Chapter Eleven
You may believe these stories or not, as you please. As I say, I cannot verify them all from my own observation. But there was no doubt that Caligula was a pervert of the worst kind, someone who enjoyed cruelty, who was entertained by death and humiliation. I was greatly relieved when our visit was terminated and we were back at Claudius’s country estate. What I did not anticipate was the news that Claudius was to take another wife. Her name was Valeria Messalina. She was well-connected, a great grand-niece of the emperor Augustus. When she came to Claudius she was barely out of her teens, but already with a reputation as sexually adventurous. I do not think that Claudius was fully aware of this, but no one in his household wanted to be the one to tell him people thought hi
