Claudius Lysias is a figure mentioned in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles. According to Acts 21:31-24:22, Lysias was a Roman Tribune and the commander (chiliarch) of the Roman garrison ("cohort" Acts 21:31) in Jerusalem.

Claudius Lysias, the Tribune[link]

Claudius Lysias is called "the tribune" (χιλίαρχος chiliarch) 16 times within Acts 21-24 (21.31-33, 37; 22.24, 26-29; 23.10, 15, 17, 19, 22; 24.22); 17 times if Claudius Lysias is also included in among the "military tribunes" in the "audience hall" when Herod Agrippa II and Bernice come to hear Paul (Acts 25:23). However, such a speculation is uncertain especially considering a minimum of two years from when Claudius Lysias sent Paul to the Procurator Marcus Antonius Felix in c. AD 57/58 Acts 23:26-35, to within the first few months of the new Procurator Porcius Festus who rules from AD 60-62 (Acts 24:27-25:1-22).

The Greek term Χιλίαρχος is said to be used to translate the Roman tribunus militum (following Polybius), and also for the phrase tribuni militares consulari potestate (Plutarch). The responsibilities of a χιλίαρχος were as a "commander of a thousand men".^[1] Essentially, Claudius Lysias is "a high ranking military officer in charge" of anywhere from 600 to 1,000 men,^[2] and this appears to be the case for it is said that his command was over a "cohort" (σπειρα, speira) in Jerusalem which is "the tenth part of a Roman legion having about 600 men" (Acts 21:31).^[3]

Tribune of a Jerusalem Cohort[link]

Claudius Lysias' complete description as found in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles is "the tribune of the cohort" in Jerusalem, which resided in nearby "barracks" (Acts 21.34, 37; 22.24, 23.10, 16, 32). It takes six cohorts to make up a legion, and each legion had six tribunes with a thousand men ("soldiers and centurions" Acts 21:32) under his command if the cohort was full; consequently, Claudius Lysias was a part of a larger military force. The exact numbers in his cohort may never be known, however he had sufficient men to spare two centurions, two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to accompany Paul to Caesarea Acts 23:23-24. Furthermore, when the security detail arrives before Antipartis (Acts 23:31), Claudius Lysias allows for the seventy horsemen to go on with him and Paul to Caesarea, the headquarters of the Procurator Felix (Acts 23:32-35).

The "barracks" referenced in the book of Acts (21.34, 37; 22.24; 23.10, 16, 32), in connection to Claudius Lysias and his cohort are references to the Tower of Antonia, which Herod the Great rebuilt from a previous structure and named it after Marc Antony.^[4] The Antonia was added on to the NW side of the Temple facilities, "from which stairs descend into the outer court of the temple" (Acts 21.32, 35, 22.30).^[5] For this reason, the Roman Tribune could hear the commotion caused by the confusing riot over Paul's presence in the Temple, and respond with speed (Acts 21.27-32).

Claudius Lysias in the New Testament[link]

The military tribune Claudius Lysias enters the New Testament narrative when he protects Paul of Tarsus from a hostile Jewish mob on the outside of the Temple grounds in Jerusalem (Acts 21.30-32). The Acts text does not explicitly state why the tribune arrests Paul aside from asking "who he was and what he had done" (Acts 21.33); consequently, it appears Paul is detained for investigation as reflected later in Paul's interrogation in the Antonian barracks because he was a cause of instigation among the Jews (Acts 22.23-24).

Claudius Lysias is aware of Jewish anarchistic movements, for when Paul speaking in Greek asks permission to speak to the shouting Jewish mob, the tribune appears shocked that he speaks Greek (Acts 21.37). Paul, as a controversial Greek speaking Hebrew, evidently met some of the criterion for Lysias to conclude he was a Jewish revolutionist. Consequently, it appears that Lysias suspects him of being "the Egyptian" who "stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins [σικαρίων] out into the wilderness" (Acts 21.38). This individual operated around A.D. 53, and this revolution amounted to amassing these four thousand men, positioning themselves upon the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem and anticipated the walls of Jerusalem to collapse at his command. The Romans attacked this band of men, the Egyptian lost six hundred men, fled into the wilderness where he disappears awaiting "further revelation". Evidently, "the Egyptian" was still on the run, wanted by the Roman military and the tribune was going to see if Paul was this anarchist.^[6]

