Category:Claudius (subject)

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Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (10 BC –54 CE) was the fourth Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, from 41 to 54 CE.

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Overview

Claudius was born in Lugdunum in Gallia, to Nero Claudius Drusus and [[Antonia Minor], as Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus. He was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. He was the brother of Germanicus.

Early Career

In his youth Claudius suffered from various infirmities, possibly polio, and thus he was virtually excluded from public office. In 14 CE, Claudius appealed to his uncle Tiberius to allow him to begin the cursus honorum, who responded by granting Claudius consular ornaments. Claudius reached his first consulship only in 37 CE with his nephew Gaius Caesar. Till his accession to the throne, Claudius led a retired life. An historian, he wrote a History of the Civil War, a History of Carthage, and a History of the Etruscans. Claudius was betrothed twice, first to Aemilia Lepida and then to Livia Medullina. He married first Plautia Urgulanilla. Soon afterwards in 28 CE, he married Aelia Paetina, a relation of Sejanus. In 38 or early 39 CE, Claudius married Valeria Messalina. They had a daughter Claudia Octavia and a son, Tiberius Claudius Germanicus, known as Britannicus, who was born after Claudius' accession.

Imperial Succession

Claudius succeeded to his nephew Gaius Caesar in 41 CE. He had been chosen by the Praetorian Guard against the wishes of the Senate, who wanted to restore the Republic. Eventually Agrippa I succeeded in having the imperial accession of Claudius recognized by the Senate. The reign of Claudius was characterized by an increasing reliance on the advice of his freedmen, especially Narcissus, and Marcus Antonius Pallas, developing the framework of the imperial bureaucracy. Claudius conducted a census in 48 CE, according to which there were 5,984,072 Roman citizens. Claudius showed much respect to the Senate, although several coup attempts were made during Claudius' reign, resulting in the deaths of many senators, as Appius Silanus, executed early in the reign, Claudius' son-in-law Pompeius Magnus, who was executed for his part in a conspiracy with his father Crassus Frugi, and the consulars Lusius Saturninus, Cornelius Lupus, and Pompeius Pedo, Valerius Asiaticus and Gaius Silius, who was executed in 48 CE together with Claudius’ wife Messalina. Other senators were exiled as in 46 CE, Asinius Gallus, the grandson of Asinius Pollio, and Statilius Corvinus. Claudius was particularly interested in jurisdiction; he also extended Latin rights and Roman citizenship to provincials, giving them the access to the Senate. The Lyons Tablet preserves his speech on the admittance of Gallic senators. He also increased the number of Patricians by adding new families to the dwindling number of noble lines. In Italy, Claudius reign was as well characterized by the extensive public works, as the erection of aqueducts, the Aqua Claudia, begun by Gaius Caesar, and the Anio Novus, the building of the harbor of Portus, near Ostia, and the draining of the Fucinus Lake. Claudius’s foreign policy was quite successful. It was characterized by the conquest of Britannia. In 43 CE, Claudius sent Aulus Plautius with four legions to Britannia. Claudius himself traveled to Britannia. The rebel leader Caractacus was captured only in 50 CE. Britannia was added as a provincia. Other provinces which were added to the Empire were Mauretania, Lycia in 43 C.E., and Thracia in 46 C.E. Other provinces which were annexed were Noricum and Pamphylia. Claudius dealings with Armenia were less successful. Following the attempted coup attempt by Gaius Silius and the execution of his wife Messalina, Claudius married her niece Agrippina Minor, and he adopted as co-heir with his son Britannicus, her son by Domitius Aehenobarbus, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Claudius died in 54 CE, allegedly poisoned by Nero.

Claudius, the Jews and Judaea

Claudius reign on the main was quite positive for the Jews living in the Roman Empire. Various sources, not always reliable and confused, suggest that Claudius wished to expel the Jews from Rome in 41 C.E. and maybe in 49 C.E. It is possible that in 49 CE the small group of Judaeo-Christians were indeed expelled from Rome. This episode is much important as well because it records the beginning of Christianity at Rome. Yet it seems that at this point the Christians were not a separated group, but part of the Jewish community at large. After his accession, the Greeks and Jews of Alexandria sent him two separate embassies. In the answer, the so called Letter to the Jews, conserved in a papyrus, Claudius reaffirmed the rights of the Jews living in Alexandria, but denied them the coveted Alexandrian citizenship.

After his accession to the throne, Claudius appointed Agrippa I as King of Judaea in 41 CE. Agrippa I ruled on the same territories held by his grandfather Herod the Great till 44 CE. Agrippa I strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem, building the Third Wall, and when he tried to convene an assembly of Kings, Allies to Rome, as Antiochus of Commagene, to whom his daughter Berenice was betrothed, Polemon of Pontus, Sampsigeramus of Edessa, Cotys of Lesser Armenia, and Herod of Chalcis, the Roman governor of Syria, Vibius Marsus, was much alarmed. The Jewish King died soon afterwards. His son, Herod Agrippa II was too young to succeed; therefore Claudius appointed a procurator to rule Judaea. Under Claudius' reign, Judaea was ruled by Cuspius Fadus (44-46 CE), Tiberius Julius Alexander (46-48 CE), Ventidius Cumanus (48-52 CE), and Antonius Felix (52-58).

Claudius in ancient sources

• Claudius (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

Claudius in literature & the arts

• Claudius (arts) -- survey of fictional works

Claudius in scholarship

• Claudius (research) -- survey of scholarly works

Related categories

• Roman Emperors

External links

• Wikipedia