page_title: Domitia Longina
section_title: Reign of Vespasian and Titus
hierarchical_section_title: Domitia Longina / Marriage to Domitian / Reign of Vespasian and Titus
caption_attribution_description: The Triumph of Titus by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Oil on canvas, 1885
context_page_description: Domitia Longina was a Roman empress and wife to the Roman emperor Domitian. She was the youngest daughter of the general and consul Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Domitia divorced her first husband, Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus in order to marry Domitian in AD 71. The marriage produced only one son, whose early death is believed to have been the cause of a temporary rift between Domitia and her husband in AD 83. She became the empress upon Domitian's accession in AD 81, and remained so until his assassination in AD 96. She is believed to have died sometime between AD 126 and AD 130.
context_section_description: Following Nero's suicide on 9 June 68, the Roman Empire plunged into a year-long civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors, which saw the successive rise and fall of the Emperors Galba, Otho and Vitellius. The crisis came to an end with the accession of Vespasian, who re-established peace in the Empire and founded the short-lived Flavian dynasty. In 71, Vespasian attempted to arrange a dynastic marriage between his youngest son Domitian, and the daughter of his eldest son Titus, Julia Flavia. By this time however, Domitian had already met and fallen in love with Domitia Longina, and managed to persuade Lamia to divorce her, so that Domitian could marry her himself. Despite its initial recklessness, the alliance was very prestigious for both families. The new marriage rehabilitated Corbulo's family, while serving the broader Flavian propaganda of the time, which sought to diminish Vespasian's political success under the less reputable emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Instead connections to Claudius and Britannicus were emphasised, and Nero's victims, or those otherwise disadvantaged by him, rehabilitated.
  During this time, Domitian's role in the Flavian government was largely ceremonial. While his elder brother Titus shared almost equal powers with his father, Domitian was left with honours but no responsibilities. This situation remained unchanged when Titus succeeded Vespasian as Emperor on 23 June 79, leading both ancient and modern authors to suggest a mutual animosity between the two brothers. In 80, Titus granted a suffect consulship to Domitia's former husband Aelius Lamia, according to Gsell as a personal insult against Domitian. On another occasion, when Titus urged Lamia to marry again, Lamia asked whether "he too was looking for a wife". In the same year, Domitia and Domitian's only attested son was born. It is not known what the boy's name was, but he died in childhood in 83.
  After barely two years in office, Titus unexpectedly died of brain fever on 13 September 81. His last words were reported to have been: "I have made but one mistake". The contemporary historian Suetonius speculated on the possible involvement of Domitian in his brother's death, attributing his final words to a popular rumour of the time, which held that Titus had carried on an affair with Domitia Longina. However even he dismisses the story as highly unlikely.
  On 14 September, the Roman Senate confirmed Domitian as Titus' successor, granting tribunician power, the office of Pontifex Maximus, and the titles of Augustus, and Pater Patriae. Consequently, Domitia Longina became Empress of Rome.
caption: The Triumph of Titus, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1885). The composition alludes to the rumoured love affair between Titus (back left) and Domitia Longina (left, next to Domitian).[4]
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