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Claudius
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A. E. van Vogt
Alfred Elton van Vogt (April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century: the "Golden Age" of the genre.
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Agrippina the Elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder (Major Latin for the elder, Classical Latin: AGRIPPINA•GERMANICI, 14 BC – 18 October 33) was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors. She was the second granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, mother of the Emperor Caligula, maternal second cousin and sister-in-law of the Emperor Claudius and the maternal grandmother of the Emperor Nero.
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Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor (PIR2 A 885), also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia (31 January 36 B.C.-September/October 37 A.D.) was the younger of two daughters of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters (of whom the younger is far more famous). The problem is even more complex: an even older Antonia was born to a previous wife of Antony. That daughter is properly Antonia Maior (the Elder) while the woman usually called Antonia the Younger is in fact Antonia Tertia.
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Antonius Felix
Marcus Antonius Felix (Felix in Greek: ο Φηλιξ, born between 5/10-?) was the Roman procurator of Iudaea Province 52-58, in succession to Ventidius Cumanus.
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Appius Silanus
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Arnaldo Momigliano
Arnaldo Dante Momigliano KBE (September 5, 1908, Caraglio, Piemont–September 1, 1987, London) was an Italian historian known for his work in historiography, characterized by Donald Kagan as the "world’s leading student of the writing of history in the ancient world."
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Asinius Gallus
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Atia Balba Caesonia
Atia Balba Caesonia (85 BC - 43 BC), sometimes referred to as Atia Balba Secunda to differentiate her from her two sisters, was a Roman noblewoman. She was the daughter of Julius Caesar's sister Julia Caesaris, mother of the Emperor Augustus, step-grandmother of the Emperor Tiberius, great-great grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, great-grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and great-great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. The name Atia Balba was also borne by the other two daughters of Julia Caesaris and her husband praetor Marcus Atius Balbus. They were Atia’s older sister Atia Balba Prima and younger sister Atia Balba Tertia.
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Aufidia
Aufidia or Alfidia (flourished 1st century BC) was a woman of Ancient Rome. She was a daughter to Roman Magistrate Marcus Aufidius Lurco and an unknown mother. She was a member of the gens Aufidia, a Roman family of Plebs status which appeared in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, and became a family of consular rank. Her father originally came from Fundi (modern Fondi, Italy).
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Augustus
:For other uses of Octavius, see Octavius (disambiguation). For other uses of Octavian, see Octavian (disambiguation). For other uses of Augustus, see Augustus (disambiguation).
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Barry Jones (actor)
Barry Jones (6 March 1893 – 1 May 1981) was an actor seen in British and American films, on American television and on the stage.
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Britannicus
:For the 1669 tragedy by French dramatist Jean Racine, see Britannicus (play).
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British people
The British (also known as Britons, informally Brits, or archaically Britishers) are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants.: In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which are acquired, for instance, by birth in the UK or by descent from British nationals.
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Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41), commonly known as Caligula and sometimes Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 to 41. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula (the diminutive form of caliga meaning "little soldier's boot") from his father's soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD, his mother Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with her six children where she became entangled in an increasingly bitter feud with Tiberius. This conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Unscathed by the deadly intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in 31, where Tiberius himself had withdrawn five years earlier. At the death of Tiberius in 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather.
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Cassius Chaerea
Cassius Chaerea (fl. 1st century) was a centurion in the army of Germanicus and served in the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Caligula, whom he eventually assassinated.
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Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (July 1, 1899 – December 15, 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and two-time director.
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Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero (; Classical Latin: ; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC; sometimes anglicized as "Tully"), was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
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Claudia Octavia
Claudia Octavia (Classical Latin: CLAVDIA•OCTAVIA) (Late 39 or early 40-9 June 62) was a Roman Empress. She was a great-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, daughter of the Emperor Claudius, and stepsister and first wife of the Emperor Nero.
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Crassus
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Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organised religion.
