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On October 13, 54, Roman Emperor Claudius died. From the article:
"Claudius
Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54 CE. After the death of Emperor Caligula (37-41 CE) and his family at the hands of the Praetorian Guard, the future Emperor Claudius was found quivering behind a set of curtains, fearing for his own life, and named emperor. Historian Cassius Dio wrote: "At first the soldiers, supposing that he was someone else or perhaps had something worth taking, dragged him forth; and then, on recognizing him, they hailed him emperor and conducted him to the camp. Afterwards they together with their comrades entrusted to him the supreme power ..." (60.1)
Early Life
Claudius, or Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus (10 BCE - 54 CE), was Caligula’s uncle (brother to Germanicus) and had always been thought of as being dimwitted (even his own mother agreed with this assessment) which is the reason why some believe he remained alive as long as he did. He drooled, stammered, and limped - an easy target for cruel jokes by the ever-abusive Caligula. According to his The Twelve Caesars, ancient historian Suetonius said Claudius’ mother Antonia (daughter of Mark Antony) considered her son “a monster, a man whom Mother Nature had begun work upon but then flung aside.” When she accused someone of being stupid, she would say, “He is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius” (Life of Claudius, 3.2.).
His grandmother, Livia, could not bear to look him in the face. When it was predicted that Claudius would rule the empire, she “prayed aloud that the Roman people might be spared so cruel and undeserved a misfortune”(3.2.). Later in life, Claudius explained his feeblemindedness as an act. According to Suetonius, “Instead of keeping quiet about his stupidity, Claudius explained, in a few short speeches, that it had been a mere mask assumed for the benefit of Caligula, and that he owed both life and throne to it” (38.3). While receiving no government office under Augustus, Claudius was appointed to a short-termed consulship by Caligula. Since he had few responsibilities, Claudius spent his free time reading and writing histories. Suetonius said that this idleness led to a reputation for drunkenness and gambling.
Claudius brought relative peace to Rome with the restoration of the rule of law.
Claudius As Emperor
Although not the preferred choice of the Roman Senate, Claudius proved to be an efficient emperor. His first act was to execute Cassius Chaerea and his co-conspirators, the assassins of Caligula. He brought relative peace to Rome with the restoration of the rule of law. He built a new harbor at Ostia, established an imperial civil service, and brought about agrarian reform. When food riots broke out in the streets during a prolonged drought, he imported grain to feed the citizenry. He reclaimed land by draining the Fucine Lake in Central Italy. He abolished the treason trials of Caligula and expanded the empire further into the Middle East and the Balkans. Lastly, he completed the conquest of Mauritania begun by Caligula and conquered Britain. In search for military glory, Claudius personally led his army through Gaul and across the Channel into Britain where, with little opposition, he reduced much of the island into submission.
But the man whom many considered too weak to rule could also be as merciless as those who ruled before him. Like his predecessors, he was paranoid, quick to anger, and did not hesitate to put supposed enemies to death. This paranoia was not without foundation. Although a revolt led by Scribimanus, governor of Upper Illyricum, was easily put down with many of the participants being executed, ties to the conspirators led to many high ranking officials in Rome. Claudius had 35 senators and 400 others executed or forced to commit suicide. Cassius Dio wrote: “... he caused all who came near him, men and women alike to be searched, for fear they might have a dagger, and at banquets he was sure to have some soldiers present” (60.3.) His paranoia did not stop with conspirators; like Caligula, he had problems with the city’s Jews, and to avoid further rioting, he had them all expelled from the city.
Claudius & Marriage
Married four times, Claudius had very poor luck with women. In reference to these marriages and his relationship to his freedmen associates (Narcissus and Pallas), Dio wrote: “It was not these infirmities, however, that caused the deterioration of Claudius so much as it was the freedmen and the women with whom he associated” (60.2). He married twice during his time as emperor, neither marriage being a wise choice. All the women he married (in particular Messalina and Agrippina) had immense influence over him as did the two freedmen. Dio added:
Moreover, he was afflicted by cowardice, which often so overpowered him that he could not reason out anything as he ought. They (his wives and freedmen) seized upon this failing of his, too, to accomplish many of their purposes. (60.2)
His marriage to Messalina ended in her premature death. Although she had given him a son, Britannicus, Messalina was not one to remain very faithful. When one potential suitor spurned her advances, Narcissus told Claudius the young man had plans to kill him. The man was executed. Later, Messalina and her lover Gaius Silius planned to kill Claudius and place Britannicus on the throne where they would then serve as regents. The plot was spoiled and Narcissus convinced Claudius that Messalina must die. Although she was given the opportunity to commit suicide, she failed and so was stabbed to death. In his The Annals Tacitus wrote:
... for the first time she understood her fate and put her hand to the dagger. In her terror she was applying it ineffectively to her throat and breast, when a blow from the tribune drove it through her. ... Claudius was still at the banquet when they told him that Messalina was dead. ... he showed no sign of hatred or joy or anger or sadness. (11.38.)
Death & Successor
His marriage to Agrippina (urged to do so by Pallas) was something he regretted shortly after exchanging vows, for it was also disastrous. The manipulative Agrippina (who was also his niece) was intent on having her son Nero named the next emperor. Initially, she had planned to have Nero marry Claudius’s daughter, Claudia Octavia, but changed her mind when Nero was adopted by Claudius, becoming his successor.
