They were Roommates? Suetonius on the life of Hyginus, de Gram. 20.1-3

Name: Suetonius Date:  69 - 122 CE Region: Numidia [modern Algeria]    Citation:  de Gramm. 20.1-3

Roman men often had deep, loving and affectionate friendships with their peers. There was no shame or stigma in expressing love and support to one another.

Caius Julius Hyginus, one of Augustus’ freedmen, was from Hispania [modern Spain].  Some think that he was actually from Alexandria [modern Egypt], and brought to Rome as a boy by Caesar after the fall of Alexandria. He studied under the Greek scholar Cornelius Alexander (whom many called the Scholar because of his vast knowledge of history), then followed in his footsteps. He was in charge of the Palatine library, and despite this, still had the time to teach many people. He was very close friends with the poet Ovid and Clodius Licinius, the former consul and historian who, after Hyginus fell into poverty, supported him financially for as long as he lived. Hyginus’ freedman was Julius Modestus, a scholar who followed in his patron’s footsteps in both education and area of expertise.

  

C. Iulius Hyginus Augusti libertus, natione Hispanus,—nonnulli Alexandrinum putant et a Caesare puerum Romam adductum Alexandria capta—studiose et audiit et imitatus est Cornelium Alexandrum grammaticum Graecum quem propter antiquitatis notitiam Polyhistorem multi, quidam Historiam vocabant. Praefuit Palatinae bibliothecae nec eo secius plurimos docuit fuitque familiarissimus Ovidio poetae et Clodio Licino consulari historico qui eum admodum pauperem decessisse tradit et liberalitate sua quoad vixerit sustentatum. Huius libertus fuit Iulius Modestus in studiis atque doctrina vestigia patroni secutus.

  

 Suetonius was a Roman biographer from Numidia (modern Algeria). He is known for his work the de Vitis Caesarum, a collection of biographies on the first twelve Roman emperors.

 

Love in Action Mode: Pliny, Hist. Nat. 7.36.121

Name: Pliny the Elder Date: 23 – 79 CE Region:  Como [modern Italy]; Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Natural History, 7.121-122

Love comes in many forms, and this description of pietas [duty towards those you love, including the gods] shows examples of love and duty towards one's parent, spouse, sibling, as well as people not defined as family members by society.

There are countless examples of love throughout the globe, but the rest cannot compare to what happened in Rome.

·                     There once was a poor plebeian woman who had recently given birth. She obtained a visit with her incarcerated mother. Even though she was always searched so that she wouldn’t give her mother any food, she was caught feeding her mother with her breastmilk. Because of this act of love, her mother was freed and both women were given state benefits for life. In 150 BCE [the year that Caius Quinctius and Marcus Acilius were consuls], this location was then consecrated to the Goddess; the prison was torn down and a Temple of Piety was erected. [This is now where the Theater of Marcellus is located].

·                     The father of the Gracchi brothers once caught two snakes inside his house. When he was told that he would live if he killed the female snake, he replied, “No way! Kill mine, then. Cornelia is young and is still fertile.” What he meant was to spare his wife and respect the republic’s wishes; he soon perished.

·                     Marcus Lepidus pined to death after divorcing his wife Apuleia.

·                     When Publius Rutilius was a bit sick and he found out that his brother lost the candidacy for consulship, he died of shock.

·                     Publius Catiennus Philotimus loved his patron so much that, even though he was the sole beneficiary of the man’s will, he tossed himself onto the man’s pyre.

Love In Action Mode

Pietatis exempla infinita quidem toto orbe extitere, sed Romae unum cui comparari cuncta non possint.

·                     Humilis in plebe et ideo ignobilis puerpera, supplicii causa carcere inclusa matre cum impetrasset aditum, a ianitore semper excussa ante ne quid inferret cibi, deprehensa est uberibus suis alens eam. Quo miraculo matris salus donata filiae pietati est ambaeque perpetuis alimentis, et locus ille eidem consecratus deae, C. Quinctio M. Acilio coss. Templo Pietatis extructo in illius carceris sede, ubi nunc Marcelli theatrum est.

·                     Gracchorum pater anguibus prehensis in domo, cum responderetur ipsum victurum alterius sexus interempto: “Immo vero,” inquit, “meum necate, Cornelia enim iuvenis est et parere adhuc potest.” Hoc erat uxori parcere et rei publicae consulere; idque mox consecutum est.

·                     M. Lepidus Apuleiae uxoris caritate post repudium obiit.

·                     P. Rutilius morbo levi impeditus nuntiata fratris repulsa in consulatus petitione ilico expiravit.

·                     P. Catienus Philotimus patronum adeo dilexit ut heres omnibus bonis institutus in rogum eius se iaceret.

 

Pliny the Elder [Gaius Plinius Secundus; 23 – 79 CE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the reigns of the early Roman emperors. He spent most of his life in service of his country; he ultimately gave his life in arranging the evacuation of the regions devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. His work, the Natural History, is a 37-volume collection of art, history, and science of the ancient world.