Emperor Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus (b. 10 BC, d. 54 A.D.; emperor, 41-54 A.D.) was the third emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His reign represents a turning point in the history of the Principate for a number of reasons, not the least for the manner of his accession and the implications it carried for the nature of the office. During his reign he promoted administrators who did not belong to the senatorial or equestrian classes, and was later vilified by authors who did. He followed Caesar in carrying Roman arms across the English Channel into Britain but, unlike his predecessor, he initiated the full-scale annexation of Britain as a province, which remains today the most closely ...
Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers
|
August 10 BC at Lugdunum in Gaul, into the heart of the Julio-Claudian dynasty: he was the son of Drusus Claudius Nero, the son of Augustus's wife Livia, and Antonia, the daughter of Mark Antony. His uncle, Tiberius, went on to become emperor in AD 14 and his brother Germanicus was marked out for succession to the purple when, in AD 4, he was adopted by Tiberius. It might be expected that Claudius, as a well-connected imperial prince, would have enjoyed the active public life customary for young men of his standing but this was not the case. In an age that despised weakness, Claudius was unfortunate enough to have been born with defects. He limped, he drooled, he stuttered and was constantly ill. His family members mistook these physical debilities as reflective of mental infirmity and generally kept him out of the public eye as an embarrassment. A sign of this familial disdain is that he remained under guardianship, like a woman, even after he had reached the age of majority. ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
as an embarrassment and an idiot.
Claudius's fortunes changed somewhat when his unstable nephew, Gaius (Caligula), came to power in the spring of 37 A.D. Gaius, it seems, liked to use his bookish, frail uncle as the butt of cruel jokes and, in keeping with this pattern of behavior, promoted him to a consulship on 1 July 37 A.D. At 46 years of age, it was Claudius's first public office. Despite this sortie into public life, he seemed destined for a relatively quiet and secluded dotage when, in January 41, events overtook him.
The Early Years: Britain, Freedmen, and Messalina (AD 41 - 48)
Among Claudius's first acts was the apprehension and execution of Gaius's assassins. Whatever his ...
Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
Emperor Claudius. (2007, March 29). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Emperor-Claudius/62526
"Emperor Claudius." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Emperor-Claudius/62526>
"Emperor Claudius." Essayworld.com. March 29, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Emperor-Claudius/62526.
"Emperor Claudius." Essayworld.com. March 29, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Emperor-Claudius/62526.
|