As with those who came before him, Claudius was not to die naturally. Agrippina is suspected in his death, for Claudius died shortly after eating poisoned mushrooms that were given to him by his beloved wife. As his mother had wished, Nero soon ascended to the throne of the empire, and a new era of depravity and corruption began."
"Claudius
Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54 CE. After the death of Emperor Caligula (37-41 CE) and his family at the hands of the Praetorian Guard, the future Emperor Claudius was found quivering behind a set of curtains, fearing for his own life, and named emperor. Historian Cassius Dio wrote: "At first the soldiers, supposing that he was someone else or perhaps had something worth taking, dragged him forth; and then, on recognizing him, they hailed him emperor and conducted him to the camp. Afterwards they together with their comrades entrusted to him the supreme power ..." (60.1)
Early Life
Claudius, or Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus (10 BCE - 54 CE), was Caligula’s uncle (brother to Germanicus) and had always been thought of as being dimwitted (even his own mother agreed with this assessment) which is the reason why some believe he remained alive as long as he did. He drooled, stammered, and limped - an easy target for cruel jokes by the ever-abusive Caligula. According to his The Twelve Caesars, ancient historian Suetonius said Claudius’ mother Antonia (daughter of Mark Antony) considered her son “a monster, a man whom Mother Nature had begun work upon but then flung aside.” When she accused someone of being stupid, she would say, “He is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius” (Life of Claudius, 3.2.).
His grandmother, Livia, could not bear to look him in the face. When it was predicted that Claudius would rule the empire, she “prayed aloud that the Roman people might be spared so cruel and undeserved a misfortune”(3.2.). Later in life, Claudius explained his feeblemindedness as an act. According to Suetonius, “Instead of keeping quiet about his stupidity, Claudius explained, in a few short speeches, that it had been a mere mask assumed for the benefit of Caligula, and that he owed both life and throne to it” (38.3). While receiving no government office under Augustus, Claudius was appointed to a short-termed consulship by Caligula. Since he had few responsibilities, Claudius spent his free time reading and writing histories. Suetonius said that this idleness led to a reputation for drunkenness and gambling.
Claudius brought relative peace to Rome with the restoration of the rule of law.
Claudius As Emperor
Although not the preferred choice of the Roman Senate, Claudius proved to be an efficient emperor. His first act was to execute Cassius Chaerea and his co-conspirators, the assassins of Caligula. He brought relative peace to Rome with the restoration of the rule of law. He built a new harbor at Ostia, established an imperial civil service, and brought about agrarian reform. When food riots broke out in the streets during a prolonged drought, he imported grain to feed the citizenry. He reclaimed land by draining the Fucine Lake in Central Italy. He abolished the treason trials of Caligula and expanded the empire further into the Middle East and the Balkans. Lastly, he completed the conquest of Mauritania begun by Caligula and conquered Britain. In search for military glory, Claudius personally led his army through Gaul and across the Channel into Britain where, with little opposition, he reduced much of the island into submission.
But the man whom many considered too weak to rule could also be as merciless as those who ruled before him. Like his predecessors, he was paranoid, quick to anger, and did not hesitate to put supposed enemies to death. This paranoia was not without foundation. Although a revolt led by Scribimanus, governor of Upper Illyricum, was easily put down with many of the participants being executed, ties to the conspirators led to many high ranking officials in Rome. Claudius had 35 senators and 400 others executed or forced to commit suicide. Cassius Dio wrote: “... he caused all who came near him, men and women alike to be searched, for fear they might have a dagger, and at banquets he was sure to have some soldiers present” (60.3.) His paranoia did not stop with conspirators; like Caligula, he had problems with the city’s Jews, and to avoid further rioting, he had them all expelled from the city.
Claudius & Marriage
Married four times, Claudius had very poor luck with women. In reference to these marriages and his relationship to his freedmen associates (Narcissus and Pallas), Dio wrote: “It was not these infirmities, however, that caused the deterioration of Claudius so much as it was the freedmen and the women with whom he associated” (60.2). He married twice during his time as emperor, neither marriage being a wise choice. All the women he married (in particular Messalina and Agrippina) had immense influence over him as did the two freedmen. Dio added:
Moreover, he was afflicted by cowardice, which often so overpowered him that he could not reason out anything as he ought. They (his wives and freedmen) seized upon this failing of his, too, to accomplish many of their purposes. (60.2)
His marriage to Messalina ended in her premature death. Although she had given him a son, Britannicus, Messalina was not one to remain very faithful. When one potential suitor spurned her advances, Narcissus told Claudius the young man had plans to kill him. The man was executed. Later, Messalina and her lover Gaius Silius planned to kill Claudius and place Britannicus on the throne where they would then serve as regents. The plot was spoiled and Narcissus convinced Claudius that Messalina must die. Although she was given the opportunity to commit suicide, she failed and so was stabbed to death. In his The Annals Tacitus wrote:
... for the first time she understood her fate and put her hand to the dagger. In her terror she was applying it ineffectively to her throat and breast, when a blow from the tribune drove it through her. ... Claudius was still at the banquet when they told him that Messalina was dead. ... he showed no sign of hatred or joy or anger or sadness. (11.38.)
Death & Successor
His marriage to Agrippina (urged to do so by Pallas) was something he regretted shortly after exchanging vows, for it was also disastrous. The manipulative Agrippina (who was also his niece) was intent on having her son Nero named the next emperor. Initially, she had planned to have Nero marry Claudius’s daughter, Claudia Octavia, but changed her mind when Nero was adopted by Claudius, becoming his successor.
As with those who came before him, Claudius was not to die naturally. Agrippina is suspected in his death, for Claudius died shortly after eating poisoned mushrooms that were given to him by his beloved wife. As his mother had wished, Nero soon ascended to the throne of the empire, and a new era of depravity and corruption began."
Claudius
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Claudius: Rome’s Accidental Emperor
Join us in War Thunder for free using this link and get a premium tank or aircraft and three days of premium time as a bonus: http://v2.xyz/BiographicsWarThu...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on October 13, 54, Roman Emperor Claudius, or Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus died.
Claudius: Rome’s Accidental Emperor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts0vwzxDexg
Images:
1. Bust of Claudius in later life
2. Roman Emperor Claudius
3. Ae As - Claudius ( 41 to 50 ) - Rome
Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Nero, Claudius head, bare, left.
Reverse: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI Constantia, helmeted and in military dress, standing left, right raised, left holding long spear; S - C to left and right.
4. Rome's Mausoleum of Augustus
Biographies
1. i-claudius.com/claudius
2. pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/claudius.html
1. Background from {[http://www.i-claudius.com/claudius/]}
Claudius was the Roman emperor from 41 to 54 AD. Claudius, who was Emperor Caligula’s uncle, ascended the imperial throne after the assassination of Emperor Caligula in 41 AD. When Emperor Claudius died in 54 AD, he was succeeded by Emperor Nero, since Nero had been adopted by his great-uncle Claudius in 49 AD.
Short facts about Claudius
Birth 1 August 10 BC in Lugdnum, Gaul (modern day France)
Death 13 October 54 AD in Roma, Italia (modern-day Rome, Italy)
Imperial dynasty The Julio-Claudian dynasty
Religion Ancient Roman Religion
Regal name Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
Reign 24 January 41 – 13 October 54
Parents Father: Nero Claudius Drusus; Mother: Antonia Minor
Wives Plautia Urgulanilla; Aelia Paetina; Valeria Messalina; Agrippina the Younger
Children: Claudius Drusus; Claudia Antonia; Claudia Octavia; Britannicus; Nero (adopted)
Burial site Mausoleum of Augustus on Campus Martius
Background
Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor in the Roman city Lugdunum in Gaul in 10 BC. At that point, no one born outside Italy had ever become a Roman Emperor. He had seven wives under his lifetime.
From childhood, he walked with a limp, had a hearing impairment and some other physical issues. This caused him to be ostracized by his family, but probably also saved his life since Emperor Tiberius and Emperor Caligula never saw him as a threat.
In 37 AD, he was no longer excluded from public office and became a Roman consul; a position he shared with his nephew, Caligula.
After the assassination of Emperor Caligula in 41 AD, the Praetorian Guard declared Claudius emperor.
Economy of Rome
The economy of Rome was awful when Claudius ascended to the throne. Caligulas spending at emptied the coffers of Rome. This gave Claudius a bad starting position and the first thing he had to do was to improve the economy. He did this by enhancing the Roman trade system. He personally oversaw a large expansion of the ports of Rome. This allowed a lot more maritime trade to pass through Rome and brought a lot of money to the city.
He also oversaw other economic reforms designed to make trade and banking better regulated. The regulations are primitive by today’s standard but were big improvements back then. One important reform made it easier for wealthy Romans to start joint ventures. Think about it as an ancient type of stock. Ownership stakes in partnerships that could be bought and sold. These ancient stock companies did, however, work very different from modern stock companies and their stock could not be traded on any stock market. But thinking about them as stock companies can help you understand the function these partnerships filled in Claudius Rome.
Emperor Claudius
Despite not having much experience from public office, Claudius became known as an able emperor and an efficient administrator of the empire.
He was interested in law and presided at public trials. He issued many edicts; sometimes up to 20 on the same day.
Among other things, Emperor Claudius made sure that the infrastructure of the empire was improved in various ways, and many new roads, canals, and aqueducts were constructed on his orders.
Emperor Claudius is also famous for initiating the Roman conquest of Britain. Both Ceasar and Emperor Caligula had made attempts, but without actually succeeding.
Health
The historian Suetonius describes Emperor Claudius as a tall, well-built figure of Dignitas who didn’t display any physical deformity, but who stammered and spoke in a confused way. His head shook, he slobbered, and his knees were unable to properly carry him when he walked. If he got excited, his nose started running.
Another account comes from the Stoic Seneca, who claimed that the voice of Claudius “belonged to no land animal”.
Several historians have written about how his condition improved after becoming emperor. Claudius himself would later claim that he had exaggerated his problems until he became emperor to avoid being murdered by those who could otherwise have seen him as a threat to their power.
Prior to World War II, historians and medical scholars would generally suggest polio as a probable cause of Claudius issues, and this diagnosis is the one Robert Graves uses in his I, Claudius novels (both written in the 1930s).
Modern researchers have however pointed out that many of the described symptoms do not fit the profile for polio. A more recent theory is that of cerebral palsy.'
2. Background from {[https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/claudius.html//]}
Disfigured, awkward and clumsy, Claudius (10 BC – 54 AD / Reigned 41 – 54 AD) was the black sheep of his family and an unlikely emperor. Once in place, he was fairly successful, but his poor taste in women would prove his undoing.
