Bust of Julia Titi, About 90 AD, The J. Paul Getty Museum
Julia Flavia, also called Julia Titi, was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Titus (r. 79-81 AD), who ruled during the Flavian dynasty. She was recorded as a young woman who was the mistress of her uncle Emperor Domitian (r. 81 - 96 AD).
In the bust of Julia Titti, the diadem originally inlaid with materials such as gold, silver, or gems marked her imperial status. Julia would have worn earrings, probably made of gold, which are now missing; the small holes at either side of her neck indicate the original presence of a now-missing necklace. Traces of paint preserved in Julia's curls show that her hair was originally a reddish color.
"Julia Flavia Titi, Imperial Princess (64–91 CE)" in Louvre Abu Dhabi, from 80 CE to 91 CE.
Growing up, Titus offered her in marriage to his brother(her uncle) Domitian, but he profoundly refused because of his infatuation and affair with Domitia Longina, who later became Domitian's wife. Later Julia married her second paternal cousin Titus Flavius Sabinus, brother to consul Titus Flavius Clemens, who married her first cousin(from her aunt) Flavia Domitilla.
Julia held the title of Augusta from 79 CE upon her father Titus's ascension until her death. Titus ruled for 2 years until his sudden death.
Titus Flavius Sabinus was consul with his cousin Domitian in 82 AD. In the same year, Titus Flavius Sabinus was executed "under pretext that the herald in proclaiming his consulship had called him Imperator instead of consul." Some add "Domitian's love for Sabinus's wife [Julia Flavia] was perhaps the real reason for Sabinus's death"
Following her husband's death, Julia lived in the palace with her uncle and aunt. Curiously, she never remarried.
This statue in Louvre Abu Dhabi depicts her, as Ceres, holding a bunch of poppies in one hand and a part of her large mantle in the other. Poppies were mentioned in Greco-Roman myths as offerings to the dead and were also used as a symbol of fertility. Poppies were associated with Ceres, the goddess of agriculture.
Bust of Julia. Palazzo Altemps, Rome.
Material: Medium-grained crystalline marble, Carrara marble for restorations
The marriage between her uncle Domitian and aunt Domitia appears to have faced a significant crisis in 83. He briefly exiled Domitia for unknown reasons(which some historians argue the reason being Domitia not bearing a son to an affair with an actor).
In 84, Lucius Julius Ursus(who was a member of Domitian's inner circle according to Cassius Dio, and according to a source, one to accuse Domitia of infidelity) who narrowly avoided execution, according to a source, thanks to Julia Flavia.
Ancient historians report stories of what seem to be widely believed amongst Romans, that Julia was seduced by her uncle and died having an abortion forced upon her by him after Domitia was brought back to the palace.
Reports about this time were made by Juvenal, a comtempoary satirist to Cassius Dio many decades later.
Juvenal condemns this as follows:
"such a man was that adulterer [Domitian] who, after lately defiling himself by a union of the tragic style, revived the stern laws that were to be a terror to all men – ay, even to Mars and Venus – just as Julia was relieving her fertile womb and giving birth to abortions that displayed the likeness of her uncle."
"After persistently refusing his niece, who was offered him in marriage when she was still a maid, because he was entangled in an intrigue with Domitia, he seduced her shortly afterwards when she became the wife of another, and that too during the lifetime of Titus. Later, when she was bereft of father and husband, he loved her ardently and without disguise, and even became the cause of her death by compelling her to get rid of a child of his by abortion."
Cassius Dio, decades later, claims:
"lived with [Julia Flavia] as husband with wife, making little effort at concealment. Then upon the demands of the people he became reconciled with Domitia, but continued his relations with Julia nonetheless"
Julia Flavia died in 91 AD and was deified by her uncle Domitian.
Phyllis, the nurse of both Domitian and Julia, mingled Domitian's ashes with those of Julia.
The bust of her in Museo Nazionale Romano seems to depict her as Venus(?). It was from the collection of Cardinal Lodovico Ludovisi (which was mainly assembled 1620-1630 and was sold to the Italian state by the Boncompagni-Ludovisi heirs in 1901. The Italian Government acquired 104 sculptures from the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family, and these were exhibited for a lengthy period in the Small Cloister of the Charterhouse in the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian.
