Nero 39

By Pueros

Chapter XXXIX – Sects

(Dacia, Iul. DCCCLIX, in the 8th year of the reign of the Emperor Trajan [July, AD 106])

‘Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.’

- Paul (‘Epistle to the Romans’, 1.22-28)

In this chapter of my lengthy saga, I propose to include, for what I promise will be the last major time, patient reader, personal remarks about some of the religious sects extant in my era. I shall do so from both my perspective and that of my beloved Gaius, as our thoughts, like most other intimacies between us, were indelibly entwined.

I shall, of course, return in future chapters to describe the destinies of various named personages involved in the cults, as far as I am aware of them, but shall refrain from further substantial comment on the worthiness of their beliefs. Instead, having already aired my views and those of Gaius on the subject to you, I shall concentrate on factual happenings, although these will include the odd reflection made by my beloved, some of which you can read in his own philosophical works.

Unfortunately, the future occurrences that I shall record in my autobiography will also sadly include much verbal and physical conflict relating to religion, as well as the associated horrible shedding of copious blood and the loss of many lives. I shall leave it to you, dear reader, to form your own judgement as to whether such sufferings, on behalf of the causes of various sects, were justified or worthwhile.

As I narrate my life to my worthy scribe, I recall the above quotation from one of the many letters written by the man I knew as Paul, despatched to some followers of his sect in Rome half a century ago. I shall relate later in my lengthy saga how I came to be privy to his writings, and those of some of his supporters.

Many people today, fifty years after the words were placed on papyrus, believe that Paul was condemning homosexuality. In fact, I know from the man’s own lips that he was not. Instead, he was castigating idolatrous and libidinous paganism, particularly the worship of goddesses where the priesthood castrate themselves, such as the gallae of Cybele, and who also often indulge in ritualistic sexual relations with both men and women, in which use of artificial phalli are common.

My beloved Gaius had already been the recipient of some of Paul’s strong views on the subject. He had gained this perspective when he had dined with him in Ephesus, after both had separately visited the local temple of Artemis, known by the Romans as Diana. Here, the priests practise similar self-castration and sexual rites to those indulged by the gallae of Cybele, whilst the goddess’ priestesses share the licentious activities.

Gaius was very liberal towards such indulgences, believing that he had no claim to criticise or seek to change other people’s beliefs or morals, as long as others were not harmed by such activities. Paul, on the other hand, considered that he not only had the God-given right to interfere but also that it was his sacred duty to do so.

This was why Gaius regarded Paul’s pronouncements, which he thought were based on dubious theology, as dangerous. My beloved viewed such an outlook as illiberal fanaticism, capable of introducing into current society, noted for religious tolerance, especially under the Emperor Claudius, perilous prejudices and bigotry that might result in terrible and deadly conflict and persecution.

Gaius also believed that such a scenario might even rebound on, and have serious repercussions for, the members of Paul’s own Christian sect. My beloved initially propounded his viewpoints on the subject to Athendorus and Melankomas, in the latter’s palatial domus in Halicarnassus, 2 weeks after dining with Paul in Ephesus.

(Halicarnassus, Caria, Asia Minor, 56 years previously, late autumn, DCCCIII A.V.C., in the 9th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 50])

‘Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh!’

- Paul (‘Epistle to the Philippians’, 3.2)

“‘Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh,’ Paul passionately advised me,” Gaius informed Athenodorus and his host, Melankomas. “He was referring to the eunuch priests of Artemis in the goddess’ great temple in Ephesus,” my beloved announced, “whom I actually found to be not only harmless but also rather pleasant.” A few years later, I personally came across the same Pauline warning but it was presented in writing, in a letter the preacher had sent to followers in Philippi in Greece.

“I thought,” Gaius expounded, “that Paul’s vehement views regarding the local priesthood of Artemis were rather illiberal and extreme. I personally respect most people’s beliefs, even if I don’t share them, which is why I’m quite happy to allow the goddess’ followers to worship their deity in any manner they want, as long as they don’t harm others.”

“My attitude,” Gaius went on to explain, “naturally extends to Paul’s sect. However, he himself displays no such liberality. He is so fervent in his belief that only his particular form of religion is correct that he won’t tolerate any others, and is particularly vehement if associated rituals are sexual in nature. He declares his faith not only to have righteous superiority over all others but also calls for the elimination of other creeds, and all because of a revelation he once experienced during a journey from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute the very sect he’s now promoting. Apparently, he received a message from God after the earth shook, causing him to fall from his horse and be temporarily blinded. However, I personally suspect that no divine miracle actually took place, just a delusion in a troubled mind after an accident resulting from an earthquake. I have checked the historical records and believe that such a natural phenomenon devastated certain parts of the east at the time of his supposed vision, the serious aftershocks of which would certainly have been felt in Syria.”

