Domitian’s astrological chart indicated that he would die in the noon hour, and probably at a particular noon. Knowing that all he had to do was stay protected by trusted guards for an hour each day made him fearless…until that particular noon seemed to be coming close. He began to test ways of defying fate—by trying to change other people’s predicted causes of death by killing them himself.

But that’s a story for a later time. Right now, he’s pretty proud of himself.

There’s no evidence that he and his family were within view of Vesuvius when it erupted, but there are indications they visited Herculaneum, and there were plenty of other luminaries in the area at the time. Anyway, our Domitian has a habit of appearing places where everyone says he is not.