CLAUDIUS 41AD Berytus Phoenicia Colonists with Oxen Ancient Roman Coin i46825

Item: i46825

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Claudius
–
Roman Emperor
: 41-54 A.D. –

 Bronze 25mm (19.94 grams) of Berytus in Phoenicia
Reference: Sear GIC 477; B.M.C.26.62,69; Cohen 262, 136
TI. CLAVD. CAESAR AVG. GERM. IMP., Bare head of Claudius right.

COL. IVL. AVG., Colonist ploughing right with yoke of oxen.

Authenticity.

Berytos in Phoenicia

History

Beirut’s history goes back more than 5000 years.

Excavations in the

downtown

area have unearthed layers of Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab

and Ottoman remains.

The first historical reference to Beirut dates from the 14th century BC, when it

is mentioned in the

cuneiform

tablets of the “Amarna

letters.” Ammunira

of Biruta^[10]

(Beirut) sent three letters to the

pharaoh of Egypt
.

Biruta is also referenced in the letters from

Rib-Hadda

of Byblos
. The

most ancient settlement was on an island in the river that progressively silted

up. The city was known in antiquity as Berytus (Βηρυτός) (see also

List of traditional Greek place names

); this name was taken in 1934 for the

archaeological journal published by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the

American University of Beirut

.

 Hellenistic/Roman

period

In 140 BC, the city was destroyed by

Diodotus Tryphon

in his contest with

Antiochus VII Sidetes

for the throne of the

Seleucid

monarchy. Beirut was soon rebuilt on a more regularized

Hellenistic

plan, renamed Laodicea in Phoenicia (Greek:

Λαοδικεια ή του Φοινίκη) or Laodicea in

Canaan, in honor of a Seleucid

Laodice

. The modern city overlies the ancient one and little archaeology had

been accomplished until after the end of the civil war in 1991; now large sites

in the devastated city center have been opened to archaeological exploration. A

dig in 1994 established that one of Beirut’s modern streets, Souk Tawile, still

follows the lines of an ancient Hellenistic and Roman one.

Mid-first century coins of Berytus bear the head of

Tyche
, goddess of

fortune; on the reverse, the city’s symbol appears: a dolphin entwines an

anchor. This symbol was taken up by the early printer

Aldus Manutius

in 15th century

Venice
. Beirut

was conquered by Agrippa in 64 BC and the city was renamed in honor of the

emperor’s daughter, Julia; its full name became Colonia

Julia Augusta

Felix Berytus.

The veterans of two

Roman

legions
were established in the city: the fifth Macedonian and the third

Gallic. The city quickly became Romanized. Large public buildings and monuments

were erected and Berytus enjoyed full status as a part of the empire.

Under the Romans, it was enriched by the dynasty of

Herod the Great

, and was made a

, Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus, in 14 BC. Beirut’s

school of law was widely known at the time.

Two of Rome’s most famous jurists,

Papinian

and Ulpian

, both natives of Phoenicia, taught at the law school under the

Severan

emperors. When

Justinian

assembled his

in the 6th century, a large part of the corpus of laws were

derived from these two jurists, and Justinian recognized the school as one of

the three official law schools of the empire (533). Within a few years, as the

result of a disastrous earthquake (551),

the students were transferred to

Sidon
.

About 30,000 were killed in Berytus alone and, along the Phoenician coast, total

casualties were close to 250,000.

Claudius (Latin:
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus;1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54)
was
Roman Emperor
from 41 to 54. A member of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
, he was the son of
Drusus
and
Antonia Minor
. He was born at
Lugdunum
in

Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside
Italy
. Because he was afflicted with a limp and
slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, his family ostracized him and
excluded him from public office until his
consulship
, shared with his nephew
Caligula
in 37.

Claudius’ infirmity probably saved him from the fate of many other nobles
during the purges of
Tiberius
and Caligula’s reigns; potential
enemies did not see him as a serious threat. His survival led to his being
declared Emperor by the
Praetorian Guard
after Caligula’s
assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family. Claudius
was also mentioned by
Luke the Evangelist
in Acts 11:28
and Acts 18:2
of the New Testament.

Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient
administrator. He was also an ambitious builder, constructing many new roads,
aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. During his reign the Empire conquered
Thrace
,
Noricum
,
Pamphylia
,
Lycia
and
Judaea
, and began the
conquest of Britain
. Having a personal interest
in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day.

He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by the nobility.
Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position; this resulted in the
deaths of many
senators
. These events damaged his reputation
among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this
opinion. Many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife. After his
death in 54, his grand-nephew and adopted son

Nero succeeded him as Emperor.

Family and early life

Claudius was born on 1 August 10 BC at the
Sanctuary of the Three Gauls
in what is now
Lyon
, France. He had two older siblings,
Germanicus
and
Livilla
. His mother, Antonia, may have had two
other children who died young.

His maternal grandparents were
Mark Antony
and
Octavia Minor
,
Augustus
‘ sister, and he was therefore the
great-great grandnephew of
Gaius Julius Caesar
. His paternal grandparents
were Livia
, Augustus’ third wife, and
Tiberius Claudius Nero
. During his reign,
Claudius revived the rumor that his father Drusus was actually the illegitimate
son of Augustus, to give the false appearance that Augustus was Claudius’
paternal grandfather.

