Statilia Messalina

Statilia Messalina
Statilia Messalina, third wife of Nero
Roman empress
TenureAD 66 – 9 June AD 68
Bornc. AD 35
Diedafter AD 68
SpouseMarcus Julius Vestinus Atticus
Nero
Issueat least one son
HouseJulio-Claudian (by marriage)
Fatherpossibly Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus
Roman imperial dynasties
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Chronology
27 BC – AD 14
AD 14–37
AD 37–41
AD 41–54
AD 54–68
Preceded by
Roman Republic		 Followed by
Year of the Four Emperors

Statilia Messalina (c. AD 35 – after 68) was a Roman patrician woman, a Roman Empress and third wife to Roman Emperor Nero.

Biography

Background

The ancient sources say little of her family; however, Suetonius states that she was a great-great-granddaughter of Titus Statilius Taurus, a Roman general who was awarded a triumph for his victory and was twice consul. She was either the daughter of Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus, consul in 45 AD, and who was involved in a plot against the Emperor Claudius,[1] or a daughter of the sister of Corvinus, Statilia Messallina.[2] Her grandmother might have been Valeria Messalina Corvina, one of the daughters of Roman senator Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus who served as consul in 31 BC.

Marriages

Her fourth husband was the consul Marcus Julius Vestinus Atticus to whom she may have borne a son (who died in 88 AD). Around 65 AD, she became Nero's mistress. After the death of the emperor's second wife Poppaea Sabina, Vestinus was forced to commit suicide in 66, so Nero could marry Statilia.

She was one of the few of Nero's courtiers who survived the fall of his reign. After Nero's death, Otho promised that he would marry her, before his suicide in 69 AD.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Lightman, Marjorie and Benjamin A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women Facts on File, Inc. (2008) pg 303 Google Books
  2. ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy, p. 377

Bibliography

  • Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy
  • Griffin, Miriam, Nero. The End of a Dynasty. Batsford, London, 1984
  • Raepsaet-Charlier M.-Th., Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial (Ier-IIe siècles), 2 vol., Louvain, 1987, 360 ff.
  • Zanker, P, Fittschen, K., Katalog der römischen Porträts in den Capitolinischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom, Mainz am Rhein, 1983, 75, Taf.93.94.
  • Annals
  • Lives of the Twelve Caesars
  • Satires