“When night falls, the sovereign [Valeria Messalina], in disg…”

Time

“When night falls, the sovereign [Valeria Messalina], in disguise, goes to the infamous suburbs of Suburra. There, in the most sordid brothels, she offers herself to the porters. If her august husband, at the same time, has taken it into his head to attend a torture session, the imperial palace of the Caesars will be empty: the emperor is in prison, the empress in the brothel.”

— Claudius

Verification

Attributed

Recorded by a reliable secondary source; exact wording may differ.

Source

Title: Wikiquote: Claudius
Type: reference · Secondary source

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Cite this source

Claudius. (n.d.). Wikiquote: Claudius. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Claudius

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Provenance: Collected from Wikiquote; not yet verified against a primary source.