Decapitation of Messalina "I Claudius Best Moments"

[SCR360]

My favorite part of this moment is the transition from screaming and death to one of chirping birds in a bright new day.

[jamesaellis]

Colchester, by name would have not of existed then surly? What was e Latin name for the city?

[NWOrDREGS]

Heads rolling everywhere! lol...

[jonwiley]

Just shows how effective drama can be without the computer-generated gore that audiences take for granted today. It's even more chilling by hearing only the chirp of birds breaking the silence the following day

[Noodles37UK]

@jonwiley Exactly what I was thinking. I was also thinking what she was thinking when she suddenly realised she'd a minute to live and how everyone else was older than her, she dying so young. Stupid music and CGI would have drained those points from our attention.

[rainbownuthouse]

claudius looks like steve martin

[blue2765]

Lord, for the screaming alone.

[felixjazzage]

That is such a heartbreaking scene at the end.

[heromine293]

Messalina got her comeuppance. Serves her right, and left as well!!!!!

[SleepWhenIamDead]

...so that is what it feels like to be a God???...I'd rather have fun like Caligula....

[fenderguy0982]

I remember seeing episode 10 and the beginning talking about how much she wanted to be like Livia. From then on I knew she was going to be crazy.... off with her head! I just wish they had shown Claudius her head like they did with the boy and said "We fixed her"... but that's just me :)

[kkallebb]

I love the mother. So Roman.

[jugganaut35]

Wow, terribly overacted and abominably cast, for Messalina at least. I winced at how crappy the actress was.

[vasp99]

See ya bitch .

[MrSpinteractive]

Great television

[asjdfl]

reading the comments-section of this clip is almost better than the actual thing. accidentally stumbled into Misogynistic HQ!

hi guys!

[BRUTUALTRUTH]

You are better off without her mate! Same can't be said for her and her head!

[md991free]

@BRUTUALTRUTH Her mother wanted her to die with honor and dignity like a samurai warrior committing seppuku. 

[frements]

@md991free thought it was the term hari kari lol

[md991free]

@frements It means the same thing. One is the ancient Chinese translation (Seppuku), used in written form, the other, Hara-Kiri is the actual spoken words meaning cutting stomach or belly and it is used in speaking form instead of written.

The Bankers that destroyed the global economy back in 2008 should all have committed Seppuku.

[frements]

@md991free thanks mate never knew that :)

[ImperialistRunningDo]

@md991free "Seppuku" is Japanese, not Chinese.

[md991free]

@ImperialistRunningDo I thought it was originally ancient Chinese, translated into Japanese. I will do further research.

[ImperialistRunningDo]

@md991free Let me know what you find, I know very little about the Chinese. I have books on the Japanese. "Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide" was given to me by a friend. I thought at first it was a suggestion, but after reading it, I gave it a choice spot in my collection of Japanese history books.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of Chinese ritual that I haven't heard of. Keep in touch.

[md991free]

@ImperialistRunningDo Will do. If you enjoy reading about ancient Asian history, I highly recommend "The Art of War". A book written 2,000 years ago by a Chinese general. My apologize if you've already read it :)

[ImperialistRunningDo]

@md991free NEVER apologize for a good book. I've studied Sun Tzu and his book was required reading. We then studied Mao's civil war.

If anyone else out there is interested in military strategy, this book is a "must have."

[md991free]

@frements You very welcome

[japanimerock]

wait he didn't cry...wasn't it said he just asked for more wine and didn't show emotion?

[frankconjr]

starring Bobby Knight as Caesar. He should have got mad and thrown his throne.

[heliotropezzz333]

@frankconjr Who is Boby Knight? This is Derek Jakobi playing Claudius

[frankconjr]

@frankconjr only the greatest coach in NCAA history . Coached University of Indiana University and Texas Tech . He only has over 900 basketball team victories to date.

[Kelly14UK]

0:54 Thanks for the laughs uploader!

[HuasoPodrido]

this beats divorce court by a long shot.

[deloufu]

Well she did say take a little off the top please.

[hydracoop63]

NO NOT MY HEAD NOT MY *slash* spin spin spin

[sdsuman1]

Some of the greatest acting in any mini-series ever. That lady who did messalina was brilliant. If you haven't seen the whole series she first comes off as sweet and innocent then once she gets power she turns into a fire-breathing witch. The entire cast deserved emmys.

[md991free]

@sdsuman1 The acting was as good as Elizabeth R, produced around the same time I think.

[3baxcb]

Politically correct: make a premature decision to have an temple declare Claudius a god.

Messalina could have least asked her mother where's the best place to stab and die quickly or even assist. Assisted suicide was done by Cassius.

