Mnester (d. 48 AD) was a renowned

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

actor who flourished during the reigns of Roman Emperors Caligula (37 to 41 AD) and Claudius (41 to 54 AD). Caligula admired Mnester greatly. Suetonius writes that “in relation to all those who were aligula’sfavourites, his behavior constituted madness. He used to kiss the pantomime actor Mnester even in the middle of the games. And if, when Mnester was performing, anyone made the slightest noise, he had him dragged from his seat and flogged him himself.”Suetonius; Catharine Edwards (translator), ''Lives of the Caesars'' (Oxford World’s Classics) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 164. According to Suetonius, a portent of Caligula's assassination is said to have been Mnester's performance of “the same tragedy which the tragedian

Neoptolemus In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus (; ), also called Pyrrhus (; ), was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia, and the brother of Oneiros. He became the mythical progenitor of the ruling dynasty of the Molossians of ancient Ep ...

had produced at the games during which King

Philip of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...

was killed.”Suetonius; Catharine Edwards (translator), ''Lives of the Caesars'' (Oxford World’s Classics) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 166. During the reign of Caligula's successor Claudius, Mnester retained the favour of the imperial court. Mnester was one of the lovers of Poppaea Sabina the Elder (mother of the empress Poppaea), and subsequently became the lover of Empress

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputatio ...

who was the wife of Claudius. Messalina had a statue of Mnester cast in bronze.Matthew Bunson, ''Encyclopedia of the Roman empire. Facts on File library of World history'' (Infobase Publishing, 2002, 373. At first he rejected Messalina's advances, but then she persuaded her way in to his heart. Mnester became her lover after Messalina convinced her husband to command Mnester to adhere to Messalina's every wish. After

Gaius Silius Gaius Silius (died AD 24) was a Roman senator who achieved successes as a general over German barbarians following the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. For this achievement he was appointed consul in AD 13 with Lucius Munatius Pla ...

became Messalina's favourite, Mnester was one of those who was involved in Messalina's plot to assassinate Claudius and make Silius the new emperor. He was executed for his involvement in 48 AD. Mnester's name was on the list of Messalina's adulteries when they were finally revealed, and for fear that Mnester would be executed, this information had been hidden from Claudius. “Claudius probably would have spared the actor, but his freedmen convinced him that Mnester deserved to die with the others." He was portrayed by

Nicholas Amer Nicholas Amer, born Thomas Harold Amer (29 September 1923 – 17 November 2019), was an English stage, film and television actor known for his performances in William Shakespeare's plays. Amer made his professional debut in 1948 playing the par ...

in the 1976 TV series ''

I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Ro ...

'' and by

Rick Parets Rick Parets is an avant-garde comedian, performing both live and in feature films. Parets grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, United States. He rose to international fame with his portrayal of Mnester in the 1979 classic '' Caligula''. After a se ...

in the 1979 film '' Caligula''.

References

Ancient Roman actors 48 deaths Executed artists Year of birth unknown Male lovers of royalty 1st-century executions {{AncientRome-bio-stub