Rome Emperor Claudius (41-54 CE): Life, Conquest of Britain and Death

Contents17

• Rome emperor Claudius at a glance
• Claudius's family
• The overlooked prince
• How Claudius became emperor
• Timeline of the reign
• The conquest of Britain
• Expanding the empire
• Government and the freedmen
• Building works
• Claudius as censor and scholar
• Claudius and religion
• Claudius and the Senate
• Four marriages
• The death of Claudius
• How historians see Claudius today
• Claudius in the sources and in fiction
• Verdict: Rome emperor Claudius

In Rome the emperor Claudius, the fourth ruler of the empire, was one of the most surprising. His own family thought him unfit for public life. He had held almost no office when the Praetorian Guard made him emperor at 50.

Yet his 13-year reign added Britain to the empire. It made Rome's government work better and finished major public works. This page covers his life and reign and the evidence behind the famous stories. It also covers the disputed way he died.

TL;DR: Claudius (10 BCE-54 CE) was the grandson of Livia and the nephew of Tiberius. The Praetorian Guard made him emperor in January 41, after Caligula was murdered. He invaded Britain in 43 and took over several other provinces. He built the harbour at Ostia and finished two great aqueducts. He married four times. Ancient writers say his wife Agrippina poisoned him in 54. Modern historians think it possible but unproven.

Rome emperor Claudius at a glance

Claudius's family

Claudius was the first emperor born outside Italy. He was born at Lyon in Gaul, where his father was serving.

The overlooked prince

As a boy Claudius had health problems. Ancient writers describe a limp, a stammer, shaking and other signs. His mother Antonia is said to have called him "a monster of a man". Augustus's letters, quoted by Suetonius, show the family arguing over whether he could appear in public.

Kept out of politics, he turned to study. The historian Livy encouraged him. He wrote histories of the Etruscans and of Carthage, in Greek, and an account of Roman history. None of these survives. Caligula made him consul in 37, but also mocked him at court.

How Claudius became emperor

On 24 January 41, officers of the Praetorian Guard murdered Caligula. In the confusion, a soldier found Claudius hiding behind a curtain in the palace, the old accounts say. The guardsmen took him to their camp and hailed him as emperor. The Senate had been talking about a return to the republic. It gave way the next day.

Claudius paid each guardsman a large gift of money. He was the first emperor to buy the Guard's loyalty this way. It set a costly example.

Timeline of the reign

The conquest of Britain

In 43 CE Claudius sent four legions to Britain under Aulus Plautius. After victories in the south-east, Claudius crossed to Britain himself, reportedly with elephants. He led the army into Camulodunum (Colchester).

He stayed only about sixteen days. The Senate voted him a triumph and the name Britannicus. He passed the name to his son.

The conquest of Britain gave Claudius the military prestige he lacked. It also began nearly four centuries of Roman rule on the island.

Expanding the empire

Claudius added more new provinces than any emperor since Augustus.

• Mauretania, in North Africa, organised as two provinces after a revolt.
• Britain, from 43 CE.
• Lycia, in Asia Minor, in 43 CE.
• Thrace, in the Balkans, in 46 CE.
• Judaea, returned to direct Roman rule in 44 CE after the death of King Herod Agrippa I.

Government and the freedmen

Claudius ran the empire through a small group of very able freed slaves. Among them were Narcissus, in charge of letters, and Pallas, in charge of money. They grew rich and powerful, which offended senators. But the system made the imperial government more orderly and skilled than before.

He also spent long hours hearing court cases in person. Ancient writers mock him as an odd judge. But his legal work shows real interest in fairness. It included protections for sick slaves left to die by their owners.

Building works

The Porta Maggiore in Rome still carries Claudius's inscription. There the two aqueducts cross over roads into the city.

Claudius as censor and scholar

The speech on the Gauls

Claudius's speech to the Senate, 48 CE.

Status: Reviewed The speech survives in two versions.

Note: As censor, Claudius proposed that leading men from Gallia Comata, "long-haired Gaul", be allowed to join the Senate. That was the part of Gaul beyond the old Roman province. The speech survives in Tacitus's Annals.

It also survives, closer to the original words, on a bronze tablet found at Lyon in 1528. It is now called the Lyon Tablet. Comparing the two shows how Tacitus reworked the emperor's words.

Sources: Britannica, "Claudius"; De Imperatoribus Romanis, "Claudius".

Claudius also added three new letters to the Latin alphabet. They appear in official inscriptions of his reign. They fell out of use after his death.

Claudius and religion

Claudius took a close interest in Roman religion and tradition. He revived old rites. As censor he restored old ceremonies. He also acted against religions he saw as a threat. He banned the druids' religion in Gaul.

