Happy birthday, Claudius!
Aug. 1st, 2007 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jademermaidBirth of the Emperor Claudius
The fourth of the Julio-Claudian emperors was Claudius, who is familiar to many of us through the BBC production of Robert Graves' I, Claudius series, starring Derek Jakobi as a stuttering Emperor Claudius. Ti. Claudius Nero Germanicus was born on August 1, in the year 10 B.C., in Gaul. His parents were the son of Augustus's wife Livia, Drusus Claudius Nero, and Mark Antony's daughter, Antonia. Claudius' uncle was the emperor Tiberius. Claudius suffered from various physical infirmities which many thought reflected his mental state. As a result, Claudius was secluded, a fact that kept him safe. Having no public duties to perform, Claudius was free to pursue his interests and read much, including material written in Etruscan.
To conclude, he wrote some histories likewise in Greek, namely, twenty books on Tuscan affairs, and eight on the Carthaginian; in consequence of which, another museum was founded at Alexandria, in addition to the old one, and called after his name....
Suetonius Life of Claudius XLII.
His first public office came at the age of 46 when Claudius' nephew Caligula became emperor in 37 A.D. and named Claudius suffect consul. Claudius became emperor shortly after his nephew was assassinated by his bodyguard, on January 24, A.D. 41. The tradition is that Claudius was found by some of the Praetorian Guard hiding behind a curtain. The guard hailed him as emperor. After adopting his fourth wife's son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero), in A.D. 50, Claudius made it clear that Nero was preferred for the succession over his own son, Britannicus. Tradition has it that Claudius' wife Agrippina, now secure in her son's future, killed her husband by means of a poison mushroom on October 13, A.D. 54.
The fourth of the Julio-Claudian emperors was Claudius, who is familiar to many of us through the BBC production of Robert Graves' I, Claudius series, starring Derek Jakobi as a stuttering Emperor Claudius. Ti. Claudius Nero Germanicus was born on August 1, in the year 10 B.C., in Gaul. His parents were the son of Augustus's wife Livia, Drusus Claudius Nero, and Mark Antony's daughter, Antonia. Claudius' uncle was the emperor Tiberius. Claudius suffered from various physical infirmities which many thought reflected his mental state. As a result, Claudius was secluded, a fact that kept him safe. Having no public duties to perform, Claudius was free to pursue his interests and read much, including material written in Etruscan.
To conclude, he wrote some histories likewise in Greek, namely, twenty books on Tuscan affairs, and eight on the Carthaginian; in consequence of which, another museum was founded at Alexandria, in addition to the old one, and called after his name....
Suetonius Life of Claudius XLII.
His first public office came at the age of 46 when Claudius' nephew Caligula became emperor in 37 A.D. and named Claudius suffect consul. Claudius became emperor shortly after his nephew was assassinated by his bodyguard, on January 24, A.D. 41. The tradition is that Claudius was found by some of the Praetorian Guard hiding behind a curtain. The guard hailed him as emperor. After adopting his fourth wife's son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero), in A.D. 50, Claudius made it clear that Nero was preferred for the succession over his own son, Britannicus. Tradition has it that Claudius' wife Agrippina, now secure in her son's future, killed her husband by means of a poison mushroom on October 13, A.D. 54.
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Date: 2007-08-01 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-01 03:02 pm (UTC)And I loved the series.