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Emperor Claudius

(Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) from 41-54 AD

(1 August 10 BC – 13 October 54 AD)

 

The first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy

 

Claudius was the youngest child of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. Through his father, he was the nephew of Emperor Tiberius. Through his mother, he was the grandson of Mark Anthony. Claudius was an Italic of Sabine origins and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His father and uncle were adopted by Emperor Augustus as his successor.

 

Nobody expected Claudius to become emperor. He was left disfigured by a serious illness when he was very young, he was also clumsy and coarse, and mildly deaf, and was the butt of his family's jokes. When he dozed after dinner, guests pelted him with food and put slippers on his hands so that he’d rub his eyes with his shoes when he woke up. His family excluded him from public office until his consulship in 37 AD.

 

Caligula’s murder in 41 AD changed everything for Claudius. Unexpectedly, the only surviving male heir of Augustus, the family fool was declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard.  Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He expanded the imperial bureaucracy to include freedmen, and helped to restore the empire's finances after the excess of Caligula's reign. He was also an ambitious builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. During his reign the Empire started its successful conquest of Britain.

 

Having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and made major improvements to Rome's judicial system, passed laws protecting sick slaves, extended citizenship and increased women's privileges.

 

He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by elements of the nobility. Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position, which resulted in the deaths of many senators. Those events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised that opinion.

 

...but his poor taste in women would prove his undoing!

 

Many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife, Agrippina the Younger. After his death at the age of 63, Nero, his grand-nephew and legally adopted step-son, succeeded him as emperor.

 

Claudius was dead.  Nero was emperor.

This would be interesting...

 

Source: Wikipedia

 

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