Claudius in power

Topic 5: Claudius in power (AD 41–54)

Prescribed debate: The character of Claudius.

Background

• Born 10 BC at Lugdunum, the son of Drusus the Elder and Antonia; Germanicus' younger brother.
• He had physical disabilities: a stammer, an unsteady gait and a nervous tic (Suet. Claud. 30). His family kept him out of public life. Augustus' letters, quoted by Suetonius (Claud. 4), show concern about how to present him.
• A scholar: he wrote histories of the Etruscans and Carthaginians, studied with Livy's encouragement, and proposed new letters for the alphabet.

The difficulties of the accession (AD 41)

• How he was found: after Gaius' murder, Claudius hid behind a curtain in the palace. A praetorian soldier (Gratus) found him and hailed him as emperor, and the guard carried him to the Castra Praetoria (Suet. Claud. 10; Josephus AJ 19).
• The senate's position: the senate met on the Capitol and debated restoring the Republic, or choosing another emperor.
• The deal with the Praetorians: Claudius promised each praetorian 15,000 sesterces. Suetonius notes he was the first emperor to secure the soldiers' loyalty by bribery (Claud. 10).
• Herod Agrippa I acted as go-between (Josephus).
• Problems:
  • He was an emperor made by the soldiers, with no senatorial support.
  • He had no administrative or military experience.
  • Senators resented him.
• Response:
  • He executed Chaerea (as Gaius' assassin), declared an amnesty, and destroyed Gaius' records.
  • He was cautious: he had guards present and searched those who visited him (Suet. Claud. 35, approximately).
• The conspiracy of Scribonianus (AD 42): the governor of Dalmatia rebelled, but his legions refused to follow him. Senators and equestrians were implicated (Dio 60.15; Suet. Claud. 13).

The invasion of Britain (AD 43): role and motives

• The narrative:
  • Commander Aulus Plautius landed with four legions.
  • Claudius joined for the final advance: elephants, and the capture of Camulodunum (Colchester). He spent only 16 days in Britain (Suet. Claud. 17; Dio 60.21).
  • He celebrated a triumph in AD 44 and named his son Britannicus.
• Motives:
  • Suetonius, Claud. 17: he wanted a real triumph, and chose Britain because no one had attempted it since Julius Caesar, and it was in turmoil over the Romans' refusal to return deserters.
  • Dio 60.19: Verica (Berikos), an exiled British king, appealed for help.
  • Other factors:
    • prestige and legitimacy for an emperor with no military record;
    • securing the loyalty of the army after a soldier-made accession;
    • completing Caesar's work;
    • Britain's reputed wealth (metals, grain, slaves);
    • the growing power of the anti-Roman Catuvellauni.
• Presentation:
  • The Arch of Claudius in Rome (dedicated AD 51/52) boasted that he received the surrender of eleven British kings without loss.
  • Coins show the arch with DE BRITANN(IS).
  • Suetonius and Dio emphasise the brevity of his visit. The official presentation emphasises personal victory.

The importance of his wives and freedmen

Wives:

Wife	Significance
Plautia Urgulanilla, Aelia Paetina	Earlier marriages; divorced
Messalina (married c. AD 38)	Mother of Octavia and Britannicus. The sources say she was promiscuous and murderous, e.g. the destruction of Valerius Asiaticus (AD 47). In AD 48 she went through a "marriage" with Gaius Silius while Claudius was at Ostia. Narcissus organised her execution (Tac. Ann. 11.26–38). Was it a coup attempt, or scandal-mongering?
Agrippina the Younger (married AD 49)	Germanicus' daughter and Claudius' niece; a senatorial decree permitted the marriage. Her son Lucius Domitius (Nero) was adopted in AD 50 (Tac. Ann. 12.25–26), giving him precedence over Britannicus, who was younger. She was given the title Augusta and appeared on coins. She promoted Seneca (recalled from exile) and Burrus (praetorian prefect). Nero married Octavia in AD 53.

Freedmen (former slaves of the imperial household, running central departments):

Freedman	Department
Narcissus	Correspondence (ab epistulis)
Pallas	Finances (a rationibus)
Callistus	Petitions (a libellis)
Polybius	Studies (a studiis)

• Suetonius, Claud. 28–29: Claudius was so dominated by his wives and freedmen that he acted as their servant rather than as emperor. Suetonius also says that 35 senators and over 300 equestrians were executed during the reign.
• Pliny, Natural History 33.134 (S25): freedmen such as Callistus, Pallas and Narcissus had enormous wealth.
• Seneca's Consolation to Polybius (J22e) flatters Claudius and Polybius from exile, which shows the freedmen's influence.
• Senatorial anger: e.g. honours for Pallas.

Claudius, Nero and Britannicus

• Agrippina's manoeuvres:
  • She secured Nero's adoption (AD 50) and his early coming of age (toga virilis, AD 51).
  • She removed Britannicus' supporters and tutors (Tac. Ann. 12.41).
  • Nero was promoted on coins as princeps iuventutis ("prince of the youth").
• Tacitus suggests Claudius began to favour Britannicus again near the end (12.64–65). Narcissus opposed Agrippina.

