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Sporus
Sporus was a young slave boy whom the Roman Emperor Nero favored, had castrated, and married.Champlin, 2005, p.145Smith, 1849, p.897 Life Little is known about Sporus' background except that he was a youth to whom Nero took a liking. He may have been a ''puer delicatus'', who were sometimes castrated to preserve their youthful qualities. The ''puer delicatus'' generally was a child-slave chosen by his master for his beauty and sexual attractiveness. Cassius Dio identifies Sporus as the child of a freedman. Marriage to Nero Nero's wife, Poppaea Sabina, died in 65 AD. This was supposedly in childbirth, although it was later rumored Nero kicked her to death. At the beginning of 66, Nero married Statilia Messalina. Later that year or in 67, he married Sporus, who was said to bear a remarkable resemblance to Poppaea. Nero had Sporus castrated, and during their marriage, Nero had Sporus appear in public as his wife wearing the regalia that was customary for Roman empresses. He ... [...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 the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded him on the throne. Nero was popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard and lower-class commoners in Rome and its provinces, but he was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. After being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate, he committed suicide at age 30. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When Nero was two years old, his father died. His mother married the emperor Claudius, who eventually adopted Nero as his heir; when Cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homosexuality In Ancient Rome
Homosexuality in ancient Rome often Societal attitudes toward homosexuality, differs markedly from the contemporary Western culture, West. Latin lacks words that would precisely translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dichotomy of Sexuality in ancient Rome, ancient Roman sexuality was active/Dominance and submission, dominant/masculine and passive/submissive/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 without a perceived loss of masculinity or social status, as long as they took the dominant or penetrative role. Acceptable male partners were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero Glyptothek Munich 321
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded him on the throne. Nero was popular with the members of his Praetorian Guard and lower-class commoners in Rome and its provinces, but he was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. After being declared a public enemy by the Roman Senate, he committed suicide at age 30. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When Nero was two years old, his father died. His mother married the emperor Claudius, who eventually adopted Nero as his heir; when Claudiu ... [...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 favourite of the emperor Nero, serving as " mistress of the Imperial wardrobe" at the palace. 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 young castrated boy Sporus in 67, he made her the "mistress of wardrobe" 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 Crispinilla married ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poppaea Sabina
Poppaea Sabina (AD 30 – 65), 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. There is a large villa near Pompeii that 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. It is very like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otho
Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh 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 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 his ... [...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 (freedman of Nero), Epaphroditus, Neophytus (freedman), 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 (1951 film), Quo Vadis'' (1951) as an architect of Nero, played by D. A. Clarke-Smith. Bibliography * References 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] |
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, and was with him at his death. Bibliography * De Caesaribus, Sextus Aurelius Victor Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 – c. 390) was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Victor was the author of a short history of imperial Rome, entitled ''De Caesaribus'' and covering the period from Augustus to Constantius II. The work w .... 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] |
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32)
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (11 December ca. 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 "despicable and dishonest", Suetonius says that as a young man, Domitius was serving on the staff of his second cousin Gaius Caesar in the east, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythagoras (freedman)
Pythagoras was a freedman of the Roman emperor Nero, whom he allegedly 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 such scandalous 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by and marriage to her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld.Martin Nilsson (1967). ''Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion'' Vol I pp 462–463, 479–480 The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexuality In Ancient Rome
Sexual attitudes and behaviors in ancient Rome are indicated by art, literature, and inscriptions, and to a lesser extent by archaeological remains such as erotic artifacts and architecture. It has sometimes been assumed that "unlimited sexual license" was characteristic of ancient Rome. Verstraete and Provençal opine that this perspective was simply a Christian interpretation: "The sexuality of the Romans has never had good press in the West ever since the rise of Christianity. In the popular imagination and culture, it is synonymous with sexual license and abuse." 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 Republican and Imperial periods. The censors— public officials who determined the social rank of individuals—had the power to remove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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