Marriage in the Imperial Palace October 13th, 54 AD By Zachary Beasley "Upon the murder of Caligula by the Praetorian Guards on January 24, 41 AD, there were only three surviving males in the Julio-Claudian dynasty that had been ruling the Roman Empire – Claudius (50, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia); Nero (4, son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina Junior); and Brittanicus (1, son of Claudius and Valeria Messalina). While Caligula was being relieved of his mortal coil, Claudius hid behind some curtains in the palace. The Praetorians found him and led him to their camp. To his great surprise, he was there two likely reasons – the Senate was debating possibly turning from the Empire model and back to the old Republican one; and the Praetorians probably expected they could easily control Claudius because of his speech impediment and his impaired constitution from his childhood diseases. "Although Claudius was in the background of Roman politics until his ascension, he had a very active and conflicted personal life. He was involved in six arranged marriages, four of them actually coming to fruition. The first two marriages didn’t pan out – his proposed first wife, Aemilia Lepida, was the daughter of parents who later fell out of favor, so the wedding was called off. His second was to be to Livia Medullina, but she died on the day of the wedding. The next was Claudius’s first successful marriage, to Plautia Urgulanilla, which produced a son and daughter. The marriage itself was not a success, as they divorced c. 24 AD on suspicion of Urgulanilla’s adultery and that she was trying to murder Claudius. Their son choked on a pear and died and their daughter was suspected to actually have been from Urgulanilla and Claudius’s freedman, Boter, so she was disowned. "Claudius’s fourth marriage was to Aelia Paetina and had a daughter named Claudia Antonia with her. He divorced Paetina in 31 AD and began a relationship with a concubine named Calpurnia. That affair lasted 8 years until in 39 AD, Claudius married Valeria Messalina, who was only 14 at the time. They had a daughter named Claudia Octavia and a son named Germanicus, who was later renamed Brittanicus after Claudius’s victory in Britain in 43 AD. "While Claudius was away in Ostia, Valeria Messalina fell in love with the consul-designate, Gaius Silius, and married him in 48 AD. Claudius found out about the marriage and had Silius brought to the Praetorian camp, where he was executed. Messalina committed suicide and a damnatio memoriae was pronounced against her. "Claudius’s final marriage was to his niece, Agrippina Junior, in 50 AD. With this marriage came the adoption of Agrippina’s son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was then renamed Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (or Nero, for short). During the next four years, Agrippina plotted her takeover, slowly and methodically replacing everyone in the palace loyal to Claudius with those loyal to her instead. In 54, Nero was approaching his 17th birthday and although Agrippina had already been hailed Augusta, she would soon lose her regency over the throne if Nero weren’t elevated soon. As such she needed to make her move quickly. At dinner on October 12, she fed Claudius a plate of poisoned mushrooms, but they didn’t work. She convinced Claudius’s doctor to give him a second plate, which were successful during the night. With Claudius out of the way, Nero became emperor. Four months later, Brittanicus was poisoned at another dinner party, removing the only legitimate rival to the throne." Honoring the Praetorian Guard, Claudius issued this coin, which is one of my all-time favorites and one which puzzles me by its lack of inclusion in Berk's "100 Greatest Ancient Coins." CLAUDIUS 10 B.C. - 54 A.D. AV Aureus (7.79 g.) Rome 44 - 45 A.D. RIC 25 Obv. TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P IIII laureate head r. Rev. Battlemented wall IMPER RECEPT enclosing praetorian camp, Fides Praetorianorum left. Lustrous EF Ex. Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection
My claudius Claudius (41-54 A.D.) Attalea Lycia AE 19 O: Bare head left, R: ΑΤΤΑΛΕΩΝ, helmeted head of Athena right. Attalea mint 4.44g RPC I 3366 Wildwinds Plate Coin
CLAUDIUS AE As Rome mint 41-42 AD Diameter: 25.5 mm Weight: 11.1 grams Obverse: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP. Bare head at left Reverse: S-C across field, Minerva standing right, brandishing spear and holding shield on left arm Reference: RIC I 100 ... oh, and my sweet ol' Claudius forgery!!
I might as well toss-in my only Caligula example as well ... Caligula & Vesta, AE As ... eh-heh-heh (please try to excuse the nasty ol' cleaning marks)
Love your Aureus IoM. You guys make my coins look minor league. Well, maybe that's because they are. So here are the minors from my collection: CLAUDIUS AE As OBVERSE: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TRP IMP P P - Bare head left REVERSE: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI - Constantia standing left, raising hand and holding spear; S C across fields Struck at Spain, 42/3AD 12.7g, 25mm RIC111, BMC201, S1858 CLAUDIUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P VI IMP XI, laureate head right REVERSE: PACI AVGVSTAE, Pax-Nemesis advancing right, drawing out fold of robe at neck, holding caduceus above serpent preceding her Struck at Rome, 46/7AD 3.6g, 19mm RIC39, BMC40 CLAUDIUS AE As OBVERSE: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TR P IMP P P, bare head left. REVERSE: Minerva advancing right, holding shield and brandishing a javelin, S-C across fields Struck at Rome, 50-4AD 10.5G, 25MM RIC 116 CLAUDIUS AE Quandran OBVERSE: T I CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG – Modius REVERSE: PON M TRP IMP P P COSII - Large S C Struck at Rome, 42AD 2.6g, 16mm RIC 90, BN 195, S 1865, C 72 CLAUDIUS AE Quandran OBVERSE: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG around hand holding pair of scales above PNR REVERSE: PON M TR P IMP COS DES IT around S C Struck at Rome, 41AD 2.8g, 15mm RIC 85, Cohen 71, BMC 174
Fantastic aureus, nice bronzes. As you might guess, I stick to the "minor league" as Bing wrote An official issue : Claudius, Dupondius TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, head left CERES AVGVSTA, Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left on ornamental throne, holding two corn-ears and a long torch, S C in exergue. 11,20 gr Ref : RCV # 1855, RIC # 94 A branch mint issue : Claudius, As As produced at a "branch mint", AD 41-42 TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Bare head of Claudius left CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI, Constantia helmeted standing left holding spear, SC in field 10,84 gr Ref : RCV #1857, Cohen #14 For better understanding of where this might have been minted, see : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=65318.0 Q
