Pederastic relationships in classical antiquity

In classical antiquity there were many known pederastic relationships. Though most involved adult men and adolescent boys, the age difference between the two could be as little as a couple of years, and an older youth (neaniskos) could take a younger one as his beloved. In some of these cases both members became well-known historical figures, while in others, only one of the two may have, or only the relationship itself.

Though all such relationships were by definition homoerotic in nature, the individuals involved did not identify themselves as homosexuals, but rather as ordinary men having ordinary desires. The nature of the relationships have ranged from overtly sexual to what is now referred to as platonic, in accordance with ancient ethical and philosophical standards.

In the following list the pairs are listed in chronological order, and the name of the older partner precedes that of the younger. Though many more men are known to have engaged in such relationships, only those instances in which the name of the younger partner is known are included. In keeping with ancient traditions which promoted chaste pederastic relationships (See Philosophy of Greek pederasty) included below are also relationships in which there is evidence of an erotic component even in the absence of actual sexual relations.

Ancient Greece

Archaic period in Greece

• Archias of Corinth and Telephus

Archias is a semi-legendary personage, the richest man in Corinth and the colonizer of Syracuse in 733 BCE. He left his native city as penance for having caused the death of the boy Actaeon, son of Melissus of Argos, "the loveliest and most modest of all the striplings of his age." Archias fell in love with the boy, who rejected his advances, as he was already the beloved of Aeschyllus of Corinth . Gathering his servants, he stormed the boy's house. The family and neighbors resisted and in the altercation Actaeon was torn apart. Telephus is another eromenos of Archias, who, in maturity, captained one of the ships that Archais used to cross to Sicilly and there slew Archias by some subterfuge, to avenge himself for having been taken advantage of when he had been the man's paidika.

• Philolaus and Diocles of Corinth

Philolaus was a memebr of the Bacchiadae, a ruling clan in Corinth, and a nomothete (lawgiver) of Thebes, Greece|Thebes, giving them the adoption laws. His eromenos won the Stadion race at the thirteenth Ancient Olympic Games of 728, which at that time only featured that one contest.The Sicilian colony dates By Molly Miller; p213 Diocles was compelled to leave Corinth and go to Thebes, perhaps as a result of being banished. Philolaus followed him, aware of the improper passion that Alcyone, his eromenos' mother, had for him. The two lived out their lives in Thebes, and were buried there together, their tombs across from each other.

• Gyges and Magnes

According to Nicolaus of Damascus, the Lydian tyrant (late 8th c. or early 7th c.) took as his paidika a handsome youth from Smyrna who was noted for his elegant clothes and fancy korymbos hairstyle, which he bound with a golden band. One day he was singing poetry to the local women, which outraged their male relatives, who grabbed Magnes, stripped him of his clothes and cut off his hair.

Archebiades and Alcibiades the Younger

After the death of the older Alcibiades, his old associate and co-defendant in the desecration of the Eleusinian mysteries, became the erastes of his son, then in his early teens, ransoming him from imprisonment, a ransom the boy's father had refused to pay, out of disgust with his own son.

Archidamus and Cleonymus

Archidamus, son of Agesilaus II, is described by Xenophon to have been in love with the handsome son of Sphodrias. The boy asked his eispnelas to intervene with the king in favor of his father in a life and death legal matter, promising that Archidamus would never be ashamed to have befriended him. That proved to be so, as he was the first Spartan to die at the battle of Leuctra.Xenophon, Hellenica 5.4 The relationship lasted from 378 to 371. (Xenophon and his world: papers from a conference held in Liverpool in July 1999 By Christopher Tuplin, Vincent Azoulay; p.127)

Aristippus of Larissa and Menon III of Pharsalus

Thessalians. Meno, the Socratic dialogue is named after Menon. Menon's lover raised 1000 hoplites and 500 peltasts (The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia By George Cawkwell; p160) to aid Cyrus the Younger, set his beloved as their general, and sent the youth on the Anabasis|expedition into Persia in his stead. Greek homosexuality By Kenneth James Dover, p.154Anabasis By Xenophon, p.13 N3; Tr. H. G. Dakyns; BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008

Ariaeus and Menon III of Pharsalus

Menon, a commander of Greek mercenaries in Cyrus the Younger's army who had received his commission on account of his youthful beauty, took Ariaeus, the Persian general, as his lover. The matter was badly seen, as it was deemed especially base to submit sexually to a barbarian.

Menon III of Pharsalus and Tharypas

In a reversal of the usual custom, Menon, a commander of a troop of mercenaries despite his adolescence, still beardless and in his hora,Figures of speech By Gloria Ferrari; p.140 took as "beloved" the bearded Tharypas.

Artaxerxes II of Persia and Tiridates

The Persian king, distraught at the death of his beloved eunuch, found consolation in placing the dead youth's cloak over the shoulders of Aspasia, his Greek hetaira.Aelian, Var. Hist. 12.1

Archelaus I of Macedon and Craterus (or Crateuas)

The king of Macedon was assassinated in 399 BCE by this eromenos, upon reneging on a promise to give the boy his daughter in marriage.Aelian, Varia Historia, 8.9

Amyntas the Little and Derdas

The couple is cited by Aristotle as another exampled of an eromenos killing his erastes (in 393/4), in this case for a boast by the latter that he had "possessed" the youth.Aristotle, The Politics" V.xM. B. HatzopoulosCultes et rites de passage en Macedoine

Lysias and Theodotus

Though already in his early fifties, Lysias took on an eromenos from Platea around 394. The youth, however, had already signed a companionship contract in the amount of 300 drachmae with a certain Simon, who, claiming prior rights to the boy, proceeded to stalk him, resorting to several kidnapping attempts. As a result of that, and the street brawls which ensued, the case was heard before the Areopagus.Lysias, Against Simon, 1-26,44, 47-48John Addington Symonds, A problem in Greek Ethics, XII, p.64

Alexander of Pherae and Pitholaus

The tyrant took the youngest brother of his wife, Thebes, as eromenos, against the boy's will and tied him up. His wife pleaded with him incessantly for the boy's release. Exasperated with her demand, Alexander killed the boy. In revenge, Thebes and her remaining brothers assassinated the tyrant in 357.Plutarch, Amores; XXIIIXenophon, Hellenics VI.4Diodorus Siculus XVI.14

Theomedon and Eudoxus of Cnidus

The astronomer had been the eromenos of the doctor Theomedon, with whom he later traveled to Athens in order to study with Plato.Diogenes Laertius; VIII.87

Aristippus|Aristippus of Cyrene and Euthychides

The youth was a slave of the philosopher, compared by him with the students of Socrates.Diogenes Laërtius, ii.74

Agesilaus II and Megabates

During his campaign in Asia in 396, the king fell in love with the very handsome son of a Persian officer, Spithridates, who had joined the Spartan forces. Agesialus struggled to master his excessive fondness for the boy, going as far as rejecting Megabates' greeting kiss. When the father changed sides again and took his son with him, the king was greatly distressed.Plutarch, Lives "Agesilaus"

The group below (indented) consists of relationships revealed during the course of Aeschines' speech (ca. 345) to the court bringing suit against the politician Timarchus so as to deprive him of his political rights for having behaved like a prostitute in his adolescence. They occurred around 375, except the first two, presumably about ten to fifteen years earlier. Aeschines, Against Timarchos40-79

Diopeithes of Sounion, and Hegesandros of Sounion

Diopeithes, besides being the judge before whom Pittalakos (see below) brought his suit, had also been an erastes of Hegesandros. Not surprisingly, he stalled the suit until it was withdrawn.

