Sporus

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Sporus (later also: Sabina or Poppaea ) was a freedman , originally a pleasure boy and later the wife of the Roman emperors Nero and (probably) Otho . Sporus comes from the ancient Greek ό σπόρος "grain, seeds" and was given to the boy by Nero. The name could, if it is not a nickname, suggest an origin from the Greek-speaking east of the Roman Empire . But it could also be a joke by Nero to call the castrated "seed".

Life

Sporus (Sabina) was probably born between 49 and 51 and died in the late summer or autumn of 69. Sporus was originally probably a puer delicatus of Nero and had a striking resemblance to Nero's late wife Poppaea Sabina . The emperor had Sporus first castrated around the year 66 and then took Sporus as his wife in 67 on his great tour of Greece from September 66 to spring 68 in a formal ceremony according to Greek custom, with the Praetorian prefect Tigellinus acting as bride and groom according to the Greek rite. Nero offered a high reward to anyone who could turn Sporus - called Sabina after the wedding - into a real woman.

From then on Sabina wore the clothes and jewelry of the empresses, got the notorious Roman noblewoman Calvia Crispinilla assigned as lady-in-waiting and took part in Nero's public appearances in Greece and then in Rome.

The Roman historians Suetonius and Cassius Dio , who were both very negative about Nero, put the perversity and obscenity, for example public kissing, of this relationship in the foreground and report on sarcastic jokes from contemporaries: “There is still a not awkward one about it today It would have been a joke that it would have been fortunate for mankind if his [Nero's] father Domitius had had such a wife. ”Historian David Woods speculated whether Nero might be of the opinion that Sporus was of imperial descent (grandson of Tiberius and Nephew of Poppaea Sabina), and castrated him and married him only to eliminate a possible rival to the throne.

After their return from their trip to Greece in spring 68, Sporus (Sabina) stayed with Nero, together with three other freedmen, when all other confidants had already left him in July 68, and was also present at the emperor's suicide. Immediately after Nero's death, the Praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus , who himself had ambitions for the throne, took over Sporus (Sabina) - now called Poppaea - as wife. After Nymphidius' murder in 68 AD, Otho - Poppaea Sabina's second ex-husband and emperor from January to April 69 - perhaps also took over Sporus (Sabina) as his wife. In both cases, this may have served to create the appearance of a legitimate succession to the throne of Nero. His successor Vitellius wanted Sporus (Sabina) to appear in the lead role in a performance of the play The Robbery of Persephone at gladiatorial plays in the theater. But Sporus (Sabina) committed suicide in the late summer / autumn of 69 to escape the shame of public rape.

literature

  • Werner Eck : Sporus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 11, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01481-9 , Sp. 857.
  • Caroline Vout: Nero and Sporus. In: Jean-Michel Croisille, Yves Perrin (eds.): Neronia VI. Rome à l'époque néronienne (= Collection Latomus. Volume 268). Éditions Latomus, Brussels 2002, ISBN 2-87031-209-1 , pp. 493-502 (reflections on the interpretation of the person Sporus and his representation in Suetonius).
  • David Woods: Nero and Sporus. In: Latomus . Volume 68, number 1, 2009, pp. 73-82 (speculates about a political background to the marriage between Nero and Sporus and the castration).
  • Michael B. Charles: Nero and Sporus Again. In: Latomus. Volume 73, number 3, 2014, pp. 667-685 (contradicts the interpretations by David Woods).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edward Champlin: Nero. Harvard College 2003, p. 147
  2. ↑ Literally: lovely, handsome, graceful boy, pleasure boy; in ancient Rome these were slave boys between the ages of about 12 and 15 who, because of their beauty, delicacy, and feminine appearance, were kept to satisfy the pederastic desires of their owners. They were also neutered more often in order to keep their youthful and feminine appearance for as long as possible.
  3. ↑ Cassius Dio , Roman History 62,28,2 f.
  4. ↑ Suetonius , Nero 28.3 ff.
  5. ↑ Dion Chrysostom , orationes 21.7.
  6. ↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History 62, 12, 3 ff.
  7. ^ Suetonius, Nero 28.4. See also Cassius Dio, Roman History 62:28.
  8. ↑ David Woods: Nero and Sporus. In: Latomus . Volume 68, Number 1, 2009, pp. 73-82.
  9. ↑ Suetonius, Nero 48.1; Cassius Dio, Roman History 63,27,3; 63.28.3.
  10. ^ Plutarch , Galba 9.
  11. ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History 64,8,3.
  12. ↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History 64,10,1; Edward Champlin: Nero. Harvard College 2003, p. 147
personal data
SURNAME Sporus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slave or freedman, pleasure boy and wife of the Roman emperor Nero
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: between 49 and 51
DATE OF DEATH 69