Wedding of Messalina and Silius (autumn AD 48)

In the autumn of AD 48, while Claudius was at Ostia, Messalina reportedly “married” Gaius Silius. The freedman Narcissus revealed this to the emperor and took command of the Guard for a day (Tacitus, Annals 11.26–35). Suetonius describes the matter differently: Claudius is said to have signed the marriage contract, believing the wedding was a sham (Claudius 29). Whether it was a wedding or part of a plot, scholars do not know (Prusac 2025).