In 9 BC, his father Drusus unexpectedly died on campaign in Germania,
possibly from illness. Claudius was then left to be raised by his mother, who
never remarried. When Claudius’ disability became evident, the relationship with
his family turned sour. Antonia referred to him as a monster, and used him as a
standard for stupidity. She seems to have passed her son off on his grandmother
Livia for a number of years.^[5]

Livia was little kinder, and often sent him short, angry letters of reproof.
He was put under the care of a “former mule-driver”^[6]
to keep him disciplined, under the logic that his condition was due to laziness
and a lack of will-power. However, by the time he reached his teenage years his
symptoms apparently waned and his family took some notice of his scholarly
interests.^[7]

In 7 AD, Livy
was hired to tutor him in history, with
the assistance of Sulpicius Flavus. He spent a lot of his time with the latter
and the philosopher
Athenodorus
. Augustus, according to a letter,
was surprised at the clarity of Claudius’ oratory.^[7]
Expectations about his future began to increase.

Public life

His work as a budding historian damaged his prospects for advancement in
public life. According to Vincent Scramuzza and others, Claudius began work on a
history of the
Civil Wars
that was either too truthful or too
critical of
Octavian
.^[8]
In either case, it was far too early for such an account, and may have only
served to remind Augustus that Claudius was Antony’s descendant. His mother and
grandmother quickly put a stop to it, and this may have convinced them that
Claudius was not fit for public office. He could not be trusted to toe the
existing party line.^[9]

When he returned to the narrative later in life, Claudius skipped over the
wars of the second triumvirate altogether. But the damage was done, and his
family pushed him to the background. When the
Arch
of
Pavia
was erected to honor the Imperial clan in
8 BC, Claudius’ name (now Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus after his elevation
to
paterfamilias
of Claudii Nerones on the
adoption of his brother) was inscribed on the edge—past the deceased princes,
Gaius
and
Lucius
, and Germanicus’ children. There is some
speculation that the inscription was added by Claudius himself decades later,
and that he originally did not appear at all.^[9]

When Augustus died in 14 AD, Claudius — then 23 — appealed to his uncle
Tiberius
to allow him to begin the
cursus honorum
. Tiberius, the new Emperor,
responded by granting Claudius consular ornaments. Claudius requested office
once more and was snubbed. Since the new Emperor was no more generous than the
old, Claudius gave up hope of public office and retired to a scholarly, private
life.

Despite the disdain of the Imperial family, it seems that from very early on
the general public respected Claudius. At Augustus’ death, the
equites
, or knights, chose Claudius to head
their delegation. When his house burned down, the Senate demanded it be rebuilt
at public expense. They also requested that Claudius be allowed to debate in the
Senate. Tiberius turned down both motions, but the sentiment remained.

During the period immediately after the death of Tiberius’ son,
Drusus
, Claudius was pushed by some quarters as
a potential heir. This again suggests the political nature of his exclusion from
public life. However, as this was also the period during which the power and
terror of the commander of the
Praetorian Guard
,
Sejanus
, was at its peak, Claudius chose to
downplay this possibility.

After the death of Tiberius the new emperor
Caligula
(the son of Claudius’ brother
Germanicus
) recognized Claudius to be of some
use. He appointed Claudius his co-consul in 37 in order to emphasize the memory
of Caligula’s deceased father Germanicus. Despite this, Caligula relentlessly
tormented his uncle: playing practical jokes, charging him enormous sums of
money, humiliating him before the Senate, and the like. According to
Cassius Dio
Claudius became very sickly and
thin by the end of Caligula’s reign, most likely due to stress.^[10]
A possible surviving portrait of Claudius from this period may support this.

Assassination of Caligula (41 AD)

On 24 January 41, Caligula was assassinated in a broad-based
conspiracy
involving the Praetorian commander
Cassius Chaerea
and several
senators
. There is no evidence that Claudius
had a direct hand in the
assassination
, although it has been argued that
he knew about the plot — particularly since he left the scene of the crime
shortly before his nephew was murdered.^[11]
However, after the deaths of
Caligula’s wife
and
daughter
, it became apparent that Cassius
intended to go beyond the terms of the conspiracy and wipe out the Imperial
family.^[12]

In the chaos following the murder, Claudius witnessed the
German
guard cut down several uninvolved
noblemen, including many of his friends. He fled to the palace to hide.
According to tradition, a Praetorian named
Gratus
found him hiding behind a curtain and
suddenly declared him
princeps
.^[12]
A section of the guard may have planned in advance to seek out Claudius, perhaps
with his approval. They reassured him that they were not one of the battalions
looking for revenge. He was spirited away to the
Praetorian camp
and put under their protection.

The Senate quickly met and began debating a change of government, but this
eventually devolved into an argument over which of them would be the new
princeps. When they heard of the Praetorians’ claim, they demanded that
Claudius be delivered to them for approval, but he refused, sensing the danger
that would come with complying. Some historians, particularly
Josephus
,^[13]
claim that Claudius was directed in his actions by the
Judaean
King
Herod Agrippa
. However, an earlier version of
events by the same ancient author downplays Agrippa’s role^[14]
— so it is not known how large a hand he had in things. Eventually the Senate
was forced to give in and, in return, Claudius pardoned nearly all the
assassins.

As Emperor

Claudius took several steps to legitimize his rule against potential
usurpers, most of them emphasizing his place within the Julio-Claudian family.
He adopted the name “Caesar” as a
cognomen
 – the name still carried great weight
with the populace. In order to do so, he dropped the cognomen “Nero” which he
had adopted as paterfamilias of the Claudii Nerones when his brother Germanicus
was adopted out.

While he had never been adopted by Augustus or his successors, he was the
grandson of Octavia, and so felt he had the right. He also adopted the name
“Augustus” as the two previous emperors had done at their accessions. He kept
the honorific “Germanicus” to display the connection with his heroic brother. He
deified his paternal grandmother Livia to highlight her position as wife of the
divine Augustus. Claudius frequently used the term “filius Drusi” (son of Drusus)
in his titles, in order to remind the people of his legendary father and lay
claim to his reputation.

