Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
Valeria Messalina, a Roman woman, was regarded not only as an insatiable nymphomaniac but also as a cold-blooded murderer with numerous lives on her conscience. She was the third wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius, whose unbridled sex life provided ample fodder for gossip at the imperial court in Rome. Valeria Messalina came from a distinguished noble family. Her father was Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus and her mother was Domitia Lepida; both were grandchildren of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus. Valeria Messalina was still very young when she married Claudius – a stammering and sickly scholar almost 30 years her senior – in 38 or 39 AD. Shortly afterwards, their daughter Octavia was born. Then a fateful event occurred that changed the lives of Claudius and Valeria forever. For on 24 January 41 AD, Claudius’s nephew, Emperor Caligula, was slain by the Praetorian Guard. They found Claudius, trembling with fear, behind a curtain. Without further ado, he was proclaimed the new Imperator. Valeria Messalina thus became Empress, and soon afterwards gave birth to a son, Britannicus. Claudius was completely inexperienced in politics and had to rely on the advice of others. However, he sought counsel not only from the senatorial elite, but also from his wife Valeria Messalina and the freedmen. Valeria Messalina was regarded as a nymphomaniac who, to satisfy her sexual addiction, posed as the prostitute ‘Lycisca’. When she offered her services in brothels, she hid her black hair under a blonde wig. She would then allow anyone who fancied her to take her from behind. It is said she entered into a bet with Rome’s most famous prostitute to see who could satisfy more men in the shortest time. The prostitute eventually gave up after 25 men, whilst Valeria Messalina still hadn’t had enough. The Emperor tolerated Valeria Messalina’s escapades; she influenced Claudius’s advisers to ensure that her husband signed death warrants whenever people had fallen out of her favour. Among the victims were her cousin Iulia Livilla and the senator Gaius Appius Iunius Silanus, to name but a few. But then Valeria Messalina fell in love with the 30-year-old senator Gaius Silius, the most handsome young man in Rome. He was not only ambitious but also power-hungry. For the influential Valeria Messalina, he left his wife, Iunia Silana. With Valeria Messalina’s help, he was appointed consul in 48 AD. Valeria Messalina showered Silius with gifts, and after a year of passionate liaison, he finally wished to become Valeria Messalina’s husband. To do so, however, Valeria Messalina had to divorce Claudius. When the Emperor had to travel to Ostia for sacrificial rites, Valeria Messalina remained in Rome on the pretext of illness. Shortly afterwards, in the autumn of 48 AD, she celebrated her wedding to Silius in Rome. The imperial freedmen then feared the overthrow of Claudius, which is why Narciuss, the Emperor’s closest confidant, had him informed of the situation. The Emperor returned to Rome immediately. Silius and his companions were arrested, brought to trial and subsequently executed. Valeria Messalina was arrested. As Emperor Claudius could not bring himself to sign the death warrant for his wife, Narciuss ordered the Praetorian Guard to kill Valeria Messalina, who was subsequently pierced with a sword. To this day, she remains a rich source of material for films and literature, where she is repeatedly portrayed as a licentious, cruel and scheming woman. Her two children met a fate similar to that of their mother. Valeria Messalina’s son, Britannicus, was poisoned, whilst her daughter, Octavia – the wife of Emperor Nero – was driven to suicide. Unable to bear the fact that her husband had turned to another woman, she slit her wrists before suffocating in the steam bath.
