Claudia Acte
Encyclopedia
Claudia Acte was a freedwoman
of ancient Rome
who became a mistress of the emperor Nero
. She came from Asia Minor
and might have become a slave of the Emperor Claudius
, following his expansion of the Roman Empire
into Lycia
and Pamphylia
; or she might have been purchased later, by Octavia
, Claudius' daughter.
, married his niece in 49
AD and therefore became Nero's stepfather. Claudius' daughter, Octavia
(by his wife Messalina
), became Nero's stepsister at the same time. Nero and Octavia themselves married in 53
AD, and Nero became emperor in 54
AD, after his great-uncle/stepfather died—apparently poisoned, in the belief of contemporary historians, by his niece/wife, Agrippina, Nero's mother.
A year into Nero's reign, encouraged by Seneca the Younger
and Burrus, and against Agrippina the Younger's wishes, Nero took Acte as his mistress. Seneca especially was concerned that his young student would not be satisfied with his wife, Octavia, and might indulge in risky sexual exploits. This made Acte appear a safe outlet and a source of separation from Agrippina. Seneca and Burrus were on uneasy terms with Agrippina and were nervous about her political influence and methods, especially following the putative poisoning of her husband, the Emperor Claudius. However, the relationship with Acte was kept as quiet as possible so as to not damage Nero's politically-significant marriage to Octavia. Otho
, Claudius Senecio and Annaeus Serenus helped Nero and Acte with their secret meetings. Serenus, a protégé of Seneca, even pretended that Acte was his own mistress in order to avert suspicion.
The couple met when Nero was only 17, and their reportedly emotional, passionate relationship lasted at least three years. Nero expressed the desire to marry Acte and had a genealogy fabricated linking her to King Attalus
of Pergamum; he even bribed ex-consuls
to prepare to swear to her royal birthright, a move that enraged his mother Agrippina, who was very conscious and proud of her own, well-established patrician ancestry.
attest to considerable wealth, accumulated while she was Nero's mistress. She had left the imperial scene in ownership of a household staff as well as property. After Nero's death, and along with two of his old nurses, Acte gave him a proper Roman burial
, burning the body on a pyre
with a coin under the tongue and covering each eye. She deposited his remains in the tomb of the Domitii, the family of Nero's biological father, in the Pincian Hills
. She is said to have paid for the funeral at a cost of 200,000 sesterces. There were found many inscriptions of her slaves and freedmen. Modern research believes it improbable that she was a Christian, although some of her slaves seem to have possessed the Christian faith. The epitaph of Acte was discovered at Velitrae.
's novel Quo Vadis
, where she is depicted as being a secret Christian, and also in the movie Nero
. Acte is also the main character in Alexandre Dumas' novel Acte.
Freedman
A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
who became a mistress of the emperor Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
. She came from Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
and might have become a slave of the Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, following his expansion of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
into Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
and Pamphylia
Pamphylia
In ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...
; or she might have been purchased later, by Octavia
Octavia
-People:*Octavia the Elder, elder half sister of Octavia Minor*Octavia the Younger, sister of Augustus, younger half sister of Octavia Major and fourth wife of Mark Antony*Claudia Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Valeria Messalina and first wife of Nero...
, Claudius' daughter.
Relationship with Nero
The Emperor Claudius, uncle of Nero's mother, Agrippina the YoungerAgrippina the Younger
Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, married his niece in 49
49
Year 49 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Veranius...
AD and therefore became Nero's stepfather. Claudius' daughter, Octavia
Claudia Octavia
Claudia Octavia was an Empress of Rome. She was a great-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, daughter of the Emperor Claudius, and stepsister and first wife of the Emperor Nero...
(by his wife Messalina
Messalina
Valeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was also a paternal cousin of the Emperor Nero, second cousin of the Emperor Caligula, and great-grandniece of the Emperor Augustus...
), became Nero's stepsister at the same time. Nero and Octavia themselves married in 53
53
Year 53 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Antonius...
AD, and Nero became emperor in 54
54
Year 54 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus...
AD, after his great-uncle/stepfather died—apparently poisoned, in the belief of contemporary historians, by his niece/wife, Agrippina, Nero's mother.