Leodamas and Hegesandros

During his testimony, Hegesandros indicated that he previously had been in a similar relationship with Leodamas. Hegesandros himself is accused of having prostituted himself in his youth, and of having misbehaved sexually with Leodamas.

Misgolas, son of Naukrates of the deme of Kollytos, and Timarchus

Timarchus is accused not only of having sold his services, but of submitting to anal penetration, particularly shameful behavior at the time.

Antikles, son of Kallias of the deme Euonymon, and Timarchus

As Antikles was away at the time of the trial no further information was presented by Aeschines.

Pittalakos and Timarchus

As Pittalakos was a public slave, Timarchus incurred even greater shame for his sexual submission and penetration.

Hegesandros, son of Diphilos of Steiria, and Timarchus

Hegesandros, having accumulated great wealth on a military campaign, bribed Timarchus away from Pittalakos, causing the latter great jealousy. As he was making a nuisance of himself Hegesandros and Timarchus beat him up, to which he responded with a lawsuit against both.

Epaminondas and Micythus

In order to influence the Theban general, Artaxerxes II of Persia sent Diomedon of Cyzicus with a large sum of money to bribe Epaminondas. Diomedon gave five Talent (measurement)|talents to Micythus, who proceeded to advance the man's views to his lover. Epaminondas, however, refused to be bribed and instructed his eromenos to return the money immediately to Diomedon, or else he would turn him over to the magistrates. Cornelius Nepos, Lives of Eminent Commanders, XV "Epaminondas" 4

Epaminondas and Asopichus

A couple famed for their military prowess, such as in their victory at Leuctra in 371 BCE.Atheneus, Deipnosophists, 605–606

Pelopidas and Philip II of Macedon

Starting in 367, at the age of fifteen, Philip spent three years as a hostage in Thebes, Greece|Thebes. There he lived at the house of Pammenes. The relationship with Pelopidas was attested in antiquityDio Chrysostom, 49.5 but contested by some modern commentators who deem the connection too schematic to have existed.Stephen O. Murray, Homosexualities p.42.

Pammenes of Thebes|Pammenes and Philip II of Macedon

While living at the house of Pammenes, a great lover of boys, Philip was thought to have been his host's beloved.Alexander the Great By Alice Heckel, Waldemar Heckel, Lawrence A. Tritle, N62, p.212

File:Statue-Orsay-02.jpg|thumb|120px|Aristotle

Hermias of Atarneus and Aristotle

Hermias - a eunuch and former slave - was thought to have taken Aristotle as beloved around 367 while the two were studying at Plato's Academy. The two were reunited much later, when after Plato's death Aristotle went to live for three years at the court of Hermias, by then tyrant of Atarneus. There Aristotle took Hermias' adopted daughter for wife, and, upon Hermias' death through Persian treachery wrote a hymn to his friend, the last stanza of which reads:

Atarneus' King thy vision drove,

To quit for aye the glad sun-light,

Therefore, to memory's daughters dear,

His deathless name, his pure career,

Live shrined in song, and link'd with awe,

The awe of Xenian Jove,

and faithful friendship's law.

Diogenes Laertius, Tr. C.D. Yonge, Life of Aristotle VII;

also: "he attached himself to Plato, and remained with him for twenty years, having been seventeen years of age when he originally joined him. And he went to Mitylene in the archonship of Eubulus, in the fourth year of the hundred and eighth Olympiad. But as Plato had died in the first year of this same Olympiad, in the archonship of Theophilus, he departed for the court of Hermias and remained there three years."Leonardo Bruni and Gary Ianziti "Biography: The 'Vita Aristotelis'" in Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Autumn, 2002) "The original Greek, however, leaves no room for doubt: Aristotle is branded as the tyrant's paidika. See the Gigante translation, in Laerzio, 164: "Alcuni dicono che Aristotele fu il suo amasio." Traversari's rendering, Laertius, 1490, fol. fv, sinks in the knife: "Deinde ad Hermiam eunuchum profectus est, Atarnensium tyrannum, quem alii quidem..."

Epaminondas and Caphisodorus

Caphisodorus was his last lover. He fell with Epaminondas in 362 at Battle of Mantinea (362 BCE)|Mantineia and was buried by his side. Plutarch, Dialogue on Love (Moralia 761).

Aristotle and Theodectes of Phaselis

Both friend and pupil of the philosopher, Theodectes was about ten years younger than Aristotle, and was known for his beauty, which excited the admiration of the philosopher much as that of Alcibiades enchanted Socrates.William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology p.1035

Demosthenes and Cnosion

After the orator took in his young beloved, his wife is said to have bedded the boy in a fit of jealousy,Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists Book XIII "Concerning Women"(Page III) though Aeschines claims that it was Demosthenes who put his own wife in bed with the youth so as to get children by him.Aeschines, On the Embassy, 2.149

Demosthenes and Aristarchus

Much of what is known about this relationship comes from the speeches of Demosthenes' enemy, Aeschines. He accuses Demosthenes of having been such a bad erastes to Aristarchus so as not even to deserve the name. Among his alleged crimes are his complicity in Aristarchus' murder of Nicodemus of Aphidna, whose eyes and tongue were gouged out. This murder took place while the youth was under Demosthenes' tutelage.Aeschines, On the Embassy, 148-150 Another misdeed of Demosthenes, the one allegedly disqualifying him from calling himself an erastes, is his pillaging of Aristarchus' estate. He is alleged to have pretended being in love with the youth so as to get his hands on the boy's inheritance, which he is said to have squandered and from which he is said to have taken three Talent (weight)|talents upon Aristarchus' fleeing into exile so as to avoid a trial.Dover, J.K., op.cit. pp.46-47

Demosthenes and Aristion

Again, according to Aeschines, Demosthenes had the handsome youth in his house, engaged in unspeakable behavior: There is a certain Aristion, a Plataean..., who as a youth was outstandingly good-looking and lived for a long time in Demosthenes' house. Allegations about the part he was playing ('undergoing or doing what') there vary, and it would be most unseemly for me to talk about it.Aeschines, Against the Crown, iii 162

Xenocrates and Polemon

The two were the first in a series of lovers and beloveds to head Plato's Academy. It is recounted that Polemon, drunk and on a dare, burst in on a lecture by Xenocrates, who was not fazed and merely continued with his presentation. Also, Polemon was taken with admiration at Xenocrates' resistance to Phryne's advances. Polemon became first the pupil and later the eromenos of Xenocrates.

