Domitia Longina - Later Years

Later Years

On 18 September 96, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy organized by court officials. His body was carried away on a common bier, and unceremoniously cremated by his nurse Phyllis, who mingled the ashes with those of his niece Julia at the Flavian temple. The same day, he was succeeded by his friend and advisor, Marcus Cocceius Nerva. Ancient sources have implicated Domitia in the conspiracy against Domitian, either by direct involvement, or advance awareness of the assassination. The historian Cassius Dio, writing more than a century after the assassination, claimed that Domitia chanced upon a list of courtiers Domitian intended to put to death, and passed the information to his chamberlain Parthenius. The story is most likely apocryphal however, with Herodian attributing a similar tale to the assassination of Commodus. According to Jones, the evidence suggests that Domitia remained devoted to Domitian, even after his death. Twenty-five years after her husband's assassination, and despite the fact that his memory had been damned by the Senate, she still referred to herself as "Domitia, wife of Domitian".

Sometime between 126 and 140, a temple dedicated to Domitia was erected in Gabii. She died peacefully.