v13_0153 - CLAUDIUS and MESSALINA, BRITANNICUS and OCTAVIA Tétradrachme

CLAUDIUS and MESSALINA, BRITANNICUS and OCTAVIA

(41-48)

In third weddings, Claude had married Valeria Messalina (25-48), the granddaughter of Octavie, the sister of Auguste who was executed in 48 for sacrilege because she had married her lover while she was still married to Claude , according to Suetonius. She had given two children to the emperor: Tiberius Claudius Britannicus, born in 41. Called Germanicus, his name was changed after his father had conquered Brittany in 42. After the death of his mother, he fell into disgrace and Claudius favored Nero, the son of his fourth wife Agrippina, whom he adopted in 50. Claudius' reversal in favor of his eldest son may have led to the assassination of the emperor by his wife in 54. The following year, Britannicus, according to Suetonius, was poisoned by his half-brother, Nero. He may have simply been the victim of an epileptic seizure. As for Octavia, the sister of Britannicus (40-62), she was betrothed to Nero, the son of Agrippina in 53. The marriage the following year was unhappy and finally, Octavia was assassinated in 62 to allow Nero to marry Poppea.