Domitian on baldness

Already in ancient times, baldness was an unpleasant problem that men had to deal with. According to Suetonius, Emperor Domitian (he ruled in 81-96 CE) also had to deal with the loss of hair.

Suetonius says that Domitian was even the author of the work “On the care of the hair” (De cura capillorum), in which the emperor gave advice on caring for the hair and complained to his friend:

And yet the same fate awaits my hair, and I bear with resignation the ageing of my locks in youth. Be assured that nothing is more pleasing than beauty, but nothing shorter-lived.