Ofonius Tigellinus ( – 69) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of Emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained imperial favour through his acquaintance with Nero's mother Agrippina the Younger, and was appointed prefect upon the death of his predecessor Sextus Afranius Burrus, a position Tigellinus held first with Faenius Rufus and then Nymphidius Sabinus.

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 people and the army, leading to several rebellions which ultimately led to his downfall and suicide in 68. When Nero's demise appeared imminent, Tigellinus deserted him and shifted his allegiance to the new emperor Galba. Unfortunately for Tigellinus, Galba was replaced by Otho barely six months after his accession. Otho ordered the execution of Tigellinus, upon which he committed suicide.

Life

Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus, born in about 10 AD, was of humble origin. His family, of Greek descent, were natives of Agrigentum in Sicily. His father allegedly lived as an exile in Scyllaceum in Southern Italy, and Tigellinus may have been born there. In his twenties, he was living in Rome and was in contact with the Imperial Family. In 39, during the reign of Caligula, he was banished from the city. He had been accused of adultery with Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla, Caligula's two surviving sisters. His exile was ended by the new emperor, Claudius, in 41, but he was forbidden to enter the Imperial Palace. He persecuted his successive co-prefects, Faenius Rufus and Nymphidius Sabinus, to secure his position as one of Nero's closest and most trusted advisors. He also fabricated evidence to justify the murder of Nero's first wife, Claudia Octavia. In 64, he made himself notorious for the orgies that he arranged in the Basin of Agrippa.

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. Under the new emperor, Galba, he managed to save his life by lavishing presents upon Titus Vinius, the favourite of Galba, and his widowed daughter,

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,

  • 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

  • Pythias (Roman)

References

Sources

  • Tacitus Historiae 1.72.2, 1.72.19
  • Tacitus Annales 14.51