The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
Flavia Domitilla
exiled AD 95; d. thereafter · Imperial noblewoman · Confessor · Rome → Pandateria
The Apostolic Fathers
Who Flavia Domitilla was
Granddaughter of the emperor Vespasian and wife (or, in Eusebius, niece) of the consul Flavius Clemens, whom Domitian executed — banished in 95 to an island “in consequence of testimony borne to Christ,” as Eusebius records; the pagan Dio says the charge was “atheism… the customs of the Jews,” Rome’s idiom for Christianity. The great catacomb of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina lies on her family’s land. The gospel’s reach into the imperial house itself, one generation after Nero.
Also listed in women.
Common questions
When did Flavia Domitilla live?
Flavia Domitilla is dated exiled AD 95; d. thereafter in the archive, which places Flavia Domitilla in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130).
Which early sources mention Flavia Domitilla?
Flavia Domitilla is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Dio Cassius, Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome of Stridon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Flavia Domitilla from?
The archive associates Flavia Domitilla with Rome, Pandateria. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Flavia Domitilla’s contemporaries?
The archive links Flavia Domitilla to 3 other figures, including Nereus and His Sister, Emperor Domitian and The Grandsons of Jude. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Dio Cassius, Roman History 67.14 (exile on the charge of atheism)
c. AD 229The charge brought against them both was that of atheism, a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned.Dio Cassius · read ↗
Ecclesiastical History III.18
c. AD 325…Flavia Domitilla, daughter of a sister of Flavius Clemens, one of the consuls of Rome at that time, was with many others, in consequence of testimony borne to Christ, banished to the island of Pontia.Eusebius of Caesarea · III.18 · source text
Letter 108.7 (Paula at the cells of Pontia)
c. AD 404Paula saw the cells in which this lady passed the period of her long martyrdom.Jerome of Stridon · Letter 108.7 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Flavia Domitilla.
- 1Rome