Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="IdesOfMarch01, post: 2841789, member: 39084"]Claudius Tiberius Claudius Drusus, better known as Claudius, was born in Lugdunum (in Gaul) in 10 BC.  He was the granson of Livia, Marcus Antonius and Octavia, and the son of Antonia and Nero Claudius Drusus.  He was Tiberius’ nephew as well as Nero’s and Caligula’s uncle. [ATTACH=full]672482[/ATTACH]    [ATTACH=full]672483[/ATTACH] (The first likeness above looks most like Claudius' image on coins, to my eye.) Most accounts of Claudius’ early years describe him as a somewhat sickly youth.  He had a limp and some deafness from an early illness, was a stammerer, and his own mother Antonia effectively discarded him after her husband Drusus died on a military campaign, leaving him to be partly raised by his grandmother Livia.  Suetonius describes Antonia’s opinion of her son as “a monster of a man, not finished but merely begun by Dame Nature"; and if she accused anyone of dullness, she used to say that he was "a bigger fool than her son Claudius." Thus shunned, Claudius indulged in his scholarly interests, and was tutore by the historians Livy and Pollio.  He became well-versed in the history of Rome and wrote books on the history of the Carthaginians, the principate of Augustus, and even a book about gambling (dicing).  Unfortunately, none of these books survived. An unintended consequence of his scholarly pursuits was that his histories damaged his prospects for public office that would normally be awarded to a Julio-Claudian scion, since his histories were accurate rather than politically correct; Augustus didn’t want to be reminded that Claudius’ grandfather was Marcus Antonius, who had opposed Augustus during the wars of the second triumvirate. His luck in marriage was equally unfortunate.  He had six arranged marriages during his lifetime, only four of which actually happened.  His first arranged marriage was canceled when the intended wife’s family fell out of favor; his second, when his intended wife died on the very day of the marriage. He had two children by his first actual wife (Plautia Urgulanilla) whom he divorced for adultery and on the suspicion that she attempted to murder him.  Their first child, a boy, choked to death on a pear, while the second, a girl, was disowned when she was thought to be the daughter of a freedman rather than Claudius’ biological daughter. His next marriage was to Aelia Paetina, with whom he had a daughter, Claudia Antonia.  But after the fall of Sejanus, he divorced her, and took up with a concubine named Calpurnia.  In I, Claudius, Robert Graves portrays this relationship as being warm and loving, with Claudius not particularly interested in marrying again. But if Claudius thought his marital luck couldn’t get worse, the fates would prove this spectacularly wrong.  In 39 AD, he married the ambitious and devious 14-year-old Valeria Messalina, with whom he had a daughter and a son.  Ruthless in pursuit of her own goals, she destroyed her female rivals (Claudius’ nieces Livia Julia and Julia Livilla) and according to Suetonius and others, tried to have Agrippina Jr.’s son Nero strangled in his bed, since Nero was the only other potential heir to the throne (the other being Messalina’s son Britannicus) after Claudius died.  This attempt was foiled, according to legend, by the appearance of a snake from under Nero’s pillow that frightened the would-be murderers. Messalina would eventually create her own downfall.  Highly promiscuous, she became infatuated by consul-designate Gaius Silius, and when Claudius was in Ostia in 48 AD, she married Silius despite still being married to Claudius.  When Claudius’ freedman Narcissus found out about the marriage and informed Claudius, both Messalina and Silius were put to death, although some accounts (including I, Claudius) have Messalina being forced to commit suicide rather than be executed. In a final sad denouement, Claudius would end up marrying his niece Agrippina Jr., who first arranged the murder of Claudius himself, and then after Nero had been hailed emperor, killing Claudius’ son Britannicus, thus ensuring that her son Nero would remain emperor. Claudius was raised to emperor by the Praetorian Guard immediately after the assassination of Claudius' nephew, the emperor Caligula. Claudius, having heard about the assassination and fearing for his life, was found cowering behind a curtain by the Praetorians. Because Claudius had a reputation as a half-wit and stammerer, the Praetorians considered him a harmless member of the royal family. Claudius became the first emperor to be raised to Caesar by the Praetorians. One of my favorite quotes from the BBC series I, Claudius was when Claudius was asking the senate to confirm him as emperor: "As for being half-witted: well, what can I say, except that I have survived to middle age with half my wits, while thousands have died with all of theirs intact. Evidently, quality of wits is more important than quantity." After his accession to the throne, he was constantly bedeviled by plots to assassinate him, with the result that many would-be conspirators were put to death during his reign.  The Senate wasn’t pleased with him, partially because of the method by which he became emperor, which involved a 15,000 sestertii bribe to each member of the Praetorian Guard, and later due to his appointing freedman to official positions due to the lack of sufficiently qualified noblemen.  Although the Senate was constantly at odds with him, Claudius seems to have gone out of his way to appear submissive to their wishes in order to have his agenda move forward. Suetonius paints a portrait of Claudius as self-indulgent, timid and somewhat paranoid.  In I Claudius, however, Robert Graves treats Claudius much more sympathetically and benignly.  Indeed, Claudius accomplished much for the Roman Empire and people during his reign.  He initiated the building of the Port of Ostia, ensuring a constant and stable grain supply for the citizens of Rome.  He established London as a civilian Roman city, adding Britain, Mauretania, and Thrace to the Empire.  He completed two massive aqueducts, and overall was a thoughtful ruler who believed in traditional Roman values and laws. Almost all accounts implicate his wife Agrippina Jr. in Claudius' death, ostensibly by poisoned mushrooms (which Claudius loved -- uh, except for the poison aspect).  Some accounts have her actually feeding them to Claudius, while other have Claudius’ taster as the culprit. About the Coins [ATTACH=full]672484[/ATTACH] In hand, the surfaces of the sestertius are not as rough as the picture indicates.  The quality of the engraving on this reverse, illustrating the sheerness of Spes’ gown, is especially well done. The aureus has always been one of my all-time favorite coins, not only in my collection but in all of Roman aurei.  Its reverse commemorates the Praetorian Guard’s raising him to the throne following Caligula’s assassination.  Despite memorializing one of the most significant historical events of the first century AD, Berk oddly does not include this coin in his 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. All coins of Claudius are welcome![/QUOTE]

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches