lory of conquest, or I of a
brave resistance? I am now in your (335) power: if you are determined to
take revenge, my fate will soon be forgotten, and you will derive no
honour from the transaction. Preserve my life, and I shall remain to the
latest ages a monument of your clemency."

Immediately upon this speech, Claudius granted him his liberty, as he did
likewise to the other royal captives. They all returned their thanks in
a manner the most grateful to the emperor; and as soon as their chains
were taken off, walking towards Agrippina, who sat upon a bench at a
little distance, they repeated to her the same fervent declarations of
gratitude and esteem.

History has preserved no account of Caractacus after this period; but it
is probable, that he returned in a short time to his own country, where
his former valour, and the magnanimity, which he had displayed at Rome,
would continue to render him illustrious through life, even amidst the
irretrievable ruin of his fortunes.

The most extraordinary character in the present reign was that of Valeria
Messalina, the daughter of Valerius Messala Barbatus. She was married to
Claudius, and had by him a son and a daughter. To cruelty in the
prosecution of her purposes, she added the most abandoned incontinence.
Not confining her licentiousness within the limits of the palace, where
she committed the most shameful excesses, she prostituted her person in
the common stews, and even in the public streets of the capital. As if
her conduct was already not sufficiently scandalous, she obliged C.
Silius, a man of consular rank, to divorce his wife, that she might
procure his company entirely to herself. Not contented with this
indulgence to her criminal passion, she next persuaded him to marry her;
and during an excursion which the emperor made to Ostia, the ceremony of
marriage was actually performed between them. The occasion was
celebrated with a magnificent supper, to which she invited a large
company; and lest the whole should be regarded as a frolic, not meant to
be consummated, the adulterous parties ascended the nuptial couch in the
presence of the astonished spectators. Great as was the facility of
Claudius's temper in respect of her former behaviour, he could not
overlook so flagrant a violation both of public decency and the laws of
the country. Silius was condemned to death for the adultery which he had
perpetrated with reluctance; and Messalina was ordered int