§1Domitianus natus est VIIII. Kal. Nouemb. patre consule designato inituroque mense insequenti honorem, regione urbis sexta ad Malum Punicum, domo quam postea in templum gentis Flauiae conuertit.
Domitian was born on the ninth day before the Kalends of November, when his father was consul-designate and about to enter upon the office in the following month, in the sixth region of the city near the "Pomegranate", in a house which he afterwards converted into the temple of the Flavian clan.
pubertatis ac primae adulescentiae tempus tanta inopia tantaque infamia gessisse fertur, ut nullum argenteum uas in usu haberet.
He is said to have spent the period of his puberty and early youth in such poverty and such infamy that he did not have any silver vessel in use.
satisque constat Clodium Pollionem praetorium uirum, in quem est poema Neronis quod inscribitur 'Luscio,' chirographum eius conseruasse et nonnumquam protulisse noctem sibi pollicentis; nec defuerunt qui affirmarent, corruptum Domitianum et a Nerua successore mox suo.
And it is well established that Clodius Pollio, a man of praetorian rank, against whom there is a poem of Nero entitled "Luscio," kept and sometimes showed a handwritten note of Domitian's promising him a night; nor were there wanting those who asserted that Domitian had also been corrupted by Nerva, who was soon to be his successor.
bello Vitelliano confugit in Capitolium cum patruo Sabino ac parte praesentium copiarum, sed irrumpentibus aduersariis et ardente templo apud aedituum clam pernoctauit, ac mane Isiaci celatus habitu interque sacrificulos uariae superstitionis cum se trans Tiberim ad condiscipuli sui matrem comite uno contulisset, ita latuit, ut scrutantibus qui uestigia subsecuti erant, deprehendi non potuerit.
During the Vitellian war he fled to the Capitol with his uncle Sabinus and a part of the forces present, but when the adversaries broke in and the temple was burning, he spent the night secretly at the house of a temple guard. In the morning, disguised in the garb of a worshipper of Isis and mingling among the priests of various superstitions, he crossed the Tiber with a single companion to the mother of a classmate, and lay hid so well that he could not be detected by those who searched and followed his tracks.
post uictoriam demum progressus et Caesar consalutatus honorem praeturae urbanae consulari potestate suscepit titulo tenus, nam iuris dictionem ad collegam proximum transtulit, ceterum omnem uim dominationis tam licenter exercuit, ut iam tum qualis futurus esset ostenderet.
Having at last come forward after the victory and been saluted as Caesar, he assumed the office of urban praetor with consular power in name only, for he transferred the administration of justice to his nearest colleague; for the rest, however, he exercised all the power of lordship so licentiously that even then he showed what sort of man he was going to be.
ne exequar singula, contractatis multorum uxoribus Domitiam Longinam Aelio Lamiae nuptam etiam in matrimonium abduxit, atque uno die super XX officia urbana aut peregrina distribuit, mirari se Vespasiano dictitante, quod successorem non et sibi mitteret.
To avoid details, after tampering with the wives of many men, he even took away and married Domitia Longina, who was wedded to Aelius Lamia; and in a single day he distributed over twenty offices in the city and the provinces, so that Vespasian kept saying he wondered why his son did not send a successor to him as well.
§2expeditionem quoque in Galliam Germaniasque neque necessariam et dissuadentibus paternis amicis incohauit, tantum ut fratri se et opibus et dignatione adaequaret.
He also undertook an expedition into Gaul and the Germanies, which was not necessary and was advised against by his father's friends, solely that he might equal his brother both in wealth and in prestige.
Ob haec correptus, quo magis et aetatis et condicionis admoneretur, habitabat cum patre una sellamque eius ac fratris, quotiens prodirent, lectica sequebatur ac triumphum utriusque Iudaicum equo albo comitatus est.
Rebuked for this, that he might be more reminded of his age and position, he lived together with his father, and whenever they went out, he followed his father's and his brother's chair in a litter, and he accompanied the Jewish triumph of both on a white horse.
quin et e sex consulatibus non nisi unum ordinarium gessit eumque cedente ac suffragante fratre.
Nay, of six consulships he held only one as ordinary consul, and that too because his brother gave way to him and supported him.
simulauit et ipse mire modestiam in primisque poeticae studium, tam insuetum antea sibi quam postea spretum et abiectum, recitauitque etiam publice.
He himself also marvelously feigned modesty, and especially an interest in poetry, which was as unfamiliar to him before as it was afterwards despised and cast aside, and he even recited in public.
nec tamen eo setius, cum Vologaesus Parthorum rex auxilia aduersus Alanos ducemque alterum ex Vespasiani liberis depoposcisset, omni ope contendit ut ipse potissimum mitteretur; et quia discussa res est, alios Orientis reges ut idem postularent donis ac pollicitationibus sollicitare temptauit.
Nevertheless, when Vologaesus, king of the Parthians, had requested aid against the Alans and one of Vespasian's sons as leader, Domitian strove with all his might to be sent himself in preference to anyone else; and because the matter fell through, he tried by gifts and promises to solicit other kings of the East to make the same request.
Patre defuncto diu cunctatus an duplum donatiuum militi offerret, numquam iactare dubitauit relictum se participem imperii, sed fraudem testamento adhibitam; neque cessauit ex eo insidias struere fratri clam palamque, quoad correptum graui ualitudine, prius quam plane efflaret animam, pro mortuo deseri iussit; defunctumque nullo praeterquam consecrationis honore dignatus, saepe etiam carpsit obliquis orationibus et edictis.
After his father's death, having long hesitated whether to offer a double donative to the soldiers, he never hesitated to boast that he had been left a partner in the empire, but that fraud had been applied to the will; nor did he cease from then on to plot against his brother secretly and openly, until, when his brother was seized with a severe illness, before he had completely breathed his last, Domitian ordered him to be left as if dead; and having honored the deceased with no tribute except that of deification, he even frequently attacked him in oblique speeches and edicts.
§3Inter initia principatus cotidie secretum sibi horarum sumere solebat nec quicquam amplius quam muscas captare ac stilo praeacuto configere, ut cuidam interroganti, essetne quis intus cum Caesare, non absurde responsum sit a Vibio Crispo, ne muscam quidem. deinde uxorem Domitiam, ex qua in secundo suo consulatu filium tulerat alteroque anno, consalutauit Augustam; eandem Paridis histrionis amore deperditam repudiauit intraque breue tempus inpatiens discidii quasi efflagitante populo reduxit.
In the beginning of his reign he used to take to himself daily hours of privacy, nor did he do anything else than catch flies and pierce them with a sharp stylus, so that when someone asked whether anyone was inside with Caesar, Vibius Crispus made the witty reply: "Not even a fly." Then he saluted his wife Domitia as Augusta, by whom he had had a son in his second consulship and [whom he lost] in the following year; but when she fell desperately in love with the actor Paris, he divorced her, and within a short time, unable to bear the separation, he took her back as if the people demanded it.
Circa administrationem autem imperii aliquamdiu se uarium praestitit, mixtura quoque aequabili uitiorum atque uirtutum, donec uirtutes quoque in uitia deflexit: quantum coniectare licet, super ingenii naturam inopia rapax, metu saeuus.
In the administration of the empire, however, for some time he showed himself inconsistent, with an even mixture of vices and virtues, until he turned even his virtues into vices; as far as one can conjecture, he became rapacious through poverty, and cruel through fear, contrary to his natural disposition.