Marcus Tullius Cicero – statesman, scholar and writer

The brutal beheading of a great Roman politician and orator

A late 19th century book illustration showing the
imagined scene of the murder of Cicero

Cicero, the last defender of the Roman Republic, was assassinated on this day in 43BC in Formia in southern Italy.

Marcus Tullius Cicero had been a lawyer, philosopher and orator who had written extensively during the turbulent political times that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire.

In the months following Julius Caesar's assassination in 44BC, Cicero had delivered several speeches urging the Roman Senate to support Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son, in his struggle against Mark Antony.

Cicero attacked Antony in a series of powerful addresses and urged the Roman senate to name Antony as an enemy of the state. Antony responded by issuing an order for Cicero to be hunted down and killed.

He was the most doggedly pursued of all the enemies of Antony whose deaths had been ordered. Cicero was finally caught on 7 December 43BC leaving his villa in Formia in a litter - a kind of Sedan chair - heading to the seaside.

The portrait bust of Cicero at
Rome's Capitoline Museum

Cicero is reported to have said: “I can go no further: approach, veteran soldier, and, if you can do at least do so much properly, sever this neck.” 

He leaned his head out of the litter and bowed to his captors who cut off his head. On Antony’s instructions, Cicero’s hands, which had written so much against Antony, were cut off as well and they were later nailed along with his head on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum.

Cicero has gone down in history as one of Rome’s greatest orators and writers. He also had immense influence on the development of the Latin language.

Born in 106BC into a wealthy family in what is now Arpino in Lazio, Cicero served briefly in the military before turning to a career in law, where he developed a reputation as a formidable advocate.

As a politician, he went on to be elected to each of Rome’s principal offices, in 63BC becoming the youngest citizen to attain the highest rank of consul without coming from a political family.

He is perceived to have been one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome, introducing Romans to Greek philosophy and distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher.

A fresco showing Cicero denouncing Catiline
in a speech to the Roman senate

However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. Expert analysts believe his indecision could be attributed to a sensitive and impressionable personality. 

Nonetheless, he is remembered as a staunch defender in his speeches and writings of the Roman Republic and its values, which he believed was the best form of government and worth defending at all costs. He was a strong advocate of the rule of law, which he felt was essential for maintaining a stable and just society.

One of his great successes was to expose a plot by the senator Catiline to overthrow the Roman Republic and establish himself as dictator. He convinced the Senate to take action against Catiline, and the plot was foiled.

The Cisternone Romano is
one of Formia's attractions

Travel tip:

The Formia of today is a bustling coastal town on the coast of Lazio, about 150km (93 miles) south of Rome and roughly 90km (56 miles) north of Naples. During the age of the Roman Empire it was a popular resort, renowned for a favourable climate, and many other prominent Romans had villas there in addition to Cicero. His burial place - the Tomba di Cicerone, a Roman mausoleum just outside the town - remains a tourist destination. The city was also the scene of the martyrdom of Saint Erasmus during the persecutions of Diocletian.  Heavily damaged during World War Two, the town was rebuilt and now serves as a commercial centre for the region. Tourists tend to favour the picturesque resort of Gaeta, which sits at the head of a promontory a few kilometres away, but Formia has pleasant beaches of its own and plenty of shops and restaurants. The Cisternone Romano, an enormous underground reservoir in which the Romans collected water to supply the area, is another visitor attraction. 

The dramatic hilltop setting of Arpino, the town
in Lazio that was Cicero's birthplace

Travel tip:

Arpino, the birthplace of Cicero, is a charming hilltop town situated some 130km (81 miles) southeast of Rome often overlooked by tourists despite its mix of Roman ruins, narrow mediaeval streets and picturesque squares. Attractions include the church of Santa Maria di Civita, perched on top of a rocky hill offering breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, and the Arpino Museum, in the Palazzo del Popolo, which has a collection of archaeological artefacts and mediaeval art.  Arpino has a tradition of simple but delicious food, such as porchetta (roast pork stuffed with herbs) and pecorino cheese, a hard cheese matured for many months that is the area’s equivalent of parmigiano.  Outside Arpino, in the Liri valley, a little north of the Isola del Liri, lies the church of San. Domenico, which marks the site of the villa in which Cicero was born.

Also on this day:

1302: The birth of Azzone Visconti, ruler of Milan

1598: The birth of architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini

1643: The birth of engraver and printmaker Giovanni Battista Falda

Feast of St Ambrose, patron saint of Milan

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Vittorio Emanuele II Monument - Rome landmark

 ‘Altar of the Fatherland’ built to honour unified Italy’s first king

The Monument's multi-layered construction in white
marble has earned it the nickname the 'wedding cake'

The foundation stone of Rome’s huge Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II was laid on this day in 1885 in the presence of his son and successor Umberto I and his family.

The monument, which took half a century to fully complete, occupies a site on the northern slope of the Capitoline (Campidoglio) Hill on the south-eastern side of the modern city centre, a few steps from the ruins of the Forum, the heart of ancient Rome.

Built in white Botticino marble, the multi-tiered monument is 135m (443 ft) wide, 130m (427 ft) deep, and 70m (230 ft) high, rising to 81m (266ft) including the two statues of a chariot-mounted winged goddess Victoria on the summit of the two propylaea. 

Its appearance has earned it various nicknames, ranging from the ‘wedding cake’ to the ‘typewriter’, although it is officially known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria - the Altar of the Fatherland.

The Altare della Patria is actually just one part of the monument, at the front and in the centre, consisting of an inset statue of the goddess Roma and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where two soldiers guard an eternal flame.

