romulanholiday:This is a statue of Valeria Messalina and her son Britannicus.Messalina was an empr
romulanholiday: This is a statue of Valeria Messalina and her son Britannicus.Messalina was an empress of Rome for a time, though she would later be executed for treason. Later historians would immortalize her as incredibly lustful and dangerous, and until ‘nymphomania’ was coined in 1775, the common synonymous term was ‘Messaline syndrome’. Britannicus, Messalina’s son, and one-time heir to the Roman empire, was murdered at the age of fourteen so his step-brother Nero could one day rule. But lets step back a bit. What if you didn’t know that? Who would you think that statue was of, on first glance? I find it consistently fascinating how pervasive some imagery is throughout history. -- source link
#history#ancient rome#nymphomania#messaline syndrome#virgin mary