I personally support my beloved Gaius’ liberal viewpoint, not least because Paul seemed to be promoting a form of faith that was not only different from other so-called Christians, who considered themselves merely to be Jewish reformers, but also owed much to his own imagination. For example, it was Paul, who had never met Jesus, who first declared that Christ was divine and of special birth, as well as ascribed various miracles to him, including resurrection after death. Colleagues, such as Cephas, whom I was to encounter, and Jesus’ brother, James, never boasted of such matters.

Paul additionally seemed to ferment trouble wherever he went, especially amongst orthodox Jews and devotees of what he considered to be pagan creeds. For example, I remember a description in a narrative entitled the ‘Acts of the Apostles’, which was written by a physician and Pauline supporter who used the pseudonym of ‘Luke’. He detailed what happened when the preacher returned to Ephesus a few years after dining with Gaius in the city.

In his gospel, Luke relates [19.28+] how Paul’s opposition to the worship of Artemis in Ephesus had led to a riot. A silversmith convinced fellow businessmen that the apostle’s sanctimoniously critical sermons posed a significant risk to the local tourist trade, which centres on pilgrims and other visitors to the goddess’ great temple, the largest building in the world.

I suppose that I might, however, be biased in my views, given that I have always experienced a strange affinity for Artemis, just as, being a eunuch, I have for Cybele. Artemis, of the golden bow and showering arrows, is tall and beautiful and lives remote from mankind, on mountain-tops and in forests with the wild animals. Daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo, she is the maiden of unstained purity, distant and proud, who disdains close contact and over whom Aphrodite, goddess of love, has no sway. She is also the huntress, and when she passes, the forests echo with the noise of her chase.

I suspect that my sympathy for her worship stems from the fact that many of her priests, like those of Cybele, are eunuchs like myself and that her association with forests stimulates me to recall the wooded areas near my home village in Britannia. There, I used to play with my childhood friends, until the Romans arrived one fateful day and took, in two senses of the phrase, my boyhood away.

(Domus of Axenius, Rome, same time)

‘It’s better to die when your possessions are being carried off than to live as a coward!’

- Pindar (Fragment 169a, 16-17)

Cornutus was another confidant who had been entrusted with the secret of Axenius’ ancestry, and so the 20 year-old heir of Palaemon’s luxurious domus, great wealth and educational legacy was happy to relate to his 30 year-old employee the background of the 11 year-old twins, Anacletus and Axenia. The young eunuch explained that he had somehow forgotten the circumstances of his separation from his mother, over 11 years previously.

Axenius’ mother was one of the daughters of Arminius, the infamous Germanic chieftain having many offspring by his own wife, whom he had snatched from her own father, Segestes, leader of the Cherusci, in a spectacular elopement. My friend’s parents had again themselves been blessed with another pregnancy, with the wife then being despatched by her husband eastwards.

The heavily pregnant woman was to serve her confinement in the remote village to which her father had retired. This settlement had the dual benefits of being less exposed to Roman raiding than that of her husband, where Axenius’ parents had made their home, and the presence of her own matronly mother to supervise the advent of fresh life into this world.

Axenius, being only 10 years old at the time, was supposed to accompany his mother, along with his sisters and younger brothers, whilst his father remained behind with the older sons of his own large family. However, my friend had protested his temporary exile from his home village, believing himself to be as capable a warrior as anyone in defence of his paternal lands, despite his tender years, and his parents had relented in the face of his desperate entreaties.

Axenius used the most formidable weapons in his armoury to overcome the original parental ruling, namely tears in his sensuous sky-blue eyes and a look of complete misery on his sublimely beautiful face. However, the boy’s father and mother were forever to regret their weakness because of what subsequently happened.

The Romans launched an attack on Axenius’ home settlement, which was located just to the east of the Rhine. Surprise had been achieved by approaching from an unexpected easterly direction and the fact that the local sentinels had been somewhat indolent and negligent. They had been induced into that state by the previous long period of quiet in their part of free Germania. However, most of the villagers managed to escape from the overwhelming enemy by disappearing into the surrounding forests. Sadly, my young friend was not so fortunate.

Axenius had been playing with similarly aged boys on the supposedly safer easterly fringes of their village. Despite their desperate efforts to avoid capture, a group of unarmed 10 year-olds were no match for the furtively advancing veteran legionaries and they were all quickly either dead or in the hands of the Romans.

