an
Italian municipality under the principate. The following year Rome was
devastated by a fire which raged for three days and destroyed Vespasian's
new temple of Capitoline Jupiter. In September, 81 A. D., Titus died,
deeply mourned by the whole Roman world.

VII. DOMITIAN, 81-96 A. D.

*Character and policy.* Titus was followed by his younger brother
Domitian, whom, on account of his ambition, neither Vespasian nor Titus
had permitted to share in the government. Domitian was a thorough autocrat
and his administration was characterized by great vigor and capacity. Far
from being a mere tyrant, he paid great attention to the welfare of the
provinces and exercised a strict supervision over his officers. He also
displayed a real interest in literature and replaced the libraries
destroyed in the fire of 80 A. D.

His autocratic policy is clearly seen in his assumption of the censorship
as perpetual censor in 84 A. D., whereby he acquired complete control over
the composition of the Senate, a power which, without the title, was
henceforth one of the prerogatives of the princeps. Even more emphatically
does his absolutism come to light in the title _dominus__ et deus_ (Lord
and God), which he required from the officers of his household, and by
which he was generally designated, although he did not employ it himself
in official documents. For the cult of the deified emperors Domitian
erected a special temple in Rome, and he also established a priestly
college of Flaviales, modelled on the Augustales of Rome, to perpetuate
the worship of his deified father and brother.

*Frontier policy: Britain.* The desire for military successes as a support
for his absolutism led Domitian to adopt an aggressive frontier policy. In
Britain, Julius Agricola, legate from 77 to 84 A. D., led the Roman
legions north of the Clyde and Firth of Forth and defeated the united
Caledonians under their chief Galgacus (84 A. D.). He also sent his fleet
around the north of Scotland and proved that Great Britain was an island.
But his projects, which included an invasion of Ireland, seemed too costly
to Domitian who recalled him, possibly in view of the military situation
on the continent. The conquest of Scotland was not completed and the Roman
authority was confined to the territory south of the Tyne.

*Germany.* In 83 A. D. Domitian led an army across the Rhine from Mainz
and annexed the district of Wetterau, where the l