Messalina was the daughter of Domitia Lepida and her first cousin Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus. Her mother was the youngest … See more

The accusations against Messalina center largely on three areas: her treatment of other members of the imperial family; her treatment of members of the senatorial order See more

In AD 48, Claudius went to Ostia to visit the new harbor he was constructing and was informed while there that Messalina had gone so far as to marry her latest lover, Senator Gaius Silius in Rome. It was only when Messalina held a costly wedding banquet in … See more

To call a woman "a Messalina" indicates a devious and sexually voracious personality. The historical figure and her fate were often used in the arts to make a moral point, but there was often as well a prurient fascination with her sexually-liberated behaviour. … See more

After her accession to power, Messalina enters history with a reputation as ruthless, predatory, and sexually insatiable, while Claudius is painted as easily led by her … See more

In Messalina's time, the condemnation of damnatio memoriae followed on an offence within the context of the Roman imperial cult. … See more

One of the earliest stage productions to feature the fall of the empress was The Tragedy of Messalina (1639) by Nathanael Richards, where she is depicted as a monster and used as a foil to attack the Roman Catholic wife of the English king Charles I See more