Paul was able to persuade Lysias that he was not an agitator, and provides him with his provincial citizenship as being from Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia (Acts 21.39). This was not an "obscure city" and either this suggests his citizenship could be authenticaed, or Paul distinquished himself from the obscure Egyptian. In either case, Paul's point is clear, he is not the Egyptian; the tribune accepts Paul's case, and grants Paul an opportunity to speak the Jews on the steps of the Temple facilities adjoined to the Antonian fortress (Acts 22.39-40). The Jews did not respond peaceably to Paul's speech, and Claudius Lysias decides to take Paul into the "barracks" of Antonia and "examine" him through the process of binding him to flog him (Acts 22.22-24). On receiving a report that Paul was a Roman citizen and then making personal inquiry, Claudius is afraid of having violated the rights of a Roman by having him bound (see "Roman Citizenship" below). Claudius desires to arrive at the truth concerning the Jewish case against Paul, and commands the Sanhedrin to assemble. Dissension among the Sanhedrin towards Paul arises again, and causes Claudius Lysias to order his men to take Paul to the safety of the Antonian barracks (Acts 22.30-23.10).

Upon learning of a plot to kill Paul, Claudius Lysias summoned two of his army officers and commanded them to get ready 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to leave for Caesarea Maritima. In compliance with Roman law, he also sent a statement of the case to the procurator Antonius Felix. The letter reads:

Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.

This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him. (Acts 23.26-30 English Standard Version)

The letter format is consistent with the general format in the Graeco-Roman world, of "author" to "recipient" with a "greeting" with the subsequent content of the reason for the letter.^[7] This letter, however, was not altogether factual. It "is an interesting specimen of Roman military correspondence" (Acts 23:26-30).^[8] Although acknowledging Paul's innocence, Claudius Lysias gave the impression that he had rescued Paul because of having learned that the apostle was a Roman, whereas in reality he had violated Paul's citizenship rights by having him bound and even ordering that he be examined under scourgings. As to the disciple Luke's knowledge of the letter's contents, it may be that the letter itself was read at the time Paul's case was heard.

The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts digitally houses photographs of Bezae NT 1588, and the following links displays Claudius Lysias' letter to Felix: [[File:Bezae_NT_1588]] [[File:Bezae_NT_1588]].

He obtained his Roman citizenship by purchase, and was therefore probably a Greek. (Acts 22:28).

Roman Citizenship[link]

In Acts 22:23-29, a discussion between Paul and Claudius emerges on the topic of Roman citizenship. Part of Claudius' investigation procedure to find out more information was to stretch out the detained for whips and flog them.

Before his flogging begins, Paul questions the centurion given this detail, "Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?" (Acts 22.25). Roman citizenship had a number of privileges, as John Polhill writes:

A Roman citizen was subject to Roman law and thus was protected from such things as being beaten without a trial, from cruel punishments like crucifixion, and from unlawful imprisonment, rights which did not belong to an ordinary provincial (peregrinus). Citizens had the right of appeal. Only a Roman citizen could legally marry another Roman citizen. Citizens were exempted from certain taxes. Beyond this, there was the considerable factor of honor and deference such a status afforded.^[9]

It was such a valued honor, that some people risked the death penalty given for falsely claiming citizenship.^[10] Interestingly, one could hold dual citizenship, as Paul was not only a citizen of the city of Rome, but he was also a citizen of the city of Tarsus from the province of Cilicia (Acts 21.39; 23.34).

