THE SCENE: Even a respectable naturalist like Pliny the Elder was not above engaging in some of the salacious and slanderous gossip that often followed around the powerful Roman Empress Messalina.
THE TEXT: Messalina, the wife of Claudius Ceasar, thinking it would be a royal triumph, chose to compete against a certain notorious prostitute, and, over a twenty-four-hour period, beat her record by having sex with twenty-five men.
– Natural History, Pliny the Elder, 1st Century AD
“In an outburst of love which her weakness hardly allowed, she slid along like a snake, dragging her own completely bloody body up beside the lifeless corpse. As if he were alive, she gave him as many sweet kisses as she could and broke out into a sorrowful song.” […]
“It seemed as if we were being tossed about on a wild sea without any oar. Unsure as to what would happen, we were indeed worried and very deeply disturbed.” […]
“Soon the most kind king, thinking that he did not know how to sing it all, ordered them to help him. When the others sang and the wretched man could not learn the verse from anyone, having sung the responsory he began to chant the Lord’s Prayer in an elaborate way.” […]
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