Nero Quadripes: Animalizing the Emperor in Suetonius’ Nero
By Susan A. Curry
Abstract: In two episodes of the Nero, Suetonius depicts the emperor acting like and adopting the posture of an animal. In the first, Nero intentionally plays “animal,” donning a hide to attack the groins of bound victims (Ner.29). In the second, Nero involuntarily becomes animal-like, adopting a quadripedal position to enter a safe-house(Ner.48.4). Situating these “acts” within the context of Nero’s fabulously performative reign, I argue that Suetonius purposely “animalizes” Nero, thus warning that the power of the position of princeps thrusts men beyond the threshold of the “human,” rendering them not just divine but sometimes “animal.”
Published in Arethusa, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2014)