Original release 2 juin 1997
Previous episode S1997E13 - Nelson Mandela: Journey to Freedom
Number S1997E14
Episode runtime 45 minutes
Country United States
Original language English
Genres Documentary, History
External links TheTVDB page
IMDB page
TheMovieDB page
Last update 8 novembre 2026 - 04:15
on 11 databases

Lucrezia Borgia: Pretty Poison

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Born the illegitimate daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia--later Pope Alexander VI--Lucrezia Borgia was three times married to further her father's political ambitions. Her first marriage had been annulled and her second husband was murdered on orders from her brother. The third of these was in 1501, to Alfonso son of the Duke of Este, who inherited the Duchy of Ferrara, where she established a brilliant court of artists and men of letters, and devoted herself to the patronage of art and education. But what of her reputation for wantonness and crime? She has been called the most depraved woman in history. As Lucrezia grew up in Roman society, rumors about her were rampant. Did she have incestuous affairs, with her father, the pope, and her brothers? Was pricking enemies with an arsenic-drenched ring her favorite method of disposing men? Or was Lucrezia a victim of her family's ruthless quest for power, exploited for her beauty and kindness? Is her reputation more legend than fact?

BetaSeries' opinion

Secrets d'histoire Season 20 Finale: Stéphane Bern's Messalina Episode Ends a Season About Reputations on Trial

Twenty seasons in, "Secrets d'histoire" can still surprise its audience. The Season 20 finale aired on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 9:10 p.m. on France 3, and Stéphane Bern closed the season with one of the most notorious women of antiquity: Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius. If you watched it, you already know it was more than a parade of Roman scandal. It was a careful re-examination of a woman whose name has been shorthand for depravity for almost two thousand years. If you haven't caught up yet, this debrief shows why the episode, and the whole season, deserves a place in your watchlist.

A finale that puts history's verdict on trial

The question at the centre of the finale was simple: does Messalina deserve the brutal nickname history gave her? Roman writers handed down a woman driven by insatiable desire and a hunger for power. Bern's team took that portrait apart piece by piece. They asked who wrote the story, why they wrote it, and what they gained from it. This is the series at its best. It doesn't simply retell a legend. It looks into how the legend was made. Messalina's world gave the episode plenty of drama: Caligula, Nero, Agrippina and the freedman Narcissus all appear, each with their own agenda in the deadly politics of the Julio-Claudian court. Without spoiling anything for latecomers, the finale's real emotional pull comes from the gap between the caricature and the young woman caught up in a machine much bigger than she was.

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