Nobody expected Claudius to become emperor. Although he was the only surviving heir of Augustus and was the brother of the war hero, Germanicus, Claudius was a figure of fun.
The black sheep
Left disfigured by a serious illness when he was very young, Claudius was also clumsy and coarse , and was the butt of his family’s jokes. When he dozed after dinner, guests pelted him with food and put slippers on his hands so that he’d rub his eyes with his shoes when he woke up.
Caligula’s murder in 41 AD changed everything for Claudius. Unexpectedly, the family fool had become emperor. Discovered trembling in the palace by one of his own soldiers, he was clearly reluctant and afraid.
He had good reason: like his predecessors, Claudius could never be too sure of his position. Supported mainly by soldiers and courtiers, he had a rocky relationship with the Senate. Many senators supported the abortive rebellion in the Balkans in 42 AD and they featured in many of the plots against his life.
Surprisingly popular
Despite these dangers, Claudius worked hard at his job, starting work just after midnight every day. It began to pay off: he made major improvements to Rome’s judicial system, passed laws protecting sick slaves, extended citizenship and increased women's privileges.
He also treated his people with unusual respect, apologizing to visiting pensioners when there were not enough chairs. Hardly surprising, then, that Suetonius wrote how this sort of behavior endeared him to the people.
Conquering the Brits
Claudius had some real successes. Britain had resisted Roman rule for over a century, but was conquered by Claudius, who created client kingdoms to protect the frontier. He had succeeded where Caesar had failed. This was the most important addition to the empire since the time of Augustus.
Trouble and strife
Even this success, however, was not enough to protect him from political danger. Here, his worst enemies would turn out to be his own wives.
Claudius had simply awful taste in women. Although he adored his wife, Messalina, she was extravagant and promiscuous, with a particular weakness for the servants.
Claudius tried to turn a blind eye to her many affairs, but in 48 AD Messalina took a new lover, Gaius Silius, a nobleman. Their relationship was widely thought to be cover for a plot and Claudius was urged to take action: “Act fast or her new man controls Rome!"
Permanent separation
Silius was killed and Messalina fled to a friend's villa to decide how to get herself out of trouble. It was too late. The emperor was hosting a dinner party when he heard that his wife had died. Without asking how, he called for more wine.
The next year, Claudius decided to marry again, surprising Rome by choosing his own niece, Agrippina.
Oh dear
This was a bad mistake. Determined to make the most of her luck and happy to use any means necessary, Agrippina was about the only woman who could make Messalina seem a good catch.
Agrippina began her quest for power by persuading Claudius to bring back Seneca from exile so that he could become tutor to her own son, Nero, the boy she planned to make an emperor.
Speeding things up
Gradually Agrippina removed all her rivals and convinced Claudius to disinherit his own son, Britannicus. With Nero now heir, the only remaining obstacle was Claudius himself. Agrippina took drastic action: as Tacitus reports, her weapon of choice was poisoned mushrooms, delivered by a faithful servant.
Claudius appeared on the brink of death, but began to recover. Horrified, Agrippina signed up the emperor's own doctor to her cause. While pretending to help Claudius vomit his food, the doctor put a feather dipped in poison down his throat. As Tacitus said, "Dangerous crimes bring ample reward."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see) LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi
Claudius: Rome’s Accidental Emperor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts0vwzxDexg
Images:
1. Bust of Claudius in later life
2. Roman Emperor Claudius
3. Ae As - Claudius ( 41 to 50 ) - Rome
Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Nero, Claudius head, bare, left.
Reverse: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI Constantia, helmeted and in military dress, standing left, right raised, left holding long spear; S - C to left and right.
4. Rome's Mausoleum of Augustus
Biographies
1. i-claudius.com/claudius
2. pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/claudius.html
1. Background from {[http://www.i-claudius.com/claudius/]}
Claudius was the Roman emperor from 41 to 54 AD. Claudius, who was Emperor Caligula’s uncle, ascended the imperial throne after the assassination of Emperor Caligula in 41 AD. When Emperor Claudius died in 54 AD, he was succeeded by Emperor Nero, since Nero had been adopted by his great-uncle Claudius in 49 AD.
Short facts about Claudius
Birth 1 August 10 BC in Lugdnum, Gaul (modern day France)
Death 13 October 54 AD in Roma, Italia (modern-day Rome, Italy)
Imperial dynasty The Julio-Claudian dynasty
Religion Ancient Roman Religion
Regal name Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
Reign 24 January 41 – 13 October 54
Parents Father: Nero Claudius Drusus; Mother: Antonia Minor
Wives Plautia Urgulanilla; Aelia Paetina; Valeria Messalina; Agrippina the Younger
Children: Claudius Drusus; Claudia Antonia; Claudia Octavia; Britannicus; Nero (adopted)
Burial site Mausoleum of Augustus on Campus Martius
Background
Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor in the Roman city Lugdunum in Gaul in 10 BC. At that point, no one born outside Italy had ever become a Roman Emperor. He had seven wives under his lifetime.
From childhood, he walked with a limp, had a hearing impairment and some other physical issues. This caused him to be ostracized by his family, but probably also saved his life since Emperor Tiberius and Emperor Caligula never saw him as a threat.
In 37 AD, he was no longer excluded from public office and became a Roman consul; a position he shared with his nephew, Caligula.
After the assassination of Emperor Caligula in 41 AD, the Praetorian Guard declared Claudius emperor.
