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The Underdog (1)

Now before I start this next post, I should probably come clean about something; I have
quite a soft spot for Claudius. I've always found him to be one of, if not the most fascinating
of all the Julio-Claudians. As such, I've found myself writing a two-part account for Claudius
rather than just the one.
There is another more practical reason for doing this though. Tacitus, arguably the best
Roman historian of his time, wrote quite a bit on our Julio-Claudian bunch. Unfortunately
however, books 7-10 (covering the whole of the reign of Caligula) and the first part of book 11
(covering the first part of Claudius' reign) were lost centuries ago.
As a result, Tacitus' account of Claudius picks up in AD 47; for the first six years of his reign
we rely on Suetonius (c. AD 70-130), the biographer, and Cassius Dio (c. AD 164 - after
229) the Greek historian. This post then will focus on those first six years of Claudius' reign,
while the second half (where we can use Tacitus as the main source) will be covered in the
next one.
Right, that's enough of that- let's get on with it.
We last left off with Gaius lying dead on the floor of the imperial palace, along with his wife
and child. Amidst the confusion that followed, there arises the most bizarre accession story
in Julio-Claudian history. According to tradition, Claudius, the uncle of the recently
deceased Gaius, upon hearing what had happened to his nephew, slipped away and hid
behind some door curtains within the palace. A passing soldier of the Praetorian Guardian
spotted his feet peeping out from under the curtain and pulled them back to reveal a
quivering Claudius. Claudius dropped to his knees and pleaded for the soldier to spare his
life, to which the soldier (to the great surprise of Claudius) responded by hailing him as
Emperor. Claudius was then hurried away to the Praetorian barracks where the rest of the
Guard hailed him as Emperor also. Claudius, reluctant, confused and frightened, hesitated
(knowing the Senate would not want him to accede), but the soldiers insisted. The Senate
meanwhile were debating what shape the Empire would now take- should they return to a
Republic, or continue with rule by one man? Ultimately, the army decided: in order for there
to be a Praetorian Guard, there needed to be an Emperor to protect. Whether he or the
Senate liked it, Claudius was now the ruler of Rome. Claudius secured his soldiers' allegiance
with a promise of 15,000 sesterces each, leading Suetonius later to observe that Claudius
was:
the first of the Caesars to purchase the loyalty of the troops [1]

In order for us to really appreciate the bizarreness of this story, we need a bit of background
on the man. Born Tiberius Claudius Nero in 10 BC to Nero Claudius Drusus (Tiberius'
brother) and Antonia (Mark Antony and Octavia's daughter) Claudius was very much the
black sheep of the Julio-Claudian family, despite his lineage. As the younger brother
of Germanicus, Claudius lived quietly in his shadow, mostly due to the physical disabilities
he is said to have suffered from: a limp, tremors, a tendency to drool, and a bad stammer.
Augustus deliberately sidestepped Claudius when picking a successor, as did Tiberius;
according to some letters recorded by Suetonius, Augustus was embarrassed of Claudius
and felt that putting him in the public eye would only bring shame on the family. His own
mother was repulsed by him, often referring to him (publicly) as a fool, as well as a monster
that Nature had begun and not finished.
With no chance of receiving political or military advancement, Claudius spent his time in
study, mastering Greek alongside the official language of Latin, and writing histories.
Under Tiberius, he was granted the consular insignia (i.e. the consul's toga and sceptre) but
no powers or responsibilities, after making a request for public office. Under Gaius, he faired
both better and worse, being made consul alongside the Emperor, but also finding himself
subjected to much humiliation and insulting; one story records how he was thrown into the
river Rhine fully dressed after Gaius became annoyed with him.
Claudius was thus a most unlikely candidate for the position of supreme ruler. After
accepting his position as Emperor in AD 41, aged fifty, Claudius (in theory) should have
gone to the senate, much in the same way that Tiberius and Gaius had both done. Knowing
the Senate's mixed, mostly negative, feelings towards him however, he decided to stay right
where he was, surrounded by the troops. Only after a month had passed did Claudius enter
the Senate House, bringing with him a large group of soldiers as a very visual demonstration
of his power.
It was a strange situation. Claudius was the first of the Julio-Claudians not to have been
marked out by his successor. The previous Emperor didn't want him to accede, the Senate
(having had no real dealings with him) didn't want him to accede. It was the army who had
made the decision for the rest of the Empire, and this would go on to set a very important
precedent for emperors still to come: the army could decide who was in, and who was out.
Claudius then, made extra efforts to appease the Senate and bring them around to his side
upon his accession, including actually burning the documents relating to criminal charges
that Gaius had only pretended to destroy (see The Rotten Grape) during his reign, but only
after showing them to the senators most concerned.
How best to approach his public attitude towards Gaius was another issue that concerned
Claudius in these early days. Although he had come to be hated by the Senate, he could not
let the murder of Gaius go completely unpunished as this would send out a dangerous

