For the past several days, I have been engaged by the television series Domina, which I believe you can view via Amazon Prime. I was prepared not to like this series, but when television is well done and seems to bear some semblance of history, I find myself wanting to know more. It is less than a month before Christmas now, and several times, the screen reminds the viewer that the period of time in a an episode is 14 years before the birth of Christ–more or less.
The series is about Livia Drucilla, who eventually married Gaius Caesar Augustus. I have read the story about Christ’s birth several times, and I immediately wanted to know if this Caesar Augustus was the man in Luke 2:
2 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Luke 2: 1-3.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
My research indicates that the husband of Livia [in Domina] was the man who caused Joseph, Mary, and the unborn Baby Jesus to go packing on a donkey to Bethlehem in the Book of Luke.
Just to be sure that we are all on the same page, Bethlehem is across the Mediterranean Sea–far away from Rome, but during the time of Caesar Augustus, the Roman Empire included Bethlehem, which is in the dark red area on the lower right, Rome is in the dark yellow boot-like area jutting into the sea across the water and toward the mid-left. As we discuss the life and crucifixion of Jesus, it is important to understand that Rome controlled the area where Jesus lived–as well as that which was around Italy.
Caesar Augustus had inherited the control of an enlarged area of land from his great uncle Julius Caesar, who adopted Caesar Augustus and made him his heir, Caesar Augustus conquered many other regions, and the wars to do that were costly.
To pay for this expansion and to better stabilize the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus revised the tax system, At regular intervals, people were required to return to their homelands to be counted. This was called the Census, and Joseph was required to report to Bethlehem to comply with a Cenus.
But back to trying to establish a historical account of ancient Rome, the research into the names of the ancient Roman leaders is difficult. Trying to read a family tree when everyone had the same name for centuries gave me whiplash, but I have decided that part of the series Domina is true. It is also true that Livia’s son Tiberius inherited the leadership of Rome from Caesar Augustus, who was the stepfather of Tiberius.
I feel certain that Caesar Augustus was a great-nephew of Julius Caesar, but I am not certain about the veracity of the rest of the series Domina. And yet, I believe that watching the episodes of this series is good for anyone who wants to glean some understanding of Ancient Rome at the time of the birth and death of Jesus Christ,
If nothing else, the series allows the viewer to envision the countryside of ancient Rome and to envision how the ancient Romans might have dressed. The series also allows the viewers to glean some understanding of the pagan religions that were in play before Christ was born.
“Rome’s first Empress Livia Drusilla has long been demonised as a murderous villainess. But as a new TV drama about her premieres, Daisy Dunn tries to separate fact from fiction.
“Livia: a blight upon the nation as a mother, a blight upon the house of Caesar as a stepmother”. That was Tacitus’s damning assessment of Livia Drusilla, first empress of Rome. The ancient historian elaborated that Livia put her husband, Emperor Augustus, under her control, and banished or had killed every potential heir to the throne in order to promote her own son – Augustus’s stepson – Tiberius, as his successor. The first lady was even suspected of foul play when the emperor finally dropped dead in AD14 in his seventies.” BBCI
I, Claudius From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Born 10 B.C. Murdered and Deified A.D. 54
Robert Graves wrote the book I, Claudius, and much of the research for that book resurfaced in Domina.
If my research is correct, Claudius was the grandson of Livvia via her son Drusus and his wife Antonia, who was the daughter of Mark Antony. Claudius walked with a limp and was slightly deaf. He was a ridiculed leader.
Livia was initially married to Tiberius Claudius Nero. After her father’s death, Livia was unmoored and managed to divorce Nero and marry Augustus, who would become the First Emperor of Rome. At the time of her marriage to Augustus, she had one son [Tiberius] and was expecting a second son Drusus,
During the entire series, we watch the cast play the game of marriage with the same facility that they would have played a game of checkers. Augustus divorced his wife Scribonia, and that ex-wife is a nagging troublemaker for Livia throughout the series. Slivonia was the mother of Julia, who was the only legitimate child of Augustus.
In the series Domina, Julia is portrayed as a drunk who had loose morals. She married a few times, but was unfaithful to her husbands. One of her husbands was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who was a famous general and architect at that time. He built the original Roman Pantheon.
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