Economy of Rome
The economy of Rome was awful when Claudius ascended to the throne. Caligulas spending at emptied the coffers of Rome. This gave Claudius a bad starting position and the first thing he had to do was to improve the economy. He did this by enhancing the Roman trade system. He personally oversaw a large expansion of the ports of Rome. This allowed a lot more maritime trade to pass through Rome and brought a lot of money to the city.
He also oversaw other economic reforms designed to make trade and banking better regulated. The regulations are primitive by today’s standard but were big improvements back then. One important reform made it easier for wealthy Romans to start joint ventures. Think about it as an ancient type of stock. Ownership stakes in partnerships that could be bought and sold. These ancient stock companies did, however, work very different from modern stock companies and their stock could not be traded on any stock market. But thinking about them as stock companies can help you understand the function these partnerships filled in Claudius Rome.
Emperor Claudius
Despite not having much experience from public office, Claudius became known as an able emperor and an efficient administrator of the empire.
He was interested in law and presided at public trials. He issued many edicts; sometimes up to 20 on the same day.
Among other things, Emperor Claudius made sure that the infrastructure of the empire was improved in various ways, and many new roads, canals, and aqueducts were constructed on his orders.
Emperor Claudius is also famous for initiating the Roman conquest of Britain. Both Ceasar and Emperor Caligula had made attempts, but without actually succeeding.
Health
The historian Suetonius describes Emperor Claudius as a tall, well-built figure of Dignitas who didn’t display any physical deformity, but who stammered and spoke in a confused way. His head shook, he slobbered, and his knees were unable to properly carry him when he walked. If he got excited, his nose started running.
Another account comes from the Stoic Seneca, who claimed that the voice of Claudius “belonged to no land animal”.
Several historians have written about how his condition improved after becoming emperor. Claudius himself would later claim that he had exaggerated his problems until he became emperor to avoid being murdered by those who could otherwise have seen him as a threat to their power.
Prior to World War II, historians and medical scholars would generally suggest polio as a probable cause of Claudius issues, and this diagnosis is the one Robert Graves uses in his I, Claudius novels (both written in the 1930s).
Modern researchers have however pointed out that many of the described symptoms do not fit the profile for polio. A more recent theory is that of cerebral palsy.'
2. Background from {[https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/claudius.html//]}
Disfigured, awkward and clumsy, Claudius (10 BC – 54 AD / Reigned 41 – 54 AD) was the black sheep of his family and an unlikely emperor. Once in place, he was fairly successful, but his poor taste in women would prove his undoing.
Nobody expected Claudius to become emperor. Although he was the only surviving heir of Augustus and was the brother of the war hero, Germanicus, Claudius was a figure of fun.
The black sheep
Left disfigured by a serious illness when he was very young, Claudius was also clumsy and coarse , and was the butt of his family’s jokes. When he dozed after dinner, guests pelted him with food and put slippers on his hands so that he’d rub his eyes with his shoes when he woke up.
Caligula’s murder in 41 AD changed everything for Claudius. Unexpectedly, the family fool had become emperor. Discovered trembling in the palace by one of his own soldiers, he was clearly reluctant and afraid.
He had good reason: like his predecessors, Claudius could never be too sure of his position. Supported mainly by soldiers and courtiers, he had a rocky relationship with the Senate. Many senators supported the abortive rebellion in the Balkans in 42 AD and they featured in many of the plots against his life.
Surprisingly popular
Despite these dangers, Claudius worked hard at his job, starting work just after midnight every day. It began to pay off: he made major improvements to Rome’s judicial system, passed laws protecting sick slaves, extended citizenship and increased women's privileges.
He also treated his people with unusual respect, apologizing to visiting pensioners when there were not enough chairs. Hardly surprising, then, that Suetonius wrote how this sort of behavior endeared him to the people.
Conquering the Brits
Claudius had some real successes. Britain had resisted Roman rule for over a century, but was conquered by Claudius, who created client kingdoms to protect the frontier. He had succeeded where Caesar had failed. This was the most important addition to the empire since the time of Augustus.
Trouble and strife
Even this success, however, was not enough to protect him from political danger. Here, his worst enemies would turn out to be his own wives.
Claudius had simply awful taste in women. Although he adored his wife, Messalina, she was extravagant and promiscuous, with a particular weakness for the servants.
Claudius tried to turn a blind eye to her many affairs, but in 48 AD Messalina took a new lover, Gaius Silius, a nobleman. Their relationship was widely thought to be cover for a plot and Claudius was urged to take action: “Act fast or her new man controls Rome!"
Permanent separation
Silius was killed and Messalina fled to a friend's villa to decide how to get herself out of trouble. It was too late. The emperor was hosting a dinner party when he heard that his wife had died. Without asking how, he called for more wine.
The next year, Claudius decided to marry again, surprising Rome by choosing his own niece, Agrippina.
Oh dear
This was a bad mistake. Determined to make the most of her luck and happy to use any means necessary, Agrippina was about the only woman who could make Messalina seem a good catch.
Agrippina began her quest for power by persuading Claudius to bring back Seneca from exile so that he could become tutor to her own son, Nero, the boy she planned to make an emperor.
Speeding things up
Gradually Agrippina removed all her rivals and convinced Claudius to disinherit his own son, Britannicus. With Nero now heir, the only remaining obstacle was Claudius himself. Agrippina took drastic action: as Tacitus reports, her weapon of choice was poisoned mushrooms, delivered by a faithful servant.