Vittorio Emanuele II is commemorated with a
huge bronze statue at the front of the monument

Above it is a large bronze horse-back statue of Vittorio Emanuele II himself on a central plinth in front of the broad upper colonnade.  The statue, 10m (33ft) long and 12m (40ft) high, is said to have been made with 50 tons of bronze obtained by melting down army cannons.

Officially opened in 1911 on the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the monument has become a national symbol of Italy, representing the values of freedom and unity, which are represented in the two chariots atop the propylaea - on the left is the Quadriga dell'Unità by Carlo Fontana, on the right the Quadriga della Libertà by Paolo Bartolini.

The Vittoriano has an important ceremonial role. On three occasions each year - on Liberation Day (April 25), Republic Day (June 2) and Armed Forces Day (November 4) - the President of the Republic lays a laurel wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honour those who sacrificed their lives in the service of the country.

It also houses the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano al Vittoriano, the museum that commemorates the decades-long struggle for Italian unification, known as the Risorgimento.

The idea of building a permanent monument to Vittorio Emanuele II was first mooted soon after his death in 1878, when a Royal Commission set up to have responsibility for the project invited architects to put forward their ideas in a competition.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the Italian
president lays a laurel wreath on state occasions

The winner was a French designer, Henri-Paul Nénot. However, the idea of entrusting a non-Italian with what would become a symbol of the nation provoked such fierce opposition, not least because Nénot’s entry was one he had previously submitted for a project in Paris, that the contest was declared void and another one staged.

After the Commission could not decide between designs submitted by the Italians Manfredo Manfredi and Giuseppe Sacconi, and the German Bruno Schmitz, a third contest took place, which was won by Sacconi, an architect from Le Marche, whose design envisaged a neoclassical interpretation of the nearby Forum.

Such was the scale of the project, including the vast Piazza Venezia that the monument overlooks, a wide area of mediaeval and Renaissance streets and buildings had to be demolished. A small building to the right of the Vittoriano, at the foot of the stairway leading to the adjoining Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, is all that remains.

Building proceeded slowly and was still some way from complete when Sacconi died in 1905. The project was continued by Gaetano Koch, Manfredi and Pio Piacentini and though it was inaugurated during the international exhibition for the 50th anniversary of unification in 1911, it was not considered complete until 24 years later.

During this time, the body of the Italian Unknown Soldier was placed in the crypt under the statue of the goddess Roma. This took place on Armed Forces Day in 1921, when the remains of an unidentified soldier killed in the First World War were interred in a solemn ceremony and the eternal flame was lit.

Finally, in 1935, the monument was declared to be fully completed with the addition of the museum of the Risorgimento, which occupies the space between the propylaea on the upper level. 

The entrance to the Museo del Risorgimento
can be found on Via San Pietro in Carcere

Travel tip:

Open to the public since 1970, the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano - the National Museum of the Risorgimento - takes visitors on a tour of the Risorgimento in 14 stages, beginning with the Napoleonic period at the end of the 18th century and ending with the First World War, marking major events such as the uprising known as the Five Days of Milan, the two wars of independence and Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand. It celebrates the roles of Garibaldi, the revolutionary philosopher Giuseppe Mazzini, the politician Cavour (Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour) and Vittorio Emanuele II himself. Visitors access the museum via an entrance on Via San Pietro in Carcere, to the rear of the monument.

Rome's ancient Forum, an area of extensive ruins,
is one of the city's most popular attractions

Travel tip:

Rome's historic Forum, the ruins of which can be found immediately behind the Vittoriano, was at the heart both of the ancient city of Rome and the Roman Empire itself, the nucleus of political affairs and commercial business, a place where elections took place and great speeches were made.  The site fell into disrepair with the fall of the empire and over time buildings were dismantled for the stone and marble, with much debris left behind.  Eventually it was abandoned and became overgrown and was used mainly for grazing cattle.  Attempts at uncovering and restoring buildings began in the early 19th century and the process of excavating areas long buried continues today.  The impressive and extensive ruins are now one of Rome's major tourist attractions.  The site opens at 8.30am and closes one hour before sunset and visitors should allow at least two hours to explore.

Also on this day:

1837: The birth of ‘La Castiglione’ - mistress of Napoleon III

1921: The birth of actor and director Nino Manfredi

1986: The death of fraudster Michele Sindona

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Tiberius – Roman Emperor

The decline of a leader who ruled from a beautiful place of exile

The Death of Tiberius, perhaps attended by Caligula,
imagined in an 1864 painting by Jean-Paul Laurens

After starting his reign in glory, the Emperor Tiberius slowly deteriorated and is reputed to have become steadily crueller and more debauched until he died on this day in 37 AD in Misenum, now Miseno, in Campania.

Tiberius had become the second Roman Emperor, succeeding his stepfather, Augustus, in 14 AD. As a young man, he had been a successful general, but at the age of 36 he chose to retire and go and live in Rhodes because he was determined to avoid getting involved in politics. 

However, after the deaths of both grandsons of Augustus, his ailing stepfather had no choice but to make Tiberius his heir.

Tiberius inherited the throne at the age of 54 and was at first a hardworking ruler, trying to pass sensible and far-seeing laws. He stopped pointless, costly conflicts and the waste of the empire’s money and was said to have left the imperial coffers much fuller than when he inherited them.

But he was constantly at odds with the Senate, who claimed he gave vague orders to them and that they had to debate the orders among themselves so that they could decide what to do and therefore some of his legislation was never passed.

Tiberius left Rome after 13 years
and never returned to the city

After 13 years, Tiberius decided he had had enough and he went to live in a magnificent villa on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. He never visited Rome again and delegated his power over the Senate to the commander of his guard.

As the years passed by, Tiberius became increasingly paranoid and brooded constantly on the loss of his son, Drusus Julius Caesar, who was said to have died in mysterious circumstances.