Events surrounding Claudius' death (13 October AD 54)

• Tacitus, Ann. 12.66–67: Agrippina obtained poison from Locusta. It was given in mushrooms by the taster Halotus. When it seemed to fail, the doctor Xenophon put a poisoned feather down Claudius' throat.
• Suetonius, Claud. 44: reports several versions (who gave the poison, and where), showing uncertainty.
• The succession (Ann. 12.68–69):
  • His death was concealed until Nero's accession was arranged.
  • Britannicus was kept in the palace.
  • Nero was presented to the praetorians by Burrus and promised a donative.
• Claudius was deified, but Seneca's Apocolocyntosis ("Pumpkinification"; not prescribed) mocked him.

Relations with the senate, equestrians and people

• The senate:
  • Claudius attended and consulted the senate.
  • He held the censorship (AD 47–48) and revised the senate.
  • Tacitus, Ann. 11.24 (AD 48): his speech supported admitting Gallic nobles to the senate, using historical examples of Rome absorbing outsiders. A bronze copy, the Lyon Tablet, survives and allows comparison with Tacitus' version.
  • But many senators were executed, and the trials were held inside the palace (intra cubiculum).
• Equestrians: some advancement (e.g. procurators gained judicial powers in AD 53).
• The people:
  • Grain supply measures: insurance and privileges for shipbuilders and merchants (Suet. Claud. 18–19).
  • Games: the Secular Games of AD 47 (Claud. 21).
  • Accessibility: he loved judging cases and attending games, which made him popular, if mocked.

Administrative changes to Rome

• The harbour at Ostia (Portus) (inscription K16, AD 46): a new artificial harbour to secure the grain supply. It was completed under Nero (coins).
• A procurator of Ostia for the grain supply (K17).
• Aqueducts: completed the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus (AD 52; Pliny, NH 36.122–123).
• Draining the Fucine Lake (Pliny, NH 36.124; Suet. Claud. 20–21). The project was ambitious, but the opening ceremony with a naval battle went wrong.
• Extension of the pomerium (Rome's sacred boundary) in AD 49 (inscription N24), justified by his expansion of the empire (Britain).
• Centralisation through the freedmen's bureaux: an important step in building the imperial civil service.
• Citizenship: extended in the provinces, but he punished those who usurped it falsely (Suet. Claud. 25).

Religion and the imperial cult

• Traditional religion: he revived the college of haruspices (Etruscan diviners), held the Secular Games and conducted traditional rites.
• Expulsions: he expelled the Jews from Rome because of disturbances "at the instigation of Chrestus" (Suet. Claud. 25; possibly a reference to early Christians). He suppressed the Druids (Claud. 25).
• Refusing divine honours: Claudius' letter to the Alexandrians (AD 41, L17) refuses a temple and high priests for himself, not wishing to seem offensive to his contemporaries, but accepts statues and other honours. It also orders Greeks and Jews in Alexandria to keep the peace.
• Divus Augustus: he promoted the cult of Augustus and deified Livia (AD 42).
• Outside Rome: a Temple to Divus Claudius at Camulodunum (Colchester), a focus of British resentment in AD 60/61 (Year 13 link).

Debate: the character of Claudius

• The ancient image: a pedantic, absent-minded, timid fool, dominated by wives and freedmen (Suetonius; Tacitus on Messalina; Dio; Seneca's satire).
• Revisionist views:
  • Arnaldo Momigliano (Claudius: The Emperor and His Achievement, 1934) and Barbara Levick (Claudius, 1990) see a shrewd, deliberate ruler. He centralised administration, extended citizenship, conquered Britain, improved infrastructure and was conscious of history (the Lyon Tablet).
  • Levick argues he was an ambitious politician who seized opportunities.
  • Josiah Osgood (Claudius Caesar, 2011) emphasises the regime's careful image-making.
• Judgement: competent and innovative in administration, but politically insecure. This led to executions, reliance on freedmen, and vulnerability to his wives' ambitions. The "fool" image is largely senatorial hostility combined with his disabilities.

Glossary

Term	Definition
Donative	A cash gift to soldiers.
Freedman (libertus)	A former slave; imperial freedmen ran key departments.
Ab epistulis / a rationibus / a libellis	The emperor's secretaries for letters / finances / petitions.
Pomerium	The sacred boundary of the city of Rome.
Censor	A magistrate who revised the citizen and senate rolls; Claudius held the office AD 47–48.
Lyon Tablet	A bronze inscription of Claudius' speech on admitting Gauls to the senate.
Augusta	An honorific title for imperial women (e.g. Livia, Agrippina).

Self-test

Q1: How did Claudius secure the praetorians' support in AD 41? A: He promised each soldier 15,000 sesterces. Suetonius says he was the first emperor to buy the soldiers' loyalty (Claud. 10).

Q2: Give two motives for the invasion of Britain, with sources. A: Claudius' desire for a genuine triumph and military prestige (Suet. Claud. 17), and the appeal of the exiled British king Verica (Dio 60.19).

Q3: Name three of Claudius' freedmen and their posts. A: Narcissus (ab epistulis), Pallas (a rationibus), Callistus (a libellis).

Q4: How does Tacitus say Claudius died? A: Poisoned by Agrippina with poisoned mushrooms (from Locusta, given by Halotus). When that seemed to fail, the doctor Xenophon used a poisoned feather (Ann. 12.66–67).

Q5: What does Claudius' letter to the Alexandrians show? A: That he declined a temple and priests for himself while accepting other honours, showing restraint in the imperial cult. It also shows his concern to keep order between Greeks and Jews in Alexandria.

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