Philip II of Macedon|Philip II and Alexander I of Epirus

The king took the younger brother of his wife, Olympias, as his eromenos. Later, in 350, he installed his boyfriend as king of Epirus (region)|Epirus.Alexander the Great By Alice Heckel, Waldemar Heckel, Lawrence A. Tritle; N62, p.212

Hipparinus and Achaeus

Hipparinus, tyrant of Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse is mortally wounded in 351 BCE by his boyfriend, in the course of a drunken revel. The youth, who reciprocated Hipparinus' love, kills the tyrant by mistake, and does so with a sword given to him as a love gift by his lover. Hipparinus lives on for three more days, and absolves the boy of guilt before he dies.Parthenius of Nicaea: The Poetical Fragments and the Erōtika Pathēmata by Parthenius, J. L. Lightfoot, p.511. Oxford University Press, 1999

Alexander the Great and Hephaestion

Philip II of Macedon and Pausanias of Orestis

Originally an eromenos of the king, Pausanias was eventually cast aside in favor of another beloved, by the same name, a close friend of Attalus (general)|Attalus. Pausanias of Orestis, out of resentment, accused the second Pausanias of being sexually available to anyone. To clear himself of the insult to his manhood, the second Pausanias, in an ensuing battle, rushed into danger to protect the king, at the cost of his own life. To avenge the death of his friend, Attalus invited Pausanias of Orestis to drink, and served him till the latter passed out, at which time he handed the unconscious man over to his muleteers to enjoy sexually at will. Pausanias of Orestes reported the abuse to the king, who attempted to placate him by raising him to the post of personal bodyguard (somatophylax) but never punished Attalus, probably for political reasons. Having failed to gain the satisfaction he craved, Pausanias of Orestis avenged himself on the king himself, assassinating him several years later, in 336 BCE.Alexander the Great By John Maxwell O'Brien, pp36-37; Routledge, New York, 2001

Philip II of Macedon and Pausanias

The affair with this youth led to the eventual death of the king, at the hands of the previous, jilted beloved.Diodorus Siculus, Library 16.93 & 94 (See entry above)

Darius III of Persia and Bagoas (courtier)|Bagoas

Bagoas was the favorite of Darius, who was said to have been "intimate" with him.Curtius, Historiae Alexandri Magni, vi. 5; x. 1

Alexander the Great and Bagoas

"Alexander loved boys insanely." So tells us Dicaearchus, who was a contemporary of his. If so, it seems that his love of boys started when he was a boy himself. His love for one of the friends of his youth, Hephaestion, the son of Amyntor, a Macedonian noble possibly of Athenian descent, lasted all his life, and the two died within months of each other. It is no wonder that he should have had such tastes. He had been brought up at the intensely homoerotic Macedonian court, and studied under Aristotle, himself a man credited with a number of eromenoi.

After the death of Darius III in 330 BCE, his catamite, Bagoas, a youth "in the flower of beauty" .Homosexuality & Civilization By Louis Crompton, p76; Harvard University Press, 2006

Dimnus and Nicomachus of Macedon

One of Alexander the Great's Hetairoi (or Companion Cavalry), Dimnus enlisted his eromenos in a plot to kill Alexander, revealing to him the names of the conspirators. The boy told his brother, who denounced them, leading to the trial and execution of the plotters, in 330.Waldemar Heckel, Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire p.112; Blackwell Publishing, 2006

Hermolaus of Macedon and Sostratus of Macedon

A May - May romance, Alexander the Great's adolescent pages involved in conspiracy against the King in 327 BCE. Hermolaus, punished by Alexander for having struck the quarry at a hunt out of turn, sought to revenge himself for the perceived abuse by assassinating the king. He enlisted Sostratus and others, but all were denounced and stoned to death.(Waldemar Heckel, Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire p.139 ; Blackwell Publishing, 2006) (Arrian, James S, Romm, Pamela Mensch; Alexander the Great pp108-9)

Epimenes, son of Arsaeus and Charicles, son of Menander

Another age-equivalent love. Two other pages from the same conspiracy against Alexander. Epimenes enlisted his lover, Charicles, w ho divulged the matter to Epimenes' brother, Eurylochus. This latter denounced to conspirators to Alexander's bodyguard, Ptolemy son of Lagus, who informed the king. While the other conspirators were tortured and executed, these two were spared. (Curtius 8.6.26)

Aristotle and Palaephatus|Palaephatus of Abydus

According to the Suda, Palaephatus was Aristotle's paidika. William George Smith,Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology p.308Suda, Adler number: pi,71; Translation: Palaephatus of Abydos,[1] an historian. [He wrote] Cypriot History, Attic History, Delian History, Arabian History. He lived under Alexander the Macedonian;[2] and he was a boyfriend of Aristotle the philosopher,[3] according to Philon under the letter E in his book about surprise in history, volume 1, and Theodoros of Ilion in the second [volume] of Trojan History.

Greek Original: Παλαίφατος, Ἀβυδηνός, ἱστορικός. Κυπριακά, Ἀττικά, Δηλιακά, Ἀραβικά. γέγονε δὲ ἐπὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος: παιδικὰ δὲ Ἀριστοτέλους τοῦ φιλοσόφου, ὡς Φίλων ἐν τῷ ε στοιχείῳ τοῦ περὶ παραδόξου ἱστορίας βιβλίον α# καὶ Θεόδωρος ὁ Ἰλιεὺς ἐν δευτέρῳ Τρωϊκῶν.