Meanwhile, near the Weser, Axenius’ mother had already given birth to twins, about whose existence the then 10 year-old would not learn until he talked with his grandfather, Arminius, in a Germanic forest over 11 years later. The Romans had captured the very pretty pair several months before that fateful meeting, when the rest of my friend’s immediate family had been sadly slaughtered, during another successful punitive excursion by the enemy into Chatti territory.

The cowed twins had subsequently been enslaved in Romanised Colonia Agrippina but had fortunately been sold to the same local master, who had not only kept them together as household servants but also treated them reasonably well. Arminius’ spies had later tracked down their whereabouts and circumstances but their grandfather had decided to keep them in situ for now, rather than rescuing them from servility. The infamous Germanic chieftain realised that Anacletus and Axenia were actually safer where they were, whilst the Romans were severely harassing their troublesome people, the Chatti.

Arminius proposed to retrieve his grandchildren once the current conflict had ended. However, the unexpected reappearance of Axenius had encouraged him to change his mind. The enemy had recently so badly devastated both the Chatti and his own extended family that he had reluctantly concluded that the twins would be better off in the custody of their older, suddenly very wealthy Romanised brother.

Arminius was also 69 years old and knew that he was unlikely to be around for much longer to care personally for the twins, who now had no other close family except for Axenius. His decision was reached despite the fact that it would undoubtedly mean an immediate life for the children amidst the hated enemy in their capital city, where the older grandson was set on returning to fulfil his obligations to his deceased patron. At least, the infamous chieftain thought, there they would enjoy a life of secure privilege until they became of age to decide for themselves their own later futures, which perhaps might then involve a return to his beloved Germania.

As they parted in the forest, Axenius promised his grandfather that he would take care of the twins’ welfare, an undertaking he fulfilled nobly until they became adults. Arminius and his older grandson then tearfully embraced, as they said their farewells, knowing that they would not meet again, at least in this existence.

Arminius subsequently disappeared into his beloved forests and into mythology, and Axenius subsequently never heard anything about his grandfather ever again.

Axenius later told me that he would love someday to be responsible for rehabilitating Arminius’ reputation amongst civilised people, and perhaps even erecting a great statue of the renowned warrior in his beloved Germanic forests. Sadly, neither ambition was achieved by my friend during his lifetime, but I hope that my autobiography assists the former aspiration, whilst I foster a wish that one day the latter will also come true.

(Imperial palace, Rome, same time)

‘….Aphrodite goes unchallenged as she plays.’

- Sophocles (‘Antigone’, 800)

Apollinus and I, in our shared accommodation at the Imperial palace, had been amongst the first people Axenius visited on his return to Rome in order to tell about the tragedy of Palaemon’s death and that of most of his immediate Germanic family. However, the sad news was, of course, partly mitigated by the miracle of meeting Anacletus and Axenia, whom my friend had brought with him to introduce.

I later wrote my letter to Gaius, which conveyed the various news and was produced in the neat Latin script and excellent vocabulary and grammar he had taught me. Despite the sadness of the chore, I then re-gathered sufficient morale to decide that I had to do something to sort out Apollinus’ love life, because he had been rather miserable since his return from his summer sojourn to Umbria.

You see, reader, dear Apollinus had fallen out of love with 26 year-old Petronius because of the entry of another younger paramour into his life, in the very comely shape of 17 year-old Gaius Rubellius Plautus, son of Julia, granddaughter of Tiberius. However, my 18 year-old Rhodian friend had not yet summoned up the courage to tell the ‘elegentiae arbiter’, who was actually suffering from a similar dilemma. The results were some awkward meetings between them, plus some undoubtedly equally uncomfortable bouts of resumed lovemaking.

In Campania, Petronius had met a 19 year-old eunuch, whom Apollinus had coincidentally observed being punitively castrated by Caius Silius’ former vilicus 3 years previously. The suddenly infatuated ‘elegentiae arbiter’, who had recently become much richer through acquiring wealthy patrons for his storytelling activities, had subsequently bought the slave from the new estate manager and was currently suffering problems in confessing the new situation to the young Rhodian.

Narcissus, who seemed to know everything about what was going on in Imperial circles, eventually appraised me about the situation, after I had reported back to him some of Burrus’ pillow talk. The Imperial secretary correctly supposed that I would both be interested in learning the news and would want to do something to end the impasse, which seemed to me to be more comedy than tragedy.

