Thursday, August 17, 2006

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¤ DACIA A rugged, mountainous land located north of the Danube River in the areas of present-day Transylvania and eastern Hungary. Dacia became a target for Roman strategic interests and, despite the fierce opposition of its native people, served as an imperial province from around 106 to 271 A.D.

» An Independent Kingdom

The Dacians probably came from a Thracian stock and moved into the region sometime in the 7th or 6th century B.C. They were joined by the Getae, with whom they shared certain cultural and linguistic similarities. The Dacians warred with their neighbors, especially the Getae, but a certain geographic isolation allowed them to survive often catastrophic struggles and to retain dominance. Situated south of the Carpathian Mountains, they developed an identifiable culture, and by the 1st century B.C. they were the leading tribe of the region. A stable leadership was all that the Dacians required for greatness.

Around 61 B.C., Burebista emerged as the king of the Dacians. He organized and improved the socio-economic coalition of the people and launched a vast campaign of conquest against the surrounding chiefdoms and clans. Burebista destroyed the Boii, the Taurisci and the Bastarnae before ravaging Thrace and threatening the entire Danube and Black Sea territories. His success brought Dacia not only to the attention of Rome but also into direct involvement in its politics, when Pompey sought the king as an ally in 48 B.C. Julius CAESAR was certainly aware of the growing menace presented by Burebista and planned an expedition against him. Both rulers were assassinated, however, in 44 B.C. The Dacian kingdom fell apart amid turmoil and civil strife. Octavian (AUGUSTUS) nevertheless worried about the frontier and possible alliances between Marc ANTONY and the Dacians. He too plotted an expedition around 35 B.C.; because of Antony, he had to propose a marriage with the daughter of Cotiso, the new Dacian king. The war with Antony prevented the completion of such designs, and no settlement of the Dacian question was forthcoming during Augustus' reign.

Despite several small conflicts, no serious campaigns were mounted, and Augustus had to content himself with simple containment of the state. He claimed in his Res Gestae that the Dacians had been subdued. This was mere propaganda, because Dacian troops frequently crossed the Danube to ravage parts of Pannonia and Moesia, especially during the winter when the river froze. During Tiberius' reign (14-37 A.D.) efforts were made to maintain the established frontier, but even he had to move allied people away from the Dacian reach, especially the lazyges and the Roxolani. These tribes were transported to Moesia during the years of Nero. In 69 A.D., even more serious inroads were made in Moesia as the Roxolani feuded with the Dacians. No Roman retribution was immediately forthcoming, but a collision was inevitable as the new king of Dacia made his move in 85 A.D.

Sometime between 69 and 85, a powerful and gifted warrior named DECEBALUS gained undisputed mastery over the Dacians. He proved to be an excellent ruler, rebuilding the unity of the land and improving the already formidable military strength of the army. The governor of Moesia, Oppius SABINUS, found himself beset by an invasion in 85 and was defeated and killed with much of the V Alaudae Legion. The war between Rome and Dacia had begun. Emperor DOMITIAN hurried to Moesia with reinforcements. He pushed the Dacians out of the imperial territory and then returned to Rome. Cornelius Fuscus, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, remained to launch a campaign into Dacia itself. He suffered a rout and death as the entire Danube was again threatened. The emperor returned to gain a victory at Tapae, near a pass called the Iron Gates. Decebalus accepted terms for a temporary peace in 89, knowing that he was unchallenged in the field.

For a time Decebalus accepted his role as a client of Rome, but Dacian interests propelled his people into another war. TRAJAN began the greatest series of battles in Dacia's history in March 101, and by 106, all of Decebalus' realm was vanquished. Decebalus died by his own hand. With all of Dacia in his control, Trajan made the momentous decision to declare it an imperial province within the Roman Empire.

For the next 164 years the remnants of the Dacians lived under the rule of outsiders and endured the arrival of foreign colonists. Those Dacian refugees who fled their homeland or were expelled kept alive their traditions and culture. Starting in the 3rd century A.D., they became the extremely dangerous barbarian force of the CARPI. As imperial power collapsed in the provinces in the face of the Goths and others, the evacuation of Dacia became necessary, and in 270-271, the Dacians were reunited as a nation, witnessing the return of their culture.

As a people, the Dacians pursued the traditional GetoDacian way of life, with agriculture and cattle raising, but also developed a Celtic/Thracian style of mining and superb metal crafting arts. The Carpathian Mountains were abundant in gold, silver and iron, and the Dacians profited handsomely from the wares forged and carved out of these natural resources. Later economic ties provided the wealth so essential for the rise of cities and nationalism.

Mines, treasures and unity of purpose attracted other peoples, and by the 1st century B.C., foreign cultural influences could be seen. The Germanic-Sarmatian tribes surrounding Dacia, subdued and controlled by Burebista, nevertheless played a distinct role in Dacian culture, especially in fostering anti-Roman sentiments.

» An Imperial Province

The Roman occupation of Dacia first aimed at reducing the inevitable resistance through a program that called for the garrisoning of troops throughout the province and the use of the LIMES, the defensive system proven in other regions. Rome moved quickly to make its occupation permanent. In 118-119, Hadrian divided Dacia into Superior and Inferior and divided the Superior region again in 124 A.D., forming a Dacia Porolissensis. Three provinces thus prevented a national uprising, and the presence of one governor to watch over all three kept intelligence well in hand.

The major source of imperial influence, however, came not from the legions or legates but from simple colonists and merchants. From all over the the Empire, especially from the Danubian provinces, farmers and founders of coloniae arrived to receive tracts of land and to take up residence in Dacian territories. Sarmizegethusa was declared a colonia to exemplify its status as a provincial capital.

Colonial communities made cultural life in Dacia a very mixed and decidedly cosmopolitan affair. The Dacians retained their names and their own ways in the midst of the newcomers, and the region continued to exhibit Dacian characteristics. Outside the province, however, those Dacians who had fled their homeland bided their time, watching the Romans drain their native territory of gold while rebuilding and improving their cities. Workers labored in the mines of Dacia to bring out the gold, silver and other metals desired by the emperors. The Dalmatians were noted for their mining skills, and Trajan erected many buildings in Rome with resources stripped from Dacia. Cities in the Dacian provinces did gain as a result of Roman interest. The greatest of these, aside from Sarmizegethusa, was Apulum. The one-time camp of the legions grew in size until it achieved both municipal and colonial rank. When Dacia was separated into several provinces, Apulum served first as the chief community of Dacia Superior. Later the governor of the entire region resided there.

From the start the Roman Empire faced problems with Dacia. Strategically the stable line of defense had always rested upon the Danube, and the Dacian kingdom extended well north of the Danubian provinces. Its borders fronted such troublesome groups as the Roxolani, the Sarmatians and worst of all, from a Roman perspective, the Goths. Maintaining the frontier proved increasingly difficult as the Carpi and the Goths pushed into Transylvania. Their organization and strength increased at the same time that Rome was beset by the crises of the mid-3rd century A.D. AURELIAN, who headed the relatively successful military recovery, nevertheless decided that the Dacian holdings were far too exposed. He made the decision to evacuate all of Dacia. Parts of Moesia were seized in order to form yet another province for the evacuees, but the prize of Dacia was surrendered to its native peoples forever.

¤ DALMATIA See ILLYRICUM.

¤ DALMATIUS, FLAVIUS (d. c. 337 A.D.) A member of the large House of the Constantines, the half-brother of CONSTANTINE the Great, by Constantius I Chlorus and Theodora. As a relative of the emperor, he had various positions of authority, including a censorship and consulship in 333. From 334 to 335, he held a command in the Eastern Empire, where he put down a revolt of Calocaerus, whom he put to death in Tarsus. In 335, he saved ATHANASIUS from persecution at the Council of Tyre but died, probably in 337, as part of the terrible massacre instigated by the heirs of Constantine, following that ruler's death.

¤ DALMATIUS, FLAVIUS JULIUS (d. 337 A.D.) Son of Flavius DALMATIUS and nephew of CONSTANTINE the Great; reportedly a favorite of his uncle, he received an education at Toulouse. On September 18, 335, he was granted the title of Caesar and was no doubt included in the intended division of the Empire at Constantine's death. His territories, according to the will, were to include Thrace, Macedonia and Achaea. CONSTANTIUS n was apparently jealous of him, and in 337, after the death of Constantine, a massacre took place within the family and palace. Dalmatius was put to death along with his father and many other relatives.

¤ DAMASCUS Large, ancient city in southern Syria on the banks of the Chrysorrhoas River, east of Phoenicia. Damascus has stood for millennia as one of the great centers in Syria and dates to the era of Abraham. It was, however, overshadowed in Roman times by ANTIOCH, the capital of the imperial province, and by PALMYRA. Damascus was directly on the frontier with the Parthian, and later Persian, Empire, and thus was positioned perfectly to receive and distribute the trade coming from the east and from Palmyra. Caravans crossing the arid lands of southern Mesopotamia found the many comforts of the city inviting; under the Empire, trade was abundant, despite the bitter wars with the Parthians and the Sassanids. During the Late Roman Empire, Damascus served with Antioch and Edessa as an arms factory, acquiring a reputation for manufacturing exquisite blades. Its position was always threatened, as Rome lost control over its frontiers.

¤ DAMASUS (c. 304-384 A.D.) Bishop of Rome and pope, from 366 to 384, serving at an intensely troubled time. Of Spanish descent, Damasus entered the service of LIBERIUS, his predecesor as bishop, and became a deacon of the Christian Church. Most of the clergy and the laity supported Damasus, but a small and powerful minority chose Ursicinus as a candidate for the bishopric. Both men were elected in rival churches, and fighting erupted in the streets, causing the death of some 137 people. Having worked for Liberius, Damasus had made many friends in the government, and Emperor Valentinian I stepped into the dispute. The emperor exiled Ursicinus and declared Damasus to be pope. The archives of his predecessor were carefully maintained, several new churches were built and steps were taken to honor the martyrs. The tombs of the martyrs were elaborately decorated with poems written by Damasus and carved by the famous Filocalus. Damasus also worked against the rampant heresies of the time, corresponding with Basil of Caesarea, with an eye toward eliminating ARIANISM. He was reportedly fond of stylish attire.

¤ DAMNATIO MEMORIAE A severe element in the penalty for MAIESTAS (treason). According to its terms, the name (praenomen) of the charged was to be expunged, thus ensuring that the name would not be passed on to a next generation. Additionally, the name was scratched off all inscriptions, and any statues or images of the condemned were destroyed. Several emperors were subject to the damnatio memoriae, such as Nero and Didius Julianus.

¤ DANUBE One of the great rivers of the Roman Empire, serving for centuries as the northern frontier of imperial territory. The river bore two names: The Upper Danube, from its source in Germania to the city of Vienna, was called Danubius, and the Lower Danube, from Vienna to the Black Sea, was known as the Ister. Virtually every province from the Alps to Asia bordered the river, including RAETIA, NORICUM, PANNONIA, ILLYRICUM, MOESIA and THRACE. Emperor Augustus (ruled 27 B.C.-14 A.D.) determined that the Danube would be a natural border betwen the provinces and the barbarians of the north. As he plotted the means by which he could unite the regions of Greece and Macedonia with Italy and Gaul, he launched several punitive expeditions over the Danube into DACIA, to reduce the pressures from the tribes there. Thus Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus attacked from 7 to 2 B.C., as possibly did M. Vinicius. In 6 A.D., a more concerted effort was headed by TIBERIUS, whose operations were cut short by a massive revolt in Illyricum and Pannonia.

The uprising pointed to a perennial weakness in the entire frontier. Tribes on both sides of the Danube were unstable and unreliable; Rome stationed anywhere from seven to 12 legions on the Danube at any given time. Auxiliary troops probably were first used in support of these legions. A fleet sailed the river well into the 5th century, when the Praetorian prefect of Constantinople, ANTHEMLUS, reorganized the ships and boats and made them far more effective. Strategically essential to Roman supremacy, the Danube inevitably became a battleground between the Empire and the ever-changing peoples of Dacia and beyond. TRAJAN, from around 100 to 106 A.D., waged a large war against DECEBALUS of Dacia, based on the Danube. He subsequently made Dacia a province and eased the burden on the Danubian line. Trajan's dream would not last beyond the 3rd century A.D., for the sheer length of the frontier made defense difficult in the face of an organized or massive foe.

