Tigellinus

Ofonius Tigellinus was a Roman courtier and praetorian prefect who became one of the most notorious officials of Emperor Nero’s later reign. A Sicilian of relatively modest origins, he was exiled under Caligula after accusations involving members of the imperial family but later returned and rebuilt his fortunes. Nero first advanced him through positions connected with public security and in 62 appointed him joint prefect of the Praetorian Guard after the death of Sextus Afranius Burrus.

Ancient senatorial writers, especially Tacitus, portray Tigellinus as an unscrupulous enforcer who encouraged Nero’s suspicions and benefited from political prosecutions. He played an important role in the investigations following the Pisonian conspiracy of 65 and accompanied Nero during the emperor’s Greek tour. When Nero’s regime collapsed in 68, Tigellinus abandoned him and initially survived under Galba through political protection. Under the next emperor, Otho, public hostility caught up with him: ordered to die in 69, Tigellinus killed himself at Sinuessa.

In Margaret George’s Emperor Nero, As accusations spread and opposition hardens, the court becomes dominated by informers, the praetorian prefect Tigellinus and conspiracies that implicate senators, writers and former advisers.