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Thepuer delicatuswas an "exquisite" or "dainty" child-slave chosen by his master for his beauty as a "boy toy",[126]also referred to asdeliciae("sweets" or "delights").[127]Unlike the freeborn Greekeromenos("beloved"), who was protected by social custom, the Romandelicatuswas in a physically and morally vulnerable position.[128]Some of the "coercive and exploitative" relationship between the Roman master and thedelicatus, who might be prepubescent, can be characterized aspedophilic, in contrast to Greekpaiderasteia.[129]Funeral inscriptions found in the ruins of the imperial household underAugustusandTiberiusalso indicate thatdeliciaewere kept in the palace and that some slaves, male and female, worked as beauticians for these boys.[130]One of Augustus'pueriis known by name: Sarmentus.[130]The boy was sometimescastratedin an effort to preserve his youthful qualities; the emperorNerohad apuer delicatusnamedSporus, whom he castrated and married.[131]