After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 180, and in the face of the reluctance of his heir, Commodus, to carry on conquests, instability was inevitable. Throughout the century the Goths threatened the province, and in 249, KNIVA, the king of the Goths, caused havoc. In 251, Emperor Trajanus Decius fell in battle near the Danube, and from 254 to 261 the once secure border to the north was overrun. Although Constantine would campaign effectively, the problems inherent with the river were a contributing factor in the decision to create a new Roman capital, closer to this chronic theater of operations. But even Constantinople could not halt the march of the Goths, and in 378, pushed by migratory peoples farther to the east, these hard-fighting barbarians settled across the Danube. That same year they crushed Emperor Valens at ADRIANOPLE, ending forever imperial hopes of ruling the region. The Danube was worshipped by the local tribes, such as the Getae, Thracians, Marcomanni and Dacians, as a living god of nature.

¤ DAPHNE A Greek deity worshipped by the Greeks and Romans. It was said that Apollo saw Daphne and fell madly in love and eagerly pursued her. But she refused his advances, and when he did not stop his attentions, she called out to her divine mother, Gaia, Mother Earth, for aid. She transformed her into a laurel tree. To the Romans Daphne epitomized the virtue of virginity. Her symbol was the laurel wreath, as Apollo honored her by wearing one himself. In Antioch there was a grove named Daphne, where stood a temple of Apollo. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.

¤ DATIANUS (d. after 365 A.D.) Consul, senator and COMES under Constantine the Great and Constantius II. Datianus had considerable influence in the imperial court at Constantinople. He was the son of a bath attendant who made the most of his opportunities. He learned to read and write, mastered the shorthand of the period and became one of the NOT ARU. In 337, Constantius became emperor, and Datianus served as one of his closest advisors. Over the next years his offices and power increased. He became a senator of Constantinople, a comes circa 345, consul in 358 and a patrician sometime before 360. He was the one who wrote to Athanasius, bestowing upon him the right to return to Alexandria, and his status in the court clearly did not die with Constantius in 361. Datianus was a member of the confidential circle of Emperor Jovian, and when Jovian died in 364, he wrote to the imperial ministers at Nicaea, trying to find a new ruler and heartily recommending Valentinian.

¤ DEA DIA Ancient Roman goddess whose special area of divine concern was the fertility of the annual crops. Her sacred residence was a grove, and her ministers, the ARVAL BRETHREN. The Arval Brethren performed the worship rituals of Dea Dia in May, as part of their regular priesthood duties. The festival took place over a four-day period (actually three days, with one day separating the ceremonies of the first and second days). Opening rites included prayers at the home of the head of the brethren, the magister. The second ritual was held at the grove. At dawn the prayers of honor and adoration were sung. Later, bedecked in wreaths of corn ears, the actual sacrifices, the agna opima were made. Feasts concluded the proceedings, as Rome celebrated the abundance of Dea Dia's gifts. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.

¤ DEATH Considered a source of incredible bad luck (to the living) by the Romans, who were great students of fortune and ill. Death was a temporary curse, a funestum that could be overcome with certain traditions and rituals, and the passing of a family member was a solemn occasion. Immediately after the death, the survivors performed the condamatio, or wailing and crying, accompanied by the blowing of horns, which announced the parting of a loved one. Each family member then gave his or her final farewells, the extremum vale. The corpse was washed and anointed, dressed in suitably splendid raiment, according to the person's station in life, and placed upon a bier. Until the period of mourning was ended, no priestly official of Jupiter could approach the house of the deceased or touch the body. A cypress was placed in front of the residence to warn clergy, especially the PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, to stay away.

On the day of the funeral, the body was carried to the final resting place, a location of some importance. The procession included many torchbearers, although cremation was not always the final means of disposal. Cremation was the most common means, however, and bits of bone were retained after the ritual burning. Such remnants were buried, for it was considered essential that the earth cover some part of the body. After the rituals, several days, usually nine, or even weeks passed before the priests declared the burial complete. The ceremonies accompanying the funerals, burials and cremations of the Romans were equally crucial. A pig was sacrificed on occasion, and the purifying prayers were recited for the house. Further sacrifices were also offered to the LARES.

Nine days later, eight after the funeral, offerings were made on the novendiale sacrificium or the final day. Wax masks were hung on the walls, depicting the faces of those who had died. These could be used in the funeral processions as well, worn by actors who played the parts of ancestors who walked with the dead and ushered them into the next world. These rites of parting were called the iusta facere. They had to be performed correctly or the consequences for the departed and the living would be spiritually grievous. If left without burial, or if buried improperly, the spirit of the deceased would walk the earth in an evil mood and might even return to its former abode. Precautions were taken to avoid that possibility, but when necessary, other steps could be taken to keep the dead from causing trouble. Purifications of the house helped, as did the practice of -taking the deceased out of his residence feet first.

More extreme forms of exorcism took place at the somber festival of the dead, the Lemuria, held every May. A ghost could be repulsed by spitting out black beans, and by uttering: "With these you and I are redeemed." Ovid described the Lemuria as a terrible event of three days, filled with the LEMURES and demons roaming the city. The Lemuria was certainly reflective of an ancient view of death, and it was opposed by the newer, more pleasant philosophy behind the Parentalia or Feast of Souls, held from the 13th to the 21st of each February. The Parentalia was a beautiful ceremony, designed to help recall the deceased, be they mother, father, daughter or son. These deceased came not as terrible spirits but as loved ones not to be feared. As such they were honored relatives.

The state used this day to commemorate all dead ancestors, the founders and builders of the greatness that was Rome. There was none of the dread so infused into Ovid's description of the Lemuria. Instead, the Romans faced the prospect of death with an optimism that reasoned that the deceased had been successful in reaching their final goal. A soul or spirit journeyed into the Underworld, and, if all went according to practiced traditions, it would enter there and live with the other transformed spiritual entities, the MANES. The exact structure or landscape of the region remained suitably vague. Christianity, of course, changed Roman concepts about death and the afterlife. Like the pagan gods, the lemures and the manes and their eternal abodes faded or were absorbed into the new religious tenets.

¤ DECANGI A tribe in Britain that probably resided in the area of modern Cheshire. The Decangi (or Deceangi) were victims of the campaign of Ostorius Scapula in 50 A.D. Their lands were ruined and most of their wealth seized outright, a prize of some value considering the lead mines nearby. The newly created province of BRITANNIA would eventually include the Decangi.

¤ DECEBALUS (d. 106 A.D.) King of the Dacians; ruled in DACIA from sometime before 85 A.D. until his death. Decebalus proved an excellent king and a brilliant general, avoiding personal defeat at Roman hands until the reign of TRAJAN. After the fall of Nero in 69 A.D. and several Dacian incursions into the Danubian provinces, the often strife-torn domain of Dacia witnessed the emergence of the warrior Decebalus. He seized the throne and laid claim to the entire country. Under his guidance the once great army was restored to its level in the era of BUREBISTAS, who had ruled from circa 60 to 44 B.C. As a result, the unity of Dacia was unquestioned.

In 85 A.D., Decebalus resolved to defeat his great enemy, Rome. He launched a campaign into Moesia, where he crushed and killed its governor, Oppius Sabinus. Emperor Domitian marched to the province and, after bitter fighting, drove the Dacians back across the Danube. In 86, the Praetorian Prefect Cornelius Fuscus invaded Dacia, only to be annihilated. The Romans returned with reinforcements, driving far into the region and winning a victory at Tapae, near the mountain pass called the Iron Gate, in 88, under the command of Tertius Julianus. Domitian himself returned to take part in the final surrender. Decebalus sued then for peace and in time a treaty was enjoined between Rome and Dacia. Domitian was caught by an uprising in Germania and had to accept terms for a general peace in the area. He recognized Decebalus as a client in return for a promise not to engage in anti-imperial activities. Reasonably satisfied by this arrangement, Rome and Dacia agreed to the pact in 89.

However, the agreement was broken and war broke out in 101. Trajan intended to reduce the pressure along the Danube and Dacia. With hopes of luring the Romans to their destruction, as he had done to Cornelius Fuscus, Decebalus permitted an uncontested advance and then attacked at Tapae - a stalemate. Decebalus used the winter to counterattack, this time in Moesia. His gamble failed, and Trajan won more victories in the spring of 102. To save his capital and to spare his people more hardships, Decebalus capitulated. Trajan allowed him to keep his throne, and Decebalus plotted revenge. In 105, he threw off the cloak of obedience and client status and made war upon the Roman ally, the Iazyges. Accompanied by a vast army, Trajan swept into Dacia, reducing the opposition until at last the great Dacian city of SARMIZEGETHUSA was his. Decebalus fled north in 106 with the few trusted servants he had maintained over the years, finally killing himself in order to avoid capture. As a trophy for the Senate and for the people of Rome, the king's head was dispatched to the Eternal City, and his kingdom became an imperial province.

The historian Dio wrote that Decebalus hid his vast treasure by diverting the course of the Sargetia River, burying the wealth in a large pit, covering it with rocks and then allowing the river to return to its normal path.

¤ DECIUS, GAIUS MESSIUS QUINTUS

Decius, From a Bust of the Emperor.

DECIUS, GAIUS MESSIUS QUINTUS ("Trajanus") (d. 251 A.D.) Emperor from 249 to 251 A.D.; originally from Pannonia and born around 190 A.D. He held various posts in Rome and was probably prefect of the city in 248, when Emperor PHILIP i, plagued with troubles all over the Empire, looked for a suitable general to retore imperial supremacy along the Danube frontier. He chose Decius, who departed for Moesia.

Decius proved an able administrator and general. The Danubian legions were brought back under control and, in a series of engagements, repulsed the invading Goths. As was typical for the age, his success convinced the troops under his command that he should be given the throne. What Decius thought of this initially is unknown, and he may have intended to surrender to Philip eventually. As it was, Philip marched to northern Italy to meet the legions of Decius in September of 249. He lost a battle at Verona, died on the field, and his young son Philip was put to death. A generally obedient Senate granted the new emperor the title of Trajanus. Two major issues dominated the rest of Decius' brief reign: the deliberate and organized persecution of CHRISTIANITY and the war against the Goths.

Beginning in 250, Decius initiated a series of harsh measures against the Christians. Their leaders were arrested, imprisoned and executed. Sacrifices were then ordered, and all citizens of Rome had to make offerings to the gods and in return received certificates guaranteeing their actions and their safety. The Christian Church was thrown into a state of panic, and under relentless pressure Christians everywhere recanted their faith. The death of the religion, however, was prevented by the far greater crisis on the Danubian frontier. In 249, Decius left his post to begin his campaign against Philip - offering KNIVA, the king of the Goths, a golden opportunity. He struck at Moesia. Decius named his son Herennius as Augustus and sent him to Moesia to prepare the way for his own campaigns. Decius arrived in 250 and inflicted a defeat upon Kniva but was then severely checked and forced to flee for the safety of Roman territory at the Danube.

In 251, Decius chose to attack the Goths. In June, near Abrittus, both Decius and his son perished in a disastrous encounter. Trebonianus Gallus succeeded him. Christianity witnessed a softening on the part of the Empire, and the Goths poured into the Balkans. Decius was notable for originating one of the first great persecutions of Christians and for being the first emperor to fall in battle.

¤ DECLAMATIO A declamation; originally a Greek form of oratory, it developed under the Romans into an oratorical exercise, customarily about some abstract or artificial subject. The two types of dedamatio were the suasoria and the controversia. The suasoria was a discussion held by a person with himself on a given topic, usually historical in nature. The controversia was a mock legal proceeding to improve a lawyer's presentation in court. Quintilian noted that this exercise was often taken to extremes, with the orator becoming proficient at speaking on any subject the moment that it was first proposed.

