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Tiridates (eunuch)
Tiridates (, ; , ) was a eunuch in the court of the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II, described as "the most handsome and attractive man in Asia", and the king's lover. He features in Claudius Aelianus's account of Artaxerxes, in his ''Varia Historia'', but is absent in the accounts of a similar time frame of Xenophon and Plutarch. Scholars generally believe some of the later writers were referencing different, earlier accounts of events that are now lost. The historian Claudius Aelianus wrote in his ''Varia Historia'' that Tiridates died young, "barely more than a child", and Artaxerxes was inconsolable at the loss. A favored concubine, Aspasia of Phocaea, soothed the king by consoling him while cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ... in Tiridates's clothing. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunuch
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent Domestic worker, domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, ''castrato'' singers, Concubinage, concubines or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or Slavery, slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter (vehicle), litter, or even rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspasia Of Phocaea
Aspasia () of Phocaea, daughter of Hermotimus, was carried away from her country to be in the harem of the Achaemenid prince Cyrus the Younger, who so admired her beauty and her superior qualities of mind and character that he made her his favorite wife, nicknaming her "the wise one" (''sophe''). She may or may not have been a ''hetaira''. Her name is said to have originally been "Milto," until Cyrus called her "Aspasia" after the renowned and wise mistress of Pericles; but "Milto" itself seems to have been a name expressive of the beauty of her complexion. She is said to have frequently aided him with her advice, the adoption of which he never regretted; and they lived together with great mutual affection until the death of Cyrus at the Battle of Cunaxa. She then fell into the hands of his rival and brother Artaxerxes II, and became his wife. Contemporary accounts by the writer Xenophon, who claimed to personally witness the scene, indicated that Aspasia was so renowned that Arta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunuchs
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent Domestic worker, domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, ''castrato'' singers, Concubinage, concubines or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or Slavery, slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter (vehicle), litter, or even rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perseopolis
Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. The city, acting as a major center for the empire, housed a palace complex and citadel designed to serve as the focal point for governance and ceremonial activities. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture. The complex was taken by the army of Alexander the Great in 330 BC, and soon after, its wooden parts were completely destroyed by fire, likely deliberately. The function of Persepolis remains unclear. It was not one of the largest cities in ancient Iran, let alone the rest of the empire, but appears to have been a grand ceremonial complex that was only occupied seasonally; the complex was raised high on a walled platform, with five "palaces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
