Domitilla the Elder

Flavia Domitilla Major[lower-alpha 1] (died before 69, perhaps c. 65) was the wife of the Roman Emperor Vespasian[1] and mother of the emperors Titus and Domitian. She died before her husband ascended to the throne.

Domitilla the Elder
Bust of Flavia Domitilla Maior
DiedBefore 69
SpouseVespasian
IssueTitus
Domitilla the Younger
Domitian
DynastyFlavian (by marriage)
FatherFlavius Liberalis

Life

Flavia Domitilla was born in Sabratha to Italic colonists who had moved there during the reign of Augustus. She was the daughter of Flavius Liberalis, a humble quaestor’s clerk from Ferentium (modern Ferento), a country town in Italy.[lower-alpha 2] Before her marriage, she was a formal mistress to an equestrian.

Vespasian married her around AD 38. They had three known children, Domitilla the Younger and the emperors Titus and Domitian, but they might have had four other children who died in childhood.[4] She died before Vespasian became emperor.

Flavian family tree

See also

Notes
  1. Maior being Latin for the elder. She is sometimes also referred to as Domitilla Major, Flavia Domitilla the Elder or Domitilla the Elder.
  2. The 9th century Arabic translation of Orosius's Adversus paganos named Kitāb Hurūšiyūš claims that Domitilla was the sister of Emperor Nero (born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus),[2] a statement not found in the original text.[3]

References
  1. Suetonius: Divus Vespasianus, 3
  2. Al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar: Vol. V, Section 6: The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. Bibliotheca Maqriziana. Translated by Penelas, Mayte. Brill. 2020. p. 133. ISBN 9789004413245.
  3. Al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar: Vol. V, Section 6: The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. Bibliotheca Maqriziana. Translated by Penelas, Mayte. Brill. 2020. p. 137. ISBN 9789004413245.
  4. Barber Lightfoot, Joseph (1890). The Apostolic Fathers ...: S. Clement of Rome. A revised text with introductions, notes, dissertations, and translations. 2nd ed. 1890. 2 v. Macmillan and Company. p. 115.

Bibliography
  • La Monaca, Valeria (2013). "Flavia Domitilla as delicata: A new interpretation of Suetonius, Vesp. 3". Ancient Society. 43: 191–212. JSTOR 44079974.
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