¤ DECURIONES Senate members in municipal towns and colonies. They received their positions as town councillors for life and eventually passed them on as hereditary titles and duties. Former magistrates were chosen according to their wealth and age, coming together to oversee the administrative life of their communities. They became the unhappy and despised classes of the curiales in time. See also CURIALIS.

¤ DEIOTARUS (fl. 1st century B.C.) Ruler of ARMENIA Minor and part of GALATIA for much of the Late Republic. Deiotarus was placed in power by Pompey in 63 B.C., as part of his settlement of the East. From the start he evinced ambitions toward his neighbors in Asia Minor but remained generally reliable as a Roman ally, although he became embroiled in the politics of the Republic. In 59 B.C., the powerful politician P. Clodius Pulcher stripped him of part of his Galatian territory. Deiotarus later chose the wrong side in the CIVIL WAR between Julius Caesar and Pompey (49-45 B.C.), siding with the Pompeians. After the battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C., he apparently pledged himself to Caesar and used his troops to aid Caesar at the battle of Zela in 46. Caesar was aware of his past record, however, and returned his realm to him with marked reductions in size and territory. Mithridates of Pergamum received eastern Galatia, and Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia was given the throne of Armenia Minor. Deiotarus' survival was reportedly due to the intervention of Cicero, a friend whom he had assisted when the famed figure was serving as a governor in Cilicia in 52 B.C. The soldiers of Deiotarus were considered some of the best in his area of the Empire.

¤ DELATORES The informers and accusers of Rome, the professionals who profited from the fall of the great. In the Early Empire legal bias and political desire conspired to make an informer's job both easy and useful. Any accuser would receive one-quarter of the property of the victim if he or she were prosecuted, and certain laws existed in such vague terminology that virtually anyone could come under suspicion.

Two laws formed the foundation of the delatores, the Lex Papia Poppaea and the Lex lulia de maiestate, the law of conspiracy and the law of treason (MAIESTAS). Created by Emperor Augustus for the good of the state, they were open to ridiculous and terrible interpretations by those seeking to intimidate or annihilate a victim. The delatores provided evidence and testimony. There was a lure of promised riches for the creative informer, especially if he could be used by the servants of the state to bring down wealthy or powerful nobles, generals, senators and even members of the royal family.

Tacitus in his Annals bemoaned the development of what he called a steady system of oppression, crediting Emperor Tiberius with the first fostering of its hideous effects in Rome. His reign had not begun with cruelty, and he lent a certain air of common sense to legal proceedings in the beginning. As his reign progressed, however, and as the ambitions of SEJANUS, the Prefect of the PRAETORIAN GUARD, grew, no one was safe from accusation or attack. One of the first delatores mentioned by Tacitus was Romanus Hispo. In 15 A.D. he accused Granius Marcellus, the praetor of Bithynia, of treason and improprieties in his post. Although Granius was acquitted, the entire affair convinced many unscrupulous men of the opportunities awaiting.

More saw the possibilities following the trial of Drusus Libo in 16 A.D. Of the Scribonii, Drusus fell prey to ambitious friends who convinced him to celebrate his heritage, especially his kinship with Pompey. They then brought evidence to Tiberius of treasonable activities. Informers provided the often fanciful details, and Drusus was put on trial before committing suicide. Chief among the delatores who testified at the trial was Fulcinius Trio. He impeached Libo himself and then gained both politically and financially from Libo's demise. Trio's career epitomized the successful delator. Tiberius used him in 20 against Piso, in the famous affair following the death of Germanicus, and then again in 31, to ferret out and crush the supporters of the dead Sejanus. For his efforts, Trio received the consulship of 31.

But just as Tiberius turned on Sejanus in 31, so did the informers themselves face torment and even death. Many associates of the prefect were executed and others died because Tiberius found them no longer useful to his plans. Fulcinius Trio was haunted by the prospect of dying through torture or starvation in a dungeon and killed himself in 35.

Although Claudius launched a program against the delatores in 42, his wife, Empress Messallina, and the leading freedman, Narcissus, gathered slaves and other freedmen into a network of informants who would spy on their owners and superiors. The result was a terrible rebirth of the delatores during the years of Nero and his Praetorian Prefect Ofonius Tigellinus.

The climate for the delatores changed when the Flavians took the throne in 69. Titus disliked informers of every kind and banished them altogether in 79, an act repeated by his stern brother, Domitian, in 81. Their actions were based certainly upon a respect for the rights of the Romans but also upon the improved means of state control and intelligence gathering. Suetonius wrote that Titus would send out detachments of the Praetorian Guard to arrest and murder those he feared or disliked. His assassins were the dangerous SPECULATORES of the guard, the agents, spies and killers of the Praetorian ranks. The speculatores served as one of the early Roman intelligence units, and with the later, far larger and better organized FRUMENTARII, rendered the concept of the delatores obsolete. From them on, all informers were paid by the government, dependent upon imperial spy masters for their wages.

¤ DELDO (d. 29 B.C.) King of the migratory tribe of the Bastarnae (SCYTHIANS), who led a people long accustomed to warfare. The Bastarnae had marched into the Danube region in the middle of the 1st century B.C. There they fought with the Triballi and Moesi, achieving some success. By 30 B.C., however, Deldo looked south to the pastures of northern Macedonia. He launched a sortie over the Haemus Range, thereby attracting the local Roman legions under the command of Marcus Licinius CRASSUS (2). With a sizable army (possibly four legions), Crassus repulsed the Bastarnae in 29 B.C. Deldo then made the mistake of asking to negotiate. By a clever ruse, Crassus maneuvered Deldo and his entire host into a disastrous position on the Cedrus River, a tributary of the Danube. A massacre ensued, and Deldo suffered the unfortunate distinction of being killed in battle by Crassus himself.

¤ DEMETRIUS (fl. 3rd century A.D.) Bishop of Alexandria and the man responsible for the rise of ORIGEN in the Egyptian Church. Needing catechists in the face of the severe persecutions of the period, Demetrius chose Origen to teach in the Alexandrian school. While there, Origen began to acquire his reputation for brilliance, and he traveled to Rome to hear Hippolytus. Demetrius preferred to keep Origen in Alexandria and recalled him to help administer the educational programs of the diocese. Origen gathered increasing renown as a theologian, receiving request for visits from as far away as Arabia; he also preached in Caesarea and Jerusalem. Demetrius, angered by the actions of an underling who had not even been ordained, sent several priests after him.

Around 225 A.D., Origen's writings began to appear, especially his theological and doctrinal treatise on the principle of Christianity. In 230, Origen departed again from Egypt, this time going to Athens. On the way he was ordained a presbyter by the bishops of Jerusalem and Caesarea. Demetrius finally had had enough, and in the following year he excommunicated Origen, a condemnation that Origen refused to accept without debate. At first Origen was successful, as the Eastern prelates supported him and refused to acknowledge Demetrius' jurisdiction. In 232, the formidable Julia Mamaea, the mother of Severus Alexander, granted Origen imperial protection. Defeated, Demetrius administered his see for several years before being succeeded by Heracles, a pupil of Origen.

¤ DEMETRIUS THE CYNIC (fl. 1st century A.D.) Leader of the popular movement of CYNICS. His voice was one of the most vicious and vituperative in a school of philosophy already famed for its harsh attacks on authority. Demetrius was a friend of Seneca and Thrasea Paetus, and was present when Paetus received the order from the Senate that he had to die. Demetrius' activities and associations caused him to be exiled by the Praetorian Prefect Ofonius Tigellinus in 66 A.D.

He returned to Rome in time to see Vespasian upon the throne and immediately returned to his Cynic tactics. He added his formidable skills to the efforts of other Cynics and Stoics, who were heaping abuses on the new emperor. Vespasian at first responded with good humor, but Musonius Rufus convinced the emperor to expel the troublesome philosophers. Demetrius was sent to an island. While others yielded to such threats, the Cynic merely converted his words to paper and continued his war against the monarchy. Vespasian responded to one such attack, saying: "You are doing everything you can to make me kill you, but I do not kill barking dogs." Finally, Demetrius did enough to coerce the emperor, and died at the hands of Roman executioners.

¤ DENARIUS One of the principal silver coins issued both by the Republic and the Empire. Its name was derived from its use as an exchange equivalent for 10 ASSES (a denis assibus). The denarius was first issued circa 269 B.C.

During the period of the Empire, the denarius served as the silver coin of general issue and bore a portrait of the emperor. From the time of Augustus its value decreased as its weight was diminished by the use of bronze. In time it was valued at only one-eighth of its original value, in effect a useless bronze monetary unit. An effort was made at the start of the 3rd century A.D. to revive the worth of the denarius through the striking of a new silver denomination, the ANTONINIANUS, a coin issued by Caracalla. This currency remained in circulation until the time of Diocletian. Around 296 A.D., the denarius was reborn under the name of argenteus. See also COINAGE.

¤ DENTHELETI Known as the Dentheletae, a tribe living in THRACE along the Strymon River. By 29 B.C. they were an ally of Rome under the leadership of their blind King Sitas. In that year the Bastarnae (SCYTHIANS) broke across the Danube and ravaged part of their territory, giving CRASSUS (2) the pretext needed to crush the Bastarnae and drive the barbarians out of the Dentheleti area.

¤ DEXIPPUS, PUBLIUS HERENNIUS (fl. 3rd century A.D.) Historian who was also a figure of prominence in Athens at the time. Born to a wealthy and influential Athenian family, Dexippus became the head of the magistrates in the city, although he did not pursue a career in Roman government. He lived in a era of war and rampant instability on the frontiers. In 267 A.D., the barbarian Heruli broke into the East and ravaged first Cyzicus and Asia and then all of Achaea, including Athens. Dexippus, as the leading citizen of Athens, organized a fighting force and rode to battle. With the very fate of Athens resting on their shoulders, they put the Heruli to flight in a desperate flight.

As a historian, Dexippus authored numerous works of which three are extant, although only in fragments. Scythica recounted the terrible events of the Gothic and Scythian invasions of the mid-3rd century A.D.; Dexippus chose Thucydides as the model for Scythica. His main effort, aside from Scythica and On Alexander, was a history or chronicle. This long work began with Rome's mythical origins and followed the Empire to 268 A.D., or the start of Claudius II Gothicus' reign. Written in 12 books, the work was used quite extensively by authors of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae.

¤ DIADUMENIAN (Marcus Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus) (d. 218 A.D.) Son of Emperor Macrinus, who served his father briefly as Caesar (junior emperor) from 217 to 218 A.D. and as Augustus in 218. He had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from its opportunities because the legions of Syria revolted and declared Elagabalus ruler of the Empire. When Macrinus was defeated on June 8, 218, at Antioch, Diadumenian followed his father in death. According to the Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Diadumenian emulated Macrinus in tyranny. He called upon his father not to spare any who might oppose them or who made plots. His head was cut off and presented to Elagabalus as a trophy.

¤ DIANA Goddess of hunters, an ancient divinity to the Romans; originally considered a goddess of the forest, whose sacred grove stood near Aricia. She was the patroness of hunters, and King Servius Tullius built her a temple on the Aventine Hill, where she became associated both with light (dies, day) and Artemis, the Greek sister of Apollo. Festivals held in honor of Diana were Greek in fashion, although she developed cultic aspects at other functions as well. Just as Artemis had many incarnations - Artemis Arcadia, Artemis Tauria, Artemis Ephesia - so did Diana serve as the goddess of a cult in Ephesus. Her statues displayed her concern for fertility, with a multitude of carved breasts. In Rome she joined with Janus, a god of light and the sun, serving as a consort and depicting the light of the moon. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.

¤ DICTATOR One of the most powerful and unique offices of the Republic and one that would not survive into the Empire. The dictator was a Roman magistrate granted extraordinary authority during time of public need or crisis. Once approved and legally elected, the magister populi, as he was known, held his office for six months but could be elected again if the problems of the time had not subsided. Traditionally, however, a dictator resigned before the expiration of his tenure.

