Chapter 1: 48CE Claudius
Chapter 1
Bust of a young Emperor Claudius
48AD would bring scandal to the heart of Rome, as the wife of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Valeria Messalina attempted a coup. Messalina the mother of Claudius's children Claudia Octavia, and Claudius Britannicus, attempted to marry Gaius Silius. Their coup was to replace Claudius with the infant Britannicus and the two would act as regents of the empire. A foolish plan that was caught by the emperors most trusted advisor Narcissus. Gaius Silius and any of his compatriot were executed upon treason, however the emperor hesitated upon ordering the death of his wife and mother of his children, Narcissus ordered her execution in place of Claudius, before he could make up his mind.
Narcissus did not lose the faith of his patron for this move however he feared if Britannicus ever became emperor what he would do to the man who ordered his mother's death. The emperor who was 58, carried his grief at the loss of his third wife, and even at times promised that he would not marry again, and even at one point gave a directive that he be executed if he ever married again. However it was not to be, by the end of 48 his advisors and freedmen Narcissus, Antonius Pallas, and Callistus had convinced him to find another bride.
The option they gave him where, Lollia Paulina, the third wife of Caligula, Aelia Paetina Claudius's own divorced second wife, and Agrippina the younger.
Claudius is said to have flown into a rage after these suggestions where made, firstly Lollia Paulina was the third wife of his hated dead nephew a man he did not wish to associate with, and none in Rome wished to bring the memories of.
Aelia Paetina, Narcissus own candidate was not the worst choice, but at the memory of his depressing marriage in which she had bullied and offended him along with her arrogance which would only grow if he married her and made her Augusta he dismissed the possibility. Narcissus is Said to have made this suggestion at the possibility of making Faustus Cornelius Sulla the emperors son in law through his daughter Claudia Antonia the emperors hier through this move, which would then negate the danger to himself if Britannicus succeeded his father.
The third disgusted Claudius with the thought of insest with his niece Agrippina. While having another hier in the young Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and uniting the two claims of the Julio Claudians was an enticing idea, the disgust at the suggestion nearly made him remove Pallas who had suggested it from his list of advisors.
To this end Claudius decided that he would have to find the candidate himself, and soon found one that was enticing for her beauty, the political bonuses and for the irony of it. He brought forth the suggestion to his advisors that he marry Junia Silana, the ex wife of Gaius Silius the man who had tried to usurp him. None of his advisors dared to question the match, as Silana was still in her thirties and able to bear a child, she also brought strong political connections to her cousins the Junii Silanii Torqatii, who were descended from Augustus himself, who were also connected to Lucius Vitellius through the marriage of there eldest sister Calvina to the son of Vitellius who himself was a freind of the Augustus, as well their youngest sister had married Domitius Corbulo the general in Germania and had bore his first daughter Domitia Corbulo that very year. One of the sons of this very family Lucius Junius Silanus himself was betrothed to Claudia Octavia herself daughter of the emperor, with the agreement made on January first of 49AD Claudius married Junia Silana, and none was happier than Narcissus who stood by Lucius Junius Silanus as Britannicus glared daggers at him.
Bust of Britannicus
Bust of a young Emperor Claudius
48AD would bring scandal to the heart of Rome, as the wife of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Valeria Messalina attempted a coup. Messalina the mother of Claudius's children Claudia Octavia, and Claudius Britannicus, attempted to marry Gaius Silius. Their coup was to replace Claudius with the infant Britannicus and the two would act as regents of the empire. A foolish plan that was caught by the emperors most trusted advisor Narcissus. Gaius Silius and any of his compatriot were executed upon treason, however the emperor hesitated upon ordering the death of his wife and mother of his children, Narcissus ordered her execution in place of Claudius, before he could make up his mind.
Narcissus did not lose the faith of his patron for this move however he feared if Britannicus ever became emperor what he would do to the man who ordered his mother's death. The emperor who was 58, carried his grief at the loss of his third wife, and even at times promised that he would not marry again, and even at one point gave a directive that he be executed if he ever married again. However it was not to be, by the end of 48 his advisors and freedmen Narcissus, Antonius Pallas, and Callistus had convinced him to find another bride.
The option they gave him where, Lollia Paulina, the third wife of Caligula, Aelia Paetina Claudius's own divorced second wife, and Agrippina the younger.
Claudius is said to have flown into a rage after these suggestions where made, firstly Lollia Paulina was the third wife of his hated dead nephew a man he did not wish to associate with, and none in Rome wished to bring the memories of.
Aelia Paetina, Narcissus own candidate was not the worst choice, but at the memory of his depressing marriage in which she had bullied and offended him along with her arrogance which would only grow if he married her and made her Augusta he dismissed the possibility. Narcissus is Said to have made this suggestion at the possibility of making Faustus Cornelius Sulla the emperors son in law through his daughter Claudia Antonia the emperors hier through this move, which would then negate the danger to himself if Britannicus succeeded his father.
The third disgusted Claudius with the thought of insest with his niece Agrippina. While having another hier in the young Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and uniting the two claims of the Julio Claudians was an enticing idea, the disgust at the suggestion nearly made him remove Pallas who had suggested it from his list of advisors.
To this end Claudius decided that he would have to find the candidate himself, and soon found one that was enticing for her beauty, the political bonuses and for the irony of it. He brought forth the suggestion to his advisors that he marry Junia Silana, the ex wife of Gaius Silius the man who had tried to usurp him. None of his advisors dared to question the match, as Silana was still in her thirties and able to bear a child, she also brought strong political connections to her cousins the Junii Silanii Torqatii, who were descended from Augustus himself, who were also connected to Lucius Vitellius through the marriage of there eldest sister Calvina to the son of Vitellius who himself was a freind of the Augustus, as well their youngest sister had married Domitius Corbulo the general in Germania and had bore his first daughter Domitia Corbulo that very year. One of the sons of this very family Lucius Junius Silanus himself was betrothed to Claudia Octavia herself daughter of the emperor, with the agreement made on January first of 49AD Claudius married Junia Silana, and none was happier than Narcissus who stood by Lucius Junius Silanus as Britannicus glared daggers at him.
Bust of Britannicus