message, namely that you could kill an emperor, and get away with it. He did not however
want to start off his reign by completely alienating either the Senate or the people, by putting
a large number of men to death, particularly as these men would have been praised by many
senators for what they had done. He struck a compromise then by only putting to death the
main ringleaders. The others, who may have played smaller roles in the plot, were granted a
general amnesty. Claudius also made the interesting move of denying a senatorial request to
subject Gaius to an act known as damnatio memoriae- a modern term for the official
condemnation of an emperor's memory. Agreeing to this would have seen Gaius' name
scratched and gauged from monuments, his statues pulled down and his image obliterated.
Claudius chose the slightly less dramatic route of having all images of Gaius just 'disappear'
overnight, signifying that Gaius would simply be forgotten, quietly. To add to this, Claudius
had many of Gaius' acts annulled, and the charge of maiestas (see The Rotten Grape) was
again abolished.
Next up on Claudius' list was the recalling of Julia and Agrippina, his nieces, who had been
exiled by Gaius after being implicated in an assassination plot against him (although Julia
was exiled again in the same year, apparently on trumped up charges brought about by his
wife, Messalina). The Emperor also went about changing his name. As he was not a direct
descendant of Augustus, Claudius tried to create a stronger family tie to him by adopting his
name: he now became Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus. Using Augustus' success in
this area as his blueprint, Claudius went about making several important adjustments to
the Senate to improve its functionality. These changes included ensuring only those who met
the necessary financial requirements would retain their position,* making attendance
compulsory, and extending membership to prominent men outside of Rome (from
conquered Roman provinces) in order to better reflect the diversity of the Roman Empire.
Claudius was a practical man and paid careful attention to matters of the State, more so than
had Tiberius or Gaius, but this still did not guarantee his safety.
In AD 42 he became the victim of a conspiracy. According to our sources, Messalina, having
become infatuated with, and subsequently rejected by, her new stepfather, Appius Silanus,
had Claudius' secretary and confidant Narcissus, lie to the Emperor, telling him that he had
had a dream in which Silanus murdered Claudius. Messalina helpfully added that she too
had had the same dream. The Emperor, believing strongly in such omens, had Silanus
quickly executed. A plot was then formed shortly afterwards by Annius Vinicianus and
some others to murder the Emperor- Vinicianus had been named as a possible successor by
Gaius so this made him fear even more so for his life. With the help of the governor
of Dalmatia, Vinicianus organised a revolt with the troops based in the province, but the
conspiracy quickly fell apart. A series of executions followed by order of the Emperor.

As a demonstration of how easily things can turn around for an emperor, the following year
saw a great increase in Claudius' popularity. Seeing the need to establish himself as a military
victor, Claudius made the decision to invade Britain. A task left unfinished by both Julius
Caesar and Gaius, the pulling off of such a campaign would have brought great prestige to
the Romans, and Claudius. With the help of his talented generals, Claudius successfully
invaded and annexed Britain in AD 43. He received the military victory title of Imperator,
celebrated a triumph, erected two great arches (one in Rome, and one in Lugdunum, his
birth place), and publicised the victory on coins throughout the Empire. The 'foolish'
Claudius had succeeded where the great Julius Caesar had failed, and the public loved him
for it.
Claudius spent the next few years making a series of reforms and measures to improve the
stability of the empire, including the centralisation of imperial administration, as well as
showing generosity to the populace through monetary handouts and public games. AD
47 marked the 800th anniversary of the founding of Rome. To celebrate, Claudius held the
Secular Games (great celebrations held every 100 years), though Augustus had staged them
in 17BC, on the grounds that the princeps had staged them too early. The Games were an
important way for Claudius to link his reign with the history of Rome's great past.
While Claudius was busy gaining public support however, his wife was busy behind the
scenes. Our sources depict her as controlling many of the goings-on of the empire in
partnership with several of Claudius' freedmen*, and exerting a great and powerful influence
over Claudius. She saw to the downfall of a number of prominent men and women, whom
she viewed as rivals, and carried on with a series of lovers without Claudius' knowledge. She
bore the Emperor two children, Octavia and Britannicus, and apparently (according to one
story), Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Agrippina (Claudius' niece) received
greater applause at the Secular Games than Britannicus, due to the public's dislike of
Messalina over her bad treatment of Agrippina.
Claudius' awkward relationship with the Senate meant he relied heavily on his freedmen and
members of the imperial family, to help him in the advisory capacity that senators would
usually occupy (though our ancient sources tend to greatly exaggerate this fact). This reliance
left Messalina in a much more dominant position than that of previous empresses. With this
knowledge Messalina exploited her position greatly, but in AD 48 she took things a bit too
far. The empress decided to host a wedding and subsequent banquet, to be attended by a
group of close friends- the only problem was, the wedding was for her.

In the next post, we'll see just how Claudius reacted to discovering his wife had just married
another man, and some of the other fascinating events that make Claudius' reign such an
entertaining and intriguing one.

A Roman triumphal arch, like the ones Claudius would have erected after his victory in
Britain.
owner: Jade Ramsay-Overall

* NB: Men needed to own property worth at least 1,000,000 sesterces or more to qualify for
admission to the Senate.
[1] Suetonius, Claudius 10
Glossary:

Dalmatia - Roman province, covers much of modern day Croatia.

Freedmen- Freed slaves; under the Empire their position grew and many freedmen
amounted vast amounts of wealth.

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