As dictator, a state official was considered the equal of the kings of old but one who ruled by the good wishes of the Romans and was thus tolerated instead of despised. He wore a purple robe and sat upon a throne, the curule chair. Twenty lictors also accompanied him with the FASCES, a bundle of rods enclosing the traditional axe, the securis. A dictator had control over life and death and could be opposed only by the tribunes of the Plebs. His sentence was one from which there could be no appeal, and decisions of peace and war were his to make alone.

In time the position of dictator became troublesome. The bad decisions of some and the possible cruelties of others prompted the passing of the "Law of Duillius," a law forcing all dictators to place their enactments before the people for acceptance or refusal. Passed in 451 B.C., the law proved ineffective against the two greatest dictators of the Roman Republic: Cornelius Sulla and Julius Caesar.

Sulla's term was important as a model for later generals and ambitious politicians, who looked to him as a legalizing precedent to justify their own activities. Such recourses to precedent, however, normally failed to sway a cautious Senate. In 52 B.C., after terrible riots and bloodshed following the murder of P. Clodius pulcher, the CURIA HOSTILIA of the Senate was burned. POMPEY stood ready as proconsul to march into the city and restore order, if such services were requested. M. Calpurnius Bibulus, however, successfully thwarted Pompey's reception of a dictatorial mandate by having the Senate make him consul for 52 without a colleague. Pompey conducted himself accordingly, and the trials of Annius Milo and his fellow murderers went forward.

In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar was absent from Rome, fighting against the Pompeians. He desired a consulship, considering that position most useful under the circumstances, but considered the dictatorship as well. M. Aemilius Lepidus, as praetor, summoned the people and they voted Caesar into the office of dictator. When his term was ended, he laid down the office, but without surrendering any of its benefits or rights. Two years later, after the battle of Pharsalus, Antony came back to Rome (in October of 47 B.C.) with news of Caesar's triumph over Pompey and his desire to be dictator for a second time. He probably received two more terms: in 45, after his African campaign, and in 44, after settling the civil wars. Caesar received the title of dictator for life, with the privilege of wearing the laurel wreath and the use of a throne.

The trappings of glory convinced jealous senators and ardent supporters of the Republic that the dictator would soon become a king. They murdered him to avoid what they believed would become a disaster. Marc Antony, following Caesar's assassination, forced through a law that abolished the position of dictator, although its very nature was evident in the later role of the emperors. See also CENSOR; imperator; PRINCEPS.

¤ DIDIUS JULIANUS (Marcus Didius Severus Julianus) (133-193 A.D.) Emperor from March 28 to June 1, 193 A.D.; famed not for his reign but for the fact that he came to power in a startling fashion. Born into a senatorial family of Mediolanum (Milan) and raised in the house of Domiitia Lucilla, the mother of the future Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, he held a praetorship in 162, a governorship in Gallia Belgica (170-175) and a consulship with Pertinax in 175. Over the next 15 years more governorships came his way, in Illyricum (176-177), Germania Inferior (178), Bithynia (189-190) and in Africa (190-192). In the meantime he was charged and acquitted of membership in the conspiracy of Publius Salvius Julianus in 182.

Didius Julianus was back in Rome in March 193, during the brief reign of Pertinax, and on March 28, when the PRAETORIAN GUARD murdered the emperor, he hurried to the Castra Praetoria, where the prefect of the city, T. Flavius Sulpicianus, was inside bidding for the throne. Julianus began to make his own offers from outside the wall. Each man thus raised the amount that they were willing to pay to the Praetorians for the throne. Although the prefect had the strategic advantage inside, Julianus raised his bid by 5,000 sesterces and so won the day, promising each man 25,000 sesterces. The gates of the Castra were thrown open, and Julianus was proclaimed emperor of Rome.

After assuming the purple, Julianus was confronted with the realities of ruling. Support for him was nonexistent in Rome. The mobs disliked him, and the Praetorians were disenchanted by the delays in payment of their DONATIVUM. The Senate waited to see the response of the provinces, and generals elsewhere seized the moment to declare their own ambitions. Three in particular declared themselves, Pescennius Niger in the East, Septimius Severus on the Danube and Clodius Albinus in Britain. Albinus and Severus reach an accord, and Severus marched first on Italy.

Julianus tried to organize the defense of Rome but lacked the support of any legions, even of the Marines from Misenum. Choosing to protect its interests and to placate Severus, whom they knew to be the ultimate victor, the Senate deposed Julianus and ordered his execution, declaring Severus emperor. Final attempts at negotiations with the advancing Severus failed, and on June 1 or 2, a soldier entered the palace and slew Julianus, who had reigned only 66 days.

¤ DIO CASSIUS (b. 155 A.D.?) Historian born to a Roman senator of Nicaea in BITHYNIA. In 180 he traveled to Rome, embarking on a successful political career. He became a senator and held two consulships, in 205 and 229. Septimius Severus appointed him to his CONSILIUM PRINCIPIS, and Macrinius made him a curator in Pergamum and Smyrna. He later governed Africa, Illyricum and Upper Pannonia, successively, from 223 to 228. He retired to Campania after his second consulship (with Severus Alexander) before returning home to Nicaea, where he died.

Dio authored several no longer-extant works, including a history of the struggle for the throne from 193 to 197 and an analysis of dreams. His main contribution was a very ambitious and partly extant history of Rome in 80 books, covering the period from the legendary Aeneas to 229 A. D. Books 36 to 54 are preserved, detailing the period roughly from Pompey to the death of Marcus Agrippa in 10 B.C. Parts of book 55 to 60 and 79 to 80 exist; the last books help paint a clear picture of the time in which Dio lived.

As for the lost books in the history, summaries and epitomes made by later generations, especially Xiphilinus (llth century A.D.), offer the only information. Unquestionably, Dio's efforts were remarkable in his use of sources and authorities and proved invaluable to successive historians. He spent the years from about 200 to 210 A.D. compiling all of his sources and then another 12 years in the actual writing of the history. His book on dreams pointed to the omens that Septimius Severus would become emperor. When Dio sent a copy to him, Severus wrote a long and complimentary letter in return.

¤ DIOCESE

Table - Dioceses of Diocletian

DIOCESE Name given to the 12 new territorial divisions of the Roman Empire in the provincial reforms of Diocletian. The problem of the provinces had long troubled the rulers of Rome, as governors had rebelled and had seized the throne, while the Senate had not relinquished its own, albeit dwindling, influence with its own provinces. Diocletian resolved ¤ to end all such chaos, starting reforms sometime around 293 A.D.

The number of provinces was doubled from 50 to 100, preventing any governor from amassing enough personal power to contemplate a revolt. To further ensure the loyalty of the governors, all provinces ceased to be either imperial or senatorial and henceforth would be grouped into large units called dioceses. Each diocese contained several provinces, and each provincial head was answerable to the official of the diocese, the vicarii praetectorum praetorio, or just VICARII. Each of the vicarii, in turn, reported to one of the four PRAETORIAN PREFECTS assigned to the four members of the tetrarchy, an Augustus and a Caesar, both in the East and in the West.

Thus, no government official was ever isolated or endowed with enough strength to ponder the possibilities of an uprising. Further, the dioceses facilitated Diocletian's desire for increased centralization and the aggrandizement of the central imperial government at the expense of the Senate and provinces. The dioceses stretched across traditional geographical, hence cultural, borders. Oriens contained Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Libya, while Hispania contained all of Spain and part of Africa, namely the small coastal privince of Mauretania Tingitana.

Italy, previously held sacred and separate from the Empire as a bastion of elitism, lost its special status. Not only was it now placed under direct imperial supervision, it was also cut in half to make two dioceses. Finally, as the Roman world had been divided into East and West, the numerical discrepancy of eight dioceses in the West, as compared to five in the East, was offset by the reality that economic superiority rested with the provinces of Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt and Syria. See also entries for the various provinces of the Roman Empire for a detailed account of the evolution of the provincial system.

¤ DIOCLETIAN (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus) (d. 316) Emperor from 284 to 305 A.D., he came to the throne in a period of turmoil and retired in 305, having altered the Roman Empire. He was born to a poor family in Dalmatia (ILLYRICUM) in the mid-3rd century, under the name Diocles. Entering military service, his intelligence and competence earned him promotions. By 284 he was a member of the army of Carus and then head of the elite protectores domestic! upon the succession of NUMERIAN to the throne. This was a stroke of good fortune because, during the brief term of his command, Diocletian earned the trust of the legions in the imperial army stationed near Nicomedia. Thus, when Numerian died under very suspicious circumstances, it was to Diocletian that the soldiers turned in their search for vengeance. Years before a druidess had predicted that he would become emperor, but first he would have to slay the boar (aper). The man charged with murdering Numerian was Prefect of the Guard Arrius Aper. He was brought before Diocletian, who pronounced a sentence of death upon him and ran him through.

Having slain the "boar," Diocletian was proclaimed ruler by the troops. He then crossed over the Bosporus to wage war upon Numerian's brother, Carinus, in the West. Victory came in 285, and Diocletian ruled the entire world. From the start Diocletian assumed the utmost grandeur of the office, elevating his own status beyond mortal dimensions. Henceforth the imperial house was to be heart of the Empire instead of Rome. He worked over the next years to bring this policy to fruition. Diocletian named his own friend, the reliable MAXIMIAN, to be first his Caesar (junior emperor) and then Augustus in 286. Maximian aided the emperor in all matters, and the next six years were spent in repairing the frontiers and in restoring honor to the Roman Empire.

Diocletian took as his patron the god Jupiter or Jove, and Maximian had Hercules. In their names wars were fought in Moesia, Pannonia, Gaul and Syria. Stability returned, and in 293 he was able to initiate the next step in his broad program of imperial reform. Two emperors became four. Joining Diocletian and Maximian were two Caesars, GALERIUS and CONSTANTIUS i CHLORUS. Diocletian and Galerius would rule the East, and Maximian and Constantius the West. The Empire was still one entity, but from now on the administration (under a tetrarchy) would be far better organized, and the succession uncluttered by rival claimants, as Galerius and Constantius would be the eventual Augusti and would then name their own Caesars.

The TETRARCHY established, Diocletian turned to the vast task of transforming the imperial government and military. LEGIONS were changed to fit the adjustments in the provinces. Each ruler - the two Augusti and the two Caesars - wielded a field army or the COMITATENSES, along with cavalry, and a guard, the SCHOLAE PALATINAE, who replaced the now reduced Praetorian Guard. This field force traveled with the emperor and was used specifically to bolster the frontier troops watching the borders, the LIMITANEI. Any invasion, even if successful in piercing the frontier defenses, would be destroyed by the comitatenses and any limitanei deployed temporarily for the crisis.

Such military formations reduced the often paralyzing effect of legions summoned by an emperor and then revolting on behalf of their own general. Their effectiveness was seen in the numerous and successful campaigns launched during Diocletian's reign: against Persia in 296, Achilleus in Egypt, and Carausius and Allectus in Britain. Assisting the legionary reforms was the new provincial system. The number of provinces was doubled, and each was included in the larger, DIOCESE units under very powerful governors who, in turn, were answerable to one of each emperor's four Praetorian prefects. This style of rule would be in place for many years, making the central administration more efficient and objective and avoiding potential tyranny.

Italy was added to a diocese, ending its unique, centuries-old status. Diocletian wanted something new and to avoid the sociopolitical traps so common in Rome. Ravenna served as the capital of the West, and for himself Diocletian chose Nicomedia in Bithynia as his initial residence, before moving to Antioch at the start of the tetrarchy. He did not visit Rome until 303 and then only to celebrate the anniversary of his accession. While the Eternal City played no part in his grand plans, he nevertheless gave to it many gifts, including a new curia and baths of great beauty. Indeed, throughout the Empire he worked hard to return a sense of grandeur and high culture. Schools were encouraged and opened, building programs completed and Latin reborn as the first language of the realm.

