Claudius

Claudius was born on August 1, 10 BCE in Lugdunum, Gaul. He was one of the most educated and enlightened rulers of Rome, who, despite his reluctance, received power by force. He was the son of a great chief, Drusus the Elder, who died when Claudius was only one year old and Antonia the Younger. His grandparents were: Mark Antony and Tiberius Claudius Nero, and his grandmothers: Octavia and Livia. He had two older siblings: Germanic and Claudia Julia Livilla.

Youth and the period to rule

Disability and removal from the public sphere

After his father’s unexpected death in 9 BCE, the role of educating the future emperor fell to his mother, Antonia. The numerous physical disabilities (drooling, stuttering, limping, susceptibility to diseases) with which Claudius was born were to prevent him from assuming any higher state office in the future. Roman lawyers referred to newborns with obvious physical defects as monstrum, rodigium or portentum. The term monstrum comes from the Latin word monstrare which can be translated as “sign”, “symptom”. So in the opinion of the then monstrum was a signal from the gods that there was a serious crisis in mutual relations. The word portentum comes from the word portare, meaning “to carry”. The Romans applied this concept to something to get rid of, including crippled children. As you can see, deformed children from birth had a “sewn-on patch” not favoured by the gods and could not count on taking public office. Although Claudius was born a monster he was spared his life.

Family members regarded Claudius’ bodily defects as a result of his mental impairment and therefore kept him out of the public world. From an early age, Claudius was ridiculed and humiliated even by his closest family. Antonia’s mother and grandmother Livia, in particular, treated him like an idiot. Mother used to call Claudius portentum. When she wanted to show contempt for someone’s stupidity, she used to say that this man was stupider than her son.

Education, development, marriage

At first, Claudius’ development fell, as previously mentioned, to his mother Antonia. However, at the age of two, he found himself under the influence of his grandmother Livia. With time, his interest in science and any exploration of knowledge was noticed. For this purpose, in 7 CE, Livy and Sulpicius Flavus were hired, who were to instil in him all the information about the history, which became a great hobby for him. Young Claudius was also taught by the stoic philosopher and orator Athenodorus Kananites. It was mainly thanks to him that Claudius acquired the ability to express himself well, despite his speech defect.
Being isolated throughout his childhood and adolescence, Claudius devoted his time to reading, gaining extensive knowledge, especially in the field of history and law.

Around 10-15 CE, Claudius married Plautia Urgulanilla. Previously, he was engaged twice:

• with Aemilia Lepida, a distant cousin – engagement broken for political reasons;
• with Livia Medullina – the relationship ended with the sudden death of the bride on her wedding day.

His son Claudius Druzus was born to him in connection with Urgulanilla, but he died of suffocation in the early years of his life. In 25 CE, Urgulanilla gave birth to a girl – Claudia, whom Claudius did not recognize as his daughter and ordered to leave her on the doorstep of the house. Urgulanilla was later accused by Claudius of complicity in the murder of her brother’s wife, indecency and adultery. In addition, the first wife often disregarded and humiliated Claudius. Immediately after these events, he divorced his wife.

During the reign of Octavian Augustus Claudius could not count on holding any public office. The first emperor cared for the good image of the imperial family and could not afford to appoint the disabled Claudius an official. When, in 14 CE, Octavian – the current emperor, new ruler – Tiberius let 23-year-old Claudius begin cursus honorum, the so-called “course of honor”. The young man received all consular decorations, but when he demanded them for another year, he was refused by Tiberius, which discouraged Claudius from public life. He decided to hide in his home and devote himself entirely to exploring his knowledge and creative activity.

In 28 CE Claudius married Aelia Petina, with whom he had a daughter, Claudia Antonia. Their marriage, however, was extremely short, which was caused by disagreements between the spouses.

Caligula’s Reign

With the death of Tiberius in 37 CE and the accession to the throne by Claudius’ nephew, Caligula, his life changed. The young emperor saw some benefits in the person of Claudius. To honour his late father, Germanicus, in 37 CE, Caligula appointed Claudius, next to himself, the second consul. The young emperor, however, was not kind to his uncle. He often insulted him, made fun of him and made fun of his flaws in public. Claudius, on the other hand, was intelligent enough to use his handicap to manoeuvre among the intrigues and conspiracies that were everyday life at the imperial court. Thanks to his seemingly harmless form, he survived the times of his nephew’s terror.

In 39 CE, Claudius married Valeria Messalina. They had two children with her: Octavia (born 40 CE) and Britannia (born 41 CE). Messalina was Claudius’ worst and most beloved wife. Ancient sources portray Messalina as a nymphomaniac organizing orgiastic games and condemning ex-lovers or those who dare to refuse her promotions to death. According to Roman historians, she once decided to compete with a professional prostitute. The women competed on the issue would be able to hold more lovers in one night. In one of these 24-hour competitions, Messalina was set to win after working with 24 partners.

She was eventually lost by the formal ceremony of marriage with Gaius Silius, held in the absence of Claudius, who was in the port of Ostia. Narcissus, the emperor’s freedman, disclosed this to Claudius and oversaw the execution of Messalina in 48 CE. Claudius did not fully believe all the charges against her.

When Caligula turned into a bloodthirsty despot under the influence of Suetonius, Claudius began to pretend