I affected a meeting between Apollinus and Petronius, with me present as a different kind of ‘arbiter’, and bluntly told them both about each other’s new lovers. There was then a moment of silence, as the pair looked guiltily at each other, trying to gauge their respective reactions. I initially worried that perhaps they might now come to blows but fortunately, and virtually simultaneously, smiles instead engulfed their respective handsome faces.

Apollinus and Petronius next embraced each other, whilst some tears were shed at the demise of their former mutual passion. They then engaged in lively conversation, whilst I quietly left them. My departure from the scene went unnoticed, so embroiled were they now in chatter relating to each other’s summer affairs.

Apollinus and Petronius, although no longer lovers, were subsequently the best of friends. They regularly met each other during Britannicus’ weekly lessons in creative writing, provided by the ‘elegentiae arbiter’. The 18 year-old was also still a frequent guest at the private dinners hosted by the 26 year-old.

Meanwhile, the passionate infatuations of their hearts had passed on to others.

(Domus of Axenius’ residential pupils, plebeian quarter, Rome, later that day)

‘An infinite highway

Of ambrosial songs there is

For whoever obtains gifts

From the Muses of Mount Piera,

Whose songs

The violet-eyed maidens,

The Graces bearing garlands,

Dress with honour.’

- Bacchylides (referring to poetry as being the gift of the nine Muses in ‘Victory Ode’, 19.1-8)

The increasingly mature, at least as far as mentality as opposed to external physique was concerned, Persius and Quintilianus were again discussing their futures, as they had previously often done since my beloved Gaius had been instrumental in ensuring that they became literally the closest of friends, 4 years previously in the same bedroom. On this occasion, the 16 year-old included their latest roommate, 11 year-old Lucanus, in their conversation.

“Still intent on becoming a famous lawyer, defender of the innocent?” Persius asked of Quintilianus. “Initially,” Q answered, “although, after the sad death of Palaemon, I now realise that being a great educationalist can leave posterity with even mightier tributes to personal achievement, in the form of the hopefully worthy minds of your pupils. Such a role could even help prevent injustice in the first place, and so make the need to tackle such unfairness defunct. Perhaps one day I’ll therefore move from jurisprudence to teaching. How about you, P, are you still intent on becoming a great stoic poet in order to elaborate your own criticisms of modern society?” Both 16 year-olds, perhaps not unsurprisingly, given their long-standing intimacy, shared similar outrage at the inequities of current Rome and were determined to try to do something with their futures that might help improve matters, a noble aspiration that was rubbing off on Lucanus.

“Yes,” Persius replied, “because in that I can make ironic comment, which you know I’m good at, on the hypocrisy, injustice and cruelty inherent in our society, which perhaps too can leave behind a legacy of which to be proud. I also believe that Lucanus here is coming to a similar conclusion about his future.”

“Is that so, Lucanus,” Quintilianus enquired, “do you propose to follow Persius as a poetic muse?” “Sort of,” L responded, “although I think that I’d like my words to record serious historical happenings, with appropriate commentary, as opposed to P’s satirical humour. You see, I believe that the lessons of the past, if learnt, can assist the future to become better for everyone.”

“Well, whatever the future holds for us,” Persius laughingly commented, “I hope that we’ll always remain firm friends, just as we are now.” However, P was not just remarking on the strength of future friendship. Instead, he was practising his satire by producing a play on words, which also referred to the erectness of the naked trio’s cocks, as they fondled each other’s penises, whilst resting on top of Lucanus’ large bed.

(Domus of Marcus Cocceius Nerva senior, patrician quarter, Rome, same time)

‘….a band which is held together by the friendship between lovers is indissoluble and cannot be broken, and the beloved ashamed to be disgraced before their lover, and so that they stand firm for each other in dreadful predicaments.’

- Plutarch (referring to Thebes’ Sacred Band of homosexual warriors in ‘Life of Pelopidas’, 18.3)

15 year-old Nerva already knew that the similarly aged Silius Italicus’ ambition was to become a poet. However, the musing of the latter was currently concentrated not on poetic but instead on sexual rhythm, as he played with the very pleasant curves of the former’s bare buttocks, and carefully prised them apart in order to ease the entry into his pretty friend of his own eagerly rampant cock.

Silius Italicus’ mouth also did not then recount poetry but instead uttered groans, as his penis thrust in and out of Nerva, who was additionally issuing low, delighted moans. The latter was lying on his back, with his legs draped over his friend’s bare shoulders, allowing his fellow 15 year-old to masturbate him whilst the would-be poet’s own member enjoyed the proffered rectal orifice.

