Flavia Domitilla (saint)

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Flavia Domitilla († end of 1st / beginning of 2nd century on the island of Ventotene ?, In ancient times Pandateria) was a member of the house of the Flavians , a Christian martyr and saint .

Life

Flavia Domitilla was the daughter of Domitilla the Younger and wife of the consul Titus Flavius ​​Clemens , her cousin, who was executed in 95 at the instigation of the Emperor Domitian , his uncle, but probably not because he was a Christian.

Cassius Dio , who describes the events more than 100 years apart, is the first to explain that Flavius ​​Clemens and Flavia Domitilla have been accused of godlessness, which from the Roman point of view was often accused of Christians (but also of Jews) . Suetonius, on the other hand, whose emperors' biographies were written in the 120s, only reports that Flavius ​​Clemens was executed "on very little suspicion", which suggests that Domitian has chosen an excuse to get rid of a rival to the throne. According to Cassius Dio, the consul's widow, Flavia Domitilla, was banished to the island of Pandateria (now Ventotene ) in the Tyrrhenian Sea .

Eusebius of Caesarea reports that a niece of Flavius ​​Clemens named Flavia Domitilla was exiled to the island of Pontia (today Ponza ) because of her Christianity ; regarding the island there is probably a confusion with Pandataria - both islands belong to the Pontine Islands . According to the wording of the description of Eusebius, two relatives of the consul with the same name should be assumed, both of whom would have been exiled to the Pontine Islands. In fact, there is probably an editorial error on the part of Eusebius, so that in truth it is only a question of a woman, the consul's wife.

Saint Jerome reports that this Flavia Domitilla (he refrains from specifying an exact relationship) suffered a long martyrdom on Pandataria. The so-called Domitilla catacombs south of Rome are also assigned to this Domitilla . It is possible that Flavia Domitilla survived the Emperor Domitian and was therefore able to return to Rome after 98. Flavia Domitilla had seven children and two sons died in childhood.

The legend according to which Flavia Domitilla was summoned before the judge Minutius Rufus under Emperor Trajan , then tortured and finally beheaded, is not further documented and of a later date.

Adoration

The veneration as a saint is based on the interpretation that the charge of godlessness that Domitian made against her and her husband was tantamount to accepting the Christian faith. Flavia Domitilla is commemorated on May 7th . Cardinal Baronius claims to have found the bones of Flavia Domitilla ; Relics of the saints are kept in the church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo next to the relics of saints Nereus and Achilleus , who are said to have been lords of the Flavia Domitilla, but who in fact died during the Diocletian persecution of Christians . Also Limoges and Ellwangen preserve relics of Flavia Domitilla be attributed.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 67, 14, 1f.
  2. ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 3, 18.
personal data
SURNAME Flavia Domitilla
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Domitilla, Flavia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flavierin, saint
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH at 100
Place of death Ventotene