In the face of crushing taxation caused by Diocletian's policies, the common people were given an edict in 301 to fix a maximum for goods and services. At the same time, Diocletian honored the citizenry by having coinage of bronze called a "follis" struck with the inscription "GENIVS POPVLI ROMAM," or the "Spirit of the Roman People." Dedicating his house to Jove and that of Maximian to Hercules, coupled with a reprise of pagan classicism, Diocletian did not bode well for CHRISTIANITY. The faith had grown considerably in the years before his reign. Galerius found Diocletian very responsive to suggestions about renewed persecutions against the religion, and in 303 they issued an edict beginning the last great period of martyrdom and suffering for the followers of Christ. Just as Diocletian revived the old Roman imperial order, so did his fight against the Christ epitomize the struggle of the ancient and the new. Assemblies were forbidden, churches were destroyed and the Scriptures burned. Eventually sacrifices to the imperial cult were required of all citizens, especially the Christian priests, who were arrested when they refused. Diocletian's lack of success in stamping out Christianity was one of the great disappointments of his life and contributed directly to his retirement in 305.

Suffering an illness one year earlier, he was convinced that it was time for him to relinquish his powers. On May 1, 305, he abdicated, convincing the hesitant Maximian to join him. Galerius and Constantius followed as the two Augusti. Content that affairs were in good hands, Diocletian retired to an estate of great luxury in Illyricum, at SPLIT. There he spent most of his time in his gardens, growing his favorite vegetables.

From Split, however, he learned to his dismay of the rifts developing between the joint emperors. In 308, he traveled to Carnuntum to repair the situation, but to no avail. Diocletian's last years were spent in frustration and isolation as Constantine, Maxentius and others slaughtered one another in the name of ambition. He died in 316, quite probably from a broken heart. Diocletian was responsible, however, for beginning a process of change that would find its fullest expression in the reign of CONSTANTINE the Great. He proved himself a superb administrator, an excellent general and the initial architect of the survival of imperial power into the 5th century.

¤ DIO COCCEIANUS (c. 40/45-c. 114 A.D.) Also called Dio Chrysostom and Dio of Prusa, the "golden mouthed" philosopher and writer. He was born at Prusa in Bithynia and learned rhetoric from his family before going to Rome as a Sophist. During the reign of Domitian (around 82 A.D.), his association with philosophers and his outspoken oratory brought him exile from Rome and his native land. He then wandered around the Empire, especially in Illyricum and the surrounding provinces, working and speaking.

In 96, Domitian was assassinated, and Nerva invited Dio to return to Rome. Furthering the attentions of the emperor, he received permission to travel to Prusa. There he put to use the considerable knowledge he had acquired in his days of exile. His speeches there covered a wide variety of topics, including politics, morality and philosophy. Dio owned vineyards and land and fought to improve conditions in Prusa. He joined a delegation to greet Trajan on his accession and to ask for a larger city council and improved self-determination in taxes and in legal jurisdictions. He also planned extensive building programs for his city but earned the enmity of his fellow citizens who resented his harsh and demanding style. As an orator and Sophist, Dio Chrysostom delivered some 80 extant speeches. Some of these were comical, especially the First Oration in Tarsus, but many stood as biting attacks on the era, such as his oratory on the nature of god. Dio Cassius may have been a descendant. See also RHETORIC and SOPHISTRY.

¤ DIODORUS, SICULUS (fl. 1st century B.C.) Historian from Agyrium in Sicily. An author of considerable industry, he journeyed throughout ASIA MINOR and Europe researching his mammoth work, the Bibliotheca Historica (Historical Library). These travels brought him to Rome, where he remained for many years. The Historical Library covered the period from darkest antiquity to the age of Julius Caesar, ending approximately in 54 B.C. with the beginnings of Caesar's GALLIC WARS. Originally in 40 books, only 15 have survived; the rest exist in fragments. Much of his chronicle was both derivative and very unreliable.

¤ DIOGENES, LAERTIUS (fl. 3rd century A.D.) Writer and philosopher whose main work of note was a long History of Greek Philosophy, in which he wrote about the philosophers in biographical form. Little is known of the details of his life.

¤ DIOMEDES (fl. late 4th century A.D.) Grammarian who authored the Ars grammatica in three parts. His writing was notable for several reasons. He was well organized in his presentation and relied upon early grammatical sources, although he never actually named them. Secondly, his best section (Book HI) in the Ars grammatica contained a preserved work of Suetonius, de poetis. Diomedes' book very closely resembled the similar effort of Flavius Sosipater Charisius, although it was better constructed and authoritative. The Ars grammatica was dedicated to someone named Athanasius.

¤ DIONYSIUS, PAPIRIUS (fl. 2nd century A.D.) Prefect of grain during the reign of COMMODUS; in 189, played some kind of role in the downfall of the ambitious and corrupt Prefect of the Praetorian Guard Cleander. Cleander had been hoarding much of the grain supply for use by Rome's citizens and army in times of famine, but in so doing earned the enmity of the mob.

A famine did occur in 189, but Dionysius held back the grain on hand, thus exacerbating an already inflammatory situation. The Roman crowds turned on Cleander, and Commodus murdered him as the mob set out on a rampage. Whatever ambitions Dionysius may have harbored were never known, for he died in that same year by imperial decree. Dio is the main source for Dionysius' plottings.

¤ DIONYSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA (d. 264 A.D.) Bishop who had been a student of Origen and head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria (c. 233). He was elected bishop in 247, just in time to serve as shepherd over the Egyptian Christians during one of the darkest hours of Christian history. Trajanus DECIUS instigated severe persecutions, and in 250, Dionysius, as bishop of Alexandria, fell into imperial hands. He managed to escape from his captors and went into hiding until 251. As a prelate, he became involved in the dispute over whether or not to readmit those Christians who had abandoned the faith during the crisis. He struck a middle ground theologically, accepting all sincere sinners back into the church. He opposed, however, the various heretical sects of the time. In 257, Dionysius went into exile during Valerian's persecutions but later died at his post.

¤ DIONYSIUS OF HALICARNASSUS (d. 8/7 B.C.) Greek rhetorician and historian of the 1st century B.C. He lived in Rome during the Augustan age (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) and regarded Roman history as a worthy subject of study. In honor of his hosts he wrote a 20- or 22-volume history of Rome entitled Roman Antiquities. The books covered the period from the founding in 753 B.C. to the Punic Wars. Only half of the work is extant but displays his sense for pedantic analysis, rhetorical discourses and an obvious lack of humor. He also authored various criticisms of Greek classical writers. Dionysius served for years as the chief spokesman for the Atticist Movement in Rome. See also LITERATURE.

¤ DIONYSUS See BACCHUS.

¤ DIOSCORIDES (fl. 1st or 2nd century A.D.) Writer on MEDICINE. He came from Anazarba in Cilicia and was an army physician. His Materia Medica, an excellent study of medicine, was at least partly derived from Pliny the Elder's Natural History.

¤ DIOSCURI Castor and Pollux, sons of JUPITER; Castor was noted for his horse skills and Pollux for his boxing. In Greek mythology, the Dioscuri, as the sons of Zeus, were participants in great heroic deeds and naturally captured the imagination of the Romans, especially in their incarnation as the Gemini. According to Roman legend, the brothers came to the aid of the dictator Postumius Albinus against the Latins in the battle of Lake Regillus in 494 B.C. Not only did the dictator promise them a temple in gratitude, but he also had their faces and stars (of Gemini) depicted on one of the earliest forms of the denarius. The Temple of Castor and Pollux was situated in the Forum, near the circular Temple of Vesta. There, every July 15, the Equestrian Order (EQUITES) held a great festival in the temple to celebrate the patronage of the Dioscuri. The brothers were also known as the Castores. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.

¤ DIPLOMATA Imperial certificates granted to certain individuals under specific circumstances or for a set purpose. Traditionally the diplomata were actually two bronze plaques tied together and inscribed with a record, message or decree. Many are extant and provide a major source of information concerning the bureaucratic and administrative systems, both in the legions and in the government. Diplomata militaria were the certificates given to retiring legionaries of 25 years' service in the auxilia. They granted full citizenship to the veteran, along with his children. Furthermore, any woman he might choose to marry would be accepted as being wed in the full light of Roman law, and all children born of such a union would be Roman citizens.

In the Praetorian Guard the diplomata were presented to a soldier, normally a principals, of 16 years' service. A very elaborate ceremony was held with demonstrations of gratitude. The diplomata was written in the imperial first person, signed by the emperor and dedicated "to the soldiers having courageously and loyally finished their service."

The other kind of diplomata were those signed by the emperor for the CURSUS PUBLICUS. All persons using the imperial post had to receive a diplomata, which granted the right to travel and to benefit from the horses and superb transport system of the Empire. These were the certificates to which Pliny the Younger referred in his letters to Trajan while serving as the special legate in Bithynia. Diplomata unfortunately fell into the hands of functionaries who did not deserve them or were not entitled, while others were forged.

¤ DIS, KING OF THE UNDERWORLD See PLUTON.

¤ DIVINATION See AUGURS AND AUGURY; AUGURIUM CANARIUM.

¤ DOLABELLA, PUBLIUS CORNELIUS (fl. 1st century B.C.) A member of the wealthy patrician family of Cornelia; a profligate and ambitious young aristocrat. In 51 B.C. he married Cicero's daughter Tullia, over her father's protests. Dolabella served as a legate to Caesar during the Civil War and fought at the battle of PHARSALUS in 48 B.C. Caesar rewarded him with a consulship in 44 B.C. but was assassinated soon after. After Caesar's murder, Dolabella allied himself with Marc Antony, using his power as consul to crush the turbulent mobs throughout the city. Through Antony's patronage he became governor of the province of SYRIA in 43 B.C. Marching east, he plundered Greece, Asia and most of Asia Minor, earning the enmity of the Senate. Cassius sailed to Syria, amassed as many legions as possible and awaited the arrival of the appointed governor. Dolabella was blockaded at Laodicea and, defeated, he committed suicide.

¤ DOLPHIN Small, toothed whale long held to be sacred by both the Greeks and the Romans and protected by various divinities.

¤ DOMESTIC, PROTECTORES The personal bodyguard of rulers in later eras of the Roman Empire. Composed of two different formations, they were also called protectores et domestici. After CONSTANTINE eradicated the old PRAETORIAN GUARD in 312 A.D., he instituted the SCHOLAE PALATINAE and the protectores et domestici to assume Praetorian duties. Constantine granted the greatest privileges of the Praetorians to the protectores domestici, and they stood in higher rank than the scholae. Their commander was the comes domesticorum and their division into smaller units followed the pattern of the scholae: 10 cohorts of around 50 men. The protectores domestici possessed considerable social status, similar to the TRIBUNES or high-ranked officers of the earlier years of the Empire.

Their responsibilities included personal attendance to the emperor, especially in the field. Just as the Praetorian guardsmen might have been sent on missions to the provinces, so were the soldiers of the protectores domestici. Any possible task could be given them, from delivering messages to governors or generals to being seconded to the staff of a MAGISTER MILITUM for a period of time. They were generally well paid.

¤ DOMITIA (d. 59 A.D.) Aunt of Emperor Nero, sister to Domitia LEPIDA, who was the mother of Claudius' Empress MESSALLINA Domitia was a formidable person within the imperial palace and the most bitter of the many enemies of AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER. When Domitia Lepida was sentenced to death in 54 A.D., Domitia lost an ally but soon found another in Junia SILANA, who used two clients, Iturius and Calvisius, to accuse Agrippina of plotting against her son Nero. Domitia's freedman Atimetus immediately informed the famous actor PARIS, a favorite of Nero who related the accusation to the emperor. Agrippina barely escaped execution. By 59, Domitia had fallen from favor and was seriously ill. Nero poisoned her, intending to lay his hands on her vast estates near Ravenna and Baiae. Domitia was also involved in a legal case surrounding the freedman Paris, who claimed that he had been born free and should thus receive back the money given to buy his freedom. When a court examined the case, Nero, who not only admired Paris but was also distrustful of Domitia, instructed the magistrate to find in favor of the actor.