Suetonius reports that he drove out of Rome the Jews who were rioting "at the instigation of Chrestus". Many scholars read this as an early reference to disputes about Christ. The Acts of the Apostles also mentions Jews leaving Rome on Claudius's order.

Claudius and the Senate

Claudius tried to work with the Senate, but relations were uneasy. A failed revolt in 42 and several plots made him suspicious. Many senators and knights were executed during his reign. Suetonius gives the figure of 35 senators.

Senators also resented the power of his freedmen. This tension helps explain the ancient writers' view. They shared the senators' outlook. They often show him as a fool run by his wives and servants.

Four marriages

The marriage to Agrippina needed a change in the law. Roman custom barred a man from marrying his brother's daughter. Agrippina gained great influence.

In 50 Claudius adopted her son, Lucius Domitius, who took the name Nero. Nero married Claudius's daughter Octavia. Nero was older than Britannicus, so he became the clear heir.

The death of Claudius

Was Claudius poisoned

Death of Claudius, 13 October 54 CE.

Status: Disputed Poisoning is reported by ancient writers but not proven.

Note: Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all report that Agrippina poisoned Claudius. Most say it was a dish of mushrooms. Her aim was to secure the throne for Nero before Britannicus came of age.

Suetonius admits that accounts differ on the details. Some modern historians accept the story. Others point out that Claudius was 63 and in poor health. A natural death cannot be ruled out.

Sources: Britannica, "Claudius"; World History Encyclopedia, "Claudius".

After his death, Claudius was declared a god. The writer Seneca, whom he had exiled, mocked this in a satire. It is the Apocolocyntosis, usually translated as "The Pumpkinification of Claudius". Britannicus died in 55, early in Nero's reign. Ancient writers blamed Nero.

How historians see Claudius today

Modern historians generally rate Claudius more highly than the ancient writers did. They point to his solid record in government. He added provinces, built a working civil service, secured the grain supply and finished public works. They also note the costs.

Senators were executed. Unelected freedmen held great power. And he let his wife shape the succession in favour of her own son. The picture is of a clever, hard-working ruler with poor judgement of people.

Claudius in the sources and in fiction

Robert Graves's novels I, Claudius (1934) and Claudius the God (1935) made Claudius a likeable narrator. So did the 1976 BBC series based on them. The portrait is fiction. But it helped revive interest in an emperor the ancient writers often mocked.

Suetonius wrote a life of Claudius in The Twelve Caesars, our pick for the best ancient source. It is one of seven in our guide to the best Roman history books.

Verdict: Rome emperor Claudius

In Rome the emperor Claudius ruled from 41 to 54 CE. He proved far more able than his family or the ancient satirists expected. He began the conquest of Britain and added several provinces. He made the imperial government stronger and finished great public works.

His marriages hurt his name. They gave Messalina and Agrippina great power. The claim that Agrippina poisoned him remains unproven. For the emperor before him, see Caligula. For his family line, see Roman dynasty.

The wider story, from Augustus to 1453, is on the Eastern Roman Empire page.

Sources checked for this page

• Britannica, "Claudius"
• De Imperatoribus Romanis, "Claudius"
• World History Encyclopedia, "Claudius"
• Suetonius, "The Life of Claudius", LacusCurtius edition (University of Chicago)
• BBC History, "Claudius"
• History.com, "8 Things You May Not Know About Emperor Claudius"

Questions people also ask

How did Claudius become emperor?

After Caligula was murdered on 24 January 41 CE, soldiers of the Praetorian Guard found Claudius hiding in the palace, took him to their camp and proclaimed him emperor. The Senate accepted him the next day.

What is Claudius best known for?

For beginning the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE, for his administrative reforms and public works, such as the harbour at Ostia, and for the scandals of his marriages to Messalina and Agrippina.

Did Claudius have a disability?

Ancient writers describe a limp, a stammer and other physical symptoms that led his family to keep him out of public life. Modern writers have suggested several causes, but none can be confirmed.

Who succeeded Claudius?

Nero, his stepson and adopted son, the son of Agrippina the Younger. Claudius's own son, Britannicus, was passed over and died the next year.

When did Claudius invade Britain?

In 43 CE. Four legions under Aulus Plautius landed in the south-east, and Claudius joined them for the capture of Camulodunum, modern Colchester.

How old was Claudius when he became emperor?

He was 50. Born on 1 August 10 BCE, he became emperor in January 41 CE, making him one of the oldest men to take the throne in the early empire.

What were Claudius's new letters?

Claudius added three letters to the Latin alphabet: a reversed digamma for a consonantal V sound, an antisigma for the sounds ps or bs, and a half-H for a vowel sound. They were used in official inscriptions during his reign and dropped after his death.