Messalina Valeria third wife of the Roman emperor Claudius, notorious for licentious behaviour and instigating murderous court intrigues. They had two children, Octavia and Britannicus. Early sources maintain that Messalina allied herself with Claudius's freedmen secretaries to dominate the emperor and to gratify her avarice and lust. In 42, Messalina caused Claudius to condemn to death a senator, Appius Silanus, who had slighted her advances. This heightened the tension between the emperor and Senate and prepared the way for a reign of terror in which many senators were executed after they had been denounced by Messalina. When she caused the death of Claudius's freedman secretary, Polybius, however, the other freedmen turned against her. The correspondence secretary, Narcissus, managed to have her put to death by convincing Claudius that she and her lover were plotting to seize power.