Flavia Domitilla (saint)

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Flavia Domitilla was daughter of Domitilla the Younger by an unknown father. She married her cousin, the consul Titus Flavius Clemens.

[edit] In Roman literature

Quintilian [1] reports that he had been entrusted with the tutelage of two of Domitian's grandsons. These should be the children of this Domitilla and Clemens.

Suetonius states that Domitian designated Clemens' children his successors whilst they were still very young, before their parents' fall, and renamed them Titus and Vespasian.[2]

Dio reports[3]:

Domitian slew, along with many others, Flavius Clemens the consul, although he was a cousin and married to Flavia Domitilla, who was also a relative of the emperor's. The charge brought against them both was that of atheism (αθεοτση), a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned. Some of these were put to death, and the rest were at least deprived of their property. Domitilla was merely banished to Pandateria (Ventotene).

Suetonius also states that Domitilla's steward Stephanus was involved in the final, successful plot against Domitian.[4]

[edit] In Jewish tradition

According to the Talmud, both she and her husband converted to Judaism, after having contact with the great Rabbincal Sage Rabbi Akiva (Akiba ben Joseph). This may integrate with the tradition of her as a Christian (see below).

[edit] As a Christian saint

Saint Flavia Domitilla
Born 1st century, Rome
Died 90s, Pontia or Pandateria
Venerated in Greek Orthodox Church
(formerly) Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine Santi Nereo e Achilleo
Feast May 12
Saints Portal
See also: Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla and Pancratius

Flavia Domitilla is a saint in the Greek Orthodox Church, which celebrates her feast day on 12 May. She was for some time treated also as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, which honoured her on 12 May together with Saints Nereus and Achilleus, in whose church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo in Rome, her supposed relics were housed. Her name was not linked with theirs in the Tridentine Calendar of Pope Pius V. It was added in 1595, and was removed in 1969 on the grounds that the honours paid to her had no basis in tradition.[5]

Eusebius of Caesarea[6], the spurious acts of Nereus and Achilles, and St. Jerome[7] represent Flavia Domitilla as the niece, not the wife of the consul Flavius Clemens, and say that her place of exile was Pontia, an island also situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea. These statements have given rise to the opinion that there were two Domitillas (aunt and niece) who were Christians, and latter generally referred to as Flavia Domitilla the Younger. Lightfoot has shown that this opinion, adopted by Tillemont and De Rossi and still maintained by many writers (among them Allard and Duchesne), is derived entirely from Eusebius who was led into this error by mistakes in transcription, or ambiguity of expression, in the sources which he used. He mentions only the conversion of Domitilla, saying that she was the daughter of Clemens' sister, and that she was deported to the island of Pontia (compare also his "Chronicle," year 98). Eusebius must refer to some other Flavia Domitilla.

When Domitian had decreed that in 30 days, the Senate would confirm an edict to kill all Jews and Christians in the Roman Empire, Domitilla convinced her husband to stand up for the Jews. When there were 5 days left until the edict would be voted on by the Senate, she convinced him to commit suicide in order to postpone the Senate vote, in hopes that God would bring a miracle in the extra time. Since Clemens was the Roman Consul, if he were to die, another Consul would have to be elected before the Senate could pass any decisions. It took a long time to elect a new Consul, so this was one way he could help save the Jews. Domitian executed Titus Flavius Clemens the next day. She had two sons by him, whom Domitian made his own heirs, but they died as young teenagers. The plan worked, and her steward Stephanus was able to assassinate Domitian before the decree was finalized. She was banished by her uncle Domitian to the island Pandataria, where she died mourning her husband.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Quintilian, "Institutio Oratoria," iv. 1, § 2
  2. ^ Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 12
  3. ^ Epitome of Cassius Dio, 67.4
  4. ^ Domitian, 17
  5. ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), p. 123
  6. ^ Historia Ecclesiae, III, 18; Chron. ad an. Abrahami, 2110
  7. ^ Ep., CVIII, 7.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Heinrich Grätz, Die Jüdischen Proselyten im Römerreiche, pp. 28 et seq.
  • idem, Gesch. 3d ed., iv. 403
  • Lebrecht, in Geiger's Jüd. Zeit. xi. 273
  • Berliner, Gesch. der Juden in Rom, p. 39
  • Kraus, Roma Sotterranea, p. 41, Freiburg-in-Breisgau, 1873
  • Reinach, Fontes Rerum, Judaicaram, i. 195
  • Prosopographia Imperii Romani, ii. 81.

[edit] External links

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.