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521 The Empress Messalina (with Honor Cargill-Martin) | My Last Book with Robert Chandler

The History of Literature

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The Origins of Rumors

The first time that we see the rumor about Messina having this competition with a prostitute, it emerges really interestingly in Kenny's natural history. And he uses it as evidence essentially for the insatiability of human sexual desire in comparison to other animals. So I think that is so interesting because it proves that these rumors must have been well ingrained enough. It was kind of attacking the idea that she could be in power by turning her into this sort of monster.

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