Many historians have claimed that Tiberius became steadily more cruel and vindictive as he grew older, and that he enjoyed torturing his victims, the people he perceived to be his enemies. He then liked to kill them by having them thrown off the cliffs at a spot on Capri that has become known as Salto di Tiberio - Tiberius’s Leap.

One senator was allegedly condemned to death just for having carried a coin, with the head of Tiberius on it, into a public lavatory with him.

The Emperor Tiberius was also reputed to have become a paedophile, bringing in young boys and girls to take part in imperial orgies at his villa on Capri.

When he was 71, Tiberius brought his 18-year-old great-nephew, Caligula, to live on Capri and subsequently named him as heir to the empire. For six years Caligula remained docile and obedient towards Tiberius, although he was said to occasionally display signs of the sadism that would subsequently blight his years as emperor.

Early in AD 37, Tiberius travelled to what was then Misenum to take part in military games. After injuring his shoulder throwing the javelin, he became seriously ill. He eventually lapsed into unconsciousness and doctors declared that his death would be imminent. Caligula then took the imperial ring from his great uncle’s finger and showed himself to a local crowd as the new Roman emperor.

Then Tiberius apparently woke from his coma and demanded food, which terrified Caligula. However, one of the heir’s quick-thinking allies rushed into the bedroom of Tiberius and finished him off by smothering him in a blanket. Tiberius was 77 when he died and he had been in power for 22 years.

The historian Tacitus wrote that people in Rome cheered when they heard that Tiberius was dead, only to panic when they heard he had recovered. Then they rejoiced again when they heard that the debauched emperor’s life had finally ended.

Modern Miseno, looking towards Capo Miseno, 
which offers views across the Bay of Naples

Travel tip:

Misenum, where Tiberius was injured and died, is now known as Miseno and is one of the frazioni of Bacoli in the province of Naples. Nearby Capo Miseno marks the north western end of the Bay of Naples, from where there are incredible views of Capri, Ischia, Sorrento, and Mount Vesuvius. For centuries, Misenum was the biggest naval base in the Roman empire and housed thousands of sailors.  Its beautiful natural setting and proximity to the nearby Roman cities of Puteoli - modern Pozzuoli - and Neapolis (Naples), Misenum also became a popular location for Roman luxury villas.

Villa Jovis, as it might have looked in the time of
Tiberius. Today, there are only ruins

Travel tip:

Tiberius ruled his empire from the Villa Jovis on Capri and the sheer cliff beside the villa, known as the Salto di Tiberio - Tiberius’s Leap - is said to be the precipice from which the Emperor had his victims hurled to their deaths. The biggest of 12 residences Tiberius had built on Capri, Villa Jovis occupies a spectacular position at the top of Monte Tiberio on the north east corner of the island. With an elevation of 334m (1,096ft), Monte Tiberio is the second-highest peak on the island, topped only by Monte Solaro (589m; 1,932ft) in Anacapri. Access to the remains of the villa is only possible on foot, and involves an uphill walk of about two kilometres from Capri town along Via Tiberio.

Also on this day:

1820: The birth of tenor Enrico Tamberlik

1886: The birth of athlete Emilio Lunghi - Italy’s first Olympic medallist

1940: The birth of film director Bernardo Bertolucci

1978: The kidnapping of former Italian PM Aldo Moro

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The Great Fire of Rome

City devastated by nine-day blaze

An 18th century depiction of the Great
Fire by the French artist Hubert Robert

Almost two thirds of the ancient city of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which took hold on this day in 64 AD.

Accounts vary as to whether the blaze began on July 19 or on the evening of July 18. What seems not to be in doubt is that the fire spread uncontrollably for six days, seemed to burn itself out, then reignited and continued for another three days.

Of Rome’s 14 districts at the time, only four were unaffected. In three, nothing remained but ashes and the other seven fared only marginally better, with just a few scorched ruins still standing.

Among the more important buildings in the city, the Temple of Jupiter Stator, the House of the Vestals, and the emperor Nero's palace, the Domus Transitoria were damaged or destroyed, along with the part of the Forum where senators lived and worked.

According to the historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus, who published an account of the fire in his Annals, which covered the period from Tiberius to Nero, the blaze probably began in shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus.

The fire is thought to have started close to Circus
Maximus (above), the Roman chariot stadium

Driven by a strong wind, it quickly spread along the length of the Circus Maximus and into adjoining streets.  Much of Rome at that time consisted of wooden buildings clustered in narrow streets. In the poorer areas, there were many multi-occupancy apartment buildings. Casualty numbers are unknown, but almost certainly ran into thousands.

Fires were commonplace in the city but this was exceptional.  Although Rome’s aqueducts brought water into the city, many were in a state of disrepair and none was fitted with fire-fighting equipment.  The only weapons Romans had at their disposal were buckets and blankets, which proved hopelessly inadequate.  The only hope of containing a blaze was to demolish all the buildings around it and deny it the opportunity to spread.

Although such fires were not rare, it was not long before rumours began to circulate that this was not a random event caused by freakish temperatures but an inside job, specifically a job organised by Nero himself.

In his account, Tacitus noted that in some areas attempts to fight the flames were prevented by ‘menacing gangs’ and that some of these men claimed they were ‘acting under orders’.

Nero during the fire, imagined
by artist Gustave Surand

It may be that they were simply looters but their behaviour only fuelled speculation that Nero had ordered the city’s destruction in order to rebuild it in his own image.

Although the emperor himself was thought to be staying in Antium - now Anzio - a coastal resort south of Rome, when the fire broke out, many stories suggested that Nero sent men to set fires all over the city. The stories in many cases included the detail that Nero watched the blaze unfold from either the Palatine or Esquiline Hill, singing and playing his lyre as he did so.

