It is important to note that the shock of Commodus sharing the triumphal chariot with his lover Saoterus was not due to their relationship, but because only the triumphal hero should be riding the chariot. Equal shock is given in Marcus Aurelius' biography, when he allows Commodus to stand in the triumphal chariot, while the emperor walks on foot [SHA Vit. Marc. Ant. XVI.2].
Bellum etiam,
quod pater paene confecerat, legibus hostium addictus remisit ac Romam reversus
est. 6 Romam ut redit, subactore suo Saotero post se in curru locato ita
triumphavit, ut eum saepius cervice reflexa publice oscularetur. Etiam in orchestra
hoc idem fecit.
--SHA, Vita Commodi III.5-6
Commodus gave up the war that his father [Marcus Aurelius]
had nearly completed, agreeing to the enemy’s terms. When he returned to Rome,
he entered in triumph together with his lover Saoterus in the same chariot;
more than once he leaned over and kissed him in public. He also kissed him in
the Senate house.
<Anonymous> |
MAP: |
Name: ??? Date: 4th c. CE Works:
Historia Augusta |
REGION UNKNOWN |
BIO: |
Timeline: |
Little is known about the author(s) of the Historia
Augusta; even internal evidence within the text is either falsified,
skewed or utterly fictitious. Although attributed to six different authors, the
text was likely written by a single author living during the 4th
century CE. It is a series of imperial biographies modeled after the works of
Suetonius; these biographies cover the reigns of the emperors Hadrian through
Carus. |
AGE OF CONFLICT |
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