Nerva’s handsome, vibrating body, simultaneously stimulated by his friend’s concurrent acts of masturbation and sodomy, quickly became engulfed by delectable orgasm. His rigid cock, pointing back towards his head and manipulated by his young lover’s willing hand, erupted with copious white fluid, most of which flowed onto his smooth chest, although some actually reached his face, including his rosy lips, causing him to lick some of his own cum with his tongue. Meanwhile, his action caused his anus to envelop the pleasure provider that was Silius Italicus’ penis even more keenly, encouraging this member to spurt its own juices and plentifully impregnate the deliciously tight cavity.

Shortly afterwards, the watching Rubellius Plautus suggested “Now, it’s our turn,” before leading the similarly naked and rampant Apollinus by the hand to the host’s quickly vacated bed. Soon, the temporarily satisfied Nerva and Silius Italicus were observing two other young male lovers enjoy sex together, a scene that would rapidly re-arouse their own desires, ensuring that the little homosexual orgy lasted much of the night.

(Imperial palace, Rome, same time)

‘One man is ten thousand to me, if he is the best!’

- Heraclitus (Fragment 49)

Seneca had agreed to Axenius’ suggestions for the revised arrangements for the education of Britannicus and his classmates, including the 9 year-old prince’s similarly aged best friend, Titus, in the wake of Palaemon’s demise. Basically, the revisions comprised an even bigger role for the very able Cornutus, aided by competent assistants, who still included Petronius as the boys’ teacher of creative writing.

Meanwhile, at Agrippina’s request, Seneca himself was turning his exceedingly intelligent mind to other arrangements, namely those relating to Nero’s 13th birthday celebrations, which fell in December. On hearing of this from Narcissus, I could not help but recall that the former Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus had once wanted to use my naked body for entertainment at such an occasion. He had wished to decorate my form with blue paint in honour of the warriors of my homeland, before parading my embellished form amongst his guests and later in the streets of Rome. Fortunately, the intervention of Britannicus had saved me from such shame.

I had never forgotten Britannicus’ kindness, or a similar role of salvation he had played in rescuing me from the hell of being a galley slave. Although not wishing ill to befall him, I occasionally prayed to the gods that I might gain the opportunity to repay him sometime. I have reason to believe that the deities must have listened to my entreaties.

(Thyatira, Lydia, Asia Minor, December DCCCIII A.V.C., in the 9th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 50])

‘And to the angel of the church in Thyatira, I write:

This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire, whose feet shine like polished brass. I know what you do. I know your love, your faithfulness, your service and your patience. I know that you are doing more now than you did at first. But this is what I have against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching, she misleads my servants into practising sexual immortality and eating food that has been offered to idols. I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she does not want to turn from her immortality. And so I will throw her on a bed, where she and those who committed adultery with her will suffer terribly. I will do this now unless they repent of the wicked things they did with her. I will also kill her children and then all the churches will know that I am the one who knows everyone’s thoughts and wishes. I will repay each one of you according to what he has done. But the rest of you in Thyatira, who have not followed this evil teaching, you have not learned what the others call ‘the deep secrets of Satan’. I say to you that I will not put any other burden on you. But until I come, you must hold firmly to what you have. To those who win the victory, who continue to the end to do what I want, I will give the same authority that I received from my Father. I will give them authority over the nations, to rule them with an iron rod and to break them to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star. If you have ears, then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!’

- John, condemning a priestess of Artemis in Thyatira, in his book of ‘The Revelation’ (2:18-29)

Despite the wintry weather, made worse by venturing north-east into the hinterland of Asia Minor, Gaius, Hylas and Achilleus travelled from Halicarnassus via Ephesus, Smyrna and Sardes to the Lydian city of Thyatira, located on flat land close to the border with Mysia. As was common in this part of the Roman Empire, the metropolis was inhabited mainly by Greeks, supplemented by a significant Jewish minority.

The city had originally been called Pelopio by the Lydian founders but Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian generals, who carved out his own large empire in the area after his King’s death, one that lasted until the arrival of the Romans, renamed the place Thyatira. Like Ephesus, the metropolis, whose many craft and trade guilds make prosperous use of the abundant natural resources of the area, possesses a temple of Artemis, where many licentious rituals are practised. Nevertheless, the municipality is primarily renowned for the worship by the local Greeks and Romans of the goddess’ twin brother, Apollo, in whose honour annual games are held.

Gaius’ visit, however, had not been stimulated by an interest in viewing the large temples of the twin deities. He instead wanted to meet some Hebrew and Gentile members of the local population, who had converted not to the new Jewish Christian sect, of which there are indeed a significant number of devotees locally, but to another called the ‘Naassene’.

Thyatira is known to have, amongst the city’s population, a significant number of followers of this new Gnostic creed, whose name derives from the Hebrew word ‘naas’, meaning ‘serpent’. Believers apparently actually revere the snake, recalled, in the ancient Judaic book of Genesis, for advising Adam and Eve to take the fruit from the Tree of Life.

Gaius’ visit was subsequently to have a profound effect on his attitude to religion, but only by reinforcing his previous sceptical agnosticism, particularly towards the activities of the man he had met in Ephesus, Paul. I can only add that, after reading works such as those of the supposed true Christian, John, quoted above, which clearly display violent intolerance towards other beliefs, I can only agree with my beloved’s attitude.

(Umbria, Italia, same time)

‘Quinque generum hae: sparsis per terram palmitibus, aut per se vite

subrecta, vel cum amminiculo sine iugo, aut pedate simplici iugo,

aut conpluviatae quadriplici.’

(‘There are five types [of trained vine]: trained with the branches laying

over the ground, trained to be free-standing, trained on an upright

post, trained on an upright with cross bar, or trained over

bars in a rectangular formation.’)

- Pliny the Elder (‘Natural History’, 17.164)

The new owner of the verdant vineyard previously belonging to Palaemon was arriving to allay any worries about their futures that might have been troubling the minds of the local workers, who were led by the parents and adopted brother of Apollinus and Helius. Axenius had personally brought both tidings that operations would continue as before and another of his employees with him, as he recognised that Cornutus would want to meet Servius again after their enforced separation of over 3 months since summer.

Neither the new owner of the Umbrian estate nor his farm-managers commented about the subsequent temporary disappearance of Cornutus and Servius, as they realised that the pair had much lost time to make up, in terms of both news and passion.

(Thyatira, Lydia, Asia Minor, same time)

‘Here they come, the choirs of Bellona the wild, of Cybele, and one big eunuch whose countenance calls for awe from lesser obscene devotees, seeing he once, long ago, cut off his own testicles with a sharp shell!’

- Juvenal

The word ‘Gnostic’ derives from the Greek word ‘gnosis’, meaning ‘knowledge’, and applies to several sects. Gaius later kindly defined Gnosticism for me as a mystic belief that emphasises salvation through the revelation to us of secret facts about our cosmic origins and thereby the true destiny of our souls. The whole universe is considered to be a corruption of an androgynous God, with all substance a distortion of spirit. Depending upon the particular school of thought adhered to, simple awareness of our fallen state might be sufficient to achieve paradise, whilst other cults promote such notions as the need for passwords to enter the beyond. Ultimate deliverance will, however, only come when material grossness is fully overcome by being reabsorbed into the parent deity. A divinely despatched redeemer, who possesses the final information needed to achieve such redemption, will inaugurate and facilitate the process.

I have to confess that my mind struggled a bit with Gaius’ definition. However, my patient beloved, noticing my confusion, added “In other words, Gnosticism is a religion of redemption, with the emphasis on ensuring that, through the acquirement of knowledge, your spirit eventually escapes from its worldly prison, of weak imperfect flesh and bone, back to God, where it belongs.”

Around these basic assumptions, the Naassene Gnostic sect, members of whom occasionally term their God the ‘Heavenly Horn of the Moon’, had over time adopted a complex set of ideas. For example, they believe that the original man, Adam, was a hermaphrodite. The myth of Cybele and Attis, particularly the emasculation and demise of the latter beautiful youth, which I have described in an earlier chapter of my saga, is also regarded as a metaphor for human relationships with the divine and the cycle of life and death.

One adopted idea was very recent and a by-product, unintended as far as the man was concerned, of listening to a Jewish preacher, who sported a neat black beard, tinged with white. The Naassenes came to believe that their saviour was Jesus, whose self-sacrifice they associated with that of Attis. Consequently, they too declared themselves to be Christians. However, as their basic ethos is so at odds with that promoted by Paul, the latter vehemently condemned the creed, considering the followers to be pagan blasphemers of Christ. Hence, his strong denunciation of them to Gaius in Ephesus, reproach that had actually only stimulated my beloved to discover more about the sect.

In the event, Gaius’ visit to Thyatira was actually to provide him with a much wider and truer perspective of the background of the man who had stimulated the creation of the various Christian sects.

(Imperial palace, Rome, same time)

‘What concern have you, eunuch Baeticus, with the feminine abyss? This tongue of yours should be licking male middles. Why was your cock cut off with a Samian shard if you were so fond of a cunt, Baeticus? Your head should be castrated. You may be a eunuch loin-wise, but you cheat Cybele’s rites. With your mouth, you’re a man!’

