Bathtime ended badly for the Greek whokilledaRoman

My little sister really likes Matt Damon, particularly his Jason Bourne series of films.

In fact, she likes him so much, she says she would name her son Damon after him.

Now, I’m not trying to discourage her but, somewhere in the back of my mind, I seem to recall a history lesson where a Damon met a grisly end in Roman times.

Or could I just be imagining this? – R. No, you are quite correct. In 87BC, a cohort (around 480 men) of Roman soldiers were billeted in the city of Chaeronea, which is in present day Boeotia, Greece.

The commanding officer made sexual advances towards a local youth, Damon, eventually threatening him. Terrified, Damon fled with a group of just over a dozen friends.

A few hours later, they attacked the Roman and killed him and several soldiers as they made a sacrifice to the Gods.

Damon and his band lived in the hills around the city as bandits for a while.

However, Damon was later granted an amnesty as it seems the Romans were disgusted by their officer’s actions.

He returned to Chaeronea and eventually became the city’s gymnasiarch, an official who supervised athletics schools and contests.

Sadly, there was no happy ending to this tale as Damon was murdered while taking a bath.

Perhaps your sister should call her son Matt instead!