[schizoidboy]

I read somewhere that she took the dagger but was so reluctant to use it the messenger got enraged and stabbed her himself. It gives you the idea how much she was really hated. If she screamed as much as the actress does it wouldn't surprise me.

[spqrclaudius]

Tacitus tells us that Claudius did not know of the execution--it was authorized secretly on the DL by his freedmen (just like we see in the series). The only real difference is that Tacitus says she was stabbed, and here she is decapitated; when Claudius asked to see his wife and was told she was dead, he asked for more wine, but this is not so different from his indifferent reaction in this scene, and private tears.

[TheLogicJunkie]

If you can feel bad for Messalina, you can truly feel bad for anybody. I would not want you on any jury, or as any judge.

[blue2765]

I'm glad they beheaded her I was tired of all her screeching.... jeez

[RunsWithWeasels]

Oh wow, it's been years since I've seen this! I remember watching it on PBS when I was 14! Ah, memories... The camera work on that was brilliant. The "swoop" as Messalina was losing her head really worked and just made that scene for me. I have to admit, I hated Measslina, probably more than I hated Livia so I was happy when she got her just desserts. But I did feel so badly for Claudius. He loved her. Seeing him sobbing like that broke my heart.

[27manlover]

F***ing brilliant!

[wookiee222]

I've just read the book. It's a shame that I can't see this programme in TV.

[lilanma]

I care less about her adulteries than about the fact that she made Claudius kill people through her corruption and she tried to kill him by leading a coup.

[frankconjr]

this is the part of the movie labeled "She had to ask"

[deloufu]

Take a little of the top please.

[cloudcutter81]

As much as i love the part of that bitch getting her just desrests, i have to say that the part of this clip i love the most is when Claudius is both told that his wife is dead and that he is being worshiped as a god at the same time he only cares that the woman he loved is dead, not the fact that he has reached the roman ideal of being worshiped as a living god, it shows just how much of a real human being his is inside, its not politics he cares for but the the wellbeing of others

[AspiringScoundrel]

I would have ensured that she suffered the most agonising tortures first before offering her the cup of death; after all, she'd only really gotten familiar with one side of the coin - pain should have been indulged in equal measure, in the case of such harlotry.

[frankconjr]

well they cant never say she didnt "give head"

[stevenabb]

Now in the year 2009, the divorce courts do exactly the same thing to men ( except the death penalty lasts a life time ).

[frankconjr]

she had to ask LOL

[greeniem]

michael chrighton's widow next....

[v49624430]

One of the best mini series

[jackrc18]

Forget historical accuracy, just realise what a good show this was. Her decapitation was the most memorable thing for me in it after all these years....and you dont see a trace of blood or gore. Today we would have the head spouting blood in close up and slo-mo as it hit the floor rolling around from numerous angles. Not necessary, overkill (If you will pardon the pun). A picture may be worth a thousand words but your imagination can be worth so much more.

Thanks for posting.

[jimjimmyjames59]

@jackrc18

Same here! I looked for it here because it was so memorable. And you're right - no blood, no gore, but an amazing scene!! Amazing script!!

[imperatorcaesar100]

@jackrc18 you are right sometimes it is better to show the lead up to an action, and have the audience visualize the actual beheading.

[TheLogicJunkie]

You're exactly right. As far as I'm concerned, this series has always set the standard for me in terms of what real acting is.

[jegspillerpiano]

@TheLogicJunkie I like the total lack of sympathy of the soldiers too. They've spent their lives in the toughest of environments risking their lvies as a way of life, so they are going to have no time for a spoilt pretty little princess who has lived a life of comfort and hedonistic pleasure, even if she is young. No sympathy at all, probaby even a satisfaction for them, 'because' she is young and pretty not 'in spite of it'!

[TheLogicJunkie]

@jegspillerpiano Oh, I see your point, but while I also don't think the soldiers "sympathize" with her, that's not to say that they don't understand her -- I think they understand her kind perfectly well, and I think that's why they're more than able to deliver exactly the sort of casual callousness that they know will have the most horrifying and traumatizing effect on her, in her last evil moments on this earth.

[eoppen]

Some women just lose their heads and get cut off short about their love lives...*grin*

[baraxor]

2:10

One strike and she's out!

[ShadowsofAngmar]

If you go to a home for terminal patients and then shout : Child, Child, your life is done

That would be funny

[Bjovolf]

Wow ! - that was back when they could make proper TV-series that was actually worth watching.

Great writing.

[psyche100]

I've read about her in history books before and I always wondered what the hell she was thinking, there was no way marrying the other guy could have ever ended well

[greeniem]

That's how you deal with bitches :)

[iUDods]

Now that's a bad acting.