Roman citizenship was conferred in a number of ways. (1) The most common way was being born from two Roman citizens. This is the claim Paul makes when asked how he obtained his citizenship ("I am a citizen by birth" Acts 22.28), which implies that both of Paul's parents were Jewish Roman citizens (cf. #4). (2) One could obtain citizenship as a reward for military service. Regularly, military veterans were given citizenship upon discharge. This was the surest way to get it, taking 20 to 25 years depending of level of ranking. (3) Imperial conference, though heard of, was not entirely common. Nevertheless, the emperor could confer citizenship, either on individuals or on whole communities, as in the establishment of a new colony. Often the result of doing some loyal service to Rome. Also, many times through these services, one gained an audience with the Emperor though expensive gifts to members of the inner Imperial court. This may have been how the Tribune Claudius Lysias gained his citizenship (Acts 22.27-28). In fact, the tribune's name provides evidence to assume the plausibility that the Emperor Claudius (A.D. 41 - A.D. 54) conferred upon Lysias citizenship since those granted this honor would bear the name (the nomen) of the family or patron which conferred it; hence, Lysias gained the name of his patron Claudius. It has been noted that the emperor was quite "promiscuous" in his conferrence of citizenship.^[11] (4) Roman citizenship was also conferred through emancipation of a slave from the house of a Roman citizen. Some have suggested that Paul’s ancestors may have been freedmen from among the thousands of Jews who Pompey took as slaves in 63 B.C.^[12]

References[link]

This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.

This Christianity-related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Claudius
4th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign	24 January 41 – 13 October 54
Full name	Tiberius Claudius Drusus (from birth to 4); Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus (from 4 to accession); Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (as emperor)
Born	1 August 10 BC
Birthplace	Lugdunum, Gaul
Died	13 October 54(54-10-13) (aged 63)
Buried	Mausoleum of Augustus
Predecessor	Caligula
Successor	Nero, stepson by 4th wife, Agrippina
Consort to	Plautia Urgulanilla Aelia Paetina Valeria Messalina Agrippina the Younger
Offspring	Claudius Drusus Claudia Antonia Claudia Octavia Britannicus; Nero (adoptive)
Royal House	Julio-Claudian
Father	Nero Claudius Drusus
Mother	Antonia Minor

Claudius (Latin: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus;^[1] 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.

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. 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[link]

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, and 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.^[2] Livia was little kinder, and often sent him short, angry letters of reproof. He was put under the care of a "former mule-driver"^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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. 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.^[6]

Gratus proclaims Claudius emperor. Detail from A Roman Emperor 41AD, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Oil on canvas, c. 1871.

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.^[7] A possible surviving portrait of Claudius from this period may support this.

Assassination of Caligula[link]

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.

Coin of Herod of Chalcis, showing Herod of Chalcis with brother Agrippa of Judaea crowning Roman Emperor Claudius I. British Museum.

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,^[10] 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^[11] — 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.

Claudius issued this denarius type to emphasize his clemency after Caligula's assassination. The depiction of the goddess Pax-Nemesis, representing subdued vengeance, would be used on the coins of many later emperors.

As Emperor[link]

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.^[12] 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[link]

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.^[13] The most far-reaching conquest was the conquest of Britannia.^[14]

Contemporary bronze head of Claudius found at the River Alde at Rendham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk (British Museum)

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 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, 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,^[15] 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[link]

Roman sestertius struck under Claudius. The reverse depicts Spes Augusta (Hope). Coins of this type were first issued to commemorate the birth of Claudius' son Britannicus in 41.

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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] One of Claudius's investigators discovered that many old Roman citizens based in the modern city of Trento were not in fact citizens.^[19] 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.^[20]

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,^[21] and another promoting public flatulence for good health.^[22] 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.^[23]

Public works[link]

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.

The Porta Maggiore in Rome

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.^[24] 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.^[25] He expanded the Claudian tunnel to three times its original size.

Claudius and the Senate[link]

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'.^[26]

Roman sestertius issued during Claudius' reign. The reverse reads "EX SC PP OB CIVES SERVATOS", meaning "Senatus Consulto" (approved by the Senate), "Pater Patriae" (to the father of his country), "Ob Cives Servatos" (For having saved the citizens).

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.^[27] Needless to say, the necessary responses to these conspiracies could not have helped Senate-emperor relations.

