotíma]]}}</ref>

Domitian also heavily prosecuted corruption among public officials, removing jurors if they accepted bribes and rescinding legislation when a [[conflict of interest]] was suspected.<ref name=jones-107/> He ensured that [[libel]]lous writings, especially those directed against himself, were punishable by exile or death.<ref name=jones-107/> Actors were likewise regarded with suspicion.<ref>Grainger (2003), p. 54</ref> Consequently, he forbade [[mime]]s from appearing on stage in public. Philosophers did not fare much better. [[Epictetus]], who had set himself up in Rome as a professor of philosophy, remarked that philosophers were able to "look tyrants steadily in the face",<ref name="auto">Epictetus, translated by T.W.Rolleston, London: Walter Scott Ltd, undated, p. xviii</ref> and it was Domitian's decree of 94, expelling all philosophers from Rome, that caused Epictetus to shift his base to the recently founded Roman city of [[Nicopolis]], in [[Epirus (Roman province)|Epirus]], Greece, where he lived simply, worked safely and died of old age.<ref name="auto"/> In 87, [[Vestal Virgin]]s were found to have broken their sacred vows of lifelong public chastity. As the Vestals were regarded as daughters of the community, this offense essentially constituted [[incest]]. Accordingly, those found guilty of any such transgression were condemned to death, either by a manner of their choosing, or according to the ancient fashion, which dictated that Vestals should be [[Premature burial|buried alive]].<ref name=jones-101>Jones (1992), p. 101</ref>

[[File:Ahin Posh, coin of Domitian.jpg|thumb|Coin of Domitian, found in the Buddhist [[stupa]] of [[Ahin Posh]], dedicated under the [[Kushan Empire]] in 150–160, in modern [[Afghanistan]].]]

Foreign religions were tolerated insofar as they did not interfere with public order, or could be assimilated with the traditional Roman religion. The worship of Egyptian deities in particular flourished under the Flavian dynasty, to an extent not seen again until the reign of [[Commodus]]. Veneration of [[Serapis]] and [[Isis]], who were identified with Jupiter and Minerva respectively, was especially prominent.<ref name=jones-100/> Fourth century writings by [[Eusebius]] maintain that Jews and [[Christianity|Christians]] were heavily [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire#Domitian|persecuted]] toward the end of Domitian's reign.<ref>{{cite book | last = Eusebius of Caessarea | author-link = Eusebius of Caesarea | title = Church History | year = 325 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Smallwood | first = E.M. | title = 'Domitian's attitude towards the Jews and Judaism | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 51 | pages = 1–13 | year = 1956 | issue = 1 | doi = 10.1086/363978 | s2cid = 161356789 }}</ref> The [[Book of Revelation]] and [[First Epistle of Clement]] are thought by some to have been written during this period, the latter making mention of "sudden and repeated misfortunes", which are assumed to refer to persecutions under Domitian.<ref>{{cite book | last = Brown | first = Raymond E. | author-link = Raymond E. Brown | title = An Introduction to the New Testament | publisher = Doubleday | year = 1997 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/805 805–809] | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-385-24767-2 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/805 }}</ref> Although Jews were heavily taxed, no contemporary authors give specific details of trials or executions based on [[religious offense]]s other than those within the Roman religion.<ref>Jones (1992), p. 119</ref> Suetonius mentions having seen in his youth a nonagenarian being stripped by a [[Procurator (ancient Rome)|procurator]] to see if he was circumcised.<ref>[[Suetonius]], Life of Domitian, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Domitian*.html#12 12]</ref>