Because he was proclaimed Emperor on the initiative of the Praetorian Guard
instead of the Senate – the first Emperor thus proclaimed — Claudius’ repute
suffered at the hands of commentators (such as
Seneca
). Moreover, he was the first Emperor who
resorted to bribery as a means to secure army loyalty and rewarded the soldiers
of the Praetorian Guard that had elevated him with 15,000 sesterces.^[15]
Tiberius and Augustus had both left gifts to the army and guard in their
wills
, and upon Caligula’s death the same would
have been expected, even if no will existed. Claudius remained grateful to the
guard however, issuing coins with tributes to the Praetorians in the early part
of his reign.

Expansion of the
Empire

Under Claudius, the Empire underwent its first major expansion since the
reign of Augustus. The provinces of
Thrace
,
Noricum
,
Pamphylia
,
Lycia
, and
Judea
were
annexed
under various circumstances during his
term. The annexation of
Mauretania
, begun under Caligula, was completed
after the defeat of rebel forces, and the official division of the former client
kingdom into two Imperial provinces.^[16]
The most far-reaching conquest was the
conquest of Britannia
.^[17]

In 43 AD, Claudius sent
Aulus Plautius
with four
legions
to Britain (Britannia) after an
appeal from an ousted tribal ally. Britain was an attractive target for Rome
because of its material wealth – particularly mines and slaves. It was also a
haven for Gallic
rebels and the like, and so could not be
left alone much longer. Claudius himself travelled to the island after the
completion of initial offensives, bringing with him reinforcements and
elephants. The latter must have made an impression on the
Britons
when they were displayed in the large
tribal centre of
Camulodunum
.

He left after 16 days, but remained in the provinces for some time. The
Senate granted him a
triumph
for his efforts. Only members of the
Imperial family were allowed such honours, but Claudius subsequently lifted this
restriction for some of his conquering generals. He was granted the honorific “Britannicus”
but only accepted it on behalf of his son, never using the title himself. When
the British general
Caractacus
was captured in 50 AD, Claudius
granted him clemency. Caractacus lived out his days on land provided by the
Roman state, an unusual end for an enemy commander.

Claudius conducted a census in 48 that found 5,984,072 Roman citizens,^[18]
an increase of around a million since the census conducted at Augustus’ death.
He had helped increase this number through the foundation of Roman colonies that
were granted blanket
citizenship
. These colonies were often made out
of existing communities, especially those with elites who could rally the
populace to the Roman cause. Several colonies were placed in new provinces or on
the border of the Empire to secure Roman holdings as quickly as possible.

Judicial and
legislative affairs

Claudius personally judged many of the legal cases tried during his reign.
Ancient historians have many complaints about this, stating that his judgments
were variable and sometimes did not follow the law.^[19]
He was also easily swayed. Nevertheless, Claudius paid detailed attention to the
operation of the judicial system.^[20]

He extended the summer court session, as well as the winter term, by
shortening the traditional breaks. Claudius also made a law requiring plaintiffs
to remain in the city while their cases were pending, as defendants had
previously been required to do. These measures had the effect of clearing out
the docket. The minimum age for jurors was also raised to 25 in order to ensure
a more experienced jury pool.^[20]

Claudius also settled disputes in the provinces. He freed the island of
Rhodes
from Roman rule for their good faith and
exempted Troy
from taxes. Early in his reign, the
Greeks
and

Jews of
Alexandria
sent him two embassies at once after
riots broke out between the two communities. This resulted in the famous “Letter
to the Alexandrians”, which reaffirmed Jewish rights in the city but also
forbade them to move in more families en masse. According to
Josephus
, he then reaffirmed the rights and
freedoms of all the Jews in the Empire.^[21]

One of Claudius’s investigators discovered that many old Roman citizens based
in the modern city of
Trento
were not in fact citizens.^[22]
The Emperor issued a declaration that they would be considered to hold
citizenship from then on, since to strip them of their status would cause major
problems. However, in individual cases, Claudius punished false assumption of
citizenship harshly, making it a capital offense. Similarly, any freedmen found
to be laying false claim to membership of the
Equestrian Order
were sold back into slavery.^[23]

Numerous edicts were issued throughout Claudius’ reign. These were on a
number of topics, everything from medical advice to moral judgments. Two famous
medical examples are one promoting
Yew
juice as a cure for snakebite,^[24]
and another promoting public flatulence for good health.^[25]
One of the more famous edicts concerned the status of sick slaves. Masters had
been abandoning ailing slaves at the
temple of Aesculapius
on Tiber Island to die
instead of providing them with medical assistance and care, and then reclaiming
them if they lived. Claudius ruled that slaves who were thus abandoned and
recovered after such treatment would be free. Furthermore, masters who chose to
kill slaves rather than take care of them were liable to be charged with murder.^[26]

Public works

Claudius embarked on many public works throughout his reign, both in the
capital and in the provinces. He built two
aqueducts
, the
Aqua Claudia
, begun by
Caligula
, and the
Anio Novus
. These entered the city in 52 and
met at the famous
Porta Maggiore
. He also restored a third, the
Aqua Virgo
.

He paid special attention to transportation. Throughout
Italy
and the provinces he built roads and
canals. Among these was a large canal leading from the
Rhine
to the sea, as well as a road from Italy
to Germany – both begun by his father, Drusus. Closer to Rome, he built a
navigable canal on the
Tiber
, leading to
Portus
, his new port just north of
Ostia
. This port was constructed in a
semicircle with two
moles
and a lighthouse at its mouth. The
construction also had the effect of reducing flooding in Rome.