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Freddie Jones
Freddie Jones (born 12 September 1927) is an English character actor.
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Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 16 B.C. or 15 B.C. – 10 October A.D. 19), commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Lugdunum, Gaul, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle. He received the agnomen Germanicus in 9 BC, when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania.
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Greeks
Ethnic group
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Hadrian
Publius Aelius Hadrianus (24 January 76 – 10 July 138), commonly known as Hadrian and after his apotheosis Divus Hadrianus, was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best-known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman territory in Britain. In Rome, he built the Pantheon and the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian is also a notable Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. A member of the gens Aelia, Hadrian was the third of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
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Halotus
Halotus (c.20-30 AD – c.70-80 AD) was a servant to the Roman Emperor Claudius (August 1 10 BC – October 13 54), the fourth member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He served Claudius as a taster and as a chief steward, and it was because of his occupation, which entailed close contact with Claudius at all times, that he is and was a suspect in the murder of the latter by poison. Along with Agrippina the Younger, the wife of Claudius, Halotus was considered one of the most likely to have committed the murder, although speculation by ancient historians suggest that he may have been working under orders of Agrippina.
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Herod Agrippa
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Herod Agrippa I
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Jews
:For the Jewish way of life, including religion, law, culture, and philosophy, see Judaism. "Jew" redirects here; for other uses, see Jew (disambiguation).
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Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg (29 May 1894 – 22 December 1969) — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.
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Josephus
Josephus (37 – c.100 AD/CE), also Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias) and Titus Flavius Josephus was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded first century Jewish history, such as the First Jewish–Roman War which resulted in the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. He has been credited by many as recording some of the earliest history of Jesus Christ outside of the gospels.
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Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
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Livia
Livia Drusilla, after AD 14 called Julia Augusta (Classical Latin: LIVIA•DRVSILLA, LIVIA•AVGVSTA) (58 BC-AD 29 ) was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser. She was the mother of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-great grandmother of the Emperor Nero. She was deified by Claudius who acknowledged her title of Augusta.
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Livia Drusilla
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Livilla
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Livy
Titus Livius (59 BC – AD 17), known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian family, advising Augustus' grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus' wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.
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Locusta
Locusta was a Roman serial killer during the first century A.D.
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Lollia Paulina
Lollia Paulina (PIR2 L 308) (died 49) was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 1st century, and for six months in AD 38 was a Roman Empress as the third wife of the Emperor Caligula.
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Lucius Caesar
:For other men named Lucius (Julius) Caesar, see Lucius Julius Caesar
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Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (in Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N) (January 14, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC), known in English as Mark (or Marc) Antony (or Anthony), was a Roman politician and general. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, despite his blood ties, through his mother Julia, to the branch of Caesars opposed to the Marians and murdered by them. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (Augustus) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.
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Messalina
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Milonia Caesonia
Milonia Caesonia (d. 41) was the fourth and last wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula.
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Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (15 December 37 – 9 June 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and commonly known as Nero, was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68. He was the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor. He succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death.
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Nero Claudius Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (14 January 38 BC - 14 September 9 BC), born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the stepson of the Emperor Augustus, brother of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, father of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero.
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Octavia Minor
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Pertinax
Publius Helvius Pertinax (1 August 126 – 28 March 193), commonly known as Pertinax, was Roman Emperor for three months from 192 to 193. He is known as the first emperor of the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. Upon his death he was succeeded by Didius Julianus, whose reign was similarly short-lived.
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Plautia Urgulanilla
Plautia Urgulanilla (fl. first century) was the first wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius. They married sometime around the year 9 CE, when Claudius was 18 years old. According to Suetonius, Claudius divorced her in 24 on grounds of adultery by Plautia and his suspicions of her involvement in the murder of her sister-in-law Apronia.