Aristotle and Aeschrion of Mitylene

The boy was both student and eromenos of the philosopher, and is known for becoming an epic poet and forjoining the expedition of Alexander the Great.Suda ai354Translation: Aeschrion of Mitylene, an epic poet, who joined in the expedition of Alexander the son of Philip.[1] He was an intimate of Aristotle and beloved by him, as Nikandros of Alexandria [says] in On the Students of Aristotle.[2] Greek Original: Αἰσχρίων, Μιτυληναῖος, ἐποποιός, ὃς συνεξεδήμει Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ Φιλίππου. ἦν δὲ Ἀριστοτέλους γνώριμος καὶ ἐρώμενος, ὡς Νίκανδρος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν Ἀριστοτέλους μαθητῶν. Suda ai354

File:Polemon pushkin01.jpg

Polemon and Crates of Athens

Polemon loved youths to such a degree that his wife brought suit in court against him for mistreatment. Crates was the disciple of Polemon, whom he loved greatly, and whom he followed at the head of the school. Hesychius says of them that, "Crates and Polemon loved each other so well that they not only were occupied in life with the same work, but they almost drew breath simultaneously; and in death they shared the same grave. On account of which, Archesilaus, who visited them in company with Theophrastus, spoke of them as gods, or survivors from the Golden Age."Iolaus, An Anthology: II. The Place of Friendship in Greek Life and Thought They not only shared their studies and molded each upon the other, but came to share a single tomb. The epitaph upon it, composed by Antagoras, read:

Say, stranger, as you pass by, that in this tomb are concealed the divine Crates and Polemon,

Men of mighty mind for their union in sentiment, from whose divine mouths came holy discourses,

And a pure life of wisdom gave an additional charm to their godlike age,

Through its following their tenets not to be turned aside.The Greek anthology By George Burges p.466

Diogenes relays Antigonus' report that Polemo was sued by his wife because of his relationships with youths (IV 17), 18 and that he shared the house of Lysicles with Crates.

Evius and Python

Cassander was said to have incurred the anger of Alexander the Great|Alexander for kissing Python against the will of his erastes. "Because of you and people like you it is no longer allowed to fall in love with anyone [meaning any male youths]." Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great By Waldemar Heckel; p.240

Medius of Larissa and Iollas

The Macedonian youth was the youngest son of Antipater and a page (pais basilikos) and wineboy of Alexander the Great during the later stages of his Asian campaign. The last house Alexander visited before taking to bed with his final illness was that of his friend Medius, and Iolaus is rumored to have been the one to administer the poisoned cup which, according to some, killed Alexander in 323. Queen Olympias was among those who was of the opinion that he was one of the murderers of her son, and had his grave overturned shortly after his death in 317.Waldemar Heckel (Ed.) Who's who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire p.143

Hellenistic Greece

Theophrastus and Nicomachus (son of Aristotle)|Nicomachus

Theophrastus was the successor of Aristotle and erastes to his son.Giovanni dall'Orto in Kent Gerard, Gert

Hekma, Eds. The Pursuit of Sodomy: Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe, p.44 It was said of him that "He is said also to have been very much attached to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus, although he was his master."Diogenes Laertius, Tr. C.D. Yonge, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers "Life of Theophrastus," VII

Demetrius of Phalerum and Diognis

Demetrius was a philosopher, statesman and student of Theophrastus. Some time between 317 BCE and 307 BCE, when he was governor of Athens, he had a boyfriend by the name of Diognis, of whom all the Athenian boys were jealous. (According to Carystius of Pergamum in F.H.G. Fr. 10, in Hubbard, 2003, p.75)

Agathocles and Maenon of Segesta

Upon conquering Segesta in 307 Agathocles captured the young man and in time raised him to high office. Nevertheless Maenon is said to have harbored resentment at the destruction of his town, and was induced in 289 to poison the king by offering him a poisoned tooth quill."Maenon, a Sicilian, a native of Segesta, had fallen as a captive, when a youth, into the hands of Agathocles." Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 2, page 897[1]

Zeno of Citum and Chremonides of Athens

The founder of the Stoic school of philosophy was said to much distaste for women and much love for youths. One time, when sitting next too his beloved Chremonides he suddenly got up to leave, and when others wondered at this he replied, "I hear from skilful physicians that the best thing for some tumours is rest." Chremonides later in life was a statesman and a general, and eponym of the Chremonidean war.

According to Zeno, Eros was the god of freedom, friendship and concord, and more should not be asked of him. Diogenes Laërtius asserted that in his Republic Zeno stated that the wise man will love those youths who show a disposition towards virtue, and that love was an effort to arrive at friendship by means of the excitement that we derive from the splendor of beauty, and which tends not towards possession but towards affection. However he gave signs of temperance. Also, in talking about teachers who fell in love with their students he asserted that they had no more wits than their charges.

Zeno of Citium and Persaeus

According to Diogenes Laërtius, the philosopher had Persaeus as his eromenos and lived with him in the same house.Diogenes Laërtius, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, vii.8,13

Epicurus and Pythocles

Epicurus was primarily a lover of women, and Alciphron [Letters] reported that Leontium claimed that if Epicurus took Pythocles as his Alcibiades, it was only so as to imitate Socrates. [Meier, HistAmGr, 153]

In a letter to Idomenus, a backer of his young student and favorite, Epicurus wrote, "If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don't give him more money; rather, reduce his desires. "Seneca Epistles 21. 7

Theophrastus and Arcesilaus

In his boyhood, Arcesilaus, a very handsome youth, first associated himself with Theophrastus, the successor to Aristotle, "a man of gentle and amorous disposition. In time Arcesialus succeeded Theophrastus to become head of the Academy. "Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica VI

Crantor and Arcesilaus

"Arcesilaus being beautiful and still in the bloom of youth gained the love of Crantor the Academic, and attached himself to him; and being not without natural ability, he let it run its swift and easy course."Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica VI In time, Arcesilaus ascended to the leadership of the Academy. The relationship with Crantor was long-lasting. They lived together and took their meals in common with another pair of co-habiting lovers and philosophers, Polemon and Crates. Not surprising, as Crantor had himself been in his youth a pupil and eromenos of Crates.

