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Former good articleNero was one of the History good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
On this day... Article milestones
DateProcessResult
May 24, 2007Good article nomineeListed
June 10, 2009Good article reassessmentListed
September 28, 2017Good article reassessmentDelisted
On this day... Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on October 13, 2004, June 9, 2005, October 13, 2005, June 9, 2006, October 13, 2006, June 9, 2007, October 13, 2007, June 9, 2008, October 13, 2008, June 9, 2009, October 13, 2009, June 9, 2010, October 13, 2010, June 9, 2011, and June 9, 2012.
Current status: Delisted good article


Dubious sourcing for marriage to Pythagoras

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The first three sources are obviously not reliable for the claim and I cannot access the other two. I do not believe this claim should be made, at least not without mention of the motivations behind these authors which is given for other emperors whom have been written about by these authors. Traumnovelle (talk) 06:15, 16 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Suetonius says Doryphorus, doesn't mention the Saturnalia and doesn't provide any other dating. Edwards in the OUP's Oxford World's Classics edition translates "cui etiam, sicut ipsi Sporus, ita ipse denupsit" it as "with this man he played the role of bride, as Sporus had done with him", which seems reasonable. Lewis and Short are very specific about this use: "Obscene, of a mock marriage, Tac. A. 15, 37; Suet. Ner. 29."[1]. I've removed the citation to Suetonius. NebY (talk) 12:54, 16 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
We cite the 1925 Loeb translation of Cassius Dio that says "In due time, though already "married" to Pythagoras, a freedman, he formally "married" Sporus" - quotation marks around 'married' in the Loeb (the Greek is καίπερ Πυθαγόρᾳ τινὶ ἐξελευθέρῳ γεγαμημένος[2]). That leaves Tacitus as providing the apparently fullest account, though he doesn't describe Pythagoras as a freedman, only as "ex illo contaminatorum grege" (Loeb: "one of that filthy horde"). Our modern source Frier (archived here, though the archive may still be slow following a recent attack) seems to accept Tacitus completely and use him for a discussion of the standing of such ceremonies. I don't have access to Champlin. Personally, and I'm no expert, I find Tacitus's account rather insubstantial, coloured in by his familiar scorn and fury, but Frier's confident enough to synthesise "his wine steward, a freedman named Pythagoras". NebY (talk) 13:32, 16 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]