Titus Flavius T. f. T. n. Clemens () was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

politician and cousin of the emperor

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

, with whom he served as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

from January to April in AD 95. Shortly after leaving the consulship, Clemens was executed, allegedly for atheism, although the exact circumstances remain unclear. Over time, he came to be regarded as an early

Christian martyr In Christianity, a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In the years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake, or ...

.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 788 ("T. Flavius Clemens").

Biography

Clemens was the son of Titus Flavius Sabinus,

''suffectus'' in AD 69, and a brother of Titus Flavius Sabinus, consul in AD 82. The emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

was his paternal great-uncle, while the emperors

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...

and Domitian were his father's cousins. As a child, Clemens was besieged along with his family in the capitol, while his great-uncle Vespasian's soldiers were approaching Rome. His grandfather, Vespasian's brother Titus Flavius Sabinus, consul in AD 47, was captured and slain by the forces of

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius ( ; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius became emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil wa ...

, who burnt the capitol, but the rest of the family escaped. Clemens' brother was consul with Domitian, shortly after the latter's accession, but the emperor put his cousin to death on the pretext that the herald proclaiming him consul had called him ''Imperator''.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

claims that Domitian was motivated by his love for his cousin's wife,

Julia Flavia Julia Flavia ( – 91) or Flavia Julia, nicknamed Julia Titi, was the daughter of Roman Emperor Titus and his first wife Arrecina Tertulla. Julia Titi gained the title '' Augusta'' at her father's accession in 79. Biography Early life Juli ...

(who, as the daughter of his brother Titus, was also his niece). Clemens also married one of his second cousins, Flavia Domitilla, daughter of Vespasian's daughter,

Domitilla Flavia Domitilla may refer to: * Flavia Domitilla the Elder (died before 69 AD), the wife of the Roman Emperor Vespasian * Flavia Domitilla the Younger (c. 45 – c. 66), Vespasian's only daughter * Flavia Domitilla (wife of Clemens) (fl. 1st c ...

, who was thus also a niece of Domitian. They had two sons, whom Domitian intended to succeed him in the empire, renaming one of them ''Vespasian'' and the other ''Domitian''. In AD 95, Clemens served as consul alongside the emperor from January to April. He was executed shortly after leaving the consulship at the end of April. According to

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, Clemens was put to death on a charge of atheism, for which, he adds, many others who went over to the Jewish opinions were executed. This may imply that Clemens had converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. For the same reason, his wife was banished to Pandataria. The Christian author Eusebius mentions Clemens without saying anything about his belief. Some scholars identify Clemens with "Ketia bar Shalom", whom the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

described as a Roman senator who converted to Judaism and managed to save the Jews from a decree of persecution, before himself being executed.Keti’a Bar Shalom
/ref>

Flavian family tree

References

Bibliography

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', commonl ...

, ''

De Vita Caesarum ''De vita Caesarum'' (Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'' or ''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire writte ...

'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). * Lucius Flavius Philostratus, '' The Life of Apollonius of Tyana''. *

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

, '' Historia Ecclesiastica''. * Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus ( St. Jerome), ''Epistulae''. *

Annibale Albani Annibale Albani (15 August 1682 – 21 September 1751) was an Italian catholic Cardinal. Biography Annibale Albani was born in Urbino as a member of the Albani family, of Albanian-Italian origin. His parents were Orazio Albani, brother of Pope C ...

, ''T. Flavii Clementis Viri Consularis et Martyris Tumulus illustratis'', Urbino (1727). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'',

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). *

Franz Xaver Kraus Franz Xaver Kraus (18 September 1840 – 28 December 1901) was a German Catholic priest, and ecclesiastical and art historian. Early life Franz Xaver Kraus was born in Trier in 1840. He completed his studies in the Trier gymnasium, began his the ...

, ''Roma Sotterranea: Die Römische Katakomben'', Herder, Freiburg-in-Breisgau (1873), p. 41. *

Heinrich Grätz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (no ...

, ''Die Jüdischen Proselyten im Römerreiche unter den Kaisern Domitian, Nerva, Trajan und Hadrian'' (1884), pp. 28 ''et seq.'' * Heinrich Grätz, ''Geschichte der Juden von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart'', 3d ed., vol. iv, p. 403. * Lebrecht, in

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar who is considered the founding father of Reform Judaism and the academic field of Quranic studies. Emphasizing Judaism's constant developm ...

, ''Jüd. Zeit.'', vol. xi., p. 273. *

Abraham Berliner Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (2 May 1833 – 21 April 1915) (Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He was initially educated by his father, who was the teac ...

, ''Geschichte der Juden in Rom, von der ältesten Zeit bis zur Gegenwalt'', J. Kaufmann, Frankfurt am Mein (1893), p. 39. *

Théodore Reinach Théodore Reinach (3 July 186028 October 1928) was a French archaeologist, mathematician, lawyer, papyrologist, philologist, epigrapher, historian, numismatist, musicologist, professor, and politician. Academic career Educated at the Lycée Co ...

, ''Fontes rerum Judaicarum'', vol. i, p. 195. * Paul von Rohden,

Elimar Klebs Elimar Klebs (15 October 1852 – 16 May 1918) was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs. Biography Klebs was born in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Prussia. He studied in Berlin under Theodor Mommsen ...

, &

Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons to ...

, ''

Prosopographia Imperii Romani The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman Empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final volum ...

'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire), Berlin (1898), vol. ii. p. 81. * Gavin Townend
"Some Flavian Connections"
in ''

Journal of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interest ...

'', No. 51 (1961). * John D. Grainger, ''Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96–99'', Routledge (2004). * Weiß, Alexander. "Soziale Elite und Christentum. Studien zu ordo-Angehörigen unter den frühen Christen." Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter (2015), pp. 157–160. {{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Clemens, Titus Flavian dynasty Flavii Sabini 1st-century Roman consuls Executed ancient Roman people Cultural assimilation Converts to Judaism from paganism Italian saints 1st-century Christian saints Jewish martyrs People executed by the Roman Empire 1st-century executions Year of birth unknown 95 deaths Roman consuls who died in office

Biography

Flavian family tree

See also

References

Bibliography