Titus Flavius Domitianus
(51 - 96) Rome
Emperor
Born in Rome, the second son of the emperor Vespasian and brother of the emperor Titus, he became emperor in 81 AD, with the name Caesar Domitianus Augustus and the titles of Dominus et Deus (Lord and God).
He finalized the conquest of Britain, strenghtened the Rhine-Danube frontier, as suppressed immorality as well as freedom of thought in philosophy, and religion (Christians were persecuted). His reign of terror led to his assassination. After his death, the senate decreted the damnatio memoriae, therefore very little of his portraits is now remaining.
Because of the opposition to Domitian, the accusation that he was homosexual, advanced by historians connected with his enemies, is dubious. Among such charges, Suetonius reports that the young Domitian prostituted himself to both the emperor Nerva and the praetor Claudius Pollio. Philostratus the Lemnian Senior told the story of a very handsome Greek youth imprisoned for having resisted Domitian's advances.
More reliable are the accounts given in two works favourable to Domitian, which reveal his relationship with the eunuch Earinus. The poet Martial lauds Domitian for having outlawed castration, thus protecting youths from being seduced, and praises Eurinus, who in a series of epigrams is likened to Ganymede.
Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII, Routledge, London, 2001
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