Pythagoras (freedman)
| Pythagoras | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Roman |
| Occupation | Freedmen |
| Known for | Marriage to Nero |
| Title | Wine steward |
Pythagoras, a freedman of the Roman emperor Nero, was married in a public ceremony in which the emperor took the role of bride.[1][2][3][4]
Life[edit]
Little is known about Pythagoras' background except that he was a freedman who accompanied Nero and was called "one of that filthy herd" (uni ex illo contaminatorum grege).
Marriage to Nero[edit]
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:[5]
...he stooped to marry himself to one of that filthy herd, by name Pythagoras, with all the forms of regular wedlock. The bridal veil was put over the emperor; people saw the witnesses of the ceremony, the wedding dower, the couch and the nuptial torches; everything in a word was plainly visible, which, even when a woman weds darkness hides.
Doryphorus[edit]
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.[6] Doryphorus, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of Nero's freedmen, died in the year 62 before the banquets of Tigellinus,[6] where Nero, covered with skins of wild animals, was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women bound to stakes, after which he was dispatched by his freedman "Doryphorus".[7] As "doryphoros" means "spear bearer"[8] (Δορυφόρος) like the statue, it may be that the latinized word had just capitalized the Greek word.[9]
Bibliography[edit]
- Suetonius. Nero. 29
- Champlin, Edward (2005). Nero. Harvard University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-674-01822-8.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Ancient History Sourcebook: Suetonius: De Vita Caesarum--Nero, c. 110 C.E.
- ^ Cassius Dio Roman History: LXII, 28 - LXIII, 12-13
- ^ Frier, Bruce W. (2004). "Roman Same-Sex Weddings from the Legal Perspective". Classical Studies Newsletter, Volume X. University of Michigan. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ^ Champlin, 2005, p.146
- ^ Tacitus, Annals, XV, 38
- ^ a b Champlin, 2005, p.161
- ^ Champlin, 2005, p.169
- ^ Champlin, 2005, p.166
- ^ Champlin, 2005, p.313
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