Review: Damnatio

S. P. Somtow, Damnatio (Diplodocus Press 2024)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195082523-damnatio?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Pp65a3OK3S&rank=1

Sporus has been ‘moved to a superior accommodation’ at the Circus Maximus due to his ‘divine status’. From thence he tells his life story and the tale of his service to ‘Himself’.
He, Nero’s ‘Empress’ accompanies ‘Himself’ to Corinth, staying at the home of Gallio, Seneca’s brother, who has committed suicide. Dressed incognito as the boy he no longer was, he and his body slave Hylas attend the party of a hetaira where he know Nero has gone. He gives Nero a ‘wedding present’, a carnelian ring depicting the rape of Persephone. They attend together the mystery rites at Eleusis.
Nero has ordered that the calendar of the Games be changed to fit his itinerary. His mania is challenged to the hilt when another artist wins the audience’s acclaim, and his revenge is vicious.
Sporus hears rumours of conspiracy. His ‘husband’s days are numbered, and his demise will result in the Year of the Four Emperors in Rome. All four of them loved this beautiful boy.
Sporus has two identities—Poppaea and eromenos—in neither one is he free, ‘never allowed to stop acting’. His relationship with a man who was clearly one of history’s greatest lunatics is brilliant. The insight into the psychology of love and abuse is remarkable, and it is expressed so understatedly as to be poignant and artful.
Nero’s eromenos is the perfect narrator for ancient Rome at the height of its decadence. This novel is gorgeously written and includes beautiful colour illustrations.
Book 3 of the Nero and Sporus series.