Secretariat and centralization of powers[link]

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.^[28] 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.^[29]

Religious reforms[link]

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 at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.^[30] 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.^[31]

Public games and entertainments[link]

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.^[32] 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.^[33] Annual games were also held in honor of his accession, and took place at the Praetorian camp where Claudius had first been proclaimed Emperor.^[34] 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.^[34] 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:

A killer whale was actually seen in the harbor of Ostia, locked in combat with the emperor Claudius. She had come when he was completing the construction of the harbor, 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 harbor, 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.^[35]

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.^[34] A new section of the Circus was designated for seating the senators, who previously had sat among the general public.^[34] Claudius rebuilt Pompey's Theater after it had been destroyed by fire, organizing special fights at the re-dedication which he observed from a special platform in the orchestra box.^[34]

Marriages and personal life[link]

Claudius' love life was unusual for an upper-class Roman of his day, in that he was the only one out of the first 15 emperors not to take men or boys, but only women as lovers. 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.

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[link]

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 one of his own freedmen.

Aelia Paetina[link]

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[link]

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^[36] — 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.^[37] 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.^[38] Whatever the case, the result was the execution of Silius, Messalina, and most of her circle.^[39] Claudius made the Praetorians promise to kill him if he ever married again.^{[citation needed]}

Agrippina the Younger[link]

Despite this declaration, 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
• Claudius's niece Agrippina the Younger

According to Suetonius, Agrippina won out through her feminine wiles.^[40] 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.^[41] 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.^[42] 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.^[43] 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[link]

The historian Suetonius describes the physical manifestations of Claudius' affliction in relatively good detail.^[44] 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;^[45] however, he showed no physical deformity, as Suetonius notes that when calm and seated he was a tall, well-built figure of dignitas.^[44] When angered or stressed, his symptoms became worse. Historians agree that this condition improved upon his accession to the throne.^[46] Claudius himself claimed that he had exaggerated his ailments to save his own life.^[47]

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.^[48] Tourette syndrome has also been considered a possibility.^[49][50] Asperger Syndrome has also been theorized in recent years. ^{[51] [52]} As a person, ancient historians described Claudius as generous and lowbrow, a man who sometimes lunched with the plebeians.^[53] 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).^[54] To them he was also overly trusting, and easily manipulated by his wives and freedmen.^[55] But at the same time they portray him as paranoid and apathetic, dull and easily confused.^[56] 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[link]

Claudius wrote copiously throughout his life. Arnaldo Momigliano^[57] 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.^[58] Since Claudius (like most of the members of his dynasty) heavily criticized his predecessors and relatives in surviving speeches,^[59] it is not hard to imagine the nature of Suetonius' charge.

The Claudian letters

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.^[60]

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.^[61] 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"^[62] and so used his own term to introduce his new letters.

Death[link]

Gold coin of Claudius (50–51) excavated in South India, an example of Indo-Roman trade during the period.

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^[63] while others claim he was in Sinuessa.^[64] Some implicate either Halotus, his taster, Xenophon, his doctor, or the infamous poisoner Locusta as the administrator of the fatal substance.^[65] Some say he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at dinner, and some have him recovering only to be poisoned again.^[63] 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.^[66] 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.^[67] Some modern scholars claim the universality of the accusations in ancient texts lends credence to the crime.^[68] 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 who cared was dead. Claudius' ashes were interred in the Mausoleum of Augustus on 24 October, after a funeral in the manner of Augustus.

After death[link]

Divine honours[link]

Already, while alive, he received the widespread private worship of a living Princeps^[69] and was worshipped in Britannia in his own temple in Camulodunum.

Claudius was deified by Nero and the Senate almost immediately.^[70] 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[link]

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.^[71] 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.^[72]

Flavian and later perspectives[link]

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.^[72] 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.^[73] 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.^[74] and such commemoration (and consequent feasting) probably continued until the Christianization and disintegration of the army in the late fourth century.^[75]

Views of ancient historians[link]

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.^[76]

Tacitus wrote a narrative for his fellow senators and fitted each of the Emperors into a simple mold of his choosing.^[77] 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.^[78] 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.^[79]

In modern literature and film[link]

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 passed producer Scott Rudin.^[80] 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^[81] 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 Rodrigo Adrian La Fuente Soto 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[link]

See also[link]

• Julio-Claudian family tree

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Claudius

Ancient Sources

• Suetonius
  • Life of Claudius
• Tacitus
  • Tacitus on the second half of Claudius' reign, book 11
  • Tacitus on Claudius' last years, book 12
• Dio
  • Cassius Dio's account of Claudius' reign, part I
  • Cassius Dio's account, part II
• Josephus
  • The works of Josephus
• Seneca
  • The Apocolocyntosis of the Divine Claudius
• Claudius
  • Claudius' Letter to the Alexandrians
  • Lyons tablet
    • Extract from first half of the Lyons Tablet
    • Second half of the Lyons Tablet
    • Tacitus' version of the Lyons Tablet speech
  • Edict confirming the rights of the people of Trent. Full Latin text here.

