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28 - A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius by John Bagnell Bury · A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fifteenth, Section four of J. B. Bury's The Students
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  Speaker 1: Roman Empire, Part one. This is a librifox according all
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  Speaker 1: librifox accordings are in the public domain. For more information
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  Speaker 1: or the volunteer, please visit librifox dot org. Recording machulifemolgam
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  Speaker 1: The Students Roman Empire, Part one by John Bagnorebury, Chapter fifteen,
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  Speaker 1: The Principate for Claudius forty one two fifty four a d.
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  Speaker 1: Section four Massalina. In these small practices, the freedomen were
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  Speaker 1: aided and debetted by the Empress Massellina. In his youth,
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  Speaker 1: Claudius had been betrothed to Emilia Lapida, daughter of the
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  Speaker 1: younger Julia, but the marriage was broken of on account
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  Speaker 1: of a mother's misconduct. He lost a second ride, Livia
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  Speaker 1: Camilla through Herdessa on the wedding day, and finally married
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  Speaker 1: Plotia Ergola Nina, daughter of Plocia Sylvanus, who had distinguished
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  Speaker 1: himself an illyricum. Plausia was repudiated on account of an
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  Speaker 1: intrigue with a redman, and Claudius is unmarried Elia Pagna,
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  Speaker 1: by whom he had one daughter. Alia was also divorced,
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  Speaker 1: but from no serious cause, and about thirty eight a d.
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  Speaker 1: Claudius took a third wife, as has been already mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: Valeria Massilina. This remarkable woman was descended on the father's
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  Speaker 1: side from the race of the orator Massala Covinus, but
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  Speaker 1: by her mother the Mitya Lapida. She was connected with
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  Speaker 1: family of the caesars. Claudius and Lepida were cousins, being
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  Speaker 1: both eventchildren Ofventonius the Triumph and Octavia, the sister of Augustus.
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  Speaker 1: The name of Massellina has become proverbial for unblushing sensuality.
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  Speaker 1: The tales of that have been preserved for vices and
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  Speaker 1: orgies bear on them the marks of exaggeration. But there
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  Speaker 1: can be no doubt that her conduct was dissolute, and
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  Speaker 1: that she exercised an evil influence on the women of Rome.
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  Speaker 1: She is said to have carried on criminal intrigues with
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor's freedomen, especially with the Narcissus. It seems certain
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  Speaker 1: that she and they combined to Hudwin Claudius. They concealed
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  Speaker 1: a love affairs with others, and she concealed their peculations.
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  Speaker 1: While Masslina indulged her amorous caprices Narcissus and Pallace built
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  Speaker 1: up such great fortunes that when Claudius once complained of
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  Speaker 1: want of money, he was taught that he would be
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  Speaker 1: rich enough if those two freedmen took him into partnership.
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  Speaker 1: The position of Massllina seemed secured by the circumstance that
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  Speaker 1: she had borne her husband a son, Tiberius Claudius Germanicus,
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  Speaker 1: who afterwards received Zinna, named Britannicus in memory of the
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  Speaker 1: conquests of Britain. He was born in February, shortly after
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  Speaker 1: his father's succession, and this was the first case of
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  Speaker 1: a son born to reigning Caesar. But Claudius declined the
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  Speaker 1: proposal to confer Isia upon his son. The title Augustus
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  Speaker 1: are upon the empress that of Augusta. But although Masslina
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  Speaker 1: was not raised to the rank which had been held
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  Speaker 1: by Livia, she received conspicuous honor by the decree which
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  Speaker 1: permitted her to write in the Carpentum, the use of
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  Speaker 1: which was still generally restricted to persons holding priestly offices
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  Speaker 1: at solemn festivals. A like permission had been already granted
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  Speaker 1: to the emperor's mother, Antonia. It has been already stated
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  Speaker 1: that Claudius recalled his nieces Julia and Agrippina from exile.
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  Speaker 1: Agrippina's husband, Neus Demetrius Ahenna Barbers, was dead, and some
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  Speaker 1: time after her return she married Crispus Passienus. Julia was
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  Speaker 1: espoused to Marcus Finishes. Both ladies were young and attractive,
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  Speaker 1: and as the daughters of Germanicus and sisters of Gaias,
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  Speaker 1: they both exercised influence and awakened suspicion of the court
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  Speaker 1: of Claudius. Agrippina avoided the dangers which surrounded her, but
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  Speaker 1: Julia's marked attentions to her uncle excited the jealousy of Massllina.
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  Speaker 1: She was driven again into banishment and died of starvation.