Arcesilaus and Leochares and Demetrius

Arcesilaus founded the New Academy and was the lover of many youths. One of them was Demetrius, son of king Demetrius Polyorcetes, and later king of Cyrene, known as Demetrius Kalos, the Fair. Ariston of Chios reproached Arcesilaus for being the "perdition of many youths" and for having the vocabulary of a cinaedus. [Meier, HistAmGr, 140]

Dionysius the Renegade and Panculus

Dionysus "wrote a tragedy called Parthenopaeus, and forged the name of Sophocles to it. And Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides was so much deceived that he took some passages out of one of his works, and cited them as the words of Sophocles; and Dionysius, when he perceived it, gave him notice of the real truth; and as he would not believe it, and denied it, he sent him word to examine the first letters of the first verses of the book, and they formed the name of Panculus, who was a friend* of Dionysius."THE LIVES AND OPINIONS OF EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS BY DIOGENES LAERTIUS, TRANSLATED BY C.D. YONGE. "LIFE OF HERACLIDES" VII

Ophellas and Heraclides

During his African expedition in 308, needing a subterfuge to distract Ophellas in order to mount a surprise attack, Agathocles sent his son, Heracleides as hostage to the king who was a well known lover of boys. Heraclides was under instructions to seduce Ophellas in order to give his father time to organize an attack. The trick is supposed to have worked, Ophellas lost his life in the ensuing fray and Heraclides was rescued before he could be dishonored.Hostages and hostage-taking in the Roman Empire By Joel Allen; p192 The boy only had one more year to live, as he was killed by his father's own troops when these were deserted by Agathocles in 307.A new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology, and ... By Sir William Smith; p354

Demetrius I of Macedon and Damocles the Handsome

After his return to Athens in 305 the king fell to pursuing the youth, who always succeeded in avoiding him. Finally cornered alone in a public bath, the boy, finding no other means of escape, took the lid of a boiling cauldron and chose death over dishonor.Plutarch, The Lives, "Demetrius"

Demetrius I of Macedon and Cleaenetus

Known for his requent debauches, the Macedonian king waived a fine of 50 talents imposed on a citizen in exchange for the favors of Cleaenetus, that man's son. Plutarch, Life of Demetrios

Antigonus II Gonatas and Aristocles

"Aristocles the harp-singer was the beloved of King Antigonus, concerning whom Antigonus of Carystus, in his Life of Zeno, writes as follows: 'King Antigonus used to have revels at the house of Zeno. On one occasion, coming away from a drinking-party at daybreak, he rushed to the house of Aristocles the harp-singer, whom the king loved greatly.'"Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists, Book XIII Concerning Women (Page III)

Archeboulus the Theran and Euphorion of Chalcis

Euphorion, after studying philosophy with Lakydes and Prytanis, became the student and beloved of the poet Archeboulus.Suda, epsilon.3801

Xenares and Cleomenes III

Xenares inspired the future king before 235 BCE.John Addington Symonds, A Problem in Greek Ethics, X p.14

Cleomenes III and Panteus

According to Plutarch, Panteus was "the most beautiful and valorous youth of Sparta." Later he joined his inspirer in death - when Cleomenes took his own life upon being exiled to Egypt, Panteus, seeing that he could still knit his brows, "...kissed him and raised him. Holding the body next to him, he plunged his sword into his own breast." John Addington Symonds, op.cit. X p.14

Ptolemy IV Philopator and Agathocles of Egypt

This Ptolemaic Pharaoh of Egypt was ruled by his beloved and the latter's sister.

Ptolemy VI Philometor and Galestes

The king loved the boy not only for his good looks but also for his wisdom. Ca. 170-140 BCE Aelian, Varia Historia, I.30

Ancient Rome

Roman Republic

Lucius Papirius and Caius Publilius

The youth, having inherited from his father a debt to Papirius, gave himself in bondage to the latter by way of payment. Papirius was taken with his youthful beauty and tried time and again to seduce the boy, who did not give in. When seduction failed he resorted to threats, and finally to having the boy stripped and whipped. Publilius fled, bleeding into the street and revealed the abuse to all. The people, outraged, prevailed upon the senators to decree that henceforth only material goods, not one's person, could be seized in payment. The story, from Livy and dated 326 BCE, is thought to be patterned on that of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.Greek and Roman slavery By Thomas E. J. Wiedemann; p41

Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal the Fair

The Carthage|Carthaginian Hasdrubal was noted for his beauty. Rumoured to be the beloved of Hamilcar (240?), who was alleged to have given his daughter in marriage to the youth in order to have free access to Hasdrubal; both Cornelius Nepos and Livy report the rumors without passing judgment on their accuracy.

Scantinius Capitolinus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus

[Marcellus] had a son named Marcus, of great beauty, in the flower of his age, and no less admired for the goodness of his character. This youth, Capitolinus, a bold and ill-mannered man, Marcellus's colleague, sought to abuse. The boy at first himself repelled him; but when the other again persecuted him, told his father. Marcellus, highly indignant, accused the man in the senate: where he, having appealed to the tribunes of the people, endeavoured by various shifts and exceptions to elude the impeachment; and, when the tribunes refused their protection, by flat denial rejected the charge. As there was no witness of the fact, the senate thought fit to call the youth himself before them: on witnessing whose blushes and tears, and shame mixed with the highest indignation, seeking no further evidence of the crime, they condemned Capitolinus, and set a fine upon him; of the money of which Marcellus caused silver vessels for libation to be made, which he dedicated to the gods. [Plutarch, Marcellus]

Lucius Quinctius Flaminius and Philippus

During his consulship in 192 BCE, Flaminius, brother of Titus Quinctius Flamininus took the Carthage|Carthaginian boy, a catamite of long standing, on his travels away from Rome, only to be berated by the youth for making him miss the gladiator games. At dinner one day, a Gaul aristocrat presented himself with his family to ask for safety. The consul asked the boy if he wanted to see a man killed, and ran the Gaul through with his sword. Cato demoted Flaminius from the senate for the abuse of power, a behavior notable to Romans and Greeks alike for its cruelty and frivolity.Livy 39.42-43Plutarch, Life of Cato the Elder 17.2-4The marriage of Roman soldiers (13 B.C.-A.D. 235) By Sara Elise Phang; p.276

Gaius Lucilius and Gentius (and Macedo)

In his poetry, Lucilius blames a praetor for having stolen Gentius from him, and predicts the boy will return. The satirist was blamed in later antiquity for having "prostituted" his lovers by using their actual names in his poem, instead of veiling them, as other authors were wont to do, by the use of pseudonyms.Amy Richlin, The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor p. 165Lucilius, 273, 274Apuleius, Defense 10

Antiochus XI Epiphanes and Themison the Cypriote

"And Themison the Cyprian, the friend of Antiochus the king not only used to have his name proclaimed in the public assemblies, 'Themison, the Macedonian, the Heracles of Antiochus the king;' but all the people of that country used to sacrifice to him, addressing him as Heracles Themison; and he himself would come when any of the nobles celebrated a sacrifice, and would sit down, having a couch to himself, and being clad in a lion's skin, and he used also to bear a Scythian bow, and in his hand, he carried a club."Athenaeus, Deipnosophistes VII 289-290 (Yonge 35)

Antiochus XI Epiphanes and Aristus

"And it was very seldom that he transacted the affairs of his kingdom when he was sober, but much more frequently when he was drunk; on which account there were two men about him who managed all the real business of the state as they pleased, namely Aristus and Themison, Cyprians by birth, and brothers; and they were both on terms of the greatest intimacy with Antiochus."Athenaeus, Deipnosophistes X.438 (Yonge 51)

• Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Quintus Roscius Gallus

Catulus, an early admirer of the actor, wrote an epigram, dated no later than 115 BCE, to his boyfriend Roscius."Roscius was in his youth the boyfriend of Catullus." (After Cic. Nat. Deor. 1.79 in Performance and identity in the classical world By Anne Duncan; p130N37

Lucius Licinius Crassus and Quintus Roscius Gallus

The orator was on intimate terms with the young actor around the same time that Catulus was involved with the youth.Roman theater and society: E. Togo Salmon papers I By William J. Slater; p37

Meleager of Gadara and Myiscus

In his erotic epigrams, collected in his now lost Garland but of which many survive in the Greek Anthology, Meleager, presumed to have flourished around 95 BCE, celebrates his love for two hetairae and for his eromenos, Myiscus.A guide to Hellenistic literature By Kathryn J. Gutzwiller; p116

Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 67 BC)|Piso and Cicero

According to an accusation by Sallust, the youthful Cicero was taught rhetoric by Piso, at the cost of his sexual integrity (pudicitia).Craig A. Williams, "Pudicitiaand Pueri: Roman Concepts of Male Sexual Experience" in Queer Representations, Ed. Martin Duberman, p.34N14

Gaius Scribonius Curio (the younger) and Marc Antony

Cicero accuses Marc Antony of having surrendered his pudicitia (sexual integrity) to Gaius as soon as he had donned his adult toga (customary at the age of fourteen in Roman times).

Marc Antony and Dellius

Dellius was the paidika of Antony and later attempted to procure for him the services of Aristobulus III of Judea|Aristobulus, the sixteen year old brother in law of Herod, brother of his wife Mariamne, which Herod refused, as he knew what purpose the boy would be put to.Josephus, Ant. 15:25-30

Cicero and Marcus Tullius Tiro

Tiro was first a slave and later a freedman of Cicero's. Theirs was a life-long friendship and collaboration. From their letters to each other (a collection curated by Tiro himself, which can cut both ways) we deduce only friendship, mutual appreciation, and Cicero's concern for Tiro's weak health - despite which he lived to the age of 99. But Pliny the Younger has another take on the affair. While reading a book about Cicero, he stumbles upon a poem by Cicero himself, in which he laments that young Tiro tricked him and did not deliver the kisses he had promised for after dinner. Pliny admires Cicero's frankness and takes it as inspiration for similar confessions of his own. Why should his own loves remain hidden, Pliny asks, and why fear letting on that he too has been the target of such tricks, and tasted the fleeting nature of boyish favors, and been inflamed by boyish deceptions. The art of Pliny's letters: a poetics of allusion in the private correspondence By Ilaria Marchesi p.82

to whom the master wrote an amatory epigram bemoaning Tiro's refusal to let himself be kissed) he is nonetheless seen as having benefited from his connection with his master, as he went on to have a distinguished literary career of his own - as well as being Cicero's literary executor. Thus the couple is seen as a Roman example of the erastes/eromenos pair.John Dugan, Making of a New Man: Ciceronian Self-fashioning in the Rhetorical Works p.347glbtq.com: Roman Literature - CiceroMarcus Aurelius in love By Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Amy Richlin; pp12-13

Catiline and Tongilius

Cicero, in a sarcastic aside, mocked both lover and beloved: "Tongilium mihi eduxit. Quem amare in praetexta coeperat." "My Tongilius he led forth, whom he had started to love when still in his boy toga." The implication was that Catiline had been intimate with Tongilius while the youth was still clad in the clothes of a boy, since the praetexta was worn from twelve to seventeen years of age. Cicero's disdain for Tongilius, a youth otherwise unknown, drips from the mihi; It is clear that the chronicler was anything but fond of him.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Charles Anthon Select orations of Cicero; p.174.

Catullus and Juventius

The poet wrote a number of love poems to his beloved boy, breaking two taboos, one against naming one's beloved and the other against pursuing free boys (he addressed the youth as "flower of the Juventii," thus identifying him as a scion of a well known Roman gens).glbtq "Roman Literature"The student's Catullus By Gaius Valerius Catullus, Daniel H. Garrison; p.103 While some have argued that Juventius was a literary fiction, others hold he was a real person.The Roman elegiac poets By Karl Pomeroy Harrington; p112

Julius Caesar and Rufio

Caesar was blamed for putting personal relations in important positions. Among these was Rufio, the son of one of his freedmen and an old catamite of his, whom he placed at the head of the three legions he left behind in Alexandria.Ancient Rome By Matthew Dillon, Lynda Garland; p.663

Julius Caesar and Augustus|Octavian

Marc Antony accused Octavian of having earned his adoption by Caesar by having given in to lechery, while Lucius Antonius weighed in by adding that after giving Caesar his virginity he sold his body to Aulus Hirtius for 300,000 sesterces.Suetonius, The Deified Augustus 68

Roman Empire

Delphiantinous.jpg

Tibullus and Marathus

The subject of three of the poet's elegies, 1.4, 1.8 and 1.9, Marathus is seen as a quasi-fictional personage. Whether his affair with Marathus was genuine or not, in these poems Tibullus displays an intimate familiarity with the love of boys.Bisexuality in the ancient world By Eva Cantarella, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin; p.129; Yale, 2002

Valgius Rufus and Mystes

Thirteen years before Valgius attained the position of consul in 12 BCE, his friend Horace was admonishing him in an ode (II.9) to cease bemoaning the loss of his beloved slave boy Mystes, and to put his talents to good use praising the exploits of Cesar Augustus.Horace Odes II By Horace, David Alexander West; p.xvii

You still with tearful tones pursue

Your lost, lost Mystes;[...]