Modern Biographies

• Biography from De Imperatoribus Romanis
• Claudius Page
• Claudius I at BBC History

Lysias by Jean Dedieu (Gardens of Versailles)

Lysias (Greek: Λυσίας) (ca. 445 BC – ca. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BC.

Life[link]

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the author of the life ascribed to Plutarch, Lysias was born in 459 BC, which would accord with a tradition that Lysias reached, or passed, the age of eighty. This date was evidently obtained by reckoning back from the foundation of Thurii (444 BC), since there was a tradition that Lysias had gone there at the age of fifteen. Modern critics, in general, place his birth later, ca. 445 BC, and place the trip to Thurii around 430 BC.^[1]

Cephalus, his father, was a native of Syracuse, and on the invitation of Pericles had settled at Athens. The opening scene of Plato's Republic is set at the house of his eldest son, Polemarchus, in Piraeus. The tone of the picture warrants the inference that the Sicilian family were well known to Plato, and that their houses must often have been hospitable to such gatherings. Further, Plato's Phaedrus opens with Phaedrus coming from conversation with Lysias at the house of Epicrates of Athens: he meets Socrates, with whom he will read and discuss the speech of Lysias he heard.

At Thurii, the colony newly planted on the Tarentine Gulf, the boy may have seen Herodotus, now a man in middle life, and a friendship may have grown up between them. There, too, Lysias is said to have commenced his studies in rhetoric—doubtless under a master of the Sicilian school possibly, as tradition said, under Tisias, the pupil of Corax, whose name is associated with the first attempt to formulate rhetoric as an art. In 413 BC the Athenian armament in Sicily was annihilated. The desire to link famous names is illustrated by the ancient ascription to Lysias of a rhetorical exercise purporting to be a speech in which the captive general Nicias appealed for mercy to the Sicilians. The terrible blow to Athens quickened the energies of an anti-Athenian faction at Thurii. Lysias and his elder brother Polemarchus, with three hundred other persons, were accused of Atticizing. They were driven from Thurii and settled at Athens (412 BC).

Lysias and Polemarchus were rich men, having inherited property from their father, Cephalus; and Lysias claims that, though merely resident aliens, they discharged public services with a liberality which shamed many of those who enjoyed the franchise (Against Eratosthenes xii.20). The fact that they owned house property shows that they were classed as isoteleis (ἰσοτελεῖς), i.e. foreigners who paid only the same tax as citizens, being exempt from the special tax (μετοίκιον) on resident aliens. Polemarchus occupied a house in Athens itself, Lysias another in the Piraeus, near which was their shield manufactory, employing a hundred and twenty skilled slaves.

In 404 the Thirty Tyrants were established at Athens under the protection of a Spartan garrison. One of their earliest measures was an attack upon the resident aliens, who were represented as disaffected to the new government. Lysias and Polemarchus were on a list of ten singled out to be the first victims. Polemarchus was arrested, and compelled to drink hemlock. Lysias had a narrow escape, with the help of a large bribe. He slipped by a back-door out of the house in which he was a prisoner, and took a boat to Megara. It appears that he had rendered valuable services to the exiles during the reign of the tyrants, and in 403 Thrasybulus proposed that these services should be recognized by the bestowal of the citizenship. The Boule, however, had not yet been reconstituted, and hence the measure could not be introduced to the ecclesia by the requisite preliminary resolution (προβούλευμα). On this ground it was successfully opposed.