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Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 AD – August 25, 79), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all such works written subsequently. Pliny the Younger, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
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Postumus Agrippa
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Richard Kiley
Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his voice work, as narrator of various documentary series, and for having played Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. Kiley was the first to sing and record The Impossible Dream, the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph, and introduced the song Stranger in Paradise.
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Robert Graves
:For the rugby footballer and coach of the same name, see Robert Graves (rugby)
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Roman civil wars
There were several Roman civil wars, especially during the late Republic. The most famous of these is the war in the 40s BC between Julius Caesar and the optimate faction of the senatorial elite led by Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"). Following is a list of civil wars in ancient Rome.
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Roman Emperor
The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin titles such as imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives), augustus, caesar and princeps were all associated with it. In practice, the emperor was supreme ruler of Rome and supreme commander of the Roman legions.
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Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.
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Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus (20 BC – October 18, AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. An equestrian by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, of which he was commander from AD 14 until his death in 31.
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Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger) (c. 3 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. He was later forced to commit suicide for complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate this last of the Julio-Claudian emperors; however, he may have been innocent. His father was Seneca the Elder and his older brother was Gallio.
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Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. There are enormous lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.
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Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (November 16, 42 BC – March 16, AD 37), born Tiberius Claudius Nero, was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced his father and was remarried to Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder (from his marriage to Scribonia) and even later be adopted by Augustus, by which act he officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar. The subsequent emperors after Tiberius would continue this blended dynasty of both families for the next forty years; historians have named it the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In relations to the other emperors of this dynasty, Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus, great-uncle of Caligula, paternal uncle of Claudius, and great-great uncle of Nero.
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Titus
:For the personal name, see Titus (praenomen). For other uses, see Titus (disambiguation).
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Trajan
Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (18 September 53 – 9 August 117), commonly known as Trajan, was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a general in the Roman army along the German frontier, Trajan successfully put down the revolt of Antonius Saturninus in 89. In September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard compelled him to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and successor. Nerva died on 27 January 98, and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident.
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Urgulania
Urgulania (fl. 24 AD), was a prominent noblewoman during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, and a friend of the empress Livia. She was the mother of Marcus Plautius Silvanus (consul in 2 BC), who had distinguished himself with Tiberius in the Balkans. She was the grandmother to Plautia Urgulanilla, the first wife of the emperor Claudius, and another Plautius Silvanus, the suspect in a famous murder case.
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Valeria Messalina
Valeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, (c. 17/20 – 48) was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was also a paternal cousin of the Emperor Nero, second cousin of the Emperor Caligula, and great-grandniece of the Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation for promiscuity, she conspired against her husband and was executed when the plot was discovered.
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Varro
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Vitellius
Aulus Vitellius (7/12/15/24 September 15 – 22 December 69), later Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, commonly known as Vitellius, was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Vitellius was the first to add the honorific cognomen Germanicus to his name instead of Caesar upon his accession; the latter name had fallen into disrepute in many quarters because of the actions of Nero.
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Alexandria
Alexandria (Arabic: al-Iskandariyya; Coptic: ; ; ; Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه ), with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort. Alexandria extends about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in north-central Egypt. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library). It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez, another city in Egypt.
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Aqua Claudia
Aqua Claudia was an aqueduct of ancient Rome that, like the Anio Novus, was begun by emperor Caligula in 38 AD and completed by Emperor Claudius in 52 AD. Its main springs, the Caeruleus and Curtius, were situated 300 paces to the left of the thirty-eighth milestone of the Via Sublacensis. After being in use for ten years, the supply failed, and was interrupted for nine years, until Emperor Vespasian restored it in 71, and ten years later Titus once more.
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Carthage
Carthage ( or Karthago, , , Berber: ⴽⴰⵔⵜⴰⵊⴻⵏ Kartajen, kartago, from the Phoenician קַרְתְּ חַדַשְתְּ meaning New City, implying it was a 'new Tyre') refers to a series of cities on the Gulf of Tunis, from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BCE to the current suburb outside Tunis, Tunisia.
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Germany
Germany (), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357.021 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state of the European Union, and home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.
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Italy
Italy (; ), officially the Italian Republic (), is a country located in south-central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia — the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea — and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, whilst Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.4 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.
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Pavia
Pavia (; Lombard: Pavia), the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000. The city achieved its greatest political importance between 568 and 774, as the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards.
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Portus
:For homonyms, see Porto (disambiguation)
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Rome
Rome (; , ; ) is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . In 2006 the population of the metropolitan area was estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to have a population of 3.7 million.
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Saxmundham
Saxmundham is a small market town in Suffolk, England. It is set in the valley of the River Fromus, a tributary of the River Alde, approximately northeast of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed by the A12 and is served by Saxmundham railway station on the East Suffolk Line.
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Tiber Island
The Tiber Island (, Latin: Insula Tiberina), is a boat-shaped island which has long been associated with healing. It is an ait, and is the only island in the Tiber river, which runs through Rome. The island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. It is approximately 270 m. long and 67 m. wide.
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Trento
Trento (traditional English: Trent; , ; local language: Trènt; ) is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of the region and of the Autonomous Province of Trento.
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Troy
Troy (Hittite: Wilusa or Truwisa; Greek: , Ilion, and , Troia; Latin: Trōia and Īlium; Turkish: Truva and Troia) was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida. It is best known for being the focus of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey seems to show that the name Ἴλιον (Ilion) formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον (Wilion). This was later supported by the Hittite form Wilusa.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
http://wn.com/United_States
- adultery
- Aelia Paetina
- Agrippina the Elder
- Alexandria
- Anio Novus
- annexation
- Antonia Minor
- Antonius Felix
- Apocolocyntosis
- Appius Silanus
- Aqua Claudia
- Aqua Virgo
- Aqueduct (Roman)
- Arnaldo Momigliano
- Asinius Gallus
- assassination
- Atia Balba Caesonia
- Aufidia
- Aufidius Lurco
- Augustus
- Aulus Plautius
- autobiography
- Barbara Levick
- Barry Jones (actor)
- BBC Two
- bribery
- Britannicus
- British Museum
- British people
- Caligula
- Caligula (film)
- Camulodunum
- Caractacus
- Carthage
- Cassius Chaerea
- Cassius Dio
- census
- cerebral palsy
- Charles Laughton
- Cicero
- Classical Latin
- Claudia Antonia
- Claudia Octavia
- Claudian letters
- Claudius (novel)
- Claudius the God
- clemency
- cognomen
- consul
- coup
- coup d'etat
- Crassus
- cursus honorum
- Derek Jacobi
- drought
- Druidism
- Drusus Claudius Nero
- Edward Gibbon
- Eleusinian mysteries
- Empire of the Atom
- Equestrian (Roman)
- Etruscan language
- famine
- Flavians
- Freddie Jones
- Freedman
- Fucine lake
- Gaius Caecina Largus
- Gaius Caesar
- Gaius Octavius
- Gaius Silius
- Gaul
- Germanicus
- Germany
- Giancarlo Badessi
- gladiator
- Golden House
- Grammatical person
- Greeks
- Hadrian
- Halotus
- haruspices
- Herod Agrippa
- Herod Agrippa I
- historian
- Holy Roman Emperor
- Homosexuality
- I, Claudius
- I, Claudius (film)
- Imperator
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I Claudius (Ep 01/12) _ A touch of murder (рус.суб)
Я, Клавдий (серия 01 из 12) _ Убийственное прикосновение (рус.суб.) автор субтитров hjvfyljvfy, за что ему глубочайшая благодарность. The mini-series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from approximately the death of Marcellus (24/23 BC) to Claudius' own death in 54 AD. As Claudius narrates his life, we witness Augustus' attempts to find an heir, often foiled by his wife Livia who wants her son Tiberius to become emperor. We also see the conspiracy of Sejanus, the infamous reign of Caligula, and Claudius' own troubled period of rule. I, Claudius (1934) is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. The 'autobiography' of Claudius continues (from Claudius's accession after Caligula's death to his death in 54) in Claudius the God (1935). The sequel also includes a section written as an autobiography of Herod Agrippa, contemporary of Claudius and future King of the Jews. The two books were adapted by the BBC into an award-winning television serial, I, Claudius. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked I, Claudius fourteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_Ep_01/12___A_touch_of_murder_руссуб
I, Claudius - Livia and Claudius
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:47
- Published: 02 Sep 2007
- Uploaded: 19 Oct 2011
- Author: morniexutulie
The scene where Livia forbids Claudius from giving a public reading of his work.