In some minds, the speed at which he unveiled plans to rebuild neighbourhoods in the Greek style and to launch construction of his new palace, the ostentatious Domus Aurea (Golden House), were more evidence that he was behind the fire.

Nonetheless, the city that emerged in the place of the old Rome, with an urban plan that can still be traced in the city’s layout today, showed Nero’s far-sightedness. He introduced much more strict building regulations and much greater use was made of marble and stone in construction. The new city also had wide streets and pedestrian areas which made it more difficult for fires to spread, plus an abundant water supply for firefighters to use to help control future incidents.

Nero is also credited by historians with determining that debris from the fire was used as fill for the nearby malaria-infested marshes, which had plagued Romans for decades. There was, though, a price that had to be paid for all the work in increased taxation, plus the inflationary effect of his decision to devalue the Roman currency. 

According to Tacitus, in order to end the rumours that the fire was started on his orders, Nero blamed the blaze on the Christians, who at the time had only a small presence in Rome, leading him to launch the first in a series of persecutions of the religious group that continued for 250 years.

Nero was deposed only four years after the Great Fire when the Praetorian Guard rose against him. He died in what would be described today as an assisted suicide, ordering an aide to plunge a knife into his chest before soldiers from the Praetorian Guard arrived to arrest him.

A section of the rediscovered Domus Aurea, the
complex Nero built after the Great Fire of 64 AD

Travel tip:

After Nero’s death, the Domus Aurea - a complex of palaces and pavilions in a landscaped park with an artificial lake and a gigantic bronze statue of himself, was stripped of its treasures, with its marble, jewels and ivory removed. The complex was filled with earth and new buildings rose in its place. The Baths of Titus, the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Colossus Neronis, the Baths of Trajan and the Temple of Venus and Rome were all built on the site, obliterating all visible traces of the Golden House. It was rediscovered during the Renaissance, when a young man fell down a hole on the site and found himself in the cavernous, subterranean rooms of Nero’s palace. It was discovered that beautiful, intricate frescoes remained, preserved from dampness by the buildings above. Since then, various restoration projects have taken place and are ongoing, with guided tours of parts of the complex now available.

A view of the modern port of Anzio, site of the
former Roman coastal city of Antium

Travel tip:

The site of the Roman resort of Antium is occupied in part by Anzio, a fishing port about 57km (35 miles) south of Rome on the coast of Lazio. As well as being the birthplace, according to some historians, of both Nero and Caligula, Antium was popular with Romans as a place to build a summer residence. The remains of numerous villas exist along the coastline, including Nero’s own Domus Neroniana, and many Roman works of art have been discovered in the area. Anzio’s other significance in history is that it was the location chosen for a massive Allied landing in January 1944, as a result of which the town was badly damaged in fighting between the invasion force and German troops determined to prevent their advance on Rome. Much of it therefore had to be rebuilt. 

Also on this day:

1249: The death of Venetian doge Jacopo Tiepolo

1374: The death of the poet Francesco Petrarca, generally known as Petrarch

1631: The death of philosopher Cesare Cremonini

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Battle of the Milvian Bridge in Rome

How Christianity became official religion of the Roman Empire

A 17th-century Flemish painting in the style of Italian
artist Giulio Romano imagines a battle scene

Roman emperor Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius in a battle at the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio), a vital point for crossing the River Tiber, on this day in 312 in Rome.

The battle was a crucial moment in a civil war that ended with Constantine I as sole ruler of the Roman Empire and Christianity established as the empire’s official religion.

The Roman Empire was being torn apart by different factions at war with each other at the beginning of the fourth century.

Although Constantine - known also as Constantine the Great - was declared Emperor at York in 306, his brother in law and rival, Maxentius, later claimed the imperial title in Rome.

In 312, Constantine led a force to march on Rome. Troops fighting for Maxentius lay in wait for them next to the River Tiber at Pons Milvius (Ponte Milvio, which had been partially dismantled to stop the attacking force crossing the river).

It is said that Constantine had a dream before the battle and saw the sun, the object of his own worship, overlain by the figure of a cross. Beneath the cross was the message in hoc signo vinces (in this sign prevail).

A bust of Constantine I - originally from
a statue - in Rome's Capitoline Museum

The next morning Constantine ordered his men to paint crosses on their shields and then they marched into war as Christian soldiers.

Constantine’s victory owed a lot to his skill as a general. He realised Maxentius had placed his troops too near the river and hurled his cavalry against them, breaking their ranks and leaving them no room to regroup as the rear was too close to the Tiber.

Then Constantine ordered his infantry to push forward, leaving the infantry of Maxentius no room to manoeuvre.

The stone bridge had been reduced in width to keep Constantine and his men back and Maxentius and his troops had crossed the river using an improvised pontoon construction.

But the decision taken by Maxentius to retreat using the temporary pontoon proved fatal and he drowned in the Tiber along with some of his men. According to contemporary sources his body was later fished out of the Tiber and decapitated.

Constantine took Rome the next day and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Arch of Constantine in Rome was erected in celebration of his victory. He later relocated the imperial capital to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople in honour of himself.

The Ponte Milvio in Rome as it is today

Travel tip:

Ponte Milvio was later restored and is still a strategically important bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome. It became famous again in 2006 because of a book and a film. A tradition of locking padlocks, (lucchetti dell’amore), to bridges, railings and lamp posts to demonstrate never-ending love started after the publication of Ho voglio di te (I want you) by Federico Moccia, and the release of the film of the same name, starring Riccardo Scamarcio and Laura Chiatti. In the story, young lovers tie a chain and padlock around a lamppost at the side of Ponte Milvio in Rome, inscribe their names on it, lock it and then throw the key into the River Tiber, suggesting they will be together forever. This has since been copied throughout Italy and hundreds of love locks have had to be removed from Ponte Milvio and the Accademia and Rialto bridges in Venice. The lamppost featured in the novel began to collapse under the weight of all the padlocks in 2007 and afterwards all parts of Ponte Milvio were used by couples. Rome’s city council has introduced a 50 euro fine for anyone attaching a love lock. The bridge also became a notorious place for AS Roma football fans to gather to attack fans of the opposing team on route to the Stadio Olimpico on match days.