Claudius appeared on the brink of death, but began to recover. Horrified, Agrippina signed up the emperor's own doctor to her cause. While pretending to help Claudius vomit his food, the doctor put a feather dipped in poison down his throat. As Tacitus said, "Dangerous crimes bring ample reward."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see) LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi
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LTC Stephen F.
Life of Emperor Claudius #4 - The Invalid Emperor, Roman History Documentary Series
Emperor Claudius, he was probably the least likely male in the Julio-Claudian dynasty to become Emperor of Rome. However, due to the high mortality rate of m...
Life of Emperor Claudius #4 - The Invalid Emperor, Roman History Documentary Series
Emperor Claudius, he was probably the least likely male in the Julio-Claudian dynasty to become Emperor of Rome. However, due to the high mortality rate of males in the dynasty… he was proclaimed Emperor by the Praetorian Guard...
Born August the 1st in 10 BC, in Lugdunum in Gaul, He was the son of Drusus who was Emperor Tiberius' brother. His mother was Antonia, daughter of Mark Anthony and Octavia, Augustus' sister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khD-Zwsim0w
Images:
1. Roman Emperor Claudius photo by Carole Raddato
2. Ae As - Claudius ( 41 to 50 ) - Rome greenish
Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Nero, Claudius head, bare, left.
Reverse: LIBERTAS AVGVSTA, Libertas, draped, standing facing, head right, right holding pileus, left extended; S - C to left and right.
3. Claudius as Jupiter photo by Mark Cartwright
4. Ae As - Claudius , in the name of Germanicus ( 50 to 54 ) - Rome
Obverse: GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N, Germanicus head, bare, right.
Reverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around S C.
5. Claudius is proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard.
Background from {[https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-emperor-claudius]}
1. His own family ridiculed his physical disabilities.
Claudius struggled with various physical ailments including tremors of the head and hands, a limp, a runny nose and foaming at the mouth. Historians have since speculated that he may have suffered from cerebral palsy or Tourette’s syndrome, but his family considered his condition a sign of weakness and a source of great public embarrassment. His own mother supposedly called him “a monstrosity of a human being, one that nature began and never finished,” and his sister is said to have prayed that Rome would never have to endure him becoming its emperor. He later faced constant humiliation at the hands of his nephew, the Roman Emperor Caligula. According to the ancient historian Suetonius, Caligula delighted in mocking his uncle for his infirmities, and if Claudius dozed off during dinner gatherings, guests were encouraged to pelt him “with the stones of olives and dates.”
2. He entered politics relatively late in life.
Claudius’ handicaps saw him repeatedly passed over for a chance at important public office. He was kept out of sight for most of his youth, and his royal relatives went out their way to place him far down the line of succession. Claudius’ uncle, the Emperor Tiberius, repeatedly rebuffed his requests to begin a political career, instead appointing him to low-prestige priesthoods. Claudius abandoned his political aspirations and filled his days with drinking, gambling and womanizing until A.D. 37, when his nephew Caligula assumed the imperial purple. Caligula was inexperienced and vulnerable, and to help shore up his claim to the throne, he appointed Claudius, then almost 46 years old, as his co-consul.
3. He was an accomplished historian.
When he wasn’t distracting himself with drink and games of chance, Claudius spent long hours immersed in books and academic study. Despite having been labeled a dullard by his family, he possessed a keen intellect that impressed the historian Livy, who encouraged him to take up writing. Claudius would later produce dozens of volumes on the history of Carthage, the Etruscans, the Roman Republic and even the Roman alphabet. All of the future emperor’s works have since been lost, but they appear to have been reasonably respected in their time. The legendary Roman historian Tacitus even used Claudius’ work as a source for his own writings.
4. The Praetorian Guard installed him as emperor.
In A.D. 41, a cabal of Praetorian Guards—the sworn protectors of the Roman emperor—assassinated Caligula and brutally murdered his wife and child at the imperial palace. As the story goes, upon hearing the commotion, a frightened Claudius ran for his life and took refuge on a balcony. The Praetorians eventually found him cowering behind a curtain, but rather than killing him, they saluted him as Rome’s new emperor. Claudius’ disabilities may have given the impression that he could be easily manipulated, but once in power, he showed himself to be cleverer than previously believed. He deftly avoided a confrontation with the Roman senate, and purchased the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard with a massive 15,000-sesterce per man donative. His ailments appeared to improve after he took the throne, and he later claimed that he had only pretended to be dimwitted to protect himself. Some historians have even argued that he helped plan or was at least aware of the plot on Caligula’s life.
5. He completed the Roman annexation of Britain.
Upon taking power, Claudius faced rabid opposition from Rome’s senators, many of whom viewed him as a weak and illegitimate claimant to the throne. To help prove himself as a leader, he launched one of the most audacious military campaigns of the 1st century: the conquest of Britain. In A.D. 43, he dispatched a force of 40,000 troops and several war elephants across the English Channel. The Romans had soon conquered a stronghold at modern day Colchester, and eventually succeeding in capturing the Catuvellauni tribal leader Caratacus. Claudius visited Britain during the invasion and remained for 16 days before returning to a hero’s welcome in Rome. He was later honored with a triumphal arch on the Via Flaminia that hailed him as the man who “brought barbarian peoples beyond Ocean for the first time under Rome’s sway.”