- Martial (‘Epigrams’, 3.81)

Nero, closely attended by his slightly older best friend, Suffuscus, as well as his 18 year-old personal slave, Epaphroditus, was celebrating his 13th birthday. However, the occasion was nothing like those that had commemorated similar previous anniversaries, as all of his guests found the host to be so affably charming that they thoroughly enjoyed the event.

I have to confess that even I was amongst the incredulous guests. For the first time, I also began to realise for myself the effect that the friendship of the delightful Suffuscus, now apparently continuously in the prince’s company, was truly having on the former Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

I was present in my official capacity because Claudius chose to attend the event, and he lingered much longer than the original intended courtesy visit should have implied. Given the formality of the occasion, Nero’s mother, Agrippina, accompanied her husband. However, I have little doubt, given that her interest in both her spouse and son only really emanated from the status they could provide her, that she would have preferred to be in the arms of one of her three current regular lovers, Faenas Rufus, Pallas and Aulus Vitellius. The first two of these paramours also frequented the party to pay their respects to the boy whom they were all plotting to make the next Emperor, whereas the third was in no fit state to do so.

As was common, the highly dissolute 35 year-old Aulus Vitellius had indulged in a wild bisexual orgy at his domus throughout the previous night, one not involving the similarly aged Agrippina. He was currently sleeping off his many excesses, which included having sex with three women and two young slave boys. One of the latter had been a virgin until the patrician’s cock had invaded and torn his rear orifice, before finally depositing the creamy white substance that indicated that the pretty but very unhappy child could no longer claim such unmolested status.

Apart from eager active participation in such debauchery, Aulus Vitellius had gained most amusement from the night from one particular aspect of the professional entertainment provided. A former member of Cybele’s gallae had changed his profession to being part of a troupe of actors, dancers and acrobats who provided such erotic diversion. The eunuch’s act involved servicing a rather delicious young female with his remarkably, for someone who did not possess balls, large erect cock, as well as tongue.

Aulus Vitellius was overheard asking of a guest reclining on an adjacent couch, whilst this particular element of the night’s entertainment proceeded, “How is it that some eunuchs can develop erections of a size a normal man would be very proud, whilst cocks belonging to others seem to remain forever flaccid and even shrunken?” “I believe,” the other patrician advised, as he sipped some wine and fondled a naked 14 year-old slave girl who shared his divan, “that it’s something to do with the age at which they’re castrated. I understand that whether they’ve traversed puberty before losing their balls is particularly important, although perhaps the nature of the sexual activity they subsequently experience may also be a factor. I’ve been told that a good lover can still induce someone who was gelded very young to fulsome hardness and climax!”

“Hmmm,” Aulus Vitellius reflected, whilst undoubtedly remembering young pretty geldings such as me whom he had debauched, “I’ve never taken the trouble to notice whether the eunuchs I’ve had ever became or could become erect whilst I enjoyed them. Perhaps I might experiment in future, and also see whether I can bring them to orgasm!”

Although Aulus Vitellius did not embark on this ambition on this particular night, because a boy of the relevant kind was not available, he did launch regular experiments afterwards, eventually becoming an expert on the subject.

(Island of Rhodus, same time)

‘To you, O Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom.’

- Dedication inscription of the Colossus

Something apparently inconsequential in the greater scope of human affairs happened at the same time on the island of Rhodus, although, to the man involved and his family and friends, the occurrence was obviously traumatic. The middle-aged farmer concerned was supervising some slaves in one of his vineyards when he suffered a fatal seizure, although death would take a couple of months to overwhelm his paralysed form.

With no sons to inherit and work the farm, the man’s widow subsequently decided to sell the agricultural property and retire to live with her daughters in the island’s main city, where sects devoted to the sun god, Helius, dominate local religious affairs. Her decision was later, inadvertently from her perspective, to have a substantial effect on the lives of several personages already mentioned in my tale, and also on the future of the Roman Empire.

(Imperial palace, Rome, same time)

'High-thundering Zeus made woman to be a....curse to mortal man and partner in vexation.'

- Hesiod ('Theogony')

Being responsible for the ever-developing administrative affairs of Nero, Helius and Doryphoros were also present at their young charge’s birthday celebration. They kindly approached to where I was dutifully standing, close to the Emperor, in order to engage me in conversation.

I have to admit that I had never seen Helius so radiant. To me, the 15 year-old’s boyish beauty was actually refining superbly as he grew older, his bloom undoubtedly aided by being deeply in love with the handsome and devoted Doryphoros.