The Arch of Constantine can be found close to
the Colosseum in the centre of Rome

Travel tip:

The Arch of Constantine was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius and was officially dedicated to the Emperor in 315. It is located in Via di San Gregorio, between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, and spans the route taken by victorious military leaders entering the city. It is the largest triumphal arch in Rome at 21 meters high, 25.9 meters wide and 7.4 metres deep. The arch served as the finish line for the marathon event at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Also on this day:

1639: The death of composer Stefano Landi

1963: The birth of singer-songwriter Eros Ramazzotti

1973: The death of actor and illustrator Sergio Tòfano

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Domitian - Roman emperor

Authoritarian ruler was last of the Flavian dynasty

Domitian succeeded his brother Titus
as emperor in 81AD

The emperor Domitian, the last of three members of the Flavian dynasty to rule Rome, was born on this day in 51AD.

He was the son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, during whose reigns he had a minor role in the government of the empire that was largely ceremonial. Yet when Titus died suddenly only two years after succeeding his father in 79AD, Domitian quickly presented himself to the Praetorian Guard to be proclaimed emperor.

The official record was that Titus, who had spent virtually the whole of his period on the throne dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD and a devastating fire in Rome, succumbed to a fever on a trip to the Sabine territories north of the city, but there were suspicions that he had been poisoned by his brother, perhaps in revenge for not having been given the position of power he had anticipated when Titus succeeded Vespasian. At the same time, there were rumours of an affair between Titus and Domitian’s wife, Domitia.

Vespasian and Titus had governed as the heads of a republic, but Domitian decided immediately that he wanted absolute power, moving the centre of government to the imperial court and making it clear that, in his view, Rome should be ruled as a divine monarchy. This put him at odds with the Senate from the outset.

Domitian’s best-known accomplishment was to build the Flavian Palace on the Palatine Hill, which was not the only sumptuous home he lavished on himself. He also ordered the construction of the Villa of Domitian, a vast palace situated 20 km (12 miles) outside Rome in the Alban Hills.

How the Flavian Palace complex would have
looked after its completion in 92AD

Yet he did much to restore the many buildings in Rome that had fallen into disrepair even before Vespasian came to power, due to fire and decay. He rebuilt the Capitol, which had been gutted by fire, built a new temple to Jupiter, a new stadium on the site of what is now Piazza Navona, and a concert hall for musicians and poets. 

He sought to raise the standards of public morality by forbidding male castration, also taking action against the homosexuality that was not rare among senators. He was nonetheless seen as a generous leader and was viewed among those around him, at least early in his reign, as considerate towards his friends and fair while dispensing justice.

Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage and enhanced the empire’s borders and fought significant wars in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, in the area now known as Romania.

The Roman population did not mind the authoritarian nature of Domitian’s rule and he was popular too with the army, whose numbers he considerably strengthened. But he was considered a tyrant by members of the Roman Senate.

Rome's senators saw Domitian as
a despot and tyrant

Domitian was only too aware of this and his relationship with the senate caused him to become increasingly paranoid during his 15-year reign. He had a number of Senators executed for treason and banned free speech in an effort to silence opposition to him.  Seemingly out of jealousy, he had Sullustius Lucullus, governor of Britannia, executed for naming a new type of lance after himself.

What really pushed the senate over the edge, historians surmise, was his insistence on being addressed as dominus et deus - master and god.  Senators and their supporters began to plot against him, culminating in his assassination in September 96, apparently instigated by Domitian's chamberlain Parthenius, possibly with the connivance or at least approval of his wife, who feared for her life because of her husband’s increasing lack of trust in even those closest to him.

Several days before the plot reached its bloody conclusion, Domitian claimed that Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, had appeared to the him in a dream, from which the emperor emerged convinced his death would take place at midday. He became anxious at around that time each day.

On the day he was killed, Domitian repeatedly asked Stephanus, a servant, to tell him what time it was. Unbeknown to him, it was Stephanus who had been charged with carrying out the attack and he lied to the emperor, telling him that it was already late in the afternoon.

Reassured, Domitian went to his desk to work, only for Stephanus, who had been wearing a bandage on his arm for several days, pretending he had been injured, to appear at his side, claiming to have uncovered a plot. He handed the emperor a document, which Domitian read eagerly. While the emperor was distracted, Stephanus ripped off the bandage, under which he had been concealing a knife, and stabbed Domitian in the groin. 

Domitian fought back, drawing his own knife and inflicting a fatal wound on his assailant, but others appeared to finish the job.  His body was taken away and cremated, his nurse Phyllis taking his ashes away to be buried at the Flavian Temple. 

Senators could not contain their delight at his death, proclaimed Marcus Cocceius Nerva, a senior consul, as the new emperor,  and soon ordered that statues and arches Domitian built to celebrate his power were pulled down, his coins melted and his name erased from public records. There was said to be indifference among the public, but the army, who remained loyal to him, grieved his loss, and though their demands that the plotters be punished were initially refused, in time a number of trials and executions took place.

Roman historians such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius portrayed Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant in their writings. Yet the view among many modern historians is that Domitian was a ruthless but efficient autocrat whose cultural, economic, and political policies laid the foundations for a period of peace and stability.

