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Sporus
Sporus (died 69 AD) was a young slave boy whom the Roman emperor Nero had castrated and married during his tour of Greece in 66–67 AD, allegedly in order for him to play the role of his wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had died under uncertain circumstances the previous year, possibly during childbirth or after being assaulted by Nero.Champlin, 2005, p. 145Smith, 1849, p. 897 Ancient historians generally portrayed the relationship between Nero and Sporus as an "abomination"; Suetonius places his account of the Nero–Sporus relationship in his "scandalous accounts of Nero's sexual aberrations," between his raping a Vestal Virgin and committing incest with his mother. Some think Nero used his marriage to Sporus to assuage the guilt he felt for allegedly kicking his pregnant wife Poppaea to death.Champlin, 2005, pp. 108–109 Dio Cassius, in a more detailed account, writes that Sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppaea and that Nero called Sporus by her name. Name Scholars ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NERO SALUS DENARIUS (obverse)
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius, who then adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius' death in AD 54, Nero ascended to the throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power struggle between Nero and his mother reached its climax when he orche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Nero), Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius, who then Adoption in ancient Rome, adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius' death in AD 54, Nero ascended to the throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homosexuality In Ancient Rome
Homosexuality in ancient Rome Societal attitudes toward homosexuality, differed markedly from the contemporary Western culture, West. Latin lacks words that would precisely Translation, translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dichotomy of Sexuality in ancient Rome, ancient Roman sexuality was masculine and feminine. Roman society was patriarchy, patriarchal, and the ingenui, freeborn male Roman citizenship, citizen possessed political liberty (''libertas'') and the right to rule both himself and his household (''paterfamilias, familia''). "Virtue" (''virtus (virtue), virtus'') was seen as an active quality through which a man (''vir'') defined himself. The conquest mentality and "cult of virility" shaped same-sex relations. Roman men were free to enjoy sex with other males Sexuality in ancient Rome, without a perceived loss of masculinity or social status as long as they took the dominant or penetrative role. Acceptable male partners were slavery in ancient Rome, sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poppaea Sabina
Poppaea Sabina (30 AD – 65 AD), also known as Ollia, was a Roman empress as the second wife of the emperor Nero. She had also been wife to the future emperor Otho. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues to become empress. The large Villa Poppaea at Oplontis near Pompeii bears her name because of the archaeological finds there. It has been largely excavated and can be visited today. Early life Birth Poppaea Sabina the Younger was born in Pompeii in AD 30 as the daughter of Titus Ollius and Poppaea Sabina the Elder.Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth-E.A. (edd.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2003 , 1221. At birth and for most of her childhood she went by her proper patronymic nomen "Ollia", belonging to women of her father's gens, the Ollii, but at some point, probably before her first marriage, decided to start going by her mother's name instead, potentially due to her father's disgrace and suicide. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nymphidius Sabinus
Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus (died 68) was a Praetorian prefect, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard during the rule of Roman Emperor, Emperor Nero from AD 65 until his death in 68. He shared this office together with Ofonius Tigellinus, replacing his previous colleague Faenius Rufus. During the second half of the 60s, Nero grew increasingly unpopular with the people and the army, leading to a number of rebellions which ultimately caused his downfall and suicide in 68. Nymphidius took part in the final conspiracy against Nero and persuaded the Praetorian Guard to desert him, but when he attempted to have himself declared emperor, he was killed by his own soldiers. Life Nymphidius Sabinus was the son of an imperial freedwoman, Nymphidia (daughter of Gaius Julius Callistus). Galba records speculation that his father was a gladiator named Martianus, whom he resembled, but it was rumored (probably falsely) that he was the illegitimate son of a previous Roman Emperor, Caligula. After the Pis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calvia Crispinilla
Calvia Crispinilla (fl. c. 70) was a Roman Imperial courtier. Life Calvia Crispinilla was possibly of African origins. She was a prominent courtier at the court of Emperor Nero. A noblewoman of unknown lineage, she was considered to have great power and influence, having accompanied Nero and his third wife Statilia Messalina to Greece in 66. She was seen as greedy and rapacious by her contemporaries. Tacitus called Calvia Crispinilla a "tutor in vice" (''magistrate libidinum'') of Nero.Champlin, 2005, p.146 When Nero married the castrated slave Sporus in 67, Calvia was made the "mistress of wardrobe" (a position akin to that of a handmaiden or lady-in-waiting) of Sporus (''epitropeia ten peri estheta''). By 68–69, after changing her political associations, Crispinilla was said to have been the instigator of the unsuccessful revolt of Lucius Clodius Macer in Africa. She was subsequently credited with being behind the defection of Galba from Nero. After Nero's death, Calvia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythagoras (freedman)
