Messalina

Valeria was the daughter of Mark Valery Messala Barbat , a 20-year-old consul from the patrician clan Valeriy. Her mother was Domitia Lepida the Younger , daughter of Lucius Domitius Agenobarba (consul 16 BC ) and Anthony the Elder .

Her mother and father were cousins ​​on the maternal side. The mother of Mark Valery was Claudia Marcellus the Younger , daughter of Octavia the Younger from her first marriage with Guy Claudius Marcellus . Octavia also gave birth to Anthony the Elder, after she was extradited by Octavian for Mark Anthony in 40 BC. e. Thus, on the female side, Messalina came from the sister of Augustus and belonged to the imperial family.

As for the father of Mark Valery, there are two theories:

• according to the first, most common, he was the son of Mark Valery Messala Barbat Appian (consul 12 BC ), nee Guy Claudius Pulchre, adopted by the Valery Messal clan. This theory is also supported by the fact that Valeria's father had a sister, who was named Claudius Pulchra , since she was born before the adoption of Guy Claudius.

• according to the second version, Mark Valery was the son of Mark Valery Messala Messalin (consul 3 years BC and 3 years CE), the son of the famous politician and speaker Mark Valery Messalla Corvin (consul 31 years BC ).

Little is known about Messalina's childhood. However, in her youth, she was very popular and influential at the court of Caligula . Her uncle Gnei Domitius Agenobarb was the husband of Julia Agrippina , the sister of the emperor. Most likely this is the situation that prevailed at the reckless feasts of Caligula and shaped the character of this woman, although ancient authors claim that Messalina began a reckless life at the age of 13 years.

In 38, Emperor Caligula married her uncle Claudius, who in addition was her mother’s cousin. This marriage, most likely, was a means of uniting the two branches of the Yuliev-Klavdiev dynasty - actually Klavdiev and Domitsiev Agenobarbov.

Depraved Behavior

The name of Messalina, thanks to ancient historians, has become a household name in the description of depraved and sexually preoccupied women. Basically, her behavior is described as insulting and shameful, and she herself is described as a cruel, mean and stupid nympho . Most often in her works she is mentioned by Tacitus and Suetonius . Both of them write that under the false name Liciska Messalina either she owned one of the Roman Lupanarians , or came there as a prostitute to satisfy her lust.

The ancient Roman poet Juvenal writes about this in his Satyrs :

Well, look at equal gods, listen to what happened

With Claudius: as he falls asleep, his wife, preferring

I lay in the Palatine’s palace a simple litter

A pair of night hooded cloaks, and with only one maid

The prodigal Augusta fled from her sleeping husband;

Black hair hiding under a blond wig, sought

In warm she is lupanar, hung with shabby tattered clothes,

I climbed into my closet empty - and, naked, with breasts

In gold, everyone gave herself under the name false Licisci;

Your bosom, noble Britannic, she opened

She gave affection to incoming people and asked for a fee;

Lay back, often pounded by men;

Only when the pimp of their girls let go

She is sad after all, locking the empty closet:

Still the itch burned in her and the stubborn rage of the uterus;

So, weary of the caress of men, went away unsaturated,

The vile, dark-faced, smoke-soaked fixtures,

The stench of lupanar carrying on the pillows of the royal bed.

(Satire VI. 115-133, Translation by D. S. Nedovich )

It is also described that Messalina organized a competition with the famous Roman prostitute Scylla : who can serve more men. Starting in the evening, Scylla stopped in the morning, taking 25 people for the night. Messalina continued on until she served 50 clients.

History knew a lot of depraved women, and lecherous behavior in Rome did not surprise anyone at that time, but Messalina's insatiable sexual appetite struck even the well-worn Roman public. The townsfolk were most indignant that Messalina, who had lost her innocence at the age of thirteen, displayed her dissoluteness, showing immense pride in him.

All of the above happened not only in the days of Caligula, but also later, when Claudius already became emperor. About 40 years old, Messalina gave birth to a daughter, Claudius Octavius, and in 41 years, a son and an heir, whom Claudius gave the cognate Britannica in honor of his planned campaign to Britain at that time.

Historians in the biographies of Messalina showed surprising unanimity: in their opinion, Messalina did not miss a single handsome man. And for a long time everything miraculously got away with it. Claudius ardently condemned and exposed the debauchery of the court nobility, but did not know what was happening at his house. The close ones did not dare to open his eyes, fearing the wrath of the insidious woman. Indeed, even though Claudius ruled the Roman Empire, the emperor himself reigned supreme over Messalin. Once, for example, a woman in love fell in love with the first Roman actor, Mnester , who tried to evade the honor of being the beloved of the emperor’s wife. Then Messalina complained to Claudius that some actor dares not to obey her will, without specifying, however, which one. The emperor called Mnester to himself and ordered him to fulfill all the wishes of his wife. The young man had to obey the orders of the emperor and take his place in the conjugal bed.

Messalina had full influence on the new emperor. Seeing this, the Roman Senate recognized her as a full-fledged ruler. In honor of her birthday, games were held, statues were erected to her. The Senate was also about to declare it August, but Claudius forbade it to be done.

Since Claudius was much older than her and far from young, in politics Messalina focused on ensuring that after the death of Claudius, the transfer of power to his son, Britannic . For the sake of this, she always tried to show herself to be the second person in the state. Even at the triumph of Claudius in the year 43, she rode right behind his chariot, and only after her did the generals go. Such a position gave her the opportunity to become a nominal ruler if Claudius died before her son came of age.

It should be noted that among the Roman nobility there were not only opponents, but also allies of Messalina. One of them was Lucius Vitellius , the consul of 34 years , the governor of Syria in the rank of proconsul in 35 , the censor of 48 years , the father of the future emperor Vitellius . For his support, Messalina allowed him to take care of her shoes. Showing his devotion, he wore one of Messalina's shoes on his chest, under the toga , and, periodically pulling out from there, publicly covered her with kisses.

