Messalina (25-48 AD) was the fourth wife of Emperor Claudius. She always wore a necklace with twenty-one penises, twenty-one being the ideal number of "caresses" she wished to receive in one night. She organized sumptuous feasts that degenerated into orgies. Under threat of punishment, the most noble patricians of Rome were forced to participate...with their wives. She was often seen playing the prostitute on the ramparts of Rome. She died at the hand of Claudius himself. If the excesses of Messalina and her sexual disposition seem outrageous, they nevertheless reflect the standards of the time.