I was, of course, aware of Narcissus’ plot to place Doryphoros as a double-spy in Agrippina’s political camp, because the Imperial secretary had himself appraised me about the scheme. Evidence that the conspiracy was working now manifested itself.

Agrippina, who was sitting next to her husband, had noticed Doryphoros’ approach. By means of a discreet wiggle of a finger, she then invited the young Imperial freedman to a short conversation, conducted by whispering into each other’s ears.

I already appreciated, from Burrus’ happily less discreet mouth that the Empress was aware of my affair with the Imperial Procurator and she had not been displeased at the development. I adduced from this that the Augusta also now considered me to be a quiet ally of hers. Naturally, when I reported the situation to Narcissus, he was delighted. Nevertheless, I still could not dispel the feeling that I was acting like a common whore.

Meanwhile, Nero was receiving, as an arriving guest, Marcus Salvius Otho, happily returned from his temporary, unhappy and unofficial exile in faraway Germania Inferior. The new 13 year-old and the 18 year-old were now to forget their previous estrangement, over the failure to pursue retribution against Persius and Quintilianus, for trapping them into running naked through the streets of Rome. They instead re-established their friendship, which was to prove almost lifelong.

Nero’s cock, hidden under his rich toga praetexta, quivered when he saw whom Otho had brought with him. “Hello, Poppaea,” the birthday boy nevertheless managed to say in greeting to the immensely attractive 17 year-old, amber-haired girl, who was now betrothed to her 18 year-old male escort.

(Plebeian quarter, Rome, same time)

‘Crescens, the nocturnal netter of young girls.’

- graffiti I once came across in Pompeii (with ‘netter’ referring to the use of a net by retiarii)

The black nullified eunuch, Nigerinus, was sitting at his usual table in his favourite inn. He was approached by the famous gladiator, Didius, who, unlike other fighters, could do little with the retinue of women commonly attracted to those who are successful in the arena because of his unfortunate lack of male appendage. “I have more work for you,” the retiarius announced nonchalantly.

Nigerinus immediately knew what Didius meant. The funeral establishment managed by the black freedman had won the commission for providing the relevant rites for those unfortunate members of the retiarius’ stable of gladiators who had not only been defeated but also received the thumbs up from whoever was the guest of honour at the bloody games.

As I have mentioned previously, thumbs up meant death, although some people who have never attended the dreadful bloody spectacle in the amphitheatre are confused and believe the signal to mean the reverse. Many people, not least me, were to have good reason to regret that Didius was never subjected to this fatal gesture.

(Thyatira, Lydia, Asia Minor, same time)

‘Let not him who seeks cease until he finds, and when he finds he is astonished.’

- Gospel of Thomas

Having subsequently become acquainted with the fundamental tenets of the Naassenes in Thyatira, by taking time to talk to various adherents, my beloved Gaius concluded that their claims about Jesus were probably just as invalid as those of Paul. The clever and perceptive young man from Volsinii reached his conclusion after also conversing with a kindly Jew, who sported a neat black beard, tinged with white, and had inadvertently influenced the supposedly heretic sect by his teachings and writings.

As promised earlier, dear reader, having now aired my personal views, and those of Gaius, on the value of some of the sects extant in my time, I shall herein concentrate in my lengthy saga on fact and desist from much further religious comment. I would not want to disturb anyone’s sensibilities on the subject. You will therefore need to use your own judgement to ascertain whether the many sufferings to come in the cause of the various sects, which I shall eventually graphically describe as a duty to historical record, were justified or worthwhile.

“It was so kind of you to agree to meet me,” Gaius declared as he prepared to depart from the Jew, who sported a neat black beard, tinged with white, “especially on the 55th anniversary of your birth. I have truly been fascinated with all you’ve told me.”

“I’m happy to tell anyone who wants to know about my experiences and knowledge of Jesus Christ,” the kindly Jew replied, “particularly if what I convey can guide them to righteousness. I just hope that your two young slaves weren’t too bored.” Displaying a smile, he then glanced at Hylas and Achilleus, who were sleeping on a nearby couch.

“I’m sure that they weren’t,” Gaius responded, despite the apparently contrary evidence, “but simply fell asleep because they exhausted themselves playing earlier. I’ve never known two boys so energetically active together. They’re also normally intensely curious and so I’m sure that they’ll regret missing out on what you’ve told me.”

“After all,” Gaius suggested, “it’s not every day that you have the opportunity to learn the real history of Jesus Christ from Thomas, the prophet’s twin brother!”

(To be continued in chapter XL – ‘Colossi’)