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XV. Domitian
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164 XV Domitian Domitian (r. 81–96) presented an image of faulty rulership in contrast with the good model of his brother, Titus. He had a welldeserved reputation for cowardice. When Vespasian was first hailed as emperor in Alexandria, Domitian went into hiding until forces loyal to Vespasian had defeated those of Vitellius. Domitian remained under some suspicion of complicity in the early death of Titus , although there is no hard evidence to support this. As emperor, his military accomplishments were slight. He attempted to oversee governors of the provinces to lessen corrupt and harsh rule there, but in Rome and the rest of Italy his government practiced arbitrary arrests and extortions. He succeeded in suppressing the one serious revolt against him, but Domitian showed a paranoid fear of being assassinated, particularly in the last three years of his reign. He sentenced Flavius Clemens, his cousin, to death for allegedly conspiring against him, having exiled Clemens’ wife for alleged support of Christianity. Stephanus, a freeman loyal to Clemens, eventually stabbed him in his bedroom. In Domitian’s reign, Saint John was exiled to Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. There is considerable debate today over whether that John was the same as John the Apostle, who wrote the gospel that bears his name. The apostle would necessarily have been in his eighties at that point, which in itself does not rule him out. the Book reveals to us that his brother, Domitian, then controlled the Empire. He was an enemy of God and a persecutor of Christians . He rode off to Benevento with an army and destroyed the fortress Domitian 165 there. Aiming to crush Christianity, he ordered that all who believed in the true God were to be tortured and then beheaded. The book goes on to tell us that meanwhile John the Evangelist had come to Rome. He was a true messenger of God, who had known God’s Son. He publicly stirred up the people, urging them to turn to God, teaching large numbers of them to become obedient to God. Then the evil man found out that Saint John was in Rome, which made him very angry. He demanded that this great man appear before him. He urged him and threatened him, but he would not obey him. He revealed to him the Father and the Son and that the Holy Ghost completed those two—the three names should be recognized as referring to one God. That made the king, who wanted to hear nothing of these sweet teachings, very angry. He ordered him taken away and a vat filled with hot oil. He wanted to bring him to total shame. He tied his hands and feet and ordered him thrown into the boiling oil. That, however, did not do Domitian any good. He could not injure this man. Our Lord sent a lordly angel who relieved him of any pain, and John came from the intended ordeal unblemished as a virgin. The flaming oil had done him no injury at all. He told all the Romans that it had felt like he had been resting in a meadow of dewy clover. But even though the king had witnessed the miraculous signs, they could not dissuade him from his wrongdoing. He accused the holy man of using magic. Even though the Romans had seen what happened, no one was allowed to stand by him or give him any kind of help. He commanded that John be thrown aboard a ship and sent into exile far away. These orders were carried out quickly. The holy man was seized and taken across the sea to an island. That little land is called Patmos. There John strained with determination to write his great work, Apocalypse [book of Revelation]. In it one can surely learn about many of God’s wonders , which God let him see in heaven. This is Lord John the Apostle to whom Our Lord Jesus Christ commended his Mother, when he saw him there at the time he was being tortured to death. It is John the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which begins, “In principio erat verbum [In the beginning was the Word].” The great man wrote it be- [34.230.66.177] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 12:28 GMT) 166 Chapter Fifteen cause dissension had broken out among his followers. His book settled that dispute so that they never doubted him any more. This is the...