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  Speaker 1: The philosopher Seneca, noted for his wealth as well as
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  Speaker 1: for his writings, was banished at the same time to
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  Speaker 1: Corsica as a lover of Julia, but strange to say,
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  Speaker 1: his estates were not confiscated. In the following year forty two,
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  Speaker 1: a d a far more glaring act of injustice was
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  Speaker 1: committed to satisfy his vengeance of Massllina, a distinguished nobleman
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  Speaker 1: Apia Silanus, after Junian Jais had rejected the licentious advances
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  Speaker 1: of the Empress, and she determined to destroy him. Although
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  Speaker 1: he had been recently married to her mother Domitia Lafida.
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  Speaker 1: As there was no possible ground of charge against him,
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  Speaker 1: Massalina and her accomplice Narcissus, device a curious plot. Narcissus
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  Speaker 1: entered the empress chamber early one morning and told an
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  Speaker 1: accedence of alarm that he had drummed the previous night
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  Speaker 1: that Claudius was murdered by Selinus. Massellina then said that
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  Speaker 1: she had been visited by the same dream. Claudius, weak
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  Speaker 1: and superstitious, was terrified by the startling coincidence, and before
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  Speaker 1: he had time to recover from his pride, Selenius himself
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  Speaker 1: appeared according to an appointment which the Emperor had mate
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  Speaker 1: with him. But Claudius, in his bewilderment, forgot the appointment
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  Speaker 1: and saw in the sudden appearance of Selinus a confirmation
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  Speaker 1: of the suspicions which had been aroused by the dreams.
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  Speaker 1: Massalina and Narcissus bressed their advantage and easily persuaded the
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  Speaker 1: deceived emperor to issue in order for the immediate execution
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  Speaker 1: of Selina's If this tale can be trusted. It shows
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  Speaker 1: how unscrupulous the Empress and freedmen were encompassing their ends,
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  Speaker 1: and how completely the Emperor was dominated by their influence.
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  Speaker 1: Many other conspicuous victims were sacrificed to the jealousy or
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  Speaker 1: covetousness of Massalina. Among them must propaere U Sabina, said
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  Speaker 1: to be the most beautiful woman of the day, the
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  Speaker 1: wife of Lucius Cornelius Scipio. A real offense was that
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  Speaker 1: she tried to fascinate ne nest a dancer. With you,
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  Speaker 1: Massellina was in love. But the charge breffort against her
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  Speaker 1: was it that she committed adultery with Evalerius Asiaticus, a
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  Speaker 1: nobleman of wealth and influence, who was one of the
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  Speaker 1: councils of the year forty seven a d. He was
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  Speaker 1: brought into the trial because Masslina covered it to the
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  Speaker 1: gardens of Localus on the Pinchon Hill, which he had
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  Speaker 1: inherited at the same time. He was accused of treasonable
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  Speaker 1: designs and was given no opportunity to defend himself before Dissenord.
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  Speaker 1: The trial took place privately in the palace. Sentence was
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  Speaker 1: passed on the accused, and he was allowed to choose
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  Speaker 1: his own death. He adopted the manner of suicide which
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  Speaker 1: was then in fashion, and after bathing and supping, cut
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  Speaker 1: open his veins and let himself bleed to death. Propaa
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  Speaker 1: put an end to her own life before the trial
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  Speaker 1: was concluded. So far as the plans of Massllina those
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  Speaker 1: of the freedomen had not clashed, the interests of the
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  Speaker 1: latter were not threatened by an intrigue with the dasam
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  Speaker 1: Lester or by the confiscation of the gardens of Asiaticus.
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  Speaker 1: But when she engaged in an intrigue was a Roman noble,
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  Speaker 1: Gaius Cilius, the case was very different. For such a
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  Speaker 1: connection was clearly a manners to the throne. A man
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  Speaker 1: in the position of Cilius would hardly have suffered himself
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  Speaker 1: to be drawn into an intrigue with a woman of
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  Speaker 1: Masselina's evil reputation if he had not been urged by
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  Speaker 1: motives of ambition. But the interests of the freedmen were
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  Speaker 1: bound up in their master's life, and his overthrown would
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  Speaker 1: have almost certainly meant their ruin. They determined that Gaius
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  Speaker 1: Cilius should not attain to the principate, and as Masselina
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  Speaker 1: refused to listen to their warnings, they brought about her fall.