The port at Ostia was part of Claudius’ solution to the constant grain
shortages that occurred in winter, after the Roman shipping season. The other
part of his solution was to insure the ships of grain merchants who were willing
to risk travelling to Egypt in the off-season. He also granted their sailors
special privileges, including citizenship and exemption from the
Lex Papia-Poppaea
, a law that regulated
marriage. In addition, he repealed the taxes that
Caligula
had instituted on food, and further
reduced taxes on communities suffering
drought
or
famine
.

The last part of Claudius’ plan was to increase the amount of arable land in
Italy. This was to be achieved by draining the
Fucine lake
, which would have the added benefit
of making the nearby river navigable year-round.^[27]
A tunnel was dug through the lake bed, but the plan was a failure. The tunnel
was crooked and not large enough to carry the water, which caused it to back up
when opened. The resultant flood washed out a large gladiatorial exhibition held
to commemorate the opening, causing Claudius to run for his life along with the
other spectators. The draining of the lake was revisited many times in history,
including by Emperors
Trajan
and
Hadrian
, and
Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick II
in the
Middle Ages
. It was finally achieved by the
Prince
Torlonia
in the 19th century, producing over
160,000 acres (650 km²) of new arable land.^[28]
He expanded the Claudian tunnel to three times its original size.

Claudius and the
Senate

Because of the circumstances of his accession, Claudius took great pains to
please the Senate. During regular sessions, the Emperor sat among the Senate
body, speaking in turn. When introducing a law, he sat on a bench between the
consuls in his position as Holder of the Power of
Tribune
(The Emperor could not officially serve
as a Tribune of the Plebes as he was a
Patrician
, but it was a power taken by previous
rulers). He refused to accept all his predecessors’ titles (including
Imperator
) at the beginning of his reign,
preferring to earn them in due course. He allowed the Senate to issue its own
bronze coinage for the first time since Augustus. He also put the Imperial
provinces of
Macedonia
and
Achaea
back under Senate control.

Claudius set about remodeling the Senate into a more efficient,
representative body. He chided the senators about their reluctance to debate
bills introduced by himself, as noted in the fragments of a surviving speech:

If you accept these proposals, Conscript Fathers, say so at once and
simply, in accordance with your convictions. If you do not accept them,
find alternatives, but do so here and now; or if you wish to take time
for consideration, take it, provided you do not forget that you must be
ready to pronounce your opinion whenever you may be summoned to meet. It
ill befits the dignity of the Senate that the consul designate should
repeat the phrases of the consuls word for word as his opinion, and that
every one else should merely say ‘I approve’, and that then, after
leaving, the assembly should announce ‘We debated’.^[29]

In 47 he assumed the office of
Censor
with
Lucius Vitellius
, which had been allowed to
lapse for some time. He struck the names of many senators and equites who no
longer met qualifications, but showed respect by allowing them to resign in
advance. At the same time, he sought to admit eligible men from the provinces.
The Lyon Tablet
preserves his speech on the
admittance of Gallic senators, in which he addresses the Senate with reverence
but also with criticism for their disdain of these men. He also increased the
number of
Patricians
by adding new families to the
dwindling number of noble lines. Here he followed the precedent of
Lucius Junius Brutus
and
Julius Caesar
.

Nevertheless, many in the Senate remained hostile to Claudius, and many plots
were made on his life. This hostility carried over into the historical accounts.
As a result, Claudius was forced to reduce the Senate’s power for efficiency.
The administration of Ostia was turned over to an Imperial
Procurator
after construction of the port.
Administration of many of the empire’s financial concerns was turned over to
Imperial appointees and freedmen. This led to further resentment and suggestions
that these same freedmen were ruling the Emperor.

Plots and coup
attempts

Several
coup
attempts were made during Claudius’ reign,
resulting in the deaths of many senators.
Appius Silanus
was executed early in Claudius’
reign under questionable circumstances. Shortly after, a large rebellion was
undertaken by the Senator Vinicianus and
Scribonianus
, the governor of
Dalmatia
and gained quite a few senatorial
supporters. It ultimately failed because of the reluctance of Scribonianus’
troops, and the suicide
of the main conspirators.

Many other senators tried different conspiracies and were condemned.
Claudius’ son-in-law
Pompeius Magnus
was executed for his part in a
conspiracy with his father Crassus Frugi. Another plot involved the consulars
Lusiius Saturninus, Cornelius Lupus, and Pompeius Pedo.

In 46,
Asinius Gallus
, the grandson of
Asinius Pollio
, and
Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus
were exiled for
a plot hatched with several of Claudius’ own freedmen.
Valerius Asiaticus
was executed without public
trial for unknown reasons. The ancient sources say the charge was
adultery
, and that Claudius was tricked into
issuing the punishment. However, Claudius singles out Asiaticus for special
damnation in his speech on the Gauls, which dates over a year later, suggesting
that the charge must have been much more serious.

Asiaticus had been a claimant to the throne in the chaos following Caligula’s
death and a co-consul with the Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus mentioned above.
Most of these conspiracies took place before Claudius’ term as
Censor
, and may have induced him to review the
Senatorial rolls. The conspiracy of
Gaius Silius
in the year after his Censorship,
48, is detailed in the section discussing Claudius’ third wife,
Messalina
. Suetonius states that a total of 35
senators and 300 knights were executed for offenses during Claudius’ reign.^[30]
Needless to say, the responses to these conspiracies could not have helped
Senate-emperor relations.

Secretariat and centralization of powers

Claudius was hardly the first emperor to use
freedmen
to help with the day-to-day running of
the Empire. He was, however, forced to increase their role as the powers of the
princeps became more centralized and the burden larger. This was partly
due to the ongoing hostility of the Senate, as mentioned above, but also due to
his respect for the senators. Claudius did not want free-born magistrates to
have to serve under him, as if they were not peers.

