'S ECCENTRICITIES BEFORE THE FIRE (TAC. ANN. 15.37)

BY

* WALTER ALLEN, JR., AND THE SEMINAR University of North Carolina

Suetonius begins a paragraph about Nero's religious interests in this way (Nero 56): Religionum usque quaque contemptor, praeter unius Deae Syriae, hanc mox ita sprevit ut ... Our intention here, nevertheless, is to suggest that certain religious elements may form the basis for Tacitus' otherwise inexplicably outrageous narrative in Ann. t 5.37. We shall also adduce a somewhat similar episode from the reign of .

Tig ellin us' Banquet As the incident preceding the emperor's marriage to Pythagoras (to be discussed presently), Tacitus describes a banquet (epulae) 1) con- ducted by Tigellinus, at which Nero's guests, dining on a sumptuous luxury-raft, amused themselves by gazing at scenes of unbridled licen- se along the shores of the lake 2). Nero, having abandoned his plan

*) Robert J. Barnett, Jr., Mary D. Beaty, Bärbel Becker, Frederick Behrends, W. F. Boggess, Theodore Crane, Jr., Kathleen Ann Dempsey, L. E. Garrido, R. R. Harris, Vivian L. Holliday, Richard C. Jensen, William C. Kurth. M. A. Robbins, H. W. Taylor, Jr. 1) Although Tacitus uses the word epulae to refer to ordinary meals of pri- vate persons (Ann. 3.9.3, 15.55.5) as well as to the festivities of Germans and Parthians (Ann. 1.50.4, 2.2.5), he most frequently employs epulae to denote formal banquets associated with members of the imperial house (Ann. 13.1.3, 14.3.6, 15.52.1). This meaning is supported by Thesaurus Ling. Lat. 5.2.699f., s.v. "epulae". 2) Ann. 15.37.1-7: Ipse quo fidem adquireret nihil usquam perinde laetum sibi, publicis locis struere convivia totaque urbe quasi domo uti. Et celeberrimae luxu famaque epulae fuere quas a Tigellino paratas ut exemplum referam, ne saepius eadem prodigentia narranda sit. Igitur in stagno Agrippae fabricatus est ratem cui superpositum convivium navium aliarum tractu moveretur. Naves auro et ebore distinctae, remigesque exoleti per aetates et scientiam libidinum compone- bantur. Volucris et feras diversis e terris et animalia maris Oceano abusque petiverat. Crepidinibus stagni lupanaria adstabant inlustribus feminis completa 100 of a foreign tour because of popular displeasure (Ann. 15.36), staged this event as openly as possible in order to demonstrate his delight in using the entire city as his private home 3). Modern scholars have accepted Tacitus' interpretation of this in- cident as an example of Nero's immorality and utter shamelessness 4). Yet these scenes along the lake shore show a marked similarity to an- cient accounts of the various Hellenistic rites in which temple gardens played an important role: and Nero, inclining towards 'the esthetic potentialities of traditional festivals, seems to have adjusted the man- ner and rites of celebrations to his own preference and to that of Tigellinus and 5). Thus it may be that Tacitus is really reporting the emperor's personal interpretation of some public festivai, possibly the Floralia, which were normally celebrated each year from April 28 through May 3 6). Tacitus has used Tigellinus' banquet to help to establish the idea that Nero was hopelessly debauched. He has carefully fostered our notion of Nero's character by descriptions of the emperor's licentious- ness, arriving at this sequence of Tigellinus' banquet, Nero's marriage to Pythagoras, and the 7 ) .

et contra scorta visebantur nudis corporibus. Iam gestus motusque obsceni; et postquam tenebrae incedebant, quantum iuxta nemoris et circumiecta tecta con- sonare cantu et luminibus clarescere. 3) Nero, who seldom appeared publicly (Ann. 15.53.1), now showed himself in order to assuage popular fears; at the same time he provided entertainments in public in order to amuse the mob. Under the Empire qualifications of social rank fbr admission to banquets and spectacles had been greatly relaxed: J. Mar- quardt-G. Wissowa, Römische Staatsverwaltung 3 (Darmstadt 1957) 3-491; G. Bloch, "Epulones", Daremberg-Saglio 2.1.743. 4) E.g., B. W. Henderson, The Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero (London 1905) 236 f. , 5) P. Grimal, Les jardins romains à la fin de la république et aux deux pre- miers siècles de l'empire (Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d'Athènes et de Rome, fasc. 155, Paris, 1943) 464 f. Nero's reliance on the rival personal tastes of Tigellinus and Petronius is found in Ann. 16.18.4 f.: Dein [i.e., Petronius] revolutus ad vitia seu vitiorum imitatione inter paucos familiarium Neroni ad- sumptus est elegantiae arbiter, dum nihil amoenum et molle adfluentia putat nisi quod ei Petronius adprobavisset. Unde invidia Tigellini quasi adversus aemulum et scientia voluptatum potiorem. 6) For the Floralia see the articles cited below, note 8. An excellent account is given by W. W. Fowler, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London 1899) 91-5. 7) Ann. 13.47, 14.14-16, 15.37-41. Dio Cassius' interpretation of this affair