With the help of her allies, Messalina either removes from Rome or takes the life of all those who, in her opinion, could get in her way. Among her enemies were almost all the members of the Yuliev-Klavdiev dynasty, who themselves, or whose children, could claim the place of the emperor: Julia Livilla ; Julia Livia ; Guy Asinius Pollion , Consul 23 years old , son of Vipsania Agrippina from Guy Asinia Galla ; Poppea Sabina the Elder , daughter of the Roman consul and triumphant of the times of Tiberius Guy Poppea Sabina ; the consul of 35 and 46 years of Decim Valery Asiatic , as he was the brother-in-law of one of Caligula's wives, Lolli Paulina , and, theoretically, could lay claim to power. Seneca was also removed from Rome.

Such a policy could not but form a party of discontented. In the mid-forties, these people rallied around the emperor's niece - Julia Agrippina. Using the emperor’s love, Agrippina was able to resist the tricks of Messalina directed against her and her son, the youngest Nero , and could not openly insist on the reprisal with Agrippina Messalina.

In 47, one of the closest freedmen of Claudius, the treasurer of the empire, Mark Antony Pallas , becomes Agrippina's lover. Being opponents of Messalina, they develop plans for the transfer of power not to Britannica, but to Nero.

However, the conspiracy was no longer needed when Messalina made her only mistake in the struggle for power.

In the year 48, desiring to fully gain power in her own hands, Messalina decided to make her lover, Guy Celius , the emperor. This was due to the fact that the positions of Agrippina and Nero were greatly strengthened since the influential Romans began to support it. So at the Terentine Games of '47 , during a show showing the siege of Troy , Messalina and Britannic received much less attention from the crowds than Agrippina and Nero present there. Messalina reacted to this as the first manifestation of the fact that her authority falls.

At the beginning of 48, she forces her lover, Guy Celius, to divorce his wife Yunia Silana . When Claudius left for Ostia , Messalina, officially continuing to be married to the emperor, takes the first step of her planned plot - she concludes a marriage contract in the presence of witnesses and marries Celia.

One of the influential freedmen at the court of Claudius, who held the post of responsible for correspondence ( lat. Praepositus ab epistulis ) Tiberius Claudius Narcissus , reported this to the emperor. He, being a gentle and supple person, hesitated in making a decision, and Narcissus himself, on behalf of the emperor, gave the Praetorians a command to capture Messalina and Celia.

Messalina was captured in Ostia, where she went to see Claudius. However, the emperor had already left the city. Messalina was returned to Rome and placed in the Gardens of Lucullus , under the supervision of her mother, Domitia Lepida.

Domitia never approved of Messalina's lifestyle, but she did not refuse to be with her daughter in her last minutes. Together they prepared a petition to Claudius for clemency, but it had no effect. Messalina was broken and cried all the time, only now realizing what position she put herself in.

There were three witnesses of Messalina's death - the emperor's envoy, one of his freedmen and her mother. When the imperial legate and freedman appeared, Lepida told her daughter: “Your life is over. All that remains is to make its end worthy . ”

Messalina was invited to lay hands on herself, however, she could not do this, and then the legate stabbed her with a dagger. At the same time, a freedman taken as a witness all the time insulted her. Messalina's body was left to her mother.

Claudius did not react in any way to the news of the death of his wife. At the time he was informed of this, he was having dinner. The only reaction was to pour him more wine. A few days after her death, the Senate sentenced her name to oblivion ( Latin Damnatio memoriae ).

The fate of Messalina's children was also tragic. On January 1, 49, Claudius married Agrippina. Nero was recognized as heir, who later became emperor. Claudia Octavia became his first wife, who, on his orders, was killed in 62 in exile. Briton died earlier. He was poisoned by Nero in the year 55 due to the intrigues of Agrippina.

Cinema Image

• I, Claudius ( 1937 ) - Merle Oberon
• Messalina ( 1951 ) - Maria Felix
• Demetrius and the Gladiators ( 1954 ) - Susan Hayward
• Messalina ( 1960 ) - Belinda Lee
• Me Claudius ( 1976 ) - Sheila White
• Messalina, Messalina ( 1977 ), Caligula ( 1979 ) - Anneca di Lorenzo
• AD ( 1984 ) - Jennifer O'Neill
• Roman Empire: Nero ( 2004 ) - Sonia Aquino
• Nymphomaniac. Volume II ( 2013 ) - Tabeya Tarbiat

Literature

• Raffaello Giovagnoli , “Messalina” ( Italian: Messalina , 1885)
• Robert Graves , “ I, Claudius ” (1934), “The Divine Claudius (and his wife Messalina)” (1935)

• (545) Messalina - an asteroid discovered in 1904.
• Messalina complex
• Pheidole spinulosa messalina - a subspecies of African ants
• "Messalina" - a song by Jane Air
• "Miss Messalina" - a song by A.F. Sklyar to the verses of E.V. Golovin

• Dion Cassius , Roman History, LX, 14-18, 27-31
• Josephus , “Jewish Antiquities,” XX, 8
• Josephus, The Jewish Wars, II, 12
• Juvenal , Satyrs, Satyr VI, 115-133
• Pliny the Elder , Natural History , 10
• Plutarch , "Biographies"
• Suetonius , “The Life of the Twelve Caesars ”, “The Divine Claudius”, 17, 26, 27, 29, 36, 37, 39; "Nero", 6; Vitellius 2
• Publius Cornelius Tacitus , The Annals, XI, 1, 2, 12, 26-38

• "Satires" of Juvenal (in Russian)
• Juvenal's “Satires” in the original (in Latin)