A year into Nero's reign, encouraged by Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
and Burrus, and against Agrippina the Younger's wishes, Nero took Acte as his mistress. Seneca especially was concerned that his young student would not be satisfied with his wife, Octavia, and might indulge in risky sexual exploits. This made Acte appear a safe outlet and a source of separation from Agrippina. Seneca and Burrus were on uneasy terms with Agrippina and were nervous about her political influence and methods, especially following the putative poisoning of her husband, the Emperor Claudius. However, the relationship with Acte was kept as quiet as possible so as to not damage Nero's politically-significant marriage to Octavia. Otho
Otho
Otho , was Roman Emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors.- Birth and lineage :...
, Claudius Senecio and Annaeus Serenus helped Nero and Acte with their secret meetings. Serenus, a protégé of Seneca, even pretended that Acte was his own mistress in order to avert suspicion.
The couple met when Nero was only 17, and their reportedly emotional, passionate relationship lasted at least three years. Nero expressed the desire to marry Acte and had a genealogy fabricated linking her to King Attalus
Attalus
Attalus may refer to:*Several members of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon**Attalus I, ruled 241 BC–197 BC**Attalus II Philadelphus, ruled 160 BC–138 BC**Attalus III, ruled 138 BC–133 BC...
of Pergamum; he even bribed ex-consuls
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
to prepare to swear to her royal birthright, a move that enraged his mother Agrippina, who was very conscious and proud of her own, well-established patrician ancestry.
Influence on the Empire
As Nero's mistress, Acte might have had the opportunity to exert considerable influence on the Roman Empire, though it is unknown what influence she actually had. It is claimed that Agrippina exercised some erotic power over her son and that Acte advised Nero to resist this power, out of fear for her own safety and with Seneca's encouragement; she warned Nero of the potential political repercussions with the military if incest with his mother were to become public. Nero and Acte's relationship reduced Agrippina's sway over her son and therefore her influence on the Empire. Agrippina's increasing efforts to separate Nero from Acte served only to increase his fondness for her; and the ensuing conflicts led Nero to take absolute control of the Empire and, eventually, to order his mother's assassination.Wealth Achieved
Records of Acte's household and estates in Velitrae, Puteoli and SardiniaSardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
attest to considerable wealth, accumulated while she was Nero's mistress. She had left the imperial scene in ownership of a household staff as well as property. After Nero's death, and along with two of his old nurses, Acte gave him a proper Roman burial
Roman funerals and burial
Ancient Roman funerary practices were part of the mos maiorum, "tradition," that is, "the way of the ancestors," and drew on the beliefs embodied in Roman public and domestic religion....
, burning the body on a pyre
Pyre
A pyre , also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite...
with a coin under the tongue and covering each eye. She deposited his remains in the tomb of the Domitii, the family of Nero's biological father, in the Pincian Hills
Pincian Hill
The Pincian Hill is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical center of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius...
. She is said to have paid for the funeral at a cost of 200,000 sesterces. There were found many inscriptions of her slaves and freedmen. Modern research believes it improbable that she was a Christian, although some of her slaves seem to have possessed the Christian faith. The epitaph of Acte was discovered at Velitrae.
In literature
Acte appears as a character in Henryk SienkiewiczHenryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
's novel Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis (novel)
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, commonly known as Quo Vadis, is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish. Quo vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, in which Peter flees Rome but on his way meets Jesus and asks him why he...
, where she is depicted as being a secret Christian, and also in the movie Nero
Nero (film)
Imperium: Nero, the movie, is an Italian-British-Spanish Christian apologetic TV movie, part of the Imperium series; it was made film available on DVD as of November 2005 in the U.S.A. and Canada. Produced by EOS Entertainment and Lux Vide for RAI and Telecinco.-Plot:As a young boy, future emperor...
. Acte is also the main character in Alexandre Dumas' novel Acte.
Primary sources
- TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, AnnalsAnnals (Tacitus)The Annals by Tacitus is a history of the reigns of the four Roman Emperors succeeding Caesar Augustus. The surviving parts of the Annals extensively cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The title Annals was probably not given by Tacitus, but derives from the fact that he treated this...
, 13.12, 13.13, 13.46, 14.2, 14.63 - SuetoniusSuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
, Lives of the Twelve CaesarsLives of the Twelve CaesarsDe vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
: Nero 28, 50 - Dio CassiusDio CassiusLucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
, Roman History 61.7