A section of the visible remains of the 
Domus Augustana on Rome's Palatine Hill

Travel tip:

The Flavian Palace,  also known as the Domus Flavia, was completed in 92 AD, its design attributed to Domitian’s master architect, Rabirius. Domus Flavia is the name for the northwestern section of the palace, which contained large rooms for official business, entertaining and ceremonial purposes. The domestic wing to the southeast, where the emperor lived, was called the Domus Augustana.  Running along the eastern side of the Domus Augustana was Domitian’s so-called Hippodrome or Stadium, which was actually an elaborate garden with the appearance of a Roman stadium, although it was too small to accommodate the chariot races of which Domitian was an enthusiastic spectator.  The remains sit atop the Palatine Hill.

The Villa of Domitian enjoyed commanding 
views over beautiful Lago Albano outside Rome

Travel tip:

The Villa of Domitian was a vast and sumptuous villa, built between 81 and 96AD, situated 20km (12 miles) outside Rome, in the Alban Hills, in the ancient territory of Ager Albanus, which contained the city of Alba Longa, overlooking the Lago Albano lake. The remains of the villa are located mostly within the estate of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, the traditional summer residence of the popes, with other relics in the towns of Castel Gandolfo and Albano Laziale. Some are visible in the gardens of the Villa Barberini. 

Also on this day:

1784: The birth of philanthropist and businessman Sir Moses Montefiore

1913: The birth of operatic baritone Tito Gobbi

1925: The birth of the avant-garde composer Luciano Berio

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Virgil – Roman poet

Writer’s epic poem commemorates achievements and ideals of Rome

Virgil was held in high regard by the emperor
 Augustus, to whom he read his work

Regarded as the greatest of the Roman poets, Virgil, or Publius Vergilius Maro as he was originally named, was born on this day in 70 BC in the village of Andes near Mantua, in what is now Lombardy.

Virgil is famous for his work, the Aeneid, which told the story of Rome’s founder and the Roman mission to civilise the world under divine guidance. It is widely considered one of the most important poems in the history of Western literature.

Experts have high regard for Virgil’s poetry, not only for the music and diction of his verse and for his skill in constructing an intricate work on a grand scale, but also because of what it reveals about Roman life and behaviour.

Virgil was born of peasant stock and his love of the Italian countryside and the people who worked in it is well reflected in his poetry.

He was educated in Cremona, Milan and Rome and acquired a thorough knowledge of Greek and Roman authors and was trained in rhetoric and philosophy.

When Virgil was 20, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and began the series of civil wars that did not end until Augustus’s victory at Actium in 31 BC.  Hatred and fear of civil war is powerfully expressed by Virgil in his poetry, to which he devoted his whole life.

A 3rd century Roman mosaic depicting Virgil
with the muses Clio and Melpomene

His health was never robust and he was said to be shy and retiring, but as his poetry brought him fame, he won the friendship of important Romans.

His earliest surviving work is the Eclogues, a collection of ten pastoral poems composed between 42 and 37 BC. They describe an imaginary world where shepherds sing in the sunshine about the simple joys of life.

But some of the poems refer to the real world, either directly or through allegory, which gave a new direction to the genre.

The fifth eclogue on the death of the king of the shepherds is thought to have some relationship with the death of Julius Caesar, which was still recent at the time it was written.

Virgil set out to embody his ideal Rome in the Aeneid by telling the story of the foundation of the first settlement in Italy, from which Rome was to spring, by an exiled Trojan prince, Aeneas.

He presented Aeneas as the prototype of the Roman way of life, the last of the Trojans and the first of the Romans. In describing the pictures on his shield, Virgil foreshadowed real events in Roman history.

A leaf from an 18th century
manuscript of the Aeneid

The enthusiasm Virgil felt for the reborn Rome promised by Augustus is evident in the poem. For example, the line: ‘Then shall the harsh generations be softened and wars shall be laid aside.’ Virgil promoted the idea that Rome was divinely appointed first to conquer the world in war and then to spread civilization and the rule of law among the people.

Virgil worked on the Aeneid for 11 years and had not finished its final revisions when he died in 19 BC.

He was on his way to Greece to do research for the revisions but caught a fever on the voyage and returned to Italy. He died soon after his arrival at Brundisium, modern day Brindisi in Puglia in southern Italy. 

There is a story that Virgil’s dying wish was for his epic poem to be burned, but that this was countermanded by the order of Augustus, to whom Virgil had previously read extracts. Therefore the Aeneid survived to commemorate the achievements and ideals of Rome in the Augustan age and keep alive the sensitive voice of the poet himself.

The parish church of Pietole, close
to where Virgil was born

Travel tip:

According to legend, the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil is the village of Andes, now called Pietole Vecchia, which is a short distance from the centre of Pietole in modern Virgilio. The comune - municipality - of Virgilio is cited as ‘Pietoli patria di Virgilio’ in the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museums. Modern day Virgilio is a frazione - hamlet - of the comune of Borgo Virgilio in the province of Mantua in Lombardy. It is about 130 km (81 miles) southeast of Milan and about six km (4 miles) south of Mantua.

The tomb of Virgil, at the entrance to the 
grotta vecchia in Piedigrotta, near Naples

Travel tip:

Virgil’s tomb is at the entrance to an ancient Roman tunnel, ‘grotta vecchia’, in Piedigrotta, a district 3km (1.9 miles) from the centre of Naples, near Mergellina and Fuorigrotta, on the road heading north along the coast to Pozzuoli. The verse inscription at the tomb has been translated as: ‘Mantua gave me life, the Calabrians took it away, Naples holds me now, I sang of pastures farms and commanders.’ In the Middle Ages, Virgil’s name became associated with miraculous powers and his tomb was a destination for pilgrims. The poets Petrarch and Boccacio were among those who visited. At the time of Virgil’s death there was a large bay tree near the entrance, but according to a local legend, the tree died when Dante died, so Petrarch planted a new one in its place. However, visitors took branches from it as souvenirs and so the second tree died as well. The tomb remains a tourist attraction and still contains a tripod burner, which was originally dedicated to Apollo, but Virgil’s ashes were lost while being moved during the Middle Ages.

