Tigilinus

Gaius Ophonius Tigellinus, also known as Sophonius Tigellinus, was a minister and favourite of the emperor Nero. He was a native of Agrigentum, of humble origin and possibly of Greek descent.

During the reign of Caligula he was banished (39). He had been accused for adultery with Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla, the two surviving sisters of the Roman Emperor. He was recalled by Claudius in 41. Having inherited a fortune, he devoted himself to breeding race-horses. In this manner he gained the favour of Nero, whom he aided and abetted in his vices and cruelties. In 62 he was promoted to the prefecture of the praetorian guards. In 64 he made himself notorious for the orgies arranged by him in the Basin of Agrippa, and was suspected of incendiarism in connection with the great fire, which, after having subsided, broke out afresh in his Aemilian gardens.

Tigellinus was a terrible influence on Nero, who only encouraged his excesses rather than trying to curb them. Nero's life turned into little else but a series of excesses in sport, music, orgies and murder. Advising Nero for nearly a decade, Tigellinus' influence was so substantial that it is said to have turned Nero into a despot like his uncle Caligula.

In 65, during the investigation into the abortive conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso, he and Poppaea Sabina formed a kind of imperial privy council. In 67 he accompanied Nero on his tour in Greece. When the emperor's downfall appeared imminent, Tigellinus deserted him, and with Nymphidius Sabinus brought about the defection of the Praetorian Guard.

Under Galba he was obliged to give up his command, but managed to save his life by lavishing presents upon Titus Vinius, the favourite of Galba, and his daughter. Otho on his accession (69) determined to remove one so universally detested by the people. While in the baths at Sinuessa, Tigellinus received the news that he must die, and, having vainly endeavoured to gain a respite, cut his own throat.

The Doctor, Barbara Wright, Ian Chesterton, and Vicki encountered him in the year 64. (DW: Romans)


 * In the credits, the character's name is spelled "Tigilinus."