¤ DOMITIA LEPIDA See LEPIDA, DOMITIA.

¤ DOMITIA LONGINA (fl. late 1st century A.D.) Empress from 81 to 96 A.D.; wife of DOMITIAN and daughter of the famous general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo She was originally married to Lucius Aelianus Lamia, but Domitian forced her to divorce him in 70 A.D. She subsequently lived with the emperor at his estate near Mount Alban, although he eventually married her. She bore him a daughter and a short-lived son in 73. Domitian was insanely jealous of his wife's rumored affairs. His brother TITUS supposedly had committed adultery with her, and the actor PARIS was slain in the street because of the same suspicion. Domitia was divorced sometime around 83. She would have been murdered by Domitian but for the influence of the advisor Ursus, who counseled a separation instead. Domitian then involved himself with his niece JULIA (7) but could not bear to be away from Domitia. Although he hated her, a reconciliation was made in 83. Domitian continued his relationship with Julia at the same time.

By 96, her life was in constant danger, as Domitian executed anyone that he suspected of disloyalty. According to the historian Dio, Domitia found her name on a list of those to be destroyed. She took the list to her own allies, people plotting the emperor's assassination. Armed with the names, the conspirators were able to accelerate their plans. Domitian died soon after. Domitia lived on for many years, held in high esteem by the Romans.

¤ DOMITIA LUCILLA See LUCILLA, DOMITIA.

¤ DOMITIAN (Titus Flavius Domitianus) (51-96 A.D.) Emperor from 81 to 96 A.D.; the son of VESPASIAN and the brother of TITUS, both emperors in their own time. As a ruler, Domitian was grim but proved himself an able administrator and a surprisingly competent general. He was born on October 24, 51 A.D., in Rome to Flavia Domitilla and Vespasian, who was the consul-elect at the time. Most of his youth was spent in poverty, and he remained at home when Vespasian and Titus marched off to command the East.

In 69, VITELLIUS, recently placed on the throne, faced a revolt of the legions under Vespasian. At first Vitellius refused to make use of Domitian as hostage, but his position deteriorated late in the year, and he ordered Domitian's arrest. Domitian fled with his uncle Flavius and was put under siege, escaping a second time when the emperor's soldiers broke through his defenses. Domitian finally made his way to the advancing units of Vespasian's army, under the command of Antonius PRIMUS. He returned to Rome in triumph after Vitellius' death and was subsequently embroiled in arguments with Vespasian's representative, MUCIANUS, over control of the city. Domitian tried to make personal appointments and was prevented from riding to Germany to put down the revolt of CIVILIS.

Throughout Vespasian's reign, Domitian was given little honor, while Titus grew in fame and stature as both a general of renown and Vespasian's aide. When Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79, Dio reports, Domitian complained that his father had actually intended the power to be shared by the brothers and even charged that Titus had forged the will. Domitian's role in imperial affairs increased and, upon Titus' death in 81 A.D., he was bequeathed the throne. There has been some speculation as to Domitian's part in Titus' demise, but his accession to the throne marked the beginning of his attempts to outdo his brother and father in grandeur.

Domitian launched a campaign against the CHATTI in 83, crushing the tribe and making the Roman presence in GERMANIA felt to a greater degree. In 85 he moved quickly to MOSEIA to aid the province against an invasion by the Dacians, under DECEBALUS Domitian led the counterattack, which drove off the enemy and returned to Rome to celebrate the double triumphs. While he was rejoicing, however, his Praetorian Prefect Cornelius FUSCUS was routed and killed, and only a victory at the battle of TAPAE in 88 by Tettius Julianus regained Roman supremacy. Domitian returned to the Danube frontier only to be denied final victory over Decebalus because of the revolt of Lucius Antonius SATURNINUS, commander of the legions in Germania Superior. The legate in Germania Inferior, Lappius Maximus, marched against Saturninus and killed him, thanks in part to the absence of Saturninus' German allies, who could not cross the Rhine because of an early thaw.

Under Domitian the lot of soldiers improved, their pay was increased and the bureaucracy of the legions reformed. As a general, Domitian conducted intelligent campaigns, especially against the Chatti, using forts and massive defensive foundations to curb unrest and to secure the Roman advances. Domitian was popular with his troops in the field and started wearing military costume even when in Rome. An admirer of Tiberius, Domitian was suspicious of plots around him, and senators, freedmen and others were arrested, tortured and executed on charges of conspiracy, including the one-time prefect of the Guard, Arrecinus Clemens. This massacre of the nobles and the Senate made Domitian feared by the Romans and contributed to his eventual assassination.

During his reign, Domitian held many games, finished the COLOSSEUM and constructed several temples at great expense. He also built the DOMUS FLAVIA, the palace of the emperors until the reign of Diocletian. Festivals were provided to entertain the mobs, where various forms of the CONGIARIUM or largess, were given out. Public morals were also strictly supervised, and Domitian ordered several VESTAL VIRGINS put to death for impurity. Jews were treated harshly, and Vespasian and Titus were reduced in the public memory while Domitian elevated himself in various ways. September and October were briefly renamed after him, and he held 17 consulships, a record.

DOMITIA LONGINA, Domitian's wife, had been declared an Augusta in 81, and was subsequently divorced and reinstated. Aware of Domitian's suspicious nature, she was compelled to join a conspiracy with the prefects NORBANUS and Petronius SECUNDUS. The assassin chosen for their ends was a former slave named STEPHANUS, who stabbed the emperor repeatedly but died in the struggle. Domitian died of his wounds on September 18, 96. His body was taken away by his old nurse, Phyllis, who cremated him and then mixed his ashes with those of Julia in the Temple of the Flavians on the Quirinal Hill.

Domitian was treated harshly by most of the writers and historians of Rome. Dio called him treacherous and secretive. PLINY THE YOUNGER wrote of his extreme nervous condition, while TACITUS was equally hostile, due mainly to Domitian's recall in 85 A.D. of his father-in-law, Agricola, from his triumphant campaigns in Britain. SUETONIUS wrote that he was tall, with a ruddy complexion, and was quite conscious of going bald. Domitian had a tendency toward laziness and had a peculiar habit of trapping and killing flies with his pen. He was a diligent reader of law.

¤ DOMITIANUS, GAIUS (fl. 3rd century A.D.) A usurper circa 270 A.D.; mentioned in several sources as the victor over MACRIANUS, another usurper. After his victory, Domitianus apparently set himself up as a pretender to the imperial power. He claimed descent from DOMITIAN and struck his own coinage in Gallia Aquintania, of which one piece has been found.

¤ DOMITILLA, FLAVIA (1) (d. before 69 A.D.) Wife of VESPASIAN; daughter of Flavius Liberalis, a quaestor's clerk, who pleaded successfully to give his child full Roman citizenship instead of a Latin one. She was, for a time, the mistress of an Equestrian from Africa, Statilius Capella, but married Vespasian sometime before 41 A.D. Flavia had three children: TITUS in 41; DOMITIAN in 51; and Flavia DOMITILLA (2). She died perhaps during the reign of Claudius or Nero. Vespasian then lived with his mistress, CAENIS, who was disliked by Domitian.

¤ DOMITILLA, FLAVIA (2) (d. before 69 A.D.) The daughter of VESPASIAN and Flavia DOMITILLA (1); sister of TITUS and DOMITIAN. Little is known about her life, except for the fact that she was married, bore three children, and the noted rhetorician and writer QUINTILIAN was the tutor to her two sons. Her daughter was given the same name and became famous in the reign of Domitian for aiding Christians.

¤ DOMITILLA, FLAVIA (3) (d. c. 95 A.D.) Granddaughter of VESPASIAN; daughter of Flavia DOMITILLA (2). As the niece of Emperor DOMITIAN, she was connected to the royal family, a position that was strengthened by her marriage to Flavius CLEMENS, a first cousin of Domitian. Domitilla is thought to have supported and possibly converted to CHRISTIANITY. In 95, Flavius Clemens and Domitilla, as well as several of their friends, were accused of impiety and favoring Christian and Jewish festivals. Domitian executed Clemens and exiled his niece to the island of Pandateria. Her two sons, designated as successors to the throne, had their named changed by the emperor to Vespasian and Domitian.

¤ DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS Name of the Roman family whose members achieved considerable notoriety and success in the years of the Republic and the Empire. Legend provided a source for the appellation of Ahenobarbus, or "Red Beard." The DIOSCURI, Castor and Pollux, promised to one of the earliest Domitians victory in the battle of Lake Regillus over the Latins in 494 B.C. To prove the veracity of their word they placed a hand on the black beard of their client, turning it red. Men of the Ahenobarbus clan were perpetually known as rough, harsh, arrogant and cruel. NERO, who displayed many of these characteristics, was the son of Domitius Ahenobarbus. The family tombs were prominently displayed on the Pincian Hill.

¤ DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (1), GNAEUS (d. c. 31 B.C.) A consul in 32 B.C. and a participant in the CIVIL WARS of the terminal period of the Republic. The son of Lucius DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (1), he stood with his father at Corfinium in 49 B.C. and observed the battle of PHARSALUS in 48 B.C. Returning to Italy in 46, he was pardoned by Julius Caesar but was later accused of participating in the murderous plot against the dictator and condemned. The historian Suetonius wrote that he was not a member of the conspiracy; he nevertheless traveled with Marcus BRUTUS to Macedonia and took command of the sizable fleet from the first Civil War. As its admiral he reorganized the ships and proved an able strategist in the campaign for control of the Adriatic. In 40, however, he negotiated to bring his fleet over to Antony. The price of his allegiance was a full pardon. Of all of the condemned officials under the Lex Pedia, which prosecuted the murderers of Julius Caesar, Ahenobarbus alone escaped punishment.

For the next nine years he served as a loyal officer to Antony, participating in the political spoils after the TREATY OF BRUNDISIUM and receiving a governorship in Bithynia. In 36, he joined Antony in his Parthian war and then fought against the pirate Sextus POMPEY, with Furnius, the governor of Asia. His political career culminated in the consulship in 32 B.C. By 31, however, as a client of Marc Antony, Ahenobarbus was unsafe in Rome. He fled to Antony and served on his staff until offered a command in the forces of Antony and Cleopatra. Terminally ill, Ahenobarbus left Antony's cause and went over to the side of Octavian (AUGUSTUS), leaving one son, Lucius DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (2).

¤ DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (2), GNAEUS (d. 40 A.D.) Consul in 32 A.D., the son of Lucius DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (2) and father of the future Emperor NERO. He was detested by his contemporaries and vilified in histories. He began his career on the staff of Gaius CAESAR in the East but was dismissed for murdering a freedman for refusing a drink. When he returned to Italy he rode down a boy on the Appian Way for amusement and gouged out the eyes of an Equestrian for criticizing him. He also swindled bankers and deprived winning charioteers of their just prizes. Nonetheless, in the Rome of Emperor Tiberius, Ahenobarbus gained not only the consulship but the praetorship as well. By 37 A.D., however, the aged emperor had charged him with adultery, incest and treason. He was spared by Tiberius's death, and Caligula pardoned him. He died three years later of dropsy in his home at Pyrgi. A marriage had been arranged for him in 28 A.D. with AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER, who bore him Nero. According to Dio, Ahenobarbus very accurately predicted his son's nature (while giving insight into his own), when he said: "It would not be possible for a good man to be born from me and my wife."