The secretariat was divided into bureaus, with each being placed under the
leadership of one freedman.
Narcissus
was the secretary of correspondence.
Pallas
became the secretary of the treasury.
Callistus
became secretary of justice. There
was a fourth bureau for miscellaneous issues, which was put under
Polybius
until his execution for treason. The
freedmen could also officially speak for the Emperor, as when Narcissus
addressed the troops in Claudius’ stead before the conquest of Britain.^[31]

Since these were important positions, the senators were aghast at their being
placed in the hands of former slaves. If freedmen had total control of money,
letters, and law, it seemed it would not be hard for them to manipulate the
Emperor. This is exactly the accusation put forth by the ancient sources.
However, these same sources admit that the freedmen were loyal to Claudius.^[31]

He was similarly appreciative of them and gave them due credit for policies
where he had used their advice. However, if they showed treasonous inclinations,
the Emperor did punish them with just force, as in the case of Polybius and
Pallas’ brother,
Felix
. There is no evidence that the character
of Claudius’ policies and edicts changed with the rise and fall of the various
freedmen, suggesting that he was firmly in control throughout.

Regardless of the extent of their political power, the freedmen did manage to
amass wealth through their positions.
Pliny the Elder
notes that several of them were
richer than
Crassus
, the richest man of the
Republican era
.^[32]

Religious reforms

Bust of Claudius,
Naples National Archaeological Museum

Claudius, as the author of a treatise on Augustus’ religious reforms, felt
himself in a good position to institute some of his own. He had strong opinions
about the proper form for state religion. He refused the request of Alexandrian
Greeks to dedicate a temple to his divinity, saying that only gods may choose
new gods. He restored lost days to festivals and got rid of many extraneous
celebrations added by Caligula. He re-instituted old observances and archaic
language.

Claudius was concerned with the spread of eastern mysteries within the city
and searched for more Roman replacements. He emphasized the
Eleusinian mysteries
which had been practiced
by so many during the Republic. He expelled foreign astrologers, and at the same
time rehabilitated the old Roman soothsayers (known as
haruspices
) as a replacement. He was especially
hard on
Druidism
, because of its incompatibility with
the Roman state religion and its
proselytizing
activities.^{[citation
needed]}

It is also reported that at one time he expelled the Jews from Rome, probably
because the Jews within the city caused continuous disturbances at the
instigation of
Chrestus
.^[33]
Claudius opposed proselytizing in any religion, even in those regions where he
allowed natives to worship freely. The results of all these efforts were
recognized even by Seneca, who has an ancient Latin god defend Claudius in his
satire.^[34]

Public games
and entertainments

According to Suetonius, Claudius was extraordinarily fond of games. He is
said to have risen with the crowd after gladiatorial matches and given
unrestrained praise to the fighters.^[35]
Claudius also presided over many new and original events. Soon after coming into
power, Claudius instituted games to be held in honor of his father on the
latter’s birthday.^[36]
Annual games were also held in honour of his accession, and took place at the
Praetorian camp where Claudius had first been proclaimed Emperor.^[37]

Claudius organised a performance of the
Secular Games
, marking the 800th anniversary of
the founding of Rome. Augustus had performed the same games less than a century
prior. Augustus’ excuse was that the interval for the games was 110 years, not
100, but his date actually did not qualify under either reasoning.^[37]
Claudius also presented naval battles to mark the attempted draining of the
Fucine Lake
, as well as many other public games
and shows.

At Ostia, in front of a crowd of spectators, Claudius fought a
killer whale
which was trapped in the harbour.
The event was witnessed by
Pliny the Elder
:

A killer whale was actually seen in the harbour of Ostia, locked in
combat with the emperor Claudius. She had come when he was completing
the construction of the harbour, drawn there by the wreck of a ship
bringing leather hides from Gaul, and feeding there over a number of
days, had made a furrow in the shallows: the waves had raised up such a
mound of sand that she couldn’t turn around at all, and while she was
pursuing her banquet as the waves moved it shorewards, her back stuck up
out of the water like the overturned keel of a boat. The Emperor ordered
that a large array of nets be stretched across the mouths of the harbour,
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. — “Historia
Naturalis” IX.14–15.^[38]

Claudius also restored and adorned many of the venues around Rome. The old
wooden barriers of the
Circus Maximus
were replaced with ones made of
gold-ornamented marble.^[37]
A new section of the Circus was designated for seating the senators, who
previously had sat among the general public.^[37]
Claudius rebuilt
Pompey’s Theatre
after it had been destroyed by
fire, organising special fights at the re-dedication which he observed from a
special platform in the orchestra box.^[37]

Marriages and
personal life

Suetonius and the other ancient authors accused Claudius of being dominated
by women and wives, of being
uxorious
, and of being a
womanizer
.

Claudius married four times, after two failed betrothals. The first betrothal
was to his distant cousin
Aemilia Lepida
, but was broken for political
reasons. The second was to
Livia Medullina
, which ended with Medullina’s
sudden death on their wedding day.

Plautia Urgulanilla

Plautia Urgulanilla
was the granddaughter of
Livia’s confidant
Urgulania
. During their marriage she gave birth
to a son, Claudius Drusus. Unfortunately, Drusus died of asphyxiation in his
early teens, shortly after becoming engaged to Junilla, the daughter of
Sejanus
.

Claudius later divorced Urgulanilla for adultery and on suspicion of
murdering her sister-in-law Apronia. When Urgulanilla gave birth after the
divorce, Claudius
repudiated
the baby girl, Claudia, as the
father was allegedly one of his own freedmen. This action made him later the
target of criticism by his enemies.

