The Empress Messalina is commonly remembered as the depraved nymphomaniac wife of Emperor Claudius. But was Messalina a whore with an insatiable appetite for sex or a woman using her sexuality to secure the positions of herself and her son?

The Life of Messalina: The Facts

Valeria Messalina was born around 20AD. As the daughter of Messalla Barbatus and Domitia Lepida, the great-grandchildren of Emperor Augustus’s sister, Octavia, she was closely related to the Imperial family. Messalina was also related to the Claudian side of the imperial family through her aunt Claudia Pulchra.

This close family association — coupled with the fact that Emperor Tiberius persecuted her Aunt Claudia and cousin Quinctilius Varus for their loyalty to Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus (and the mother of Emperor Caligula) — explains why Messalina enjoyed the favour of Caligula despite the many insecurities of his court.

In 38/39AD, when she was 14 or 15, Messalina was married to Caligula’s uncle, her second cousin Claudius, a man of nearly fifty. The following year, she bore their first child, Claudia Octavia. Then, in 41AD, just three weeks after Claudius was acclaimed Emperor, she bore a son, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus, commonly known as Britannicus.

‘That whore Empress…’

Messalina is most famous for her sexual immorality. Suetonius and Tacitus record that she had many lovers behind her husband’s back. Indeed these sexual intrigues were her undoing. Messalina reputedly fell so in love with the consul elect, Silius, that she reputedly divorced Claudius without his knowledge and married her lover. But Claudius’s freedmen, fearful of the empress and her new “husband” seizing power, betrayed the pair, leading to Silius’s execution and Messalina’s suicide.

Even after her death, the ancient sources portray Messalina as a nymphomaniac. This reputation prevailed beyond her death, with Juvenal in the early second century AD satirizing the empress as leaving the palace at night to work as a prostitute in squalid brothels with such enthusiasm that she kept going all night.

Juvenal also mentions how Messalina’s sexual appetites were deadly and perpetuated the belief that men died if they denied her. Messalina was equally fatal for women. Tacitus describes how Messalina brought about the suicide of a beautiful rival, Poppaea Sabina and acquired the famed gardens of Lucullus after organizing the prosecution of Poppaea and her lover.

But was Messalina simply an immoral, greedy woman with a voracious sexual appetite?

The Political Manipulator

Barbara Levick suggests a different point of view. She argues that Messalina was not a nymphomaniac but used sex to forge and force political alliances that would protect her position — and her young son Brittanicus.

Messalina was married to a man who was unlikely to see his son reach his majority in a court full of rivals for the imperial purple. Therefore, it was essential that she surrounded herself with supporters — and destroyed any opposition. 

This tactic seems to have been a normal practice amongst the imperial women, so if Messalina was guilty of anything, it was being a successful intriguer. Levick cites the exile of Julia, the granddaughter of Tiberius, as one example of Messalina’s success in this respect. At the same time as Julia’s downfall, a prefect of the guard, Justus, was removed and executed, supposedly because he was going to denounce Messalina’s sexual transgressions. But the real reason for Justus’s removal is that he was likely a supporter of Julia, and his replacements were men loyal to Messalina herself: Lucius Geta and Rufrius Crispinus.

 In this case, Messalina outmaneuvered her rival. But her successful political gameplaying won her enemies, not least amongst the imperial freedmen who feared her power. The case of Silius was the clincher. Young, charismatic and successful, he was the perfect partner for a woman with a young son whose interests she wanted to protect. Possibly the couple did intend to oust the aging and feeble Claudius. It is also possible that they were sealing an alliance that would come into play upon Claudius’s death.

Whatever the case, the freedmen did not betray Messalina because of her immorality; they betrayed her because their positions were in danger if she toppled the regime.

Resources

Juvenal, “The Sixteen Satires.”

Levick, B (1993) ‘Claudius’. B T Batsford Ltd; London  

Suetonius, “The Twelve Caesars”

Tacitus, “The Annals of Imperial Rome”