6. He was an avid fan of the Roman games.
Claudius organized and attended chariot races and gladiatorial bouts religiously, often staying glued to his seat for hours at a time to avoid missing even a second of the bloodshed. He is even said to have joined in with the rest of the audience in counting aloud as gold pieces were paid to the victors. The Emperor once staged a massive, 19,000-man mock sea battle on the Fucine Lake, but perhaps his most bizarre public spectacle came during a trip to the Roman seaport at Ostia. According to an account by Pliny the Elder, when a killer wale became stuck in the city’s harbor, Claudius had the creature ensnared in nets, “and setting out in person with the praetorian cohorts gave a show to the Roman people, soldiers showering lances from attacking ships, one of which I saw swamped by the beast’s waterspout and sunk.”
7. He was notoriously unlucky in love.
Claudius’ first betrothal was canceled after the girl’s parents endured a political disgrace, and his second bride fell ill and died on their wedding day. He would later marry four times, with each match seemingly more ill fated than the one that preceded it. He divorced his first wife on suspicions of adultery and murder, and then called off his second marriage for political reasons. Ancient sources describe Claudius’ third wife, Messalina, as scheming and sex obsessed. She supposedly carried out numerous affairs until A.D. 48, when she participated in a mock marriage ceremony with one of her lovers, the consul-elect Gaius Silius. Fearing that the pair planned to murder him and install Gaius on the throne, Claudius had both of them executed. The emperor swore he would never marry again, yet only a year later he wed the beautiful Agrippina, his niece. Agrippina proved even more treacherous than Messalina, and is said to have manipulated Claudius into naming her son Nero as his successor before engineering his assassination.
8. The circumstances of his death are still unclear.
Ancient chroniclers say Claudius was killed after ingesting a poisonous mushroom, but they differ on certain key facts. The historian Cassius Dio claims Agrippina procured the deadly fungus from a poisoner named Locusta and served it to Claudius during a dinner at the palace. Tacitus, meanwhile, says the emperor’s food taster delivered the dish, and when it didn’t immediately work, Claudius’ doctor shoved a poison-dipped feather down his throat to finish the job. Suetonius mentions both stories as a possibility, but argues the second dose of poison was mixed with a batch of gruel. Almost all the ancients say Agrippina masterminded the plot to ensure her son Nero’s ascension to the throne. Still, some modern historians have since argued that Claudius’ death could have been an accident caused by him unknowingly eating an Amanita phalloides—a highly toxic strain of mushroom also known as “Death Cap.”
FYI SGM Gerald FifeMaj Wayne CristSGM Bill FrazerCSM (Join to see)SSG Jeffrey LeakeCSM Bruce TregoSP5 Dennis LobergerSFC Bruce SmithSSG Chad HenningSPC Chris HallgrimsonMSG Glen MillerCWO3 Randy WestonSGT John Graham[~1651880-spc-kerry-good]SSG Samuel KermonSSG Robert Mark OdomCpl (Join to see)SSG Jimmy CernichSSG Robert Pratt SMSgt David A Asbury
Emperor Claudius, he was probably the least likely male in the Julio-Claudian dynasty to become Emperor of Rome. However, due to the high mortality rate of males in the dynasty… he was proclaimed Emperor by the Praetorian Guard...
Born August the 1st in 10 BC, in Lugdunum in Gaul, He was the son of Drusus who was Emperor Tiberius' brother. His mother was Antonia, daughter of Mark Anthony and Octavia, Augustus' sister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khD-Zwsim0w
Images:
1. Roman Emperor Claudius photo by Carole Raddato
2. Ae As - Claudius ( 41 to 50 ) - Rome greenish
Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Nero, Claudius head, bare, left.
Reverse: LIBERTAS AVGVSTA, Libertas, draped, standing facing, head right, right holding pileus, left extended; S - C to left and right.
3. Claudius as Jupiter photo by Mark Cartwright
4. Ae As - Claudius , in the name of Germanicus ( 50 to 54 ) - Rome
Obverse: GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N, Germanicus head, bare, right.
Reverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP P P around S C.
5. Claudius is proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard.
Background from {[https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-emperor-claudius]}
1. His own family ridiculed his physical disabilities.
Claudius struggled with various physical ailments including tremors of the head and hands, a limp, a runny nose and foaming at the mouth. Historians have since speculated that he may have suffered from cerebral palsy or Tourette’s syndrome, but his family considered his condition a sign of weakness and a source of great public embarrassment. His own mother supposedly called him “a monstrosity of a human being, one that nature began and never finished,” and his sister is said to have prayed that Rome would never have to endure him becoming its emperor. He later faced constant humiliation at the hands of his nephew, the Roman Emperor Caligula. According to the ancient historian Suetonius, Caligula delighted in mocking his uncle for his infirmities, and if Claudius dozed off during dinner gatherings, guests were encouraged to pelt him “with the stones of olives and dates.”
2. He entered politics relatively late in life.
Claudius’ handicaps saw him repeatedly passed over for a chance at important public office. He was kept out of sight for most of his youth, and his royal relatives went out their way to place him far down the line of succession. Claudius’ uncle, the Emperor Tiberius, repeatedly rebuffed his requests to begin a political career, instead appointing him to low-prestige priesthoods. Claudius abandoned his political aspirations and filled his days with drinking, gambling and womanizing until A.D. 37, when his nephew Caligula assumed the imperial purple. Caligula was inexperienced and vulnerable, and to help shore up his claim to the throne, he appointed Claudius, then almost 46 years old, as his co-consul.