Aelia Paetina

Soon after (possibly in 28), Claudius married
Aelia Paetina
, a relative of Sejanus, if not
Sejanus’s adoptive sister. During their marriage, Claudius and Paetina had a
daughter,
Claudia Antonia
. He later divorced her after
the marriage became a political liability, although Leon (1948) suggests it may
have been due to emotional and mental abuse by Paetina.

Valeria Messalina

Some years after divorcing Aelia Paetina, in 38 or early 39, Claudius married
Valeria Messalina
, who was his first cousin
once removed and closely allied with Caligula’s circle. Shortly thereafter, she
gave birth to a daughter
Claudia Octavia
. A son, first named Tiberius
Claudius Germanicus, and later known as
Britannicus
, was born just after Claudius’
accession.

This marriage ended in tragedy. The ancient historians allege that Messalina
was a
nymphomaniac
who was regularly unfaithful to
Claudius — Tacitus
states she went so far as to compete
with a
prostitute
to see who could have the most
sexual partners in a night^[39]
— and manipulated his policies in order to amass wealth. In 48, Messalina
married her lover
Gaius Silius
in a public ceremony while
Claudius was at
Ostia
.

Sources disagree as to whether or not she divorced the Emperor first, and
whether the intention was to usurp the throne. Scramuzza, in his biography,
suggests that Silius may have convinced Messalina that Claudius was doomed, and
the union was her only hope of retaining rank and protecting her children.^[40]
The historian Tacitus
suggests that Claudius’s ongoing term
as Censor may have prevented him from noticing the affair before it reached such
a critical point.^[41]
Whatever the case, the result was the execution of Silius, Messalina, and most
of her circle.^[42]
Claudius made the
Praetorians
promise to kill him if he ever
married again.^{[citation
needed]}

Agrippina the Younger

Claudius did marry once more. The ancient sources tell that his freedmen
pushed three candidates,
Caligula
‘s third wife
Lollia Paulina
, Claudius’s divorced second wife
Aelia Paetina
and Claudius’s niece
Agrippina the Younger
. According to Suetonius,
Agrippina won out through her feminine wiles.^[43]

The truth is likely more political. The attempted
coup d’etat
by Silius and Messalina had
probably made Claudius realize the weakness of his position as a member of the
Claudian but not the Julian family. This weakness was compounded by the fact
that he did not have an obvious adult heir, Britannicus being just a boy.^[44]

Agrippina was one of the few remaining descendants of Augustus, and her son
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (the future Emperor

Nero) was one of the last males of the Imperial family. Future coup
attempts could rally around the pair, and Agrippina was already showing such
ambition. It has been suggested in recent times that the Senate may have pushed
for the marriage to end the feud between the Julian and Claudian branches.^[44]
This feud dated back to Agrippina’s
mother’s
actions against Tiberius after the
death of her husband
Germanicus
(Claudius’s brother), actions which
Tiberius had gladly punished. In any case, Claudius accepted Agrippina, and
later adopted the newly mature Nero as his son.

Nero was made joint heir with the underage
Britannicus
, married to Octavia and heavily
promoted. This was not as unusual as it seems to people acquainted with modern
hereditary monarchies.
Barbara Levick
notes that Augustus had named
his grandson
Postumus Agrippa
and his stepson
Tiberius
as joint heirs.^[45]

Tiberius named
Caligula
joint heir with his grandson
Tiberius Gemellus
. Adoption of adults or near
adults was an old tradition in Rome when a suitable natural adult heir was
unavailable. This was the case during Britannicus’ minority. S.V. Oost suggests
that Claudius had previously looked to adopt one of his sons-in-law to protect
his own reign.^[46]

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix
, married to his
daughter
Claudia Antonia
, was only descended from
Octavia and Antony on one side – not close enough to the Imperial family to
prevent doubts (that did not stop others from making him the object of a coup
attempt against Nero a few years later). Besides which, he was the half-brother
of
Valeria Messalina
, and at this time those
wounds were still fresh.

Nero was more popular with the general public as the grandson of
Germanicus and the direct descendant of Augustus.

Claudius’ affliction and personality

Claudius depicted as the
Roman god Jupiter

The historian
Suetonius
describes the physical manifestations
of Claudius’ affliction in relatively good detail.^[47]
His knees were weak and gave way under him and his head shook. He stammered and
his speech was confused. He slobbered and his nose ran when he was excited. The
Stoic

Seneca
states in his
Apocolocyntosis
that Claudius’ voice
belonged to no land animal, and that his hands were weak as well.^[48]

However, he showed no physical deformity, as Suetonius notes that when calm
and seated he was a tall, well-built figure of
dignitas
.^[47]
When angered or stressed, his symptoms became worse. Historians agree that this
condition improved upon his accession to the throne.^[49]
Claudius himself claimed that he had exaggerated his ailments to save his life.^[50]

Modern assessments of his health have changed several times in the past
century. Prior to
World War II
,
infantile paralysis
(or polio) was widely
accepted as the cause. This is the diagnosis used in
Robert Graves
‘
Claudius novels
, first published in the 1930s.
Polio does not explain many of the described symptoms, however, and a more
recent theory implicates
cerebral palsy
as the cause, as outlined by
Ernestine Leon.^[51]
Tourette syndrome
has also been considered a
possibility.^[52][53]

As a person, ancient historians described Claudius as generous and lowbrow, a
man who sometimes lunched with the
plebeians
.^[54]
They also paint him as bloodthirsty and cruel, overly fond of
gladiatorial
combat and executions, and very
quick to anger; Claudius himself acknowledged the latter trait, and apologized
publicly for his temper.^[55]
To them he was also overly trusting, and easily manipulated by his wives and
freedmen.^[56]
But at the same time they portray him as paranoid and apathetic, dull and easily
confused.^[57]

The extant works of Claudius present a different view, painting a picture of
an intelligent, scholarly, well-read, and conscientious administrator with an
eye to detail and justice. Thus, Claudius becomes an enigma. Since the discovery
of his “Letter
to the Alexandrians” in the last century, much work has been done to
rehabilitate Claudius and determine where the truth lies.