¤ DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (1), LUCIUS (d. 48 B.C.) Grandson of the great Republican general, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who had conquered the Allobroges of Gallia Transalpina and served as consul in 122 B.C. He married the sister of CATO UTICENSIS, Porcia, and thus found an ally in Cato against the rising power of the FIRST TRIUMVIRATE, especially Julius Caesar and Pompey. As PRAETOR in 58 B.C, Ahenobarbus proved himself an opponent of Caesar, summoning him to the Senate. Later, in 56 B.C, he openly threatened to terminate Caesar's control over Gallia Transalpina, which had been pacified by his grandfather. As a candidate for the consulship of 55, he proposed a measure aimed directly at the triumvirate by promising to have Caesar stripped of his territories, allowing Pompey a chance to crush his rival. Instead of the bloodbath expected, the triumvirs coolly summoned the CONFERENCE OF LUCA in 56. They reconfirmed the tenets of their shared power and thus forced Ahenobarbus to postpone his consulship until 54 B.C The inevitable war between the forces of Caesar and Pompey erupted in 49, and Ahenobarbus became master of Gaul. He headed north, contrary to Pompey's orders and fought Caesar at Corfinium (in Central Italy), where he was defeated and captured. Pardoned by Caesar, he immediately rejoined the Pompeian cause. He played a role in the siege of MASSILIA and then took command in 48 B.C of Pompey's left wing at the battle of PHARSALUS, where he was killed. Suetonius noted that Ahenobarbus believed that all Romans must choose sides in the Civil War, that anyone professing neutrality was an enemy and deserving of death.

¤ DOMITIUS AHENOBARBUS (2), LUCIUS (d. 25 A.D.) Consul in 16 B.C and grandfather of NERO; noted for his arrogance and cruelty. As an AEDILE in 22 B.C, he ordered the censor, Lucius Plancus, out of his way; and his animal shows and gladiatorial contests were so bloody that Augustus himself rebuked him. Nonetheless, Lucius gained the consulship, aedileship and praetorship and success in the provinces. From 15 B.C to 2 B.C he held various posts, including that of proconsul of AFRICA and legate in ILLYRICUM and GERMANIA.

As legate along the Danube, he marched to the Elbe and penetrated farther into barbarian lands than any general before him, setting up an altar to Augustus on the Upper Elbe. In Germania he surpassed this achievement by crossing the Rhine and building the so-called Pantes longi, or Long Bridges, over the marches near the Ems River. These constructions were used for years by the legions and their commanders, including GERMANICUS in 15 A. D. He returned to Rome, where he lived until his death. He was married to the elder ANTONIA (2).

¤ DOMITIUS DOMITIANUS, LUCIUS (fl. late 3rd century A.D.) One of the leaders of the revolt of ACHILLEUS in Egypt in 297 A.D. Domitius may have been one of the founders of the uprising or may have emerged as a rival for the leadership of Achilleus, though sources ascribe the rebellion to Achilleus, not Domitius.

¤ DOMITIUS ULPIANUS (fl. 3rd century A.D.) One of the last jurists; preserved the writings of his predecessors through his compilations and commentaries, especially those of Papinian. His own treatise helped establish the entire character of later imperial codes.

¤ DOMUS The home of a wealthy patrician during the Republic and the Empire; large estates, normally occupied by members of the upper classes, especially the senatorial and Equestrian orders. They were based originally on the homes of the kings of Rome, especially the famous "Domus Publica" of ancient days. Under the Empire, a domus assumed a more specific meaning as the residence or the palace of the emperor.

¤ DOMUS AUGUSTANA Name given to the private portion of the palace of DOMITIAN. See also DOMUS FLAVIA.

¤ DOMUS AUREA See GOLDEN HOUSE OF NERO.

¤ DOMUS FLAVIA Palace of Emperor DOMITIAN; built during his reign (81-96 A.D.) on the Palatine Hill and replacing previous imperial residences. It was so beautiful that the emperors of Rome until the reign of Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) resided there. Domitian's palace, designed by the architect Rabirius, was actually two structures: the Domus Flavia, an imposing edifice on the crest of the Palatine, used for official purposes, and the DOMUS AUGUSTANA, the private residence of the ruler. The Romans called both structures the Domus Flavia. The official building was composed of rooms for ceremonies and an imposing throne room decorated with marble and statues. Marble was used again in the courtyard, while granite from Egypt adorned the great dining hall. A LARARIUM (a household shrine), fountains and numerous private bedrooms and guest quarters completed the architectural design. Attached to the Domus Flavia, and sloping down one side of the hill, was the Domus Augustana. Below the opening rooms, an illuminated stairway led to the personal suites and recreation areas of the imperial family. Large pools designed with multi-colored mosaics reflected light and illuminated the entire structure.

The Domus Flavia thus provided grandeur and beauty, combined with practicality. Martial, in his Epigrams, described both the palace and the architect Rabirius. Constructed very near the old home of Augustus and the traditional residential site of Romulus himself, the Domus was a suitable link to the past.

¤ DOMUS TIBERIANA Palace built by Emperor TIBER- I lus, sometime after his succession to throne in 14 A.D.; a marked contrast to the modest quarters on the Palatine Hill of his predecessor Augustus. The Domus Tiberiana was designed in all probability along the normal atrium styles so common for the period. Tiberius, however, spent much of his time in his palaces in Campania and on Capri. Though it was later incorporated into Nero's DOMUS TRANSITORIA, nothing remains of the palace.

¤ DOMUS TRANSITORIA Nero's palace created to connect the main imperial palace on the Palatine Hill with the estates and gardens of Maecenas on the nearby Oppian Hill. It was begun sometime before or during the early part of 64 A.D. Architecturally, the domus was a combination of the old and the new. On the Palatine the DOMUS TIBERIANA stood prominently, and close to that, on the Esquiline Hill, was another palace as well. The Domus Transitoria connected these buildings but provided innovations in light and in space. In 64 A.D., in the massive conflagration that engulfed much of Rome, Nero's palaces were not spared. The Domus Transitoria was utterly ruined, with only a fountain and some vaulting surviving. But the rubble was cleared and Nero began planning his GOLDEN HOUSE.

¤ DONATIVUM

Chart - Imperial Donativa to the Praetorian Guard 14-193 A.D.

DONATIVUM The name (plural, donativa) given to the gifts of money or largesse distributed to the soldiers of the LEGIONS or to the PRAETORIAN GUARD by the emperors. The purpose of a donativum varied as some were tokens of gratitude for favors received, and others bribes for favors expected. Donativa were normally rendered at the start of each new emperor's reign. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., this bribe became crucial to the success of any rule. Such was the case with many of the soldier-emperors from 235 to 248 A.D. The Praetorian Guard, so close to the emperor's person, was an even greater threat. The cohorts stationed in Rome were difficult to appease and quick to commit assassination. The donativum thus provided a perfect means for buying the Praetorians' support.

Augustus (ruled 27 B.c-14 A.D.) left the Praetorians a sum in his will, but it was not until Tiberius' reign (14-37 A.D.) that gifts of money were thought necessary. The Guard, for example, received gifts for standing by when SEJANUS, their prefect, fell from power. Each Praetorian received 10 gold pieces for withholding from Sejanus' defense. In 41 A.D., after the assassination of Caligula, the soldiers supported Claudius, and a short time later the Senate learned that the Guard had installed him on the throne. Claudius gave them 150 gold pieces, or some 3,750 denarii, to which 100 sesterces were added annually to commemorate Claudius' accession. The inevitable result of the custom of the donativum was the Praetorians' auctioning of the Empire to DIDIUS JULIANUS in 193 A.D. See also CONGIARIUM.

¤ DONATUS, AELIUS (fl. 4th century A.D.) Grammarian who taught in Rome around 350 A.D. and claimed as his pupil St. JEROME. Of his numerous works two survive. The Ars covered grammar in two parts, an Ars minor, which examines the parts of speech, and the more extensive Ars major, in three books. His commentary on Terence survives in an altered form. As for his other work, the most notable is his analysis of Virgil; only the excerpts used by Servius and the preface and introduction remain.

¤ DONATUS AND DONATISM Donatus was a pastor of the early 4th century A.D. who lent his name to a schism within the Christian Church that was highly active from the early 4th to the 5th centuries. The movement originated in the refusal of the Carthagianian Christians in 311 to accept Caecilian as their bishop. Their argument was that his consecrator, Felix of Aptunga, was impure, having reportedly handed over his copy of the Holy Scriptures to the Roman prosecutors during the reign of Diocletian. In protest, the bishops of Numidia chose and consecrated a cleric named Majorinus, who was soon followed by Donatus, a one-time pastor in Africa. By 313, the controversy involved clerics in Rome. The bishop of Rome, Miltiades, condemned the Donatists, as did the Council of Aries in 314. Despite their defeats the Donatists found fertile ground among the strict adherents of orthodox theology within the African Church, who believed that a tainted cleric invalidated the Sacraments (see CYPRIAN; NOVATIAN).

The attack from the church was at first headed by CONSTANTINE the Great, in 316, who eventually lost interest in the controversy. St. AUGUSTINE took up the theological battle, arguing that as Christ was a source of all Sacraments, no priest, no matter how unclean, could render them unpure. The Donatists refused to listen to Augustine, and by 405 the church was prepared to rid itself of the schism, spiritually and, if necessary, with violence. In 411, the Council of Carthage condemned the heresy officially, thus condemning its Donatist followers.

¤ DORYPHORUS (d. 62 A.D.) A freedman of NERO who came to power as the secretary of petitions. As was typical of the era, Nero gave him vast control over the treasury, once granting him 10,000,000 sesterces. According to Dio, AGRIPPINA, hoping to show the emperor the ridiculousness of his gift, had the sum piled up before his throne; Nero reportedly ordered the amount doubled, saying: "I had no idea that I had given him so little." It was said that Nero had Doryphorus poisoned in 62 A.D. for opposing his union with POPPAEA.

¤ DOURA City east of PALMYRA and the Syrian desert, situated upon the Euphrates River. Doura was probably founded by the Macedonians; by the time of the Roman Empire it stood within the borders of the Parthian Empire as a self-governing and semi-independent community. Local government rested in the hands of a feudal nobility. Given its proximity to SYRIA, Doura became unavoidably embroiled in the struggle for supremacy between PARTHIA and Rome. In the campaign of Emperor Trajan (115-116 A.D.), Doura fell to the legions, and Trajan erected a triumphal arch in the city to celebrate his victory over the Arsacids of Persia.

Its importance, however, was primarily due to its location on a trade route. From the 1st century B.C, trade had passed through Doura on its way from the East to Palmyra. Later, caravans used the city as a starting point of trips into the Parthian realm or into Asia proper, including India and even China (see SILK ROUTES). With trade came other influences, including Judaism and Christianity. By the 3rd century the Christians were firmly entrenched, building themselves a small hall for services. The city again became a hotly contested battleground in the 3rd century, with the Persians regaining control. Archaeological remains at Doura have yielded much information on trade with Palmyra, the early Christian community and the sieges of the Roman-Sassanid wars. Doura was also known as Europus or Doura-Europus.

¤ DRAMA See THEATER.

¤ DRUIDS AND DRUIDISM The religious and philosophical system of the CELTS, especially in Gaul and Britain. Druids were a target of eradication by the Roman Empire throughout the 1st century A.D. Druidism is of unknown origin and was considered ancient even in the time of Aristotle (4th century B.C). Some said the original Druids were Phoenicians or Egyptians, but the system took root particularly among the Celts, led by the Druid priests, specifically the Druids, Vates and Bards.

The Druid beliefs provided an expression for the nationalistic fervor that so often dismayed the enemies of the Celts. Everywhere that Druid beliefs were dominant, a sense of unity prevailed, especially in Gaul, Britain and Ireland, although in other places, such as Germany, Russia and Thrace, the Druid influence was felt.

Rome thus found Druidism a formidable opponent as it moved to conquer the Celtic territories. Julius Caesar, who wrote extensively about the priests, smashed the Gallic tribes in his campaigns. The subsequent Roman occupation attempted to curtail all Druid ceremonies, although Augustus did not condemn the Druids to death as long as they did not foment revolt. Roman citizens, naturally, were not allowed to be Druids. Tiberius attempted to destroy the elements of Druidism, but his campaign of persecution proved only marginally successful. Claudius shared the opinion of Tiberius and pursued Druids with some energy.

On the continent, Druidism existed only in secret until the time of Vespasian (ruled 69-79 A.D.). In Britain and Ireland, however, the inhabitants followed their priests faithfully. Roman legions arrived in Britain in 43 A.D., under the command of Aulus Plautius, and in 61 the final war against Druidic power began. The Arch-Druid, the sacred groves of Britain, and the hierarchy of the faithful were housed on the island of Mona (modern Anglesey, off the coast of northwestern Wales). General Suetonius Paulinus landed there with an army, slaughtered the inhabitants and hacked down the famed trees. As the Roman province of BRITANNIA was established, the colonists imported their own gods into the region. In time, Christianity would prove to be the final enemy of Druidism. The Council of Aries in 452 A.D. condemned any worship of trees, and stories from Britain detailed the harsh and ruthless slaughter of the Druids over the next centuries. One Welsh legend claimed that in later years the Arch-Druid and his followers were made bishops of the Christian Church.

Writers of the Roman era appear to have been fascinated with Druidism, as numerous references are made to it. Julius Caesar described them in his GALLIC WARS, though his account is meant to ensure the sympathy of his readers for his own cause, the subjugation of the Gallic people. PLINY THE ELDER, in his Natural History, painted a very vivid picture of Druidic life, especially those facets of interest to a naturalist and scientist. Other accounts are given by DIODORUS SICULUS, LUCAN (in Pharsalia) and STRABO. Later authors, like AURELIUS VICTOR and DIOGENES LAERTIUS (in his Lives of the Philosophers), refer to them as an extinct people. Ammianus Marcellinus and the Scriptores Historiae Augustae mentioned several Druid seers who predicted various fates for the emperors, including Severus Alexander and Aurelian. A Druidess also prophesied that DIOCLETIAN would become emperor only after slaying the boar (aper). In 284 A.D. Diocletian executed the Praetorian Prefect Ar- rius Aper, and became emperor.

¤ DRUSILLA (1), JULIA (d. 38 A.D.) Daughter of GERMANICUS and AGRIPPINA THE ELDER. She had an incestuous relationship with her brother GAIUS CALIGULA, and achieved a position of prominence when he became emperor in 37 A.D. The honors accorded Drusilla included the right to command the respect normally reserved for the VESTAL VIRGINS and to attend the Circus. After her death, she was deified, Caligula ordering that she be considered the equal to Augustus. In 38 A.D., her birthday was celebrated in the Circus with two days of entertainments held under the gaze of her statue, which was borne into the arena at the start of the games by elephants.

¤ DRUSILLA (2), (d. after 79 A.D.) Wife of the procurator of Judaea, FELIX, who shared in her husband's corrupt and brutal rule of the territory. She was present at the trial of St. Paul in 60 A.D. before the procurator. Accounts of her origins are conflicting. TACITUS reported that she was the granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra and thus claimed kinship with CLAUDIUS. JOSEPHUS wrote that Drusilla was a daughter of Herod AGRIPPA i and a sister of BERENICE, the one-time lover of Titus. Drusilla supposedly had been married to Azizus, the king of Emesa, but Felix fell in love with her and unlawfully put an end to that marriage. She was at the time enduring the cruelties of Berenice, who was jealous of her beauty, so the offer from the Roman official was accepted. She later gave birth to a son, Agrippa, and both escaped from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

¤ DRUSUS (1), NERO CLAUDIUS ("Drusus the Elder") (38-9 B.C) The brother of TIBERIUS and son of LIVIA and her first husband, Drusus Claudianus Livius. He was born in the house of Augustus, however, three months after the future emperor had compelled Livia to become his wife. Drusus proved more popular to the Romans than his brother and was famed for his belief in the ideals of the Republic. Nonetheless, his marriage to Lady ANTONIA produced two great imperial figures, GERMANICUS and CLAUDIUS. In 19 B.C, Drusus embarked on a public career and, starting in 15 B.C, served in the provinces in campaigns that would dominate the adult years of his life. He joined Tiberius in a war against the Raetians, who had pushed their way out of Noricum and threatened parts of Italy and Gaul, crushing their advance and embarking on a general invasion of RAETIA. In 13 B.C, he prepared in GERMANIA for a series of thrusts into barbarian lands. From 12 to 9 B.C, he not only reached the Elbe and Rhine rivers but also dug a canal to the Rhine and sailed through it to the Atlantic.

In 9 B.C, he invaded the lands of the CHATTI and the SUEBI, despite severe thunderstorms portending ill omens for his consulship that year. His victory in this region drove him on against the CHERUSCI, but sufficient warnings and bad omens stopped his campaign. On the way home, he fell from his horse and fractured his leg. Augustus sent Tiberius to him, but Drusus died soon after. All of Rome mourned, and after a huge funeral ceremony in the Forum, Drusus was laid to rest in the CAMPUS MARTIUS.

¤ DRUSUS (2) (d. 33 A.D.) Son of GERMANICUS and AGRIPPINA THE ELDER, and a target, along with his brothers GAIUS CALIGULA and NERO, of the ambitious Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Lucius Aelius SEJANUS. Sejanus worked for years to destroy Agrippina, her family and the entire party of Germanicus. He used their weaknesses against them, and found that Drusus had a fierce temper and a jealousy of his brother Nero, who managed to command their mother's attentions. Drusus thus stood by when Agrippina and Nero were arrested, and imprisoned or exiled. Around 29 A.D., Drusus married the unfaithful and cruel Amelia LEPIDA, who immediately turned against her husband in favor of Sejanus. Drusus was soon dismissed by Tiberius and fell under the treason accusations of Cassius Severus. Declared a criminal, Drusus was sent to a dungeon on the Palatine to die. Tiberius realized in 31 A.D. his error in trusting Sejanus so completely and considered presenting Drusus to the Senate and to the mob. The emperor concluded that the youth had been imprisoned too long to be released. Drusus remained in his cell, near starvation, until his death. The Senate was shocked to read Drusus' diary, recounting his days of agony and isolation.

¤ DRUSUS (3)

Drusus the Younger, from a bust.

DRUSUS (3), JULIUS CAESAR ("Drusus the Younger") (13 B.C-23 A.D.) Son of Emperor TIBERIUS by his first wife, AGRIPPINA. He grew up in the imperial palace and married LIVILLA, the daughter of the Lady Antonia. As his father rose to prominence in Rome, so did he, especially after Tiberius was adopted and granted full tribunician power in 13 A.D. Augustus also allowed Drusus honors and position. In 11 A.D. he received the rank of quaestor and in 13 was named to serve as CONSUL in 15 A.D. By the year 14, he was an heir to the throne when Tiberius succeeded Augustus, carrying the will of the dead emperor into the Senate. In 14, Drusus was sent to PANNONIA to quell the mutiny of the legions there, which had revolted at Augustus' death. Aided by an eclipse and foul weather, Drusus brought them to order. He then returned to Rome to take up the duties of his consulship.

He greeted with alarm the adoption of GERMANICUS, son of Tiberius' brother Drusus (see DRUSUS [1]) but maintained good relations with him and with the entire party of Germanicus in Rome. In 19 A.D., however, Germanicus died, and Drusus faced a more formidable and ambitious rival, the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard Lucius Aelius SEJANUS. Sejanus had accompanied Drusus to Pannonia in 14 and had subsequently come to possess the ear and the trust of Tiberius. The two, Drusus and Sejanus, were naturally bitter enemies, as Drusus saw the officer as a grasping upstart. He complained about Sejanus to his father and even struck him on one occasion. Drusus was called hot-tempered, licentious and cruel (the sharpest of Roman swords were called Drusian after him). Tiberius grew so angry with his behavior that, according to Dio, he shouted:

"You will commit no act of violence or insubordination while I am alive, nor when I am dead either."

Drusus served as consul again in 21, with his father, which had come to be considered an omen. All others who had served in that office with Tiberius had suffered horrible deaths. Sejanus used Livilla and the eunuch Spado to introduce into Drusus' system a slow-acting but deadly poison. He finally died in 23 A.D. The aging emperor would rely increasingly upon Sejanus.

¤ DRUSUS (4) (fl. 1st century A.D.) First son of Emperor CLAUDIUS (ruled 41-54 A.D.) and his first wife, Plautia. Drusus was betrothed to the daughter of SEJANUS but died before the wedding, choking to death on a pear.

¤ DUUMVIRI (1) The magistrates in Rome who presided as judges over criminal cases. They ranked just below the PRAETORS in political influence. See also LAW.

¤ DUUMVIRI (2) Also called Duumviri Munidpales; two magistrates appointed in the Roman colonies and in municipal communities to serve as the highest officials of the local government. The Roman colonial systems mirrored the central government in organization, and as the local CURIA, or council, and DECURIONES and CURIALES were miniature Senates and senators, so were the duumviri the colonial equivalents of consuls, responsible for many of the same tasks as the consuls in Rome. The duumviri oversaw the functions of the local council and ensured that Roman law and order were maintained. Normally their terms of office were for one year, as in Rome. One of the more interesting variations of the office was that of the Duumviri Honorarii. The title of head of the city could be bestowed upon a visiting dignitary; Trajan, for example, was made Duumvir Honomrius of the city of Byzantium.

¤ DYRRHACHIUM Seaport in Illyricum located on a peninsula in the Adriatic; originally called Epidamnus by the Greeks. The city served as a major port on the Adriatic and received most of the seaborne traffic out of BRUNDISIUM, about 100 miles away on the Italian coast. In 48 B.C, Dyrrhachium was the site of a major battle between Julius CAESAR and POMPEY THE GREAT, during the CIVIL WAR OF THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. After crushing the armies of Pompey in Spain and at MASSILIA, Caesar returned to Italy and Rome to begin preparations for a final confrontation with the Pompeians. On January 4, 48 B.C, Caesar set sail from Brundisium with seven legions, equaling some 20,000 men. He left another 20,000 behind, as Marc ANTONY was to transport them. Pompey, meanwhile, had raised an army of some 100,000 men, although the quality of these troops was suspect.

The Caesarian legions crossed the Adriatic, evading the ships of Pompey and landing in Epirus to allow for maneuvering room in the face of the enemy's superiority in numbers. After several marches, however, Pompey failed to move directly against Caesar, electing to defend the town of Dyrrhachium instead. Caesar sent strict orders for Antony to move with his legions by sea as soon as possible, for no successful conclusion would be reached without him. Furthermore, winter was ending; without the Adriatic storms, Antony's galleys would be easy prey for the Pompeians. Antony set sail in late February, barely scraped past the Pompeian fleet and landed on the present-day Albanian coast, north of Dyrrhachium.

Pompey was in the middle, between Antony and Caesar, and set about crushing the lieutenant and his newly arrived forces. But Caesar marched to join Antony and offer battle with their combined units. Pompey declined the confrontation and hurried to prevent other Caesarian elements from reaching Dyrrhachium. He failed, arriving at the port only to have Caesar bar his entry into the city. An advance guard of Pompey's succeeded in taking some advantageous high ground south of Dyrrhachium, and soon Pompey's entire army was surrounded - minus the sizable garrison of the port, which Caesar could not afford to besiege but which was unable to join Pompey. With less than a quarter of Pompey's strength, Caesar built fortifications around the enemy camps on the coast. Caesar's army had to forage on a plain that had been reduced to dust. Pompey had the advantage, and could be supplied by sea.

Throughout the month of April the two sides built vast fortifications. Caesar was spread thin trying to maintain vigilance on his walls and forts, and food grew very scarce. His legions searched for supplies in desperation, surviving through sheer force of will. By late June, Pompey was compelled to act. The crops outside were ready for harvest, and malaria was soon to break out in his camp. In early July an attack was made. Luring Caesar away from his fortifications, Pompey struck hard along the lines and very nearly broke through, but was stayed by the Legate Sulla. A more straightforward assault was then tried, one designed to use the superiority of numbers. A small sortie engaged Caesar in the north, while a half-dozen legions threw themselves into an attack in the south. Caesar countered, but more and more of Pompey's troops burst across the line.

Caesar terminated the siege and ordered a general retreat to the south. Pompey followed but without enough enthusiasm to compel the rattled legions of Caesar to turn and fight one last battle. Caesar had lost 1,000 men, Pompey fewer. Caesar escaped into Thessaly with his army intact. In August, at PHARSALUS, Caesar and Pompey would meet again.