The insidious and loving Empress Messalina
She is 15, she is ambitious and loving, he is 50, and he clearly does not look like an emperor - he is easy to control, he stutters. Their marriage was not destined to last long. Numerous betrayals, intrigues, betrayal, struggle for the throne - this is what Valeria Messalina is remembered for.
early years
Before her marriage to Claudius, little is known about Messalina. Historians do not even know the exact date of her birth. We know that she is the second child in the family. Father Valery Messala is a consul and friend of the Caligula family, mother Domitia Lepida the Younger is the granddaughter of Mark Antony and cousin of her husband. Messalina was related to Emperor Augustus' sister Octavia. That is, she belonged to a noble Roman family, so it is not surprising that a fictitious marriage took place.
By the age of 50, Claudius had married twice and divorced twice. He divorced his first wife because of her adultery, and his second for the sake of marrying Messalina. By the way, despite the large age difference, about 35 years, they were second cousins. He was not yet an emperor, but became one a couple of years after the wedding, when Caligula was killed.
Within three years of the wedding, Valeria gave birth to Claudia two children - a daughter, Claudia Octavia, who would marry the future Emperor Nero, and a son, Tiberius, better known as Britannicus.
Messalina and Britannic
Scandalous life
Messalina became famous for her numerous affairs and manipulative character. Already in the first years of marriage, the girl began to visit brothels, where she gave herself to almost anyone. Most likely, Valeria had extreme nymphomania. Intimate adventures in the imperial palace and competitions with the main prostitute of Rome Scylla for sexual endurance are known. The Empress served 25 men in one day and won. Perhaps she led such a riotous lifestyle not only because of the love of lust, but also for the sake of possible political connections and strengthening her power.
It is known that with her light hand and a small conspiracy, two senators were executed - Appius Silanus and Valery Asiaticus. The first was the husband of Domitia, Messalina's mother, and refused Valeria intimacy. Messalina and her friend Narcissus informed their husband about Appius's conspiracy against him, and he was executed. In the case of Valery Asiatic there was hardly an intimate aspect. The man was consul and owned the gardens of Lucullus. Messalina wanted to own them herself, so with the help of her connections she accused Asiatic of adultery and conspiracy against the state. And he was executed. And the empress received gardens.
We have also heard about the passion for Messalina by one actor, Mnester. The girl suggested that he quit the theater and become her lover. But the actor didn’t like the idea. Then Messalina asked Claudius to put pressure on Mnester and make him her servant. Of course, she did not name the real reasons. Claudius easily made the famous actor the servant of his wife, who used his services in bed.
The emperor had two nieces - Julia Livilla and Julia Livia. The first was in exile in conspiracy against the previous emperor Caligula. After his death, the girl was returned to Rome. But a year later she quarreled with Messalina, who slandered her for treason with Seneca the Younger. Livilla was exiled and starved to death. Julia Livia was accused of immodesty and infidelity to her husband, as a result of which she was also executed. Behind all this was Messalina, who was afraid of her son Rubellius Plautus, who had a chance for the throne.
The biggest target of Messalina's political intrigues was another of Claudius' nieces, Agrippina the Younger, who had a son, Lucius Domitius, better known as Nero. Valeria Messalina plotted against her because Agrippina's son was Britannicus's main rival for the right to the throne. And the empress almost succeeded in accusing Agrippina of witchcraft. But then she fell in love with Gaius Silius.
Conspiracy against her husband and the fall of Messalina
Gaius Silius is a Roman senator who initially did not like Messalina. But she still charmed him. The girl conceived such a plan - she and Guy overthrow Claudius, the first one is adopted by Britannicus. First, Guy becomes emperor, and then Britannicus himself. This is according to one of the versions. According to another, Silius came up with everything. He persuaded Messalina to carry out a coup d'etat, arguing that Claudius would not sit on the throne for long.
While Claudius was in Ostia, where he was checking out a new harbor, Gaius Silius divorced his wife and secretly married Messalina. Narcissus, a close friend of Messalina, informed the emperor about the plot. Claudius returned to Rome, visited the house of Silius, where he saw many of his family heirlooms, which Messalina had managed to transport from the palace. However, the emperor was a gentle man, he softened towards his unlucky wife, and even invited her to the palace for a conversation. Narcissus was supposed to bring Valeria. But he was afraid of a possible coup in the future, knowing the character of the empress. Therefore, he ordered the messenger to inform Messalina so that she would commit suicide. According to one version, this is what happened. According to another, the girl could not kill herself, so the messenger stabbed her himself.
As we know, Claudius did not show that he was upset about Valeria's death. He declared that he would never marry again. However, he soon had a fourth and last wife, Agrippina, who, as a life partner, was no better than Messalina. For her only reason for marriage was to place her son Nero on the Roman throne. But this is completely different story.
Her husband believed her unconditionally. He was a gentle man. Perhaps the young wife was able to control him this way because he was so in love with her. Or Claudius simply did not want to really understand anything, he let such matters take their course and chose simpler solutions.
Emperor Claudius
Should you trust the sources?
Most of the sources of Messalina’s life have come to us from the stories of Seneca the Younger, a Stoic philosopher and adviser to Nero. Considering the fact that Nero was the rival of Messalina's son, and she contributed to the expulsion of Seneca, the latter could significantly distort the history of this woman. It is likely that he changed the image of the empress, citing personal hostility towards her.
We also know about Valeria from the works of the ancient Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius, who wrote 70 years after the death of the empress. They were in an environment that had a negative attitude towards the Julio-Claudian dynasty, so distortion of the data is possible. Tacitus allegedly relied on the memories of Agrippina the Younger, who, as I already wrote, had a hostile attitude towards Messalina.
Something has come to us from Roman gossip, which was often embellished to discredit rivals. Messalina was a prominent figure, disliked by many, so false information about her could be spread throughout Rome, which was firmly ingrained in people’s consciousness.
Be that as it may, Messalina remained in history as one of the most influential empresses of Rome, a very dissolute woman and the third wife of Claudius. Her life was remembered for numerous intrigues and was captured in art.
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