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  Speaker 1: Forty eight a d. The Empress, infatuated with her new lover,
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  Speaker 1: induced him to divorce his wife and promised to wet
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  Speaker 1: him after his death of Claudius, whose weak constitution might
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  Speaker 1: not be expected to hold out much longer. But at
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  Speaker 1: length Cilius, weary of his ambiguous and dangerous position and
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  Speaker 1: apprehensive perhaps of the constancy of his paramour, urged her
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  Speaker 1: to consent to the broad step of removing Claudius. He
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  Speaker 1: undertook to adopt Britannicus and promised to reign in his
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  Speaker 1: name and as his guardian. Masseelina, however, was not anxious
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  Speaker 1: to gratify his wishes. She feared that when Celius reached
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  Speaker 1: the goal of his ambition, he might spurn her from
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  Speaker 1: him on account of her licentiousness. Nevertheless, she felt such
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  Speaker 1: pleasure in trembling upon public opinion and outraging morality, that
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  Speaker 1: she consented to celebrate a former marriage with her lover.
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  Speaker 1: Claudius was just then about to set forth for Ostia,
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  Speaker 1: but before he started he was assured by diviners that
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  Speaker 1: some evil was destined to befall the husband of Masslina.
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  Speaker 1: To avert evil from his own head, he was induced
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  Speaker 1: to sanction a pretended marriage between his wife and another
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  Speaker 1: Gaius Cilius was chosen to be the sham ridegroom. The
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  Speaker 1: betrothal took place in the Empress's presence, and he himself
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  Speaker 1: signed to the marriage contract. He then started for Ostia,
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  Speaker 1: but Masslina remained behind on a plea of indisposition, and
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  Speaker 1: incredible as it may seem, celebrated her marriage with Silius
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  Speaker 1: with all the customary festivities. It was an anxious moment
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  Speaker 1: for the freedman Narcissus, Pallas and Callistus. The destruction of
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  Speaker 1: Gaiusilius must at all hazards be effected, and it was
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  Speaker 1: necessary to set cautiously to work. The influence which Masslina
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  Speaker 1: still possessed had been recently shown by the sentence of
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  Speaker 1: death parson Polybius, who had attempted to interfere between her
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  Speaker 1: and her lover. So Narcissus laid a plan to take
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  Speaker 1: her unawares and insure her fall. Before she could obtain
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  Speaker 1: an interview with her husband. He supporn two women who
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  Speaker 1: were intimate with Claudius to awaken him to the knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of a strangers situation. Narcissus was, then, according to the
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  Speaker 1: re arranged plot, summoned to the Emperor's presence and confirmed
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  Speaker 1: the strange tale of the marriage of Masslina. Did Claudius,
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  Speaker 1: he asked, know that he had been divorced by his
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  Speaker 1: own wife, that the people, the senate, the soldiers had
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  Speaker 1: witnessed the marriage of Cilia's. Was he still unaware that
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  Speaker 1: unless he acted promptly, the city was in the hands
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  Speaker 1: of the husband of Masslina. The Emperor could hardly believe
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  Speaker 1: the story, but others of the household bought testimony to
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  Speaker 1: its truth, and he was urged to hurry back to
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  Speaker 1: Rome with all speed and secure himself in the Pretorian camp.
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  Speaker 1: Utterly bewildered and frightened, Claudius let his counselors do with
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  Speaker 1: him what they would, and on his way back to Rome,
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  Speaker 1: he kept continually asking Amise the Emperor is Cilia's a
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  Speaker 1: private citizen. Narcissus distrusted Lucius Gatta, one of the two
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  Speaker 1: prefects of the Pretorian guards, as a friend of Massalina.
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  Speaker 1: He therefore induced Claudius took commit to himself the command
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  Speaker 1: of the guards for a single day. On obtaining the
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  Speaker 1: consent of the Emperor, he sent orders to Rome that
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  Speaker 1: a house of Cilius should be occupied and all who
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  Speaker 1: were present arrested. He obtained a seat in the carriage
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  Speaker 1: of the Emperor, lest the two companions of Claudius Vitalius
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  Speaker 1: and Lagus should weaken his resolution. Lucius Vitalius, who had
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  Speaker 1: gained distinction in the east under Tiberius and had worked
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  Speaker 1: himself into the favor of Gaius by unscrupulous flattery, carefully
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  Speaker 1: abstained from committing himself to an opinion. To the complaint
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  Speaker 1: of Claudius, he merely said, how scandalous, how horrible, leaving
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  Speaker 1: the freedom man to bear all the responsibility. Meanwhile, in
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  Speaker 1: the house of Cilias, the Empress was celebrating a vintage festival.
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  Speaker 1: The grape juice flowed in streams from the wine presses,
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  Speaker 1: and women, arrayed as backhands with skins flung over his shoulders,
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  Speaker 1: performed d wild dances. Massalina herself brandishing his theurceers, and Celius,
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  Speaker 1: crowned with Ivy at her side, stowe about em buskins.
