Messalina and Silius

About the lecture

In this lecture we explore the figures of Messalina and Silius, focusing in particular on: (i) the figure of Messalina: her ancestry, her marriage to Claudius, her children; her reputation after her death; (ii) the depiction of Messalina in Tacitus: as a dangerous power behind the throne; as a nymphomaniac; (iii) Messalina’s depiction in other authors, e.g. Juvenal (‘meretrix Augusta’, Sat. 6.114-35), Pliny the Elder (NH 10.83); (iv) the figure of Gaius Silius: his family background, his political career; his good looks; his ‘marriage’ of Messalina; (v) the depiction of Silius in Tacitus: his initial passivity; the extent to which he was attracted to Messalina; his more active role later on in the relationship; his death; and (vi) the extent to which the relationship between Messalina and Silius was actually a plot to oust Claudius.

About the lecturer

Christopher Whitton is Professor of Latin Language at the University of Cambridge. He works on Latin literature of the early Roman Empire, especially Pliny the Younger and Tacitus, with particular interests in prose style, intertextuality and the intersection of literature and history. His main research projects at the moment are a 'green and yellow' commentary on Tacitus Annals 14 and a monograph provisionally entitled Tacitus Revoiced: Reading the Histories with Pliny the Younger.