#valeria messalina

[uncleclaudius]

Cameo depicting emperor Claudius and probably his wife Messalina on a chariot drawn by snakes. Dated around 45AD.

[miffy-junot]

Messalina, from the Player's Cigarette cards series 'Famous Beauties'

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Pavel Aleksandrovich Svedomsky (Russian, 1848-1904) Messalina, 1900 State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan

Valeria Messalina was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation for promiscuity, she allegedly conspired against her husband and was executed on the discovery of the plot.

[seianusfanboy]

ANCIENT ROME FAMILY TREES !!

(that I've written down so far)

- THE JULIOCLAUDIANS (until Claudius, sorry Nero! - starting from Brutus' ancestors)

- MARCELLUS AND HIS FAMILY (down to Messalina!)

- THE FAMILY OF AELIUS SEJANUS (the only one whose family isn't a circle)

[wolframpant]

There are times when you would crack the universe open if you could just to see what would happen.

Sheila White as Messalina in I, Claudius

[andiatas]

Royal Reads: Jan-Mar 2024

Note: Some of the following links are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission on every purchase. This does not affect the price you pay.

Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII's Sixth Queen by Laura Adkins (Mar. 15, 2024) // Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History by Tracy Borman (new paperback version published Mar. 7, 2024) // Messalina: The Life and Times of Rome’s Most Scandalous Empress by Honor Cargill-Martin (Mar. 14, 2024)

House of Lilies: The Dynasty that Made Medieval France by Justine Firnhaber-Baker (Mar. 28, 2024) // Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story. by Robert Hardman (Jan. 18, 2024) // Sisters of Richard III: The Plantagenet Daughters of York by Sarah J Hodder (Mar. 15, 2024)

Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty by Alexander Larman (Mar. 28, 2024) // The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England by Joanne Paul (new paperback version published Jan. 9, 2024)

Young Queens: The Intertwined Lives of Catherine De' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots by Leah Redmond Chang (new paperback version published Feb. 29, 2024) // Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor by Donald J. Robertson (Mar. 26, 2024) // My Mother and I by Ingrid Seward (Feb. 15, 2024)

Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers: A Personal History by Anne Somerset (Mar. 28, 2024) // Young Elizabeth: Princess. Prisoner. Queen. by Nicola Tallis (Feb. 29, 2024) // Edward II: His Sexuality and Relationships by Kathryn Warner (Mar. 15, 2024)

[elizabethan-memes]

Does anyone know any good books or articles on Valeria Messalina? I'd like to add her to my catalogue of blorbos only I don't know where to begin with the historiography

[zinefully]

Orgy Party Planners of Ancient Rome

[lightdancer1]

Messalina was the wife of Emperor Claudius before Agrippina:

Messalina, like Agrippina, was a wife of Claudius, who uniquely among Roman Emperors is the only one prior to Constantine the Great whom we could call heterosexual today. Equally so she was killed because in the end she brought a scheme forth against Claudius to replace him with one of his leaders of the Praetorian Guard that failed. From this was spun an elaborate narrative of her sexual proclivities that may or may not have been true, but in all probability was because 'how very dare' when the woman, not the man, is the active avid schemer who thinks with the brain between the legs.

[garland-on-thy-brow]

[Joshel, S. R. (1997). "Female Desire and the Discourse of Empire: Tacitus' Messalina" Ed. by J. Hallett and M. Skinner. In Roman Sexualities (pp. p. 221-254).]

@soldatrose kind of a ghost to me. "That august's body all-controlling soul".

[mysterious-secret-garden]

François Victor Eloi Biennourry - The death of Valeria Messalina, 1850.

[uncleclaudius]

The head of a statue ostensibly identified as Empress Messalina. It bears marks of intentional damage which would fit the decree passed by the Senate damning Messalina's memory after her execution by Emperor Claudius.

[whencyclopedia]

Britannicus

Britannicus (41-55 CE) was the second child and only son born to the Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 CE) and Valeria Messalina (c. 20-48 CE). Seen as a threat by Claudius' fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger (15-59 CE), and her son, the future Nero (r. 54-68 CE), Britannicus was poisoned the night before his 14th birthday.

Early Childhood

Born on 12 February 41 CE, he was originally named Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus; the name Britannicus was added after his father's invasion of Britain. In his The Twelve Caesars, the ancient historian Suetonius (69 to 130/140 CE) wrote, "Claudius would often pick little Britannicus up and show him to the troops or to the audience at the games either seated on his lap or held at arm's length" (197) Claudius had a son by his first wife Urgulanilla, but the boy died accidentally before coming of age, and Britannicus became the obvious choice to assume the purple upon the emperor's death. However, this would soon change when Claudius married his niece Agrippina the Younger (15-59 CE). The emperor's new wife brought with her a hidden agenda; she had high aspirations for her son, the future emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE).