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Livia_and_Claudius
I, Claudius. Augustus gets angry at Julia's whorishness
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:55
- Published: 05 May 2007
- Uploaded: 27 Nov 2011
- Author: Ilovethingstoogreek
A favorite part of mine from "I, Claudius"
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius_Augustus_gets_angry_at_Julia's_whorishness
I, Claudius - Half Wit Beats Senate
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:58
- Published: 06 Jul 2008
- Uploaded: 26 Nov 2011
- Author: cunnilinguslover
This is a scene from Episode 10 of the series I, Claudius. Claudius (Derek Jacobi) is made emperor after the assassination of Caligula and addresses senators who oppose it. Out of a brilliant series full of brilliant scenes and performances, this may be the best one, it's certainly my favorite.
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Half_Wit_Beats_Senate
I, Claudius A Televison Epic - part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:50
- Published: 31 Jul 2007
- Uploaded: 28 Nov 2011
- Author: morniexutulie
Interviews with the cast and crew.
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius_A_Televison_Epic__part_1
I, Claudius - Livia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:07
- Published: 23 Aug 2007
- Uploaded: 27 Oct 2011
- Author: morniexutulie
Livia speaks to the fighters before the Games
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Livia
I, Claudius, Messalina competes with prostitute
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:02
- Published: 08 May 2007
- Uploaded: 26 Nov 2011
- Author: Ilovethingstoogreek
x
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius,_Messalina_competes_with_prostitute
"A God in Colchester" (1/6) I Claudius episode 11
Eleventh episode of the series I Claudius. I always feel bad for Claudius in this episode. Wait for the last episode of the series next week
http://wn.com/A_God_in_Colchester_1/6_I_Claudius_episode_11
I, Claudius Theme
Theme from I, Cladius composed by Wilfred Josephs Watch In High Quality: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius_Theme
Monsterpiece Theater - Me Claudius
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:52
- Published: 07 Mar 2008
- Uploaded: 19 Nov 2011
- Author: jonnytbirdzback
From Season 11, many people claim that this was to be the first. Now I don't mean to sound political, but I would always disagree with that.
http://wn.com/Monsterpiece_Theater__Me_Claudius
![I, Claudius - Documentary [1/3]](http://web.archive.org./web/20111225030209im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/x-B7ZIDtnXk/0.jpg "I, Claudius - Documentary [1/3]")
I, Claudius - Documentary [1/3]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:40
- Published: 22 Mar 2008
- Uploaded: 31 Oct 2011
- Author: europecinema
[Documentary, 2005] General review and interviews to the cast and crew of the legendary series "I, Claudius" (1976) Part 2: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Documentary_ 1/3
I, Claudius - Livia and Tiberius 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:38
- Published: 06 Aug 2007
- Uploaded: 21 Sep 2011
- Author: morniexutulie
Livia and Tiberius discuss Marcellus
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Livia_and_Tiberius_2
I Claudius Caligula shares gay porn with uncle Tiberius
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:13
- Published: 10 May 2007
- Uploaded: 28 Nov 2011
- Author: Ilovethingstoogreek
x
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_Caligula_shares_gay_porn_with_uncle_Tiberius
Claudius Linton - Crying Time video!!!!!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:24
- Published: 03 Apr 2008
- Uploaded: 26 Nov 2011
- Author: syncretistvideo
Music video for ROOTS MASTER Claudius Linton.
http://wn.com/Claudius_Linton__Crying_Time_video!!!!!
