Domnina (daughter of Nero)

Domnina appears in a Christian tradition preserved in The Posthumous Miracles of St. Photeine, where she is described as a daughter of the Roman emperor Nero. In this account, she and her one hundred slave girls were converted to Christianity by the Samaritan woman Photina. After her conversion, Domnina reportedly ordered that all the gold jewelry belonging to her and her servants be sold, with the proceeds given to the poor. One version of the story states that she took the name Anthousa.

No historical records confirm Domnina’s existence; Nero’s only known daughter, Claudia Augusta, died in infancy. The tale is likely a Christian myth from late antiquity or the Middle Ages. A daughter of Nero also appears in some versions of the medieval fable “Virgil in the Basket,” where she is the object of the poet’s affections. Such stories often mix fact with fiction, freely combining elements from different historical periods without regard for actual chronology.