catherine's marriage was said to be unfaithful and distraught. peter and catherine were each said to have several lovers. after they had been married nine years, catherine bore a son, paul. paul was born on . both parents accepted him as legitimate, even though there had been rumors about catherine having been unfaithful. catherine also had a daughter anna, born in 1757. anna died in 1759. catherine and peter had a very difficult relationship. when peter died, catherine was left to rule russia on her own. catherine had many lovers, probably because of the difficult marriage; over twenty lovers are known. a few of these seem to be more important: