Domitian's dream. AR. 844

This is one of a group of drawings by British artist and book illustrator Edward Francis Burney, depicting scenes from Greek and Roman history and mythology. This composition was used for a headpiece in 'Le Souvenir, A Pocket Remembrancer', a memorandum book printed by J Cary for Godwin in 1807, on the page for 15th March. The Roman historian Suetonius reported that Emperor Domitian (51 - 96 CE) dreamed that Minerva (Greek: Athena) came to him and said that she could no longer protect him as she had been disarmed by Jupiter (Greek: Zeus).