Suetonius Divus Vespasianus 3

ed. J. Eugene Reed, Alexander Thomson (Translator)

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Meanwhile, he married Flavia Domitilla, who had formerly been the mistress of Statilius Capella, a Roman knight of Sabrata in Africa , who [Domitilla] enjoyed Latin rights; and was soon after declared fully and freely a citizen of Rome , on a trial before the court of Recovery, brought by her father Flavius Liberalis, a native of Ferentum, but no more than secretary to a quaestor. By her he had the following children: Titus, Domitia and Domitilla. He outlived his wife and daughter, and lost them both before he became emperor. After the death of his wife he renewed his union¹ with his former concubine, Caenis, the freedwoman of Antonia, and also her amanuensis, and treated her, even after he was emperor, almost as if she had been his lawful wife.²

Divus Vespasianus. Suetonius. ed. J. Eugene Reed, Alexander Thomson (Translator). Philadelphia. 1883.

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Current edition Perseus

Vespasian (English) (Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Thomson, Alexander, M.D, translator; Reed, J.E., editor. Philadelphia: Gebbie, 1883.)

Editions (2)

Divus Vespasianus Perseus (Suetonius. De Vita Caesarum Libri VIII. Ihm, Max, editor; Leipzig: Teubner, 1908.) — 3.1 focus

[1] Inter haec Flauiam Domitillam duxit uxorem, Statili Capellae equitis R. Sabratensis ex Africa delicatam olim Latinaeque condicionis, sed mox ingenuam et ciuem Rom. reciperatorio iudicio pronuntiatam, patre asserente Flauio Liberale Ferenti genito nec quicquam amplius quam quaestorio scriba. ex hac liberos tulit Titum et Domitianum et Domitillam. uxori ac filiae superstes fuit atque utramque adhuc priuatus amisit. post uxoris excessum Caenidem, Antoniae libertam et a manu, dilectam quondam sibi reuocauit in contubernium habuitque etiam imperator paene iustae uxoris loco.

Latin (Mooney, 1930; two-witness OCR draft) Experimental (George W. Mooney, C. Suetoni Tranquilli De Vita Caesarum Libri VII–VIII, 1930. Two supplied HathiTrust OCR witnesses: inu.30000076323157 and pst.000005277278. Ihm-aligned chapters and sections; unresolved OCR retained and documented in the accompanying Mooney audit.)

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Translations (5)

Vespasian — English (Holland, 1899; selective 1606 variants) (OCR draft) Experimental (Reviewed existing structured XML; conservative source comparison and unresolved-note inventory, September 2026. English (Holland, 1899; selective 1606 variants))

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Vespasian — English (Rolfe, 1914; reviewed XML) (OCR draft) Experimental (Reviewed existing structured XML; conservative source comparison and unresolved-note inventory, September 2026. English (Rolfe, 1914; reviewed XML))

No corresponding passage available

English (Mooney, 1930; two-witness OCR draft) Experimental (George W. Mooney, C. Suetoni Tranquilli De Vita Caesarum Libri VII–VIII, 1930. Two supplied HathiTrust OCR witnesses: inu.30000076323157 and pst.000005277278. Ihm-aligned chapters and sections; unresolved OCR retained and documented in the accompanying Mooney audit.)

No corresponding passage available

Commentary (Mooney, 1930; English; OCR draft) Experimental (George W. Mooney, C. Suetoni Tranquilli De Vita Caesarum Libri VII–VIII, 1930. Two supplied HathiTrust OCR witnesses: inu.30000076323157 and pst.000005277278. Ihm-aligned chapters and sections; unresolved OCR retained and documented in the accompanying Mooney audit.)

No corresponding passage available

Commentary (Braithwaite, 1927; English; OCR draft) Experimental (A. W. Braithwaite, C. Suetoni Tranquilli Divus Vespasianus. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927. Commentary prepared from one UIUG OCR witness, with Ihm chapter/section targets and mentioned/note lemma markup. OCR draft; see braithwaite1927-audit for provenance, decisions and unresolved issues.)

No corresponding passage available

Notes on the current edition

Vespasian

1. "Revocavit in contubernium." From the difference of our habits, there is no word in the English language which exactly conveys the meaning of contubernium; a word which, in a military sense, the Romans applied to the intimate fellowship between comrades in war who messed together, and lived in close fellowship in the same tent. Thence they transferred it to a union with one woman who was in a higher position than a concubine, but, for some reason, could not acquire the legal rights of a wife, as in the case of slaves of either sex. A man of rank, also, could not marry a slave or a freedwoman, however much he might be attached to her.

2. Nearly the same phrases. are applied by Suetonius to Drusilla, see CALIGULA, c. xxiv., and to Marcella, the concubine of Commodus, by Herodian, 1. xvi. 9 , where he says that she had all the honours of an empress, except that the incense was not offered to her. These connections resembled the left-hand marriages of the German princes.