[Bjovolf]

bad ?????

[cazza4343]

i didnt know she was decapitated ! i thought A) she was stabbed by a praetorian guard and B) Claudius new of it, and was told and a dinner and once tld asked for more wine ? or i may be wrong

[zeusbark]

You are probably right, remember this show was based on a novel. It's not 100% accurate

[TempestWriter]

Actually, according to Tacitus, Narcissus gave orders for her to be killed after Claudius asked to "see the poor creature." Fearing Claudius was changing his mind, Narcissus ordered that she should be killed, only to find that she had already committed suicide. This all according to Tacitus at least.

[piontro]

Wrong... Messalina was a coward,she would never have committed suicide, she was very selfish and egotistic. She thought that Claudius was going to pardon her. But, her Luck just run out. She was a Hooker in disguise, a Skank with no morals. So, TempestWriter You're a LIAR, you have no idea about history. FUCK THE USA.

[TempestWriter]

Read Tacitus, or any other modern historian on the subject. None of them say that.

[TheLogicJunkie]

I had a Messalina once. She completely wrecked my life.

[LadyD1976]

@TheLogicJunkie

I am so sorry - for what's it worth, an ex boyfriend of mine did the same to me 7 years ago. I have never got over it - just a scar that I live with from day to day. Oh well ........

[TheLogicJunkie]

Well, the important thing is that, after she milked and manipulated my family into overhauling her entire life from a total shambles, she's now married to some smug ex-military Aryan and living the life of Riley.

At least evil always wins, and wins everything -- that's what's important, We certainly wouldn't want a fair and just world, if even for a moment.

[LadyD1976]

@TheLogicJunkie

Logic Junkie - your former partner - what a bitch-cow! But just you wait, what goes around, comes around in this life or the next - she will get what' coming to her, just you wait! Well Good Luck - the best revenge is to live well and I wish you all the best for this xxxxxxxxxx

[TheLogicJunkie]

@LadyD1976 Thank you, Lady. :-0

[Garret00074]

@TheLogicJunkie

we've all had a Messalina....

[TheLogicJunkie]

Mine left 12 years ago, and I haven't had anyone else since -- she was the killing blow.

[rattinox]

@TheLogicJunkie Amen, Brother- I can sympathise with that!

[andmaketherain]

@TheLogicJunkie What, pray tell, was her fate?

[rattinox]

@TheLogicJunkie Bitch stood me up twice in '80, once for Journey, once for Supertramp. The Romans had one Hell of an admirable system, by Jove!!

[TheLogicJunkie]

@rattinox Well, that's bad, but it could definitely have been worse...*L*

[3baxcb]

@zeusbark Neither are many of the ancient sources.

[imperatorcaesar100]

@cazza4343 yes I read she was stabbed by a member of the Preatorian guard.

[piontro]

@cazza4343 Nope you're not wrong. according to history that was Claudius did.

[TakumProti]

@cazza4343 Yes, you're quite right. Claudius did knowingly sentence Messalina to death and was not at all broken up about it. And he did just ask for more wine.

[armygrunt13]

@cazza4343 The series and the book take a number of historical liberties (particularly involving the Emperor Tiberius), but this scene is mostly accurate. Whether or not Claudius knew and willingly signed the death warrant is unknown; although Tacitus notes that he showed no emotion when told that it had been carried out. Tacitus also states that she was in fact decapitated, as this was a grievous and insulting way to die.

[frtw4428]

2:10 is cool! Would have been better if they were more explicit and showed the decapitation! Still it's good to know that damned bitch got what she deserved! Hope the fuckin' slut's been rotting in hell for the past 2000 years!

[LBF522]

She had to be executed. Her actions did call for it.

[verkaforever]

No, they didn't. She had to be punished, but she did not need to be executed. I am not trying to make a case for her, she was DISGUSTING (I have studied her at high school), but I am against the death penalty.

[baraxor]

She was responsible for more than one death on this show.

[Nightmonkey17]

Messalina was so hot!

But I was happy to see her die.

[nbraden22]

The head spun like a top... Now THAT's a roflcopter

[Logos87X]

haha

[mackeral0]

what a slut

[zeusbark]

Really? I always felt like she deserved it. She got greedy and betrayed the emperor

[ronncarol]

Poor Claudius! All that power and yet, in this scene it means nothing. The irony is tremendous.

[zeusbark]

One of my favorite moments, I always felt bad for Claudius though

[sivv79]

Me too.. poor bastard

[3baxcb]

@zeusbark That is the point at the end. He was all powerful but almost everyone he cared for has died.

[iorixs]

justice