I Claudius episode 1 A Touch of Murder opening
Opening of the 1976 BBC television series I Claudius, starring Derek Jacobi
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_episode_1_A_Touch_of_Murder_opening
I, Claudius - Derek Jacobi
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:59
- Published: 17 Nov 2008
- Uploaded: 29 Nov 2011
- Author: rosapurpurea
A tribute to a fantastic series and its splendid leading actor, Derek Jacobi. Wikipedia: "I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time. It also provided popular initial exposure for several actors who would eventually become well known like Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies and John Hurt." NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED SDJ Fanforum forums.delphiforums.com
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius__Derek_Jacobi
Patrick Stewart - I, Claudius
Patrick Stewart as Sejanus, Sian Phillips as Livia and George Baker as Emperor Tiberius in a scene from the 1976 BBC miniseries "I, Claudius".
http://wn.com/Patrick_Stewart__I,_Claudius
I Claudius Intro. 1976
Intro to the 1976 BBC production of I Claudius, adapted from the Robert Graves novel and its sequel. It won three Emmys in 1978 and four BAFTAS in 1976.
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_Intro_1976
I, Claudius- Caligula speech
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:27
- Published: 04 Feb 2008
- Uploaded: 21 Nov 2011
- Author: morniexutulie
Caligula speaks to the Senate when he returns from his 'battle against Neptune'
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius_Caligula_speech
Aerobatics on Extra 300S - Claudius Spiegel in Croatia
Claudius Spiegel, aged 21 from Germany doing aerobatics on Extra 300S "N600YS" during training camp in Croatia 2010 together with the Gravity 9 Aerobatic Team.
http://wn.com/Aerobatics_on_Extra_300S__Claudius_Spiegel_in_Croatia
Drama Connections BBC4 _ I Claudius
About making of the series "I, Claudius" 2006-08-06
http://wn.com/Drama_Connections_BBC4___I_Claudius
I Claudius (Ep 06/12) _ Queen of Heaven (рус.суб)
Я, Клавдий (серия 06 из 12) _ Царица Небесная (рус.суб.) автор субтитров hjvfyljvfy, за что ему глубочайшая благодарность. The mini-series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from approximately the death of Marcellus (24/23 BC) to Claudius' own death in 54 AD. As Claudius narrates his life, we witness Augustus' attempts to find an heir, often foiled by his wife Livia who wants her son Tiberius to become emperor. We also see the conspiracy of Sejanus, the infamous reign of Caligula, and Claudius' own troubled period of rule. I, Claudius (1934) is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. The 'autobiography' of Claudius continues (from Claudius's accession after Caligula's death to his death in 54) in Claudius the God (1935). The sequel also includes a section written as an autobiography of Herod Agrippa, contemporary of Claudius and future King of the Jews. The two books were adapted by the BBC into an award-winning television serial, I, Claudius. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked I, Claudius fourteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_Ep_06/12___Queen_of_Heaven_руссуб
I Claudius episode 6 (1/6) Queen of Heaven
This is the sixth episode of the series "I Claudius" this is one of my personal favorites, Derek Jacobi plays a great role. More episodes coming soon! subscribe and comment.
http://wn.com/I_Claudius_episode_6_1/6_Queen_of_Heaven
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - HBO is going back into business with "Rome" duo Jane Tranter and Anne Thomopoulos for a miniseries based on Robert Graves' "I, Claudius." The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the BBC Worldwide Productions duo will executive produce with BBC2. Graves' novel was...