At length have done

With these soft sorrows; rather tell

Of Caesar's trophies newly won ...Q. Horatius Flaccus, Odes; 2.9(ed. John Conington)

Horace and Ligurinus

In his fourth book of odes, published in 13 BCE, the poet addresses two poems to his boyfriend Ligurinus, in one chastising him for being hard and unfeeling, an another for his evanescent beauty. Oddly, at least one modern has taken these verses of a man who loved boys even more than he loved women as an allegorical lament for the poet's vanishing youth. [Artifices of Eternity By Michael C. J. Putnam; pp45-6]

Together with Virgil's verses about Alexis and Corydon, Horace's odes to Ligurinus are seen as employing themes common in pederastic literature, such as the fading beauty of the adolescent, or imprecations that he not flee.Putnam, 178 [The Cambridge companion to Horace By S. J. Harrison; p34]

Augustus|Octavian and Sarmentus

One of the favorites (or, "delicia") of the emperor, Sarmentus – a former slave belonging to Marcus Favonius – was held up as an example of rank favoritism by the historian Quintus Dellius. Dellius incurred Cleopatra's wrath by complaining that while he and others dignitaries were served sour wine by Marc Antony in Greece, Octavian's catamite was drinking Falernian wine|Falernian in Rome.Plutarch, Life of Marc Antony; 59

Virgil and Alexander

According to an account by Suetonius preserved in the writings of Aelius Donatus, itself incorporated in a critical account by Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius, the Alexis of the Bucolics was based on a real-life beloved of Virgil. Allegedly, Virgil was fond of boys, with later commentary specifying that his love was patterned along the lines of chaste pederasty. The boy, a slave, was alleged to be a gift from one of his patrons, Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)|Asinius Pollio.Aelius Donatus, Life of Virgil; tr. David Wilson-Okamura (1996; rev. 2005); 9-11 [2] "With regard to pleasure, he was partial to boys. <But good men have thought that he loved boys as Socrates loved Alcibiades, and Plato his favorites ( paidiká).> He loved Cebes and Alexander most of all. Alexander was a gift to him from Asinius Pollio; the second poem of his Bucolics refers to him as "Alexis." Nor was the other one unlearned; in fact, Cebes was a poet as well." In Martial, however, the gift is alleged to have come from Gaius Maecenas.Poetry for patrons: literary communication in the age of Domitian By Ruurd R. Nauta; p84 While some modern historians accept the story as credible, an opposing school of thought deems it a fabrication.Richard Jenkyns, Virgil's Experience: Nature and History, Times, Names, and Places p.7; Oxford University Press, 1998 In any case, Servius goes out of his way to point out that Virgil did not love his boys "filthily" (turpiter), meaning that he did not dishonor them and himself by penetrating them.

Herod the Great and Carus

Egged on by his sister Salome's machinations, the paranoid king executed his paidika in 7/6 BCE together with others at the court who had come under the influence of a Pharisee prophecy threating his rule.King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor, by Aryeh Kasher; p.361 Of Carus (Karos) it was said that he was "outstanding among his contemporaries for his surpassing beauty, and was loved by the king."Prophetic figures in late second temple Jewish Palestine By Rebecca Gray; p.154

The "Capernaum centurion" and the "Beloved pais"

The couple entered history as a result of the Centurion's request, around 27 CE, to Jesus to heal his beloved, who was close to death. As the story goes, Jesus complied and the boy was healed. Loving relationships between Roman soldiers and their camp boys were common.The Bible, Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10Daniel A. Helminiak, Sex and the Sacred: Gay Identity and Spiritual Growth p.191-192

File:Young Marcus Aurelius Musei Capitolini MC279.jpg|thumb|120px|Marcus Aurelius

Herod Agrippa and Caligula

In 36CE, the lovers 46 and 24, respectively.

(A psychoanalytic history of the Jews By Avner Falk; p295)

Nero and Sporus

During 66 and 67, according to Suetonius, "He castrated the boy Sporus and actually tried to make a woman of him; and he married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil, took him to his home attended by a great throng, and treated him as his wife. [...] This Sporus, decked out with the finery of the empresses and riding in a litter, he took with him to the courts and marts of Greece, and later at Rome through the Street of the Images, fondly kissing him from time to time."Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 28

Otho and Sporus

Otho, who briefly succeeded Nero as emperor after Galba, likewise took Sporus for a lover.Dio Cassius, Epitome of Book LXIV; 8 Both Nero and Otho had been married to Poppaea Sabina, to whom Sporus was said to bear a striking resemblance.Dio Cassius, Epitome of Book LXII; 28, 2-3

Vitellius and Asiaticus

First slave and catamite of Vitellus, the boy ran away, was found, imprisoned, reinstated in his former position, sold as gladiator, recovered again, freed and finally knighted by his lover on his first day as emperor in 69 CE, to whom he became a trusted adviser for the short duration of his reign.Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars IX.12

Gaius Scribonius Curio (the younger) and Marc Antony

Cicero accuses Marc Antony of having surrendered his pudicitia (sexual integrity) to Gaius as soon as he had donned his adult toga (customary at the age of fourteen in Roman times).

Marc Antony and Dellius

Dellius was the paidika of Antony and later attempted to procure for him the services of Aristobulus III of Judea|Aristobulus, the sixteen year old brother in law of Herod, brother of his wife Mariamne, which Herod refused, as he knew what purpose the boy would be put to.Josephus, Ant. 15:25-30

File:Elagabalo (203 o 204-222 d.C) - Musei capitolini - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto - 15-08-2000 .jpg|thumb|120px|Elagabalus

Martial and Diadoumenos

The poet immortalized his slave catamite, playing on the topoi of sweet kisses and cruel boys.Martial, Epigrams, III.65; V.46; VI.34

Aulus Pudens and Encolpus

The poet Martial (around 90 CE) celebrated the love of his centurion friend for his young slave, in several epigrams describing their mutual love and the cruelty of the boy who decides to cut his hair to the consternation of his master.

Atedius Melior and Glaucias

The lover, an Epicurean bon-vivant, is consoled in Statius' Silvae (published some time after January of 93 CE)Silvae By Publius Papinius Statius, David Roy Shackleton Bailey; p5 for the loss of his beloved, who was in his thirteenth year. The poet goes on to assure Melior that his beloved is not lonely, having taken up in the Elysium|Elysian Fields with another former beloved of Melior's, Blaessus."The rapport between Melior and Glaucias is doubly problematic from the standpoint of contemporary Roman morality, first because it extends from the paternal to the erotic, and second because, as the natural son of two freedmen, Glaucias is technically a freeborn male whether or not Melior adopted him. Initially depicted as a foster father/son relation, this man/boy rapport also encompasses an erotic dimension. To this amorous liaison, Statius alludes by mentioning Heracles and Apollo along with their respective paramours, Hyacinth and Hylas." Paolo Asso Queer Consolation: Melior's Dead Boy in Statius' Silvae 2.1 Paper presented at the 2006 APA Annual Meeting [3]Statius, Silvae 2.1

Flavius Ursus and Philetas

The patron, wealthy, urbane and well-spoken, is consoled by Statius upon the death of his puer delicatus. The love and grief he feels for his boy are validated by the poem.Nothing ordinary here By Noelle K. Zeiner; p170

Titus and Melancomas

Dio Chrysostom wrote that the Greek boxer Melancomas "was more courageous and bigger than any other man in the world...and furthermore, he was the most beautiful. And if he had remained an amateur and had not gone in for boxing at all, I believe that he would have become widely known simply on account of his beauty; for even as it was, he attracted everybody's attention whenever he went anywhere." Dio Chrysostom, Discourse 28 Themistius says that the emperor Titus was Melancomas's lover.Themistius, Oration 9 The two may have met at the Ludi Augustales held at Naples in 74 CE, when the 33-year-old Titus, soon to be emperor, was Exhibitor of Games.