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  Speaker 1: A note of discord suddenly broke upon the dissolute scene.
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  Speaker 1: A physician, one Vetias Falence, had climbed up a high tree,
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  Speaker 1: and when they asked him what he saw, he replied,
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  Speaker 1: in jest or by some kind of provision, a terrible
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  Speaker 1: storm coming from Ostia. Presently, the news came that Claudius
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  Speaker 1: was indeed coming from Ostia and coming to avenge the ride.
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  Speaker 1: His company was instantly scattered. Cilius rushed to the forum
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  Speaker 1: to hide his fear. Under the appearance of business, Masslina
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  Speaker 1: flutter the gardens of Luckless. They were hardly gone when
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  Speaker 1: the officers sent by Narcissus arrived, and some of the guests,
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  Speaker 1: who were slow in making their escape, were arrested. Masslina
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  Speaker 1: had no fears that all was lost. She dressed in
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  Speaker 1: her power over her husband. She made arrangements that her children,
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  Speaker 1: Britannicis and Octavia, should meet their father and silently plead
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  Speaker 1: their mother's cause, and she prayed Vibidia, the eldest of
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  Speaker 1: the Vestal virgins, to implore the Pontifex Maximus for pardon. Then,
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  Speaker 1: having passed through the city on foot, she set forth
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  Speaker 1: on the road to Ostia, and was able to find
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  Speaker 1: no better conveyance than a cart which was used to
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  Speaker 1: carry garden refuse, but all her endeavors failed. Narcissus prevented
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  Speaker 1: Claudius from listening to her cries, and the Vestal, when
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  Speaker 1: she met the carriage on its entry into Rome, was
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  Speaker 1: dismissed with an assurance that the empress would have an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity of defending herself. Claudius visited the house of Cilius
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  Speaker 1: and saw in the hall of the statue of the
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  Speaker 1: culprit's father, which, if the Senate had ordered to be
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  Speaker 1: overthrown and other sides, calculated to increase his indignation. He
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  Speaker 1: then proceeded to the camp of Debutorians and the senate
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  Speaker 1: to the tribunal. Cilius would not defend himself and merely
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  Speaker 1: asked for a speedy DEAs he was immediately executed. The
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  Speaker 1: same fate befelt Vettius Valence and several others, who were
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  Speaker 1: charged with abetting Cilius in his crime. The dancing Nestor
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  Speaker 1: was also put adas on account of his intrigue with Massllina,
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  Speaker 1: and likewise a young knight named Sextus Montanas, who had
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  Speaker 1: been her love of her only one day. In the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: Massalina had returned to the Lecullen gardens and did not
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  Speaker 1: yet despair. Her mother do Mitsia Lapida, who had stood
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  Speaker 1: aloof in the days of a prosperity, came to her
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  Speaker 1: in the hour of her distress. She urged her daughter
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  Speaker 1: to anticipate the stroke of the executioner by a voluntary death.
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  Speaker 1: Life is over, she said, nothing remains but an honorable end.
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  Speaker 1: But Masellina was fond of life, and she knew the
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  Speaker 1: nature of her husband. Claudius, exhausted by his work of retribution,
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  Speaker 1: had retired to the palace to dine, and after dinner
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  Speaker 1: he sent a message to the poor woman, bidding her
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  Speaker 1: come next day and plead her cause. But Narcissus was
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  Speaker 1: determined that she should have no chance of pleading, so
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  Speaker 1: he immediately ordered a tribune and some centurions to go
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  Speaker 1: and slay the criminal, saying such are as the Emperor's orders. Masseelina,
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  Speaker 1: having in vain, attempted to pierce herself with the sword,
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  Speaker 1: was killed by a blow of the tribune, and the
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  Speaker 1: corpse was left to her mother. Claudius, meanwhile, under the
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  Speaker 1: influence of wine, had forgotten the events which had just
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  Speaker 1: passed and began to ask quite a lady Harriet. When
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  Speaker 1: they told him that she was dead, he merely called
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  Speaker 1: for another cup and never mentioned her again. The Senor
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  Speaker 1: agreed that her name should be efface from all monuments,
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  Speaker 1: and Narcissus received, as a reward for his services, the
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  Speaker 1: insignia of the Cuistorship. Such it seems to be the
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  Speaker 1: least improbable version of the stranger story of the crowning
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  Speaker 1: insolence of Massalina and his sudden fall. But the episode
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  Speaker 1: of her public marriage with Cilia's will always remain a
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  Speaker 1: perplexing riddle unless some totally near evidence be discovered. End
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  Speaker 1: of Chapter fifteenth, Section four