The Athenian political climate during Lysias’s life cannot be looked upon in modern terms. Modern politics means constant and open competition between organized rival factions with their own ideologies and memberships. The members of these parties label themselves a certain name which implies that they will vote and pay dues to a certain organization who share the same basic social and political outlooks on society. The terms that best render political opposites at the time were “Oligarch” and “Democratic.” Politics as described by Lysias meant that “no human being is by nature oligarchical or democratic, but whatever constitution brings advantage to an individual is the one he would like to see established.” This passage illustrates that whatever ideology a person chose to support is not based on their core beliefs or principles. Overall, two of the key terms of Athenian politics were popular participation and collective rule. Every male Athenian citizen, irrespective to birth, occupation, and with a few exceptions, economic status, had the right to wield power as an official or Council member and actively participate in the decision-making process at the Assembly whether or not he currently held any official position. Voting was egalitarian—‘one man, one vote’—and because Athens was a direct democracy, voting outcomes remained relatively unpredictable. A Greek person was likely to support one or the other at any given time based on specific economic and social cases.^{[2] [3]}

During his later years Lysias—now probably a comparatively poor man owing to the rapacity of the tyrants and his own generosity to the Athenian exiles—appears as a hard-working member of a new profession—that of logographer, writer of speeches to be delivered in the law-courts. The thirty-four extant are but a small fraction. From 403 to about 380 BC his industry must have been incessant. The notices of his personal life in these years are scanty. In 403 he came forward as the accuser of Eratosthenes, one of the Thirty Tyrants. This was his only direct contact with Athenian politics. The story that he wrote a defence for Socrates, which the latter declined to use, probably arose from a confusion. Several years after the death of Socrates the sophist Polycrates composed a declamation against him, to which Lysias replied.^[4]

A more authentic tradition represents Lysias as having spoken his own Olympiacus at the Olympic festival of 388 BC, to which Dionysius I of Syracuse had sent a magnificent embassy. Tents embroidered with gold were pitched within the sacred enclosure; and the wealth of Dionysius was vividly shown by the number of chariots which he had entered. Lysias lifted up his voice to denounce Dionysius as, next to Artaxerxes, the worst enemy of Hellas, and to impress upon the assembled Greeks that one of their foremost duties was to deliver Sicily from a hateful oppression. The latest work of Lysias which we can date (a fragment of a speech For Pherenicus) belongs to 381 or 380 BC. He probably died in or soon after 380 BC.

Style[link]

Lysias displays literary tact, humour, and attention to character in his extant speeches, and is famous for using his skill to conceal his art. It was obviously desirable that a speech written for delivery by a client should be suitable to his age, station and circumstances. Lysias was the first to make this adaptation really artistic. His language is crafted to flow easily, in contrast to his predecessor Antiphon's pursuit of majestic emphasis, to his pupil (and close follower in many respects) Isaeus' more conspicuous display of artistry and more strictly logical manner of argumentation,^[5] and later to the forceful oratory of Demosthenes.

Translated into terms of ancient criticism, he became the model of the plain style (ἰσχνὸς χαρακτήρ, ἰσχνὴ/λιτὴ/ἀφελὴς λέξις: genus tenue or subtile). Greek and then Roman critics distinguished three styles of rhetorical composition—the grand (or elaborate), the plain and the middle, the plain being nearest to the language of daily life. Greek rhetoric began in the grand style; then Lysias set an exquisite pattern of the plain; and Demosthenes might be considered as having effected an almost ideal compromise.

The vocabulary of Lysias is relatively simple and would later be regarded as a model of pure diction for Atticists. Most of the rhetorical figures are sparingly used—except such as consist in the parallelism or opposition of clauses. The taste of the day not yet emancipated from the influence of the Sicilian rhetoric probably demanded a large use of antithesis. Lysias excels in vivid description; he has also the knack of marking the speakers character by light touches. The structure of his sentences varies a good deal according to the dignity of the subject. He has equal command over the periodic style (κατεστραμμένη λέξις) and the non-periodic or continuous (εἰρομένη, διαλελυμένη). His disposition of his subject-matter is always simple. The speech has usually four parts: introduction (προοίμιον), narrative of facts (διήγησις), proofs (πίστεις), which may be either external, as from witnesses, or internal, derived from argument on the facts, and, lastly, conclusion (ἐπίλογος).