Scholarly
works and their impact

Claudius wrote copiously throughout his life.
Arnaldo Momigliano
^[58]
states that during the reign of Tiberius – which covers the peak of Claudius’
literary career – it became impolitic to speak of republican Rome. The trend
among the young historians was to either write about the new empire or obscure
antiquarian subjects. Claudius was the rare scholar who covered both.

Besides the history of Augustus’ reign that caused him so much grief, his
major works included an
Etruscan
history and eight volumes on
Carthaginian
history, as well as an
Etruscan
dictionary and a book on dice playing.
(Claudius is actually the last person known to have been able to read Etruscan.)
Despite the general avoidance of the Imperatorial era, he penned a defense of
Cicero
against the charges of
Asinius Gallus
. Modern historians have used
this to determine both the nature of his politics and of the aborted chapters of
his civil war history.

He proposed a reform of the
Latin alphabet
by the addition of
three new letters
, two of which served the
function of the modern letters W and Y. He officially instituted
the change during his censorship, but they did not survive his reign. Claudius
also tried to revive the old custom of putting dots between successive words
(Classical Latin was written with no spacing). Finally, he wrote an eight-volume
autobiography that Suetonius describes as lacking in taste.^[59]
Since Claudius (like most of the members of his dynasty) heavily criticized his
predecessors and relatives in surviving speeches,^[60]
it is not hard to imagine the nature of Suetonius’ charge.

Unfortunately, none of the actual works survive. They do live on as sources
for the surviving histories of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Suetonius quotes
Claudius’ autobiography once, and must have used it as a source numerous times.
Tacitus uses Claudius’ own arguments for the orthographical innovations
mentioned above, and may have used him for some of the more antiquarian passages
in his annals. Claudius is the source for numerous passages of
Pliny’s

Natural History
.^[61]

The influence of historical study on Claudius is obvious. In his speech on
Gallic senators, he uses a version of the founding of Rome identical to that of
Livy, his tutor in adolescence. The detail of his speech borders on the
pedantic, a common mark of all his extant works, and he goes into long
digressions on related matters. This indicates a deep knowledge of a variety of
historical subjects that he could not help but share. Many of the public works
instituted in his reign were based on plans first suggested by
Julius Caesar
. Levick believes this emulation
of Caesar may have spread to all aspects of his policies.^[62]

His censorship seems to have been based on those of his ancestors,
particularly
Appius Claudius Caecus
, and he used the office
to put into place many policies based on those of Republican times. This is when
many of his religious reforms took effect and his building efforts greatly
increased during his tenure. In fact, his assumption of the office of Censor may
have been motivated by a desire to see his academic labors bear fruit. For
example, he believed (as most Romans) that his ancestor
Appius Claudius Caecus
had used the censorship
to introduce the letter “R”
^[63]
and so used his own term to introduce his new letters.

Death

A statue of Claudius in the
Vatican museum

The consensus of ancient historians was that Claudius was murdered by
poison – possibly contained in mushrooms or on a feather – and died in the early
hours of 13 October 54. Accounts vary greatly. Some claim Claudius was in Rome^[64]
while others claim he was in
Sinuessa
.^[65]
Some implicate either
Halotus
, his taster,
Xenophon
, his doctor, or the infamous poisoner
Locusta
as the administrator of the fatal
substance.^[66]
Some say he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at dinner,
and some have him recovering only to be poisoned again.^[64]
Among contemporary sources, Seneca the younger ascribed the emperor’s death to
natural cause, while Josephus only spoke of rumors on his poisoning.^{[citation
needed]}

Nearly all implicate his final wife,
Agrippina
, as the instigator. Agrippina and
Claudius had become more combative in the months leading up to his death. This
carried on to the point where Claudius openly lamented his bad wives, and began
to comment on Britannicus’ approaching manhood with an eye towards restoring his
status within the imperial family.^[67]
Agrippina had motive in ensuring the succession of Nero before Britannicus could
gain power.

In modern times, some authors have cast doubt on whether Claudius was
murdered or merely succumbed to illness or old age.^[68]
Some modern scholars claim the near universality of the accusations in ancient
texts lends credence to the crime.^[69]
But history in those days could not be objectively collected or written, so
sometimes amounted to committing whispered gossip to parchment, often years
after the events, when everyone with a vested interest was dead. Claudius’ ashes
were interred in the
Mausoleum of Augustus
on 24 October, after a
funeral in the manner of Augustus.

After death

Divine honours

Already, while alive, he received the widespread private worship of a living
Princeps
^[70]
and was worshipped in
Britannia
in his own
temple in Camulodunum
.

Claudius was deified by Nero and the Senate almost immediately.^[71]
Those who regard this homage as cynical should note that, cynical or not, such a
move would hardly have benefited those involved, had Claudius been “hated”, as
some commentators, both modern and historic, characterize him. Many of Claudius’
less solid supporters quickly became Nero’s men. Claudius’ will had been changed
shortly before his death to either recommend Nero and Britannicus jointly or
perhaps just Britannicus, who would have been considered an adult man according
to Roman law only a few months later.