Image:Apotheosis of Polydeukion, detail.jpg|thumb|120px|Polydeukion

Domitian and Flavius Earinus

When Earinus, a slave Eunuch (court official)|eunuch who was compared to Ganymede, dispatched his shorn hair to the shrine of Asclepius in Pergamum, his home town, Domitian commanded Statius to mark the occasion with a poem. He also decreed that thenceforth castration would be forbidden.Statius, Silvae, IV 3. Translation is from Publius Papinius Statius, Silvae IV, edited with an English translation and commentary by K.M. Coleman, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Latin: "... fortem vetat interire sexum et censor prohibet mares adultos pulchrae supplicium timere formae."Dio Cassius, LXVII 2.3.Martial, Epigrams, IX.16, 17, 36Latin literature By E. J. Kenney, Wendell Vernon Clausen; p563

Trajan and Arbandes

Trajan's was known as a lover of youths, one whose love influenced even his governing. During the Mesopotamian campaign he showed kindness to the king of Edessa out of appreciation for his handsome son: "On this occasion, however, Abgarus [Abgar VII bar Ezad] induced partly by the persuasions of his son Arbandes, who was handsome and in the pride of youth and therefore in favor with Trajan, and partly by his fear of the latter's presence, he met him on the road, made his apologies and obtained pardon, for he had a powerful intercessor in the boy."

Though in Roman times boys were often abused and routinely penetrated, Trajan was known as an ethical lover. According to Dio Cassius, "I know, of course, that he was devoted to boys and to wine, but if he had ever committed or endured any base or wicked deed as the result of this, he would have incurred censure; as it was, however, he drank all the wine he wanted, yet remained sober, and in his relation with boys he harmed no one."

Dio Cassius, Epitome of Book LXVIII; 21.2–3

Hadrian|Emperor Hadrian and Antinous

The Roman emperor met this 13 or 14 years old boy from Bithynia in 124 CE. Antinous was deified by Hadrian, when he died six years later. Many statues, busts, coins and reliefs display Hadrian's deep affections for him: http://antinoos.info/antinous.htm

Marcus Cornelius Fronto and Marcus Aurelius

The relationship between the teenage future emperor and his tutor, has been seen by some as a love relationship, and their letters as a pederastic correspondence that affords moderns a view into the mindset of the beloved.Marcus Aurelius in love By Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Amy Richlin. Introduction, passim"Fronto's letters to the young Marcus were intended for the Caesar's eyes only; it is evident from his replies that that is how he wished, or at least was willing, to be addressed by his magister. This goes beyond what one expects of teacher and pupil; if they were not ἐραστής and ἐρώμενος,6 they were playing at so being, which itself would be worth an inquiry." Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2007.04.48; Pascale Fleury, Lectures de Fronton: Un rhéteur latin à l'époque de la Seconde Sophistique. Reviewed by Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Oxford University Press

Septimius Severus and Gaius Fulvius Plautianus

The sway that Plautianus held in the government of Severus was attributed by Herodian to his having been the boy lover of the emperor in his youth. The emperor was reported to have written about Plautianus that "I love the man so much that I pray I die before he does." In the end, Plautianus fell pray to the intrigues of others at the court. Accused of plotting to kill the emperor, he was summarily executed before the eyes of Severus.Septimius Severus: the African emperor By Anthony Richard Birley; p163

Herodes Atticus and Vibullius Polydeucion (Polydeukes)

One of three trophimoi (foster sons) that Herodes raised in his house, he is considered to have been the one person Herodes loved best. He is the subject of more statues and inscriptions than any other youth without imperial connections. A herm of his found at Marathon bears the inscription "Polydeucion whom Herodes loved as a son. Herodes set this here, where they used to hunt." His attachment to his minions was widely known because he himself publicized it. For this he was blamed, and the statues he commissioned in honor of his beloved boys were often vandalized. Herodes instituted a heroic cult for his beloved upon the latter's early death ca. 147 or 148 CE.

The archaeology of Athens By John M. Camp, p.279

The murder of Regilla: a case of domestic violence in antiquity By Sarah B. Pomeroy; p55-......

Commodus and Philocommodus

Loved equally by the emperor and his concubine, Marcia (mistress of Commodus)|Marcia, the youth, a favorite adorned with rich jewels and minimal clothing, discovered a tablet upon which were written the names of a number of individuals to be executed. The tablet ended up in the hands of Marcia who, finding her name at the top of the list, organized the assassination of Commodus that same day, December 31, 192.Venus Castina By Clarence Joseph Bulliet; pp86-7

File:Guido Reni 045.jpg|thumb|120px|St. Sebastian

Gordian and Hierocles

A Carian slave, Hierocles was the beloved of Gordian, a man from an old aristocratic family who had married the grandniece of Antoninus Pius. Gordian taught the youth to drive a chariot, a skill which later brought him to the attention of Elagabalus, whose "husband" he would eventually become.Homosexuality in Greece and Rome By Thomas K. Hubbard; p495 See following entry

Hierocles and Elagabalus

The teenaged emperor called the charioteer Hierocles his "husband" and wanted to appoint the blond charioteer from Caria as his successor. Dio Cassius, Epitome of Book LXXX; 15.1-4 That was one of the reasons why the young monarch was later killed at he age of eighteen in March of 222, as his grandmother Julia Maesa started to favour her other grandson Alexander Severus.

Diocletian and St. Sebastian

Sebastian, a youth in the emperor's service and his favorite,Ben Stoltzfus, Lacan and Literature: Purloined Pretexts p.58 who was appointed as officer of the Praetorian guard hid his Christian faith from the emperor. Upon discovering his faith, in 286, Diocletian bid him renounce it and had him shot by his archers when Sebastian refused.

Ptolemy and Eutropius (Byzantine official)|Eutropius

Eutropius, an Armenian or Assyrian slave castrated at birth, was derided for having had many masters, beginning with Ptolemy, a groom or soldier in the imperial stables of Byzantium. Promised his freedom by his master, he was instead given as a gift (being still too young to be bought) to the general Arintheus, whom he served as pander.Claudian, Against Eutropius Loeb edition p.143-145Edward Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: p.325N7; Published 1899 P. F. Collier & Son, 1899