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Messalina (Empress, Adulteress, Libertine: The Story of the Most Notorious Woman of the Roman World)
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Product Details
Author:
Honor Cargill-Martin
Format:
Hardcover
Pages:
432
Publisher:
Pegasus Books (June 6, 2023)
Language:
English
ISBN-13:
9781639363957
ISBN-10:
1639363955
Weight:
20.8oz
Dimensions:
6" x 9" x 1.7"
File:
Eloquence-SimonSchuster_04022026_P9912986_onix30_Complete-20260402.xml
Folder:
Eloquence
List Price:
$32.00
Case Pack:
12
As low as:
$24.64
Publisher Identifier:
P-SS
Discount Code:
A
Audience:
General/trade
Pub Discount:
65
Imprint:
Pegasus Books
Overview
The story of Messalina – third wife of the emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world
The image of the empress Messalina as a ruthless, sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work of Roman historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, has taken deep root in the Western imagination. The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and a twenty-four-hour sex competition witha prostitute. Tales like these have defined the empress's legacy, but her real story is much more complex.
In her new life of Messalina, the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin reappraises one of the most slandered and underestimated female figures of ancient history. Looking beyond the salacious anecdotes, she finds a woman battling to assert her position in the overwhelmingly male world of imperial Roman politics – and succeeding. Intelligent, passionate, and ruthless when she needed to be, Messalina's story encapsulates the cut-throat political manoeuvring and unimaginable luxury of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in its heyday.
Cargill-Martin sets out not to 'salvage' Messalina's reputation, but to look at her life in the context of her time. Above all, she seeks to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously circumscribed by currents of high politics and patriarchy.
The image of the empress Messalina as a ruthless, sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work of Roman historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, has taken deep root in the Western imagination. The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and a twenty-four-hour sex competition witha prostitute. Tales like these have defined the empress's legacy, but her real story is much more complex.
In her new life of Messalina, the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin reappraises one of the most slandered and underestimated female figures of ancient history. Looking beyond the salacious anecdotes, she finds a woman battling to assert her position in the overwhelmingly male world of imperial Roman politics – and succeeding. Intelligent, passionate, and ruthless when she needed to be, Messalina's story encapsulates the cut-throat political manoeuvring and unimaginable luxury of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in its heyday.
Cargill-Martin sets out not to 'salvage' Messalina's reputation, but to look at her life in the context of her time. Above all, she seeks to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously circumscribed by currents of high politics and patriarchy.








