Messalina: The most Notorious Woman of the Roman Empire
Messalina was the third wife of the Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women of the Roman world. Historians Tacitus and Suetonius wrote that the Empress Messalina was ‘a ruthless and sexually insatiable schemer.’ The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and a twenty-four-hour sex competition with a prostitute. Tales like these have defined the empress’s legacy but is her story more complex? Classicist Honor Cargill-Martin joins us to reveal the truth about arguably one of the most slandered and underestimated female figures of ancient history who is the…
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