Sporus
Sporus | |
|---|---|
 Possible bust of Poppaea Sabina, to whom Sporus would resemble | |
| Born | Between 49 and 51 Unknown |
| Died | 69 |
| Cause of death | suicide |
| Occupation | Freedmen |
| Known for | Marriage to Nero |
Sporus was a young boy favored by Emperor Nero who was castrated by the emperor, and subsequently married him.[1][2][3][4]
Origins of the name
Sporus derives from the ancient Greek word σπορά spora, meaning "seed, sowing," related to σπόρος sporos, "sowing," and σπείρειν speirein, "to sow." In all references about this story, he is always called Sporus, a male name, when the female would be Spora.
Life
Little is known about Sporus background except that he was a young man to whom Nero took a liking. He was a Puer delicatus, which were sometimes castrated in an effort to preserve his youthful qualities. The puer delicatus generally were child-slave chosen by his master for his beauty as a "boy toy",[5] Despite this, Cassius Dio called him a freedman.[2][3]
Marriage to Nero
The Sporus affair happened after the death of Nero's wife, Poppaea Sabina, in 65. In the beginning of 66, Nero married Statilia Messalina and only later that year or in 67 he married young Sporus.[3]
During their marriage, Nero made Sporus appear in public as his wife wearing the regalia that was customary for Roman empresses, and then took Sporus to Greece and back to Rome, making Calvia Crispinilla the "mistress of wardrobe" of Sporus, epitropeia ten peri estheta.[6] Nero was already married to another freedman, Pythagoras, who played the role of husband to him, as Sporus played the role of a wife. In adittion of other forms of address, Sporus was termed "Lady", "Empress", and "Mistress".[6] .Suetonius quotes one Roman who lived around this time who remarked that the world would have been better off if Nero's father Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus had married someone more like the castrated boy.[1]
It is possible that Nero used his marriage to Sporus to assuage the feelings of guilt he felt for kicking his then pregnant wife to death.[7] Suetonius ignores this, and places the narrative about Sporus in his reports of Nero's sexual aberrations, between the rape of a vestal virgin and the incest with his mother.[3] Dion Cassius gives a more detailed account; according to him, Sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to Sabina, and Nero even called him by his dead wife’s name.[4]the "mistress of wardrobe" of Sporus, epitropeia ten peri estheta.[6] Soon before Nero's death, during the Kalends festival, Sporus presented Nero with a ring with a gemstone depicting the Rape of Proserpina, which was at the time considered to be one of the many bad omens about Nero's fall.[8] It is noteworthy that such story depicts the ruler of the underwold forcing a young girl to become his bride.
He was one of the four companions on the emperor's late journey in June 68,[4] and was him, not Messalina, who Nero turned to begin the ritual lamentations before taking his own life.[1][3]
After Nero and death
Soon after Nero's death, he was taken to the care of the Praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus, who 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. Nymphidius treated Sporus as they were married, and called him "Poppaea".[6][8]
After Nymphidius death, he would become involved in 69 with Otho,[4] who was also killed by his enemies.[8] He died later that year: Vitellius planned for Sporus to play the title role of the Rape of Persephone (the same theme of the ring Sporus gave Nero at the Kalendas), for the viewing enjoyment of the crowds during one of the gladiatorial combats. Sporus then committed suicide to avoid the humiliation show.[4][8] He was probably under 20 years old at the time of his death.
In fiction
Sporus is the main character in the Cristina Rodríguez book "Moi, Sporus, prêtre et putain" ("I, Sporus, priest and whore").[9]
Bibliography
- Dion Cassius. Ixii. 28, Ixiii. 12, 13, 27, Ixiv. 8, Ixv. 10 ;
- Suetonius. Nero. 28, 46, 48, 49 ;
- Sextus Aurelius Victor. De Caesaribus. 5, Epit. 5 ;
- Dion Chrysostom. Oratio. xxi;
- Suidas, s. v. “Sporus”
- Smith, Willian (1849). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. Vol. 3. C. C. Little and J. Brown; [etc., etc. ]. pp. 1411, 2012. LCCN 07038839.
- Champlin, Edward (2005). Nero. Harvard University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-674-01822-8.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Ancient History Sourcebook: Suetonius: De Vita Caesarum--Nero, c. 110 C.E.
- ^ a b Cassius Dio Roman History: LXII, 28 - LXIII, 12-13
- ^ a b c d e Champlin, 2005, p.145
- ^ a b c d e Smith, 1849, p.897
- ^ Elizabeth Manwell, "Gender and Masculinity," in A Companion to Catullus (Blackwell, 2007), p. 118.
- ^ a b c d Champlin, 2005, p.146
- ^ Champlin, 2005, p.108-109
- ^ a b c d Champlin, 2005, p.147-148
- ^ Rodríguez, Cristina (2001). Moi, Sporus, prêtre et putain (in French). Calmann-Lévy. p. 300. ISBN 978-2-7021-3184-8.