She was about 15 and beautiful, while he was over 50 and the future emperor of the Roman Empire. In 38 CE (dates vary) Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus —known to history as Claudius— married his second cousin, Valeria Messalina. This was not a marriage made in heaven; some even claim she only married him to align herself with one of the most powerful families in the empire. Whatever her reason, history would remember him as the emperor who drooled and stammered and her as one of the most controlling, devious, and ambitious women in all of history.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original definition at https://www.worldhistory.org/Valeria_Messalina/.
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