Views of the new
regime

Agrippina had sent away
Narcissus
shortly before Claudius’ death, and
now murdered the freedman. The last act of this secretary of letters was to burn
all of Claudius’ correspondence — most likely so it could not be used against
him and others in an already hostile new regime. Thus Claudius’ private words
about his own policies and motives were lost to history. Just as Claudius had
criticized his predecessors in official edicts (see below), Nero often
criticized the deceased Emperor and many of Claudius’ laws and edicts were
disregarded under the reasoning that he was too stupid and senile to have meant
them.^[72]

Seneca’s
Apocolocyntosis
reinforces the view of Claudius
as an unpleasant fool and this remained the official view for the duration of
Nero’s reign. Eventually Nero stopped referring to his deified adoptive father
at all, and realigned with his birth family. Claudius’ temple was left
unfinished after only some of the foundation had been laid down. Eventually the
site was overtaken by Nero’s
Golden House
.^[73]

Flavian and
later perspectives

The
Flavians
, who had risen to prominence under
Claudius, took a different tack. They were in a position where they needed to
shore up their legitimacy, but also justify the fall of the Julio-Claudians.
They reached back to Claudius in contrast with Nero, to show that they were good
associated with good. Commemorative coins were issued of Claudius and his son
Britannicus
, who had been a friend of the
Emperor Titus
(Titus was born in 39, Britannicus was
born in 41). When Nero’s
Golden House
was burned, the
Temple of Claudius
was finally completed on the
Caelian Hill.^[73]

However, as the Flavians became established, they needed to emphasize their
own credentials more, and their references to Claudius ceased. Instead, he was
lumped with the other emperors of the fallen dynasty. His state cult in Rome
probably continued until the abolition of all such cults of dead Emperors by
Maximinus Thrax
in 237–238.^[74]
The
Feriale Duranum
, probably identical to the
festival calendars of every regular army unit, assigns him a sacrifice of a
steer
on his birthday, the
Kalends
of August.^[75]
and such commemoration (and consequent feasting) probably continued until the
Christianization and disintegration of the army in the late 4th century.^[76]

Views of ancient
historians

The main ancient historians
Tacitus
,
Suetonius
, and
Cassius Dio
all wrote after the last of the
Flavians had gone. All three were senators or equites. They took the side
of the Senate in most conflicts with the Princeps, invariably viewing him as
being in the wrong. This resulted in biases, both conscious and unconscious.
Suetonius lost access to the official archives shortly after beginning his work.
He was forced to rely on second-hand accounts when it came to Claudius (with the
exception of Augustus’ letters, which had been gathered earlier) and does not
quote the Emperor. Suetonius painted Claudius as a ridiculous figure, belittling
many of his acts and attributing the objectively good works to his retinue.^[77]

Tacitus wrote a narrative for his fellow senators and fitted each of the
emperors into a simple mold of his choosing.^[78]
He wrote of Claudius as a passive pawn and an idiot, going so far as to hide his
use of Claudius as a source and omit Claudius’ character from his works.^[79]
Even his version of Claudius’ Lyons tablet speech is edited to be devoid of the
Emperor’s personality. Dio was less biased, but seems to have used Suetonius and
Tacitus as sources. Thus the conception of Claudius as the weak fool, controlled
by those he supposedly ruled, was preserved for the ages.

As time passed, Claudius was mostly forgotten outside of the historians’
accounts. His books were lost first, as their antiquarian subjects became
unfashionable. In the 2nd century,
Pertinax
, who shared his birthday, became
emperor, overshadowing commemoration of Claudius.^[80]

In modern
literature and film

The best known fictional representation of the Emperor Claudius were the
books I, Claudius
and
Claudius the God
(published in 1934 and
1935) by
Robert Graves
, both written in the
first-person
to give the reader the impression
that they are Claudius’
autobiography
. Graves employed a fictive
artifice to suggest that they were recently discovered, genuine translations of
Claudius’ writings. Claudius’ extant letters, speeches, and sayings were
incorporated into the text (mostly in the second book, Claudius the God),
to add authenticity.

In 1937, director
Josef von Sternberg
attempted a film version of

I, Claudius
, with
Charles Laughton
as Claudius. Unfortunately,
the lead actress
Merle Oberon
suffered a near-fatal accident and
the movie was never finished. The surviving reels were featured in the BBC
documentary The Epic That Never Was (1965), revealing some of Laughton’s
most accomplished acting. The motion picture rights for a new film passed to
producer Scott Rudin
.^[81]
In 2011, it was announced rights for a miniseries adaptation passed to HBO and
BBC2. Anne Thomopoulos and Jane Tranter, producers of the popular HBO/BBC2
Rome
miniseries, are attached to the new
I, Claudius project.

Graves’s two books were the basis for a
British television adaptation
produced by the
BBC
. The series starred
Derek Jacobi
as Claudius and was broadcast in
1976^[82]
on BBC2
. It was a substantial critical success,
and won several
BAFTA
awards. The series was later broadcast in
the United States on
Masterpiece Theatre
in 1977. The DVD
release of the television series contains the The Epic That Never Was
documentary.

Claudius has been portrayed in film on several other occasions, including in
the 1979 motion picture
Caligula
, the role being performed by
Giancarlo Badessi
in which the character was
depicted as an idiot, in contrast to
Robert Graves
‘ portrait of Claudius as a
cunning and deeply intelligent man who is perceived by others to be an idiot.
Barry Jones
also portrayed him sympathetically
in
Demetrius and the Gladiators
.

On television, the actor
Freddie Jones
portrayed Claudius in the 1968
British television
series
The Caesars
while the 1985
made-for-television
miniseries
A.D. features actor
Richard Kiley
as Claudius. There is also a
reference to Claudius’ suppression of one of the coups against him in the movie

Gladiator
, though the incident is entirely
fictional.

In literature, Claudius and his contemporaries appear in the historical novel
The Roman by
Mika Waltari
. Canadian-born science fiction
writer
A. E. van Vogt
reimagined Robert Graves’
Claudius story in his two novels
Empire of the Atom
and
The Wizard of Linn
.