Also on this day:

1764: Edward Gibbon in Rome is inspired to write his ‘Decline and Fall’

1785: The birth of painter Giovanni Migliara

1905: The birth of footballer Angelo Schiavio, whose goal won Italy’s first World Cup

1964: The birth of astronaut Roberto Vittori

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Diocletian - Roman emperor

Restored stability but launched cruel purge

Diocletian was from a humble family
in what is now Solin in Croatia

A Roman cavalry commander who went under the name of Diocles was proclaimed Emperor on this day in 284.

He was given the full name Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus according to official inscriptions. He ruled as Diocletian.

Diocletian was sole emperor, albeit initially with a disputed claim to power, until 286, joint-emperor until 293, and co-emperor in a tetrarchy until 305.

Born at Salona, a coastal town in Dalmatia (now Solin in Croatia) into a family of humble status in 244, Diocletian rose to power through his military background.

After climbing through the ranks, he became cavalry commander to the emperor Carus. After the death of Carus in 283, while on a campaign in Persia, power passed to his two sons, Numerian and Carinus.

When Numerian was allegedly murdered by his Praetorian Prefect, Arrius Aper, in 284, Diocletian was proclaimed as emperor by Numerian’s troops. He took it upon himself to avenge the death of Numerian by killing Aper with his own hands.

At the start, however, Diocletian’s power was restricted to the areas controlled by his army, thought to be Asia Minor and Syria. The remainder of the empire was loyal to Carinus.

Carinus, who Diocletian
defeated to win power

A struggle for outright power ensued, coming to a head at the Battle of the Margus in 285, in which a critical factor is thought to have been the defection of Aristobulus, the Praetorian Prefect of Carinus, to fight on the side of Diocletian. Carinus was subsequently assassinated, leaving Diocletian as sole ruler.

It was not long before Diocletian decided that the empire was too large to be governed by one ruler alone and in 286 he appointed Maximian, a trusted military colleague, as co-emperor. While Diocletian ruled in the east, Maximian was in charge of the west.

In 293 there was a further devolution as Diocletian introduced the Tetrarchy - rule of four - a system under which each emperor appointed a caesar - a junior co-emperor - of his choice, who would take over as emperor in the event of their deaths.  Under the system, each co-emperor ruled over a quarter of the empire. The sharing of power, moreover, ensured that the death of one of the four would not lead to the upheaval that inevitably followed the death of a sole ruler.

These new caesars were Galerius in the east and in the west Constantius Chlorus, who ran Gaul and Britain and was the father of the future Constantine the Great.

An artist's reconstruction of the vast palace Diocletian
built for himself in what is now Split in Croatia

After the so-called Crisis of the Third Century, a period of barbarian invasions, civil wars, peasant rebellions and political instability, Diocletian brought stability. His army secured the empire's borders, while he sought out and eliminated his political rivals within those borders.

He reorganised the military and civil services and established new administrative centres in the four segments of the empire. The government of the empire worked more efficiently, although the creation of new layers of bureaucracy alongside the military campaigns came at a cost, as did the construction of a colossal palace complex in Dalmatia, so vast it today accounts for about half of what is known as the ‘old town’ in Split.  His new tax system was seen as more equitable, but taxes were generally higher.

Diocletian is also known for instigating the Diocletianic Persecution, which was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the history of the empire.

Although there was a persecution under Nero in around 64AD, for most of the first 250 years of the religion’s history, Christians had mostly been able to live in the Roman Empire in relative peace, go about their business and even attain positions of responsibility.

Christians were frequently made to fight for their lives
against lions during the Diocletianic Persecution

The roots of the Diocletianic Persecution are unclear, but it is thought that it was urged by Galerius, a fanatic follower of the traditional Roman religion who wanted to see unity, with no tolerance given to what was seen by some as a foreign, separatist cult who were operating as a state within the state.

In 303, the co-emperors issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods.

Galerius, who succeeded Diocletian in 305, continued the persecution until 311.  It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 Christians were executed over the eight years of the purge, although the objective of annihilating Christianity was not achieved.  The creation of so many martyrs actually strengthened the Christian church.

Diocletian had abdicated in 305, in poor health, retiring to his palace in Split. He spent much of his remaining years gardening, rejecting a suggestion by Maximian that he should return to politics. He died in 313.

The Roman columns in front of the Basilica of San
Lorenzo is the best known Roman relic in Milan

Travel tip:

The capital of the Western Roman Empire, from which Maximian ruled, was Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands.  It was during Maximian’s reign that the population of Mediolanum grew from around 40,000 to more than 100,000, establishing it as one of the major cities on the Italian peninsula.  Most of the Roman ruins still visible in Milan today are located between Piazza San Sepolcro (near the Duomo) and Corso Magenta.  Among the most well-preserved examples of Roman construction in Milan can be found at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, in front of which is a colonnade of 16 Corinthian columns which were previously part of a second-century pagan temple.  The Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio contains the so-called ‘Tomb of Stilicho’, thought to contain the sarcophagus of Flavius Stilicho, a high-ranking Roman general.

