Olhares Contemporâneos sobre o Império Romano: Domiciano de José Martins Garcia

Abstract

With the play Domiciano, José Martins Garcia surveys some of Suetonius’s memories on the Flavian dynasty and the events surrounding its emperors. However, he prefers, as the title itself shows, to focus on Domitian’s personality, emphasising the emperor’s despotic characteristics that have been handed down by historical and biographical tradition. This option is closely linked with the author’s main objective: analysing the past to provide a critical insight into the contemporary world, thereby turning the play into a social document. Thus, contemporary symbols are prevalent in the work, though strategically masked by means of words and settings that depict the ancient world in order to reveal that the attitudes, vices and faults of the past tend to reappear in modern times.