Ofonius Tigellinus
Ofonius Tigellinus | |
---|---|
Born | c. 10 Agrigentum, Sicily |
Died | 69 Sinuessa |
Allegiance | Roman Empire |
Years of service | 62–68 |
Rank | Praetorian prefect |
Commands held | Praetorian Guard |
Ofonius Tigellinus
As a friend of Nero he quickly gained a reputation around Rome for cruelty and callousness. During the second half of the 60s, however, the emperor became increasingly unpopular with the
Life
Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus,
Tigellinus was said by the Roman historian
In July of 64, he was suspected of incendiarism in connection with the Great Fire of Rome. After the fire had initially subsided it broke out again in Tigellinus' estate in the Amaelian district of the city. This led to the claim by Tacitus that Tigellinus was an arsonist.[3][5]
In 65, during the investigation into the abortive conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso, he and Nero's second wife, Poppaea Sabina, formed a kind of imperial privy council, falsely accusing the courtier and novelist Petronius Arbiter of treason. Under house-arrest in the coastal resort of Cumae, Petronius did not wait for a sentence of execution to be passed. Instead, he chose to commit suicide by repeatedly slitting and rebinding his wrists—apparently over a period of several days, during which he entertained his friends[3]—until he finally chose to be fatally drained of blood.[6]
In 67 Tigellinus accompanied Nero on his tour of Greece. He had a role in the death of the famous General Corbulo, who had also been invited to come to Greece but was ordered to commit suicide.
In 68, when Nero's downfall appeared imminent, Tigellinus deserted him, supposedly suffering from 'incurable bodily diseases'. (He possibly had cancer.) With his co-prefect
The next emperor, Otho, upon his accession in January 69, was determined to remove someone who was so intensely hated by the people. At his country estate near the coastal spa city of Sinuessa,[8] Tigellinus was given the imperial order to return to Rome. Knowing that he would be facing death, he attempted to save his life by resorting to bribery - he had vessels anchored in the bay for such an eventuality.[8] When that failed, he gave the bribe money as a gift to Otho's messenger[8] and was allowed to hold a farewell party.[7] Afterwards, on the pretext that he needed to shave before leaving,[8] he committed suicide by cutting his own throat with a razor.[6][7][8]
Tigellinus in later art
- Tigellinus appears as a character in the opera Neró i Acté (1928) by Juan Manén.[10]
- Tigellinus appears in both the 1895 play and the 1932 film The Sign of the Cross. He is also depicted as a villain in Henryk Sienkiewicz's 1895 novel Quo Vadis and in the 6-hour 1985 mini-series A.D.. He appears in the 1934 science fiction novel Triplanetary by E. E. "Doc" Smith.
- In the 1951 film Quo Vadis, based on the novel, Tigellinus (played by Ralph Truman) is (unhistorically) stabbed to death by a rebel soldier with the cry of A sword from Plautius! in the Circus of Nero when the Roman people revolt against the emperor near the end of the film.
- He is a prominent character in the latter stages of the 1985 novel The Kingdom of the Wicked by Anthony Burgess.
- He is the leading character in John Hersey's 1972 novel portraying Rome as a police state, The Conspiracy.
- Tigellinus appears in Simon Scarrow's 2011 novel Praetorian (taking place in 51 AD) as an optio (junior officer) of the Praetorian Guard; at the end of the novel, he is promoted to second-in-command to Prefect Burrus, and expects to succeed him after Nero ascends to the throne.
See also
References
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, "Ofonius Tigellinus"
- ^ Stein, col. 2057.
- ^ a b c d Tacitus: The Annals of Imperial Rome (translated by Michael Grant • Penguin Classics • 1956/1977)
- ^ a b c Ofonius Tigellinus: Livius.org
- ^ ISBN 978-0-306-81933-9.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
- ^ a b c d Tacitus: The Histories (Translated by Kenneth Wellesley • Penguin • 1964/1995)
- ^ a b c d e f g Plutarch's Lives (Translated by Bernadotte Perrin • London • 1926/1962) Vol XI Galba, Otho
- ISBN 978-0-674-99536-9.
- ISBN 978-3-11-031751-0.
Sources
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tigellinus, Sophonius". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 967. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Tacitus Historiae 1.72.2, 1.72.19
- Tacitus Annales 14.51
- Stein, Arthur (1937), "Ofonius Tigellinus", Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, volume 17, part 2, columns 2056–2061.