The ruins of the Baths of Diocletian are part of a complex that
includes the Basilica of  Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Travel tip:

The name of Diocletian is preserved in the Baths of Diocletian in Rome, built between 298 and 306 and the largest of the imperial baths, originally commissioned by Maximian. The baths occupy high-ground on the Viminal hill, the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, near what are today the Piazza della Repubblica and Termini rail station. They served as a bath for residents of the Viminal, Quirinal and Esquiline quarters. The excavation is one of the most accessible in Rome and requires about an hour and a half to look round.

Also on this day:

1851: The birth of Queen Margherita of Savoy

1902: The birth of World Cup-winning goalkeeper Giampiero Combi

1914: The birth of fashion designer Emilio Pucci

1978: The death of artist Giorgio de Chirico


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Augustus - the first Emperor of Rome

Great nephew of Julius Caesar became powerful leader

A statue of Augustus by an unknown
sculptor, in the Vatican Museum in Rome

Augustus, who history recognises as the first Emperor of Rome, was born Gaius Octavius on this day in 63 BC in Rome.

He was to lead Rome’s transformation from republic to empire during the stormy years following the assassination of his great-uncle and adoptive father Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic.

The son of a senator and governor in the Roman Republic, Octavius was related to Caesar through his mother, Atai, who was Caesar’s niece. The young Octavius was raised in part by his grandmother Julia Caesaris - Caesar’s sister - in what is now Velletri, about 40km (25 miles) southeast of Rome.

Octavius was only 17 when he learned of his great uncle’s death, although he had begun to wear the toga - a symbol of manhood - at 16 and fought alongside Caesar in Hispania (Spain), where his bravery prompted Caesar to name him in his will as his heir and successor.

When Caesar died, his allies rallied around Octavius - now known as Octavian - against Mark Antony, his rival for power, and troops loyal to Octavian defeated Antony’s army in northern Italy. However, the future emperor stepped back from seeking to eliminate Mark Antony, preferring that they formed an alliance.

In 43 BC, Octavian, Antony and Marcus Aemilus Lepidus established the Second Triumvirate. They divided Rome’s territories between them, with Antony given the East, Lepidus Africa and Octavian the West. In 41 BC, Antony began his famous romantic and political alliance with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt.

The Battle of Actium, as depicted by the 17th century
Flemish painter Laureys a Castro

A decree of the Senate forced Antony to marry Octavian’s sister Octavia Minor, but his affair with Cleopatra continued. In 32 BC he divorced Octavia, at which Octavian declared war on Cleopatra.

The conflict culminated the following year in the naval Battle of Actium, in which Octavian’s fleet, under his admiral Agrippa, defeated Antony’s ships. Cleopatra sent her navy in support of her lover before the two fled, returning to Egypt, where both in turn committed suicide.

With Lepidus already ousted from the Triumvirate some years earlier, Octavian was now Rome’s undisputed ruler.

It was expected he would follow Caesar's example and make himself dictator, but instead, in 27 BC, Octavian founded the Roman Principate, a monarchy-type system of government, the head of which held power for life. He took the name Augustus, meaning 'lofty' or 'serene'.

He controlled all aspects of the Roman state, with the army under his direct command.  The victory at Actium had enabled him to seize Cleopatra’s assets, which he used to pay his soldiers handsomely, securing their loyalty.  To keep the Senate and ruling classes onside, he kept some of the laws of the Roman Republic intact, while he won over the people by embarking on a large programme of reconstruction and social reform, which saw the city of Rome transformed with impressive new buildings.

Frescoes adorning the walls of what is accepted to have been the villa
Augustus built for himself on Rome's Palatine Hill

By creating a standing army, Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana, during which Rome avoided large-scale conflict for more than 200 years, although there were numerous smaller wars on the Empire's frontiers in a campaign of expansion designed to push back ‘barbarian’ enemies.

At home, Augustus reformed taxation, developed networks of roads, created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome and established the Praetorian Guard.

Augustus died in 14 AD. He had been married three times, first to Mark Antony’s stepdaughter Clodia Pulchra, then to Scribonia, who bore his only child, Julia the Elder. He divorced in 39 BC to marry Livia Drusilla, who had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus.

He had Tiberius briefly marry his daughter, after which, in the absence of a male blood heir, he adopted Tiberius as son and successor, his nephew Marcellus and his grandsons Gaius and Lucius having pre-deceased him.

His remains were buried in a mausoleum, the ruins of which are in the Piazza Augusto Imperatore in the Campo Marzio district of Rome, near the Tiber river.

The Corso della Repubblica in the centre of Velletri, the
town outside Rome where Augustus's family lived

Travel tip:

Velletri, from which Augustus’s family originated, is a town of around 50,000 inhabitants outside Rome in the Alban Hills. It has a fourth century cathedral, the Cathedral of San Clemente, which was originally built over the ruins of a pagan temple, but was rebuilt in the 17th century and given a Renaissance-style portal.  Once a popular place for Rome's wealthiest to build their country villas, the town suffered extensive damage during bombing raids in the Second World War, although the cathedral survived.  In the 15th century, Velletri had the dubious claim to fame of being the host to what is believed to have been the world's first pawnshop.

Roman remains at Largo di Torre Argentina in the heart of
Rome, where Julius Caesar is said to have been slain

Travel tip:

The place where Julius Caesar was killed is in a square in Rome called Largo di Torre Argentina in the Campo de’ Fiori area of the city and there are still remains from the period there. During demolition work in 1927, a marble statue was found and excavations brought to light a holy area with four temples and part of a theatre, next to which was the Curia Pompeia where Caesar was stabbed.

More reading:

The murder of Julius Caesar

The assassination of Caligula by the Praetorian Guard

The death of Nero

Also on this day:

1597: The birth of Francesco Barberini, the inquistor who refused to condemn Galileo

1943: Mussolini proclaims his Italian Social Republic

1956: The birth of World Cup hero Paolo Rossi


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