She was the most powerful woman in Rome, but she thought she was untouchable. Messalina was the young wife of the Emperor Claudius, and she spent her nights leading a double life. While the Emperor slept, she would disguise herself with a blonde wig and slip out of the palace to work in the city’s most dangerous districts just for the thrill of it. But her greed was her downfall. She grew so bold that she actually held a wedding ceremony with another man while her husband was still alive. When Claudius found out, his shock turned into a cold, lethal rage. Messalina fled to a garden and begged her mother for help, but the guards were already at the gate. As the soldiers broke through the doors, the Empress tried to take her own life, but her hands were trembling so much she couldn’t even break her own skin. A guard had to grab her hand and force the blade home. When the news was brought to the Emperor during dinner, he didn’t even pause his meal. He simply asked for more wine and ordered that her name be erased from every monument in the city.
Interesting Fact After her death, Claudius was so traumatized by her betrayal that he told his Praetorian Guard to kill him if he ever tried to marry again. Within a year, he broke that promise and married Agrippina the Younger—the woman who eventually poisoned him with a plate of mushrooms.
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