Agrippina the Younger was the daughter of Emperor Tiberius' (r. 14-37 CE) nephew Germanicus (15 BCE to 19 CE) and Agrippina the Elder (14 BCE to 33 CE), making her the great-granddaughter of Augustus (r. 27 BCE to 14 CE). Her marriage to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus produced one son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the future Nero (b. 37 CE). Gnaeus, who died when Nero was three, was extremely violent and was described by his contemporaries as "a despicable character." Two years after Domitius' birth, Agrippina was exiled by her brother Caligula (r. 37-41 CE). After Caligula's assassination in 41 CE, one of Claudius' first acts was to recall her. Her strong ties to the Julio-Claudians would pose a serious challenge to young Britannicus' position as the emperor's heir and, unfortunately for Britannicus, the highly aggressive Agrippina would stop at nothing until little Domitius upended his position. According to Matthew Dennison in his The Twelve Caesars, Agrippina "was not distracted by bodily appetites; arrogance and an undistracting focus steadied her performance." (156)

In 40 CE Domitius' father died of dropsy. Upon her return to Rome from exile, the widowed Agrippina married Gaius Passienus Crispus, who had recently divorced Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus' sister Domitia. The marriage ended before 47 CE, possibly due to poisoning. Agrippina inherited his vast wealth, making her extremely rich. Widowed twice, she set her sights on husband number three: her uncle Claudius. Claudius showed little interest in obtaining another wife; there was still strong competition for the old emperor: Aelia Paetina (his second wife) and Lollia Paulina (Caligula's third wife). Lollia would later be exiled on the orders of Agrippina where a suicide would soon follow. However, Claudius' financial secretary Marcus Pallas favored Agrippina, and on 1 January 49 CE, she became Claudius' fourth wife.

Having married the emperor, her next objective was to secure the adoption of her son, and on 28 February 50 CE, Lucius Domitius became Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar. Suetonius wrote, "In his last years, Claudius made it pretty plain that he repented of having married Agrippina and adopted Nero" (204). Realizing, the possible danger posed by Nero and his mother, Claudius told his son repeatedly "to grow up quickly." With the adoption of Nero secured, Agrippina turned her attention to the one serious obstacle to her son becoming the emperor: Britannicus.

Continue reading...

[meekmedea]

House Herz

Ever wonder about Cleopatra's family before she met Hector Dovecote? Well, ponder no more!

House Motto: Cor Aut Mors - Heart or Death

Amongst polite society, House Herz is best known as an avid patron of the arts. A great number of art collectors and curators make up their house members and it's unsurprising to see their name in a museum wing, art gallery or even auction houses.

In other circles however.... their name holds a different meaning. For a price, they can fetch whatever you desire. Should it be money, information, or even a life.

Quick Note:

This focuses primarily on the main line of House Herz.

Siblings are presented eldest to youngest, from left to right.

Mentions of death - some more unsettling than others (ie. carved hearts, dismemberment, child death.)

Pre-Dark Days

Note: Hector is alive at this current time-point.

TBOSAS-era

Fun Facts!

In Romulus' generation, his father named his sons after the mythological founders. His daughters were named after Roman Empresses (that suffered damnatio memoriae - Valeria Messalina and for Statilia Messalina).

Both Endymion and Clemensia are the youngest of their generations.

Areia had twins (Circe and Calypso), their father is unknown and nobody is in a rush to look for him. She also took in Prometheus when he was a baby. Was he kidnapped? Nobody knows.

Romulus-centric facts:

Prior to his ascension as head of his house, he was arranged to marry the then-current Head of House Phibbs, who was thrice his age.

Not wanting that life, he tried to run away with his first love (a Whimsiwick from a cadet branch). Unfortunately, his sister caught them and they were stopped from escaping. For his audacity, his family had him punished – his lover was tortured to death and he was forced to watch his lover's heart carved out of their chest.

Had his son, Alexander, with a man whose name remains forever hidden from everyone else. Rumoured to have been his first love.

Romulus picked his own name upon ascending as Head of House Herz.

Married Levana Cardew after helping her get rid of her wretch of a husband. Adopted Cleopatra a few years afterwards.

Deaths in the family:

Romulus is alleged to have killed his way to become head of the family. He is also rumoured to have killed Levana's first husband.

Pre-Dark Days

Mr. Herz - in a gambling den fight, someone stabbed him. While the stab itself was unfatal, the blade was coated in poison.

Valeria - an ex-lover killed her, carving out her heart for display.

Cadmus - he and his spouse unexpectedly passed when the pufferfish they were sampling was improperly prepared.

Creusa & Jason - Cadmus' children were lost in a house fire that same night Cadmus and his spouse perished.

Deukalion - drowned while yachting in 4.

Medus - caught in a gang territorial dispute. They found his head in an alleyway, but the rest of him was never recovered.

With the deaths of his father and his siblings, Messalina Romulus Herz was the only one left of the main branch to succeed as head of his house.

closer to TBOSAS era

Bellona's husband died during the Dark Days - thought to be torn apart by a pack of wild dogs. His body was found partially consumed and an arm was missing.

She may also be following in her Aunt Cleopatra's footsteps. Currently on her third marriage. 

~~~~~

If interested in Cleopatra and the Dovecotes - more lore HERE

[wolframpant]

No! He wouldn't do that. My husband wouldn't do...

[whencyclopedfr]

Popée

Poppée (Poppæa Sabina, 30-65 de notre ère) fut l'épouse du préfet prétorien Rufrius Crispinius, puis de Marcus Salvius Othon (r. 69 de notre ère) avant de devenir la seconde épouse de l'empereur romain Néron (r. de 54 à 68 de notre ère). Considérée par les sources antiques comme séduisante et intelligente, elle utilisa sa beauté et son charme pour persuader Néron de divorcer d'Octavie, la fille de Claude (r. de 41 à 54 de notre ère) et de Valeria Messalina, et de l'épouser.

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