Pythagoras was a freedman of the Roman emperor Nero, whom he married in a public ceremony in which the emperor took the role of bride.Champlin, 2005, p.146 Life Little is known about Pythagoras' background except that he was a freedman who accompanied Nero. Marriage to Nero In the year 64, during the Saturnalia, Tigellinus offered a series of banquets to Nero, after a few days of which Nero performed a marriage to Pythagoras: Doryphorus Suetonius tells the story of Nero's being the bride to a freedman named "Doryphorus". Both Tacitus and Dio Cassius mention only "Pythagoras". According to Champlin, it is improbable that a second imperial wedding occurred without being noted, and the simplest solution is that Suetonius mistook the name.Champlin, 2005, p.161 Doryphorus, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of Nero's freedmen, died in the year 62 before the banquets of Tigellinus, where Nero, covered with skins of wild animals, was let loose from a cage and attacked the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32)
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus ( 2 BC – January AD 41) was a member of the imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty of Ancient Rome. Domitius was the son of Antonia Major (daughter of emperor Augustus' sister Octavia Minor and her second husband Mark Antony). He married Agrippina the Younger and became the father of the emperor Nero.. Biography Early life Domitius' birthdate is uncertain; some interpretations are that he was born around 17 BC while other sources argue he was born a generation later in 2 BC. Domitius was the son of Antonia Major, the niece of emperor Augustus, and her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. He had at least two sisters Domitia and Domitia Lepida, and possibly an older brother named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whom ancient sources confuse his early career and birthdate with. Career Describing him as "a man loathsome in every respect", Suetonius says that as a young man, Domitius was serving on the staff of his second cousin Gaius Caesar in the east, in A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otho
Otho ( ; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etruscan civilization, Etruscan family, Otho was initially a friend and courtier of the young emperor Nero until he was effectively banished to the governorship of the remote province of Lusitania in 58 following his wife Poppaea Sabina's affair with Nero. After a period of moderate rule in the province, he allied himself with Galba, the governor of neighbouring Hispania Tarraconensis, during the revolts of 68. He accompanied Galba on his march to Rome, but revolted and murdered Galba at the start of the next year. Inheriting the problem of the rebellion of Vitellius, commander of the army in Germania Inferior, Otho led a sizeable force which met Vitellius' army at the Battle of Bedriacum. After initial fighting resulted in 40,000 casualties, and a retreat of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaon (freedman)
Phaon was an imperial freedman and confidant of the Roman emperor Nero. He, with Epaphroditus, Neophytus and Sporus, took Nero to his own villa in the suburban area of Rome where the emperor would commit suicide subsequently. An amphorae stamp was found with the inscription ''"Phaontis , Aug(usti) l(iberti) a rat(ionibus)"'', which could mean he was the rationibus of Nero. It is unclear if he was a freedman of Nero or of Domitia Lepida Minor, whose properties and patronal rights were transferred to Nero after her execution in 54. A ''"L. Domitius Phaion"'' is mentioned in an inscription. In fiction Phaon appears in the film ''Quo Vadis ''Quo vadis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?". It is commonly translated, quoting the KJV translation of John 13:36, as "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Peter's fi ...'' (1951) as an architect of Nero, played by D. A. Clarke-Smith. Bibliography * Refere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neophytus (freedman)
Neophytus was a freedman of the Roman emperor Nero. He was one of the four companions on the emperor's late journey in June 68, with Epaphroditus, Phaon and Sporus Sporus (died 69 AD) was a young slave boy whom the Roman emperor Nero had castrated and married during his tour of Greece in 66–67 AD, allegedly in order for him to play the role of his wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had died under uncertain circ ..., and was with him at his death. Bibliography * De Caesaribus, Sextus Aurelius Victor. 1st-century births 1st-century Romans 1st-century deaths Emperor's slaves and freedmen Nero {{AncientRome-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexuality In Ancient Rome
Sexual attitudes and behaviors in ancient Rome are indicated by Roman art, art, Latin literature, literature, and Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, inscriptions, and to a lesser extent by classical archaeology, archaeological remains such as erotic artifacts and Roman architecture, architecture. It has sometimes been assumed that "unlimited sexual license" was characteristic of ancient Rome, but sexuality was not excluded as a concern of the ''mos maiorum'', the traditional social norms that affected public, private, and military life. ''Pudor'', "shame, modesty", was a regulating factor in behavior, as were legal strictures on certain sexual transgressions in both the Roman Republic, Republican and Roman Empire, Imperial periods. The Roman censor, censors—Roman magistrate, public officials who determined the Social class in ancient Rome, social rank of individuals—had the power to remove Roman citizenship, citizens from the Roman senate, senatorial or equestrian order for sex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
