Alityros
Alityros (also spelled Aliturus) was a Jewish mime actor associated with the court of Roman emperor Nero in the 1st century CE.[1] Josephus credits Alityros with arranging an introduction to Empress Poppaea Sabina, who interceded on behalf of Jewish priests whom the procurator Antonius Felix had sent to Rome for trial.[2]
Some scholars have suggested that Alityros may have been a freed slave.[1]
Historicity
Alityros is not mentioned outside of Josephus' writings, and the name Alityros is otherwise unattested in extant Greco-Roman or Jewish sources; construed as Greek (Ἁλίτυρος) it would mean "salt cheese," an unusual personal name. This has led to the suggestion that Josephus may have invented the figure, either as a literary comment on the influence of actors and women at Nero's court,[3] or as a substitute for the better-known actor Paris.[4]
In literature
In Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel Quo Vadis (1896), Alityros appears as a character who instructs Nero in gesticulation and accompanies him to Greece.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Milwitzky, William (1901). "Alityros". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 400.
- ^ a b Lebel, Hadas (2001). Flavius Josephus. Simon and Schuster. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7432-1796-5.
- ^ Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred, eds. (2007). "Aliturus or Alityros". Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
- ^ Hollander, William den (2014). Josephus, the Emperors, and the City of Rome: From Hostage to Historian. Brill. pp. 55–59. ISBN 978-90-04-26683-4.
- ^ Mason, Steve (2005). "Figred Speech and Irony in T. Flavius Josephus". In Edmondson, Jonathan; Mason, Steve; Rives, James (eds.). Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 286–287. ISBN 978-0-19-153224-5.