3. He was an accomplished historian.
When he wasn’t distracting himself with drink and games of chance, Claudius spent long hours immersed in books and academic study. Despite having been labeled a dullard by his family, he possessed a keen intellect that impressed the historian Livy, who encouraged him to take up writing. Claudius would later produce dozens of volumes on the history of Carthage, the Etruscans, the Roman Republic and even the Roman alphabet. All of the future emperor’s works have since been lost, but they appear to have been reasonably respected in their time. The legendary Roman historian Tacitus even used Claudius’ work as a source for his own writings.
4. The Praetorian Guard installed him as emperor.
In A.D. 41, a cabal of Praetorian Guards—the sworn protectors of the Roman emperor—assassinated Caligula and brutally murdered his wife and child at the imperial palace. As the story goes, upon hearing the commotion, a frightened Claudius ran for his life and took refuge on a balcony. The Praetorians eventually found him cowering behind a curtain, but rather than killing him, they saluted him as Rome’s new emperor. Claudius’ disabilities may have given the impression that he could be easily manipulated, but once in power, he showed himself to be cleverer than previously believed. He deftly avoided a confrontation with the Roman senate, and purchased the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard with a massive 15,000-sesterce per man donative. His ailments appeared to improve after he took the throne, and he later claimed that he had only pretended to be dimwitted to protect himself. Some historians have even argued that he helped plan or was at least aware of the plot on Caligula’s life.
5. He completed the Roman annexation of Britain.
Upon taking power, Claudius faced rabid opposition from Rome’s senators, many of whom viewed him as a weak and illegitimate claimant to the throne. To help prove himself as a leader, he launched one of the most audacious military campaigns of the 1st century: the conquest of Britain. In A.D. 43, he dispatched a force of 40,000 troops and several war elephants across the English Channel. The Romans had soon conquered a stronghold at modern day Colchester, and eventually succeeding in capturing the Catuvellauni tribal leader Caratacus. Claudius visited Britain during the invasion and remained for 16 days before returning to a hero’s welcome in Rome. He was later honored with a triumphal arch on the Via Flaminia that hailed him as the man who “brought barbarian peoples beyond Ocean for the first time under Rome’s sway.”
6. He was an avid fan of the Roman games.
Claudius organized and attended chariot races and gladiatorial bouts religiously, often staying glued to his seat for hours at a time to avoid missing even a second of the bloodshed. He is even said to have joined in with the rest of the audience in counting aloud as gold pieces were paid to the victors. The Emperor once staged a massive, 19,000-man mock sea battle on the Fucine Lake, but perhaps his most bizarre public spectacle came during a trip to the Roman seaport at Ostia. According to an account by Pliny the Elder, when a killer wale became stuck in the city’s harbor, Claudius had the creature ensnared in nets, “and setting out in person with the praetorian cohorts gave a show to the Roman people, soldiers showering lances from attacking ships, one of which I saw swamped by the beast’s waterspout and sunk.”
7. He was notoriously unlucky in love.
Claudius’ first betrothal was canceled after the girl’s parents endured a political disgrace, and his second bride fell ill and died on their wedding day. He would later marry four times, with each match seemingly more ill fated than the one that preceded it. He divorced his first wife on suspicions of adultery and murder, and then called off his second marriage for political reasons. Ancient sources describe Claudius’ third wife, Messalina, as scheming and sex obsessed. She supposedly carried out numerous affairs until A.D. 48, when she participated in a mock marriage ceremony with one of her lovers, the consul-elect Gaius Silius. Fearing that the pair planned to murder him and install Gaius on the throne, Claudius had both of them executed. The emperor swore he would never marry again, yet only a year later he wed the beautiful Agrippina, his niece. Agrippina proved even more treacherous than Messalina, and is said to have manipulated Claudius into naming her son Nero as his successor before engineering his assassination.
8. The circumstances of his death are still unclear.
Ancient chroniclers say Claudius was killed after ingesting a poisonous mushroom, but they differ on certain key facts. The historian Cassius Dio claims Agrippina procured the deadly fungus from a poisoner named Locusta and served it to Claudius during a dinner at the palace. Tacitus, meanwhile, says the emperor’s food taster delivered the dish, and when it didn’t immediately work, Claudius’ doctor shoved a poison-dipped feather down his throat to finish the job. Suetonius mentions both stories as a possibility, but argues the second dose of poison was mixed with a batch of gruel. Almost all the ancients say Agrippina masterminded the plot to ensure her son Nero’s ascension to the throne. Still, some modern historians have since argued that Claudius’ death could have been an accident caused by him unknowingly eating an Amanita phalloides—a highly toxic strain of mushroom also known as “Death Cap.”
FYI SGM Gerald FifeMaj Wayne CristSGM Bill FrazerCSM (Join to see)SSG Jeffrey LeakeCSM Bruce TregoSP5 Dennis LobergerSFC Bruce SmithSSG Chad HenningSPC Chris HallgrimsonMSG Glen MillerCWO3 Randy WestonSGT John Graham[~1651880-spc-kerry-good]SSG Samuel KermonSSG Robert Mark OdomCpl (Join to see)SSG Jimmy CernichSSG Robert Pratt SMSgt David A Asbury
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GySgt Thomas Vick
There are a few times that Greatness will pass in your life, be ready for it. That was the Story of Claudius.
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Caligula was such a disaster that the Romans were thrilled to have Claudius
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