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Yahoo Daily News
By Borys Kit 2 hours, 32 minutes ago TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan will direct an adaptation of the classic novel "I, Claudius," which is best known as the basis for the 1976 BBC miniseries that starred Derek Jacobi as the stuttering Roman emperor....
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| name | Claudius |
|---|---|
| title | 4th Emperor of the Roman Empire |
| full name | Tiberius Claudius Drusus (from birth to 4); Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus (from 4 to accession); Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (as emperor) |
| reign | 24 January 41 – 13 October 54 (13 years, 262 days) |
| predecessor | Caligula |
| successor | Nero, stepson by 4th wife, Agrippina |
| spouse | Plautia Urgulanilla Aelia Paetina Valeria Messalina Agrippina the Younger |
| issue | Claudius Drusus Claudia Antonia Claudia Octavia Britannicus; Nero (adoptive) |
| royal house | Julio-Claudian |
| house-type | Imperial Dynasty |
| father | Nero Claudius Drusus |
| mother | Antonia Minor |
| birth date | 1 August 10 BC |
| birth place | Lugdunum, Gaul |
| death date | October 13, 54 (aged 63) |
| place of burial | Mausoleum of Augustus |
Claudius (Latin: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October 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 emperor to be born outside Italy. 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 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.
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. He took a personal interest in law, presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. However, 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. 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 in Lugdunum to Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia on the day of the dedication of the altar to Augustus at the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls. He had two older siblings named Germanicus and Livilla. Antonia may have had two other children who died young. His maternal grandparents were Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, Augustus' sister, 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, 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. Livia was little kinder, and often sent him short, angry letters of reproof. He was put under the care of a "former mule-driver" 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. In 7, 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. Expectations about his future began to increase.
Ironically, it was his work as a budding historian that destroyed his early career. 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. 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 proved to them that Claudius was not fit for public office. He could not be trusted to toe the existing party line. 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, 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.
When Augustus died in 14, 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 not any 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 Praetorian 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. A possible surviving portrait of Claudius from this period may support this.
Assassination of Caligula
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. 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. 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. 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, claim that Claudius was directed in his actions by the Judean King Herod Agrippa. However, an earlier version of events by the same ancient author downplays Agrippa's role — 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" in order to display the connection with his heroic brother. He deified his paternal grandmother Livia in order 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 . 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. The most far-reaching conquest was the conquest of Britannia''.In 43, 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 traveled 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 used in the capture of Camulodunum.
He left after 16 days, but remained in the provinces for some time. The Senate granted him a triumph for his efforts, as only members of the Imperial family were allowed such honours. Claudius later 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, 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, 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 in order 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. He was also easily swayed. Nevertheless, Claudius paid detailed attention to the operation of the judicial system. 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.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. One of Claudius's investigators discovered that many old Roman citizens based in the modern city of Trento were not in fact citizens. 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 impersonating equestrians were sold back into slavery.
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, and another promoting public flatulence for good health. One of the more famous edicts concerned the status of sick slaves. Masters had been abandoning ailing slaves at the temple of Aesculapius to die, and then reclaiming them if they lived. Claudius ruled that slaves who recovered after such treatment would be free. Furthermore, masters who chose to kill slaves rather than take the risk were liable to be charged with murder.
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 traveling 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. 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 of new arable land. 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:
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.
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 Statilius 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 Statilius 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. Needless to say, the necessary responses to these conspiracies could not have helped Senate-emperor relations.
The 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. 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. 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.
Religious reforms
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.It is also reported that at one time he expelled the Jews from Rome, probably because the appearance of Christianity had caused unrest within the Jewish community. 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.
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. 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. Annual games were also held in honor of his accession, and took place at the Praetorian camp where Claudius had first been proclaimed emperor. Claudius performed 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. 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 harbor. The event was witnessed by Pliny the Elder:
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. A new section of the Circus was designated for seating the senators, who previously had sat among the general public. Claudius rebuilt Pompey's Theater after it had been destroyed by fire, throwing special fights at the re-dedication which he observed from a special platform in the orchestra box.
Death, deification and reputation
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 while others claim he was in Sinuessa. Some implicate either Halotus, his taster, Xenophon, his doctor, or the infamous poisoner Locusta as the administrator of the fatal substance. Some say he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at dinner, and some have him recovering only to be poisoned again. 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. 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. Some modern scholars claim the universality of the accusations in ancient texts lends credence to the crime. 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 the writer was no longer in danger of arrest. Claudius' ashes were interred in the Mausoleum of Augustus on 24 October, after a funeral in the manner of Augustus.
Claudius was deified by Nero and the Senate almost immediately. 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 in a few months.
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. This opinion of Claudius, that he was indeed an old idiot, remained the official one 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.
Flavians' 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 Caelian Hill. However, as the Flavians became established, they needed to emphasize their own credentials more, and their references to Claudius ceased. Instead, he was put down with the other Emperors of the fallen dynasty.
Historians' perspectives
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.Tacitus wrote a narrative for his fellow senators and fitted each of the Emperors into a simple mold of his choosing. He wrote 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. 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.
Marriages and personal life
Claudius' love life was unusual for an upper-class Roman of his day. As Edward Gibbon mentions, of the first 15 Emperors, "Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct"—the implication being that he was the only one not to take men or boys as lovers. Gibbon based this on Suetonius' factual statement that "He had a great passion for women, but had no interest in men." Suetonius and the other ancient authors used this against Claudius. They accused him of being dominated by these same women and wives, of being uxorious, and of being a womanizer.
Plautia Urgulanilla
Claudius married four times. His first marriage, to Plautia Urgulanilla, occurred after two failed betrothals. The first 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 the wedding day. 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 one of his own freedmen.
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 — 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. 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. Whatever the case, the result was the execution of Silius, Messalina, and most of her circle. Claudius made the Praetorians promise to kill him if he ever married again.
Agrippina the Younger
Despite this declaration, Claudius did marry once more. The ancient sources tell that his freedmen pushed three candidates:According to Suetonius, Agrippina won out through her feminine wiles. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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
The historian Suetonius describes the physical manifestations of Claudius' affliction in relatively good detail. 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; however, he showed no physical deformity, as Suetonius notes that when calm and seated he was a tall, well-built figure of dignitas. When angered or stressed, his symptoms became worse. Historians agree that this condition improved upon his accession to the throne. Claudius himself claimed that he had exaggerated his ailments to save his own life.The modern diagnosis has 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. Tourette syndrome is also a likely candidate for Claudius' symptoms. As a person, ancient historians described Claudius as generous and lowbrow, a man who sometimes lunched with the plebeians. They also paint him as bloodthirsty and cruel, overly fond of both gladiatorial combat and executions, and very quick to anger (though Claudius himself acknowledged the latter trait, and apologized publicly for his temper). To them he was also overly trusting, and easily manipulated by his wives and freedmen. But at the same time they portray him as paranoid and apathetic, dull and easily confused. 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 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. Since Claudius (like most of the members of his dynasty) heavily criticized his predecessors and relatives in surviving speeches, 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.
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. 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" and so used his own term to introduce his new letters.
In 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) in order 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 have been obtained by producer Scott Rudin.
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 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.
Ancestry
See also
Footnotes
References
External links
;Ancient Sources:
;Modern Biographies:
Category:10 BC births Category:54 deaths Category:54 crimes Category:1st-century Roman emperors Category:Ancient Romans in Britain Category:Deified Roman emperors Category:Inventors of writing systems Category:Julio-Claudian Dynasty Category:Murdered Roman emperors Category:People from Lugdunum Category:Poisoned Romans Category:Latin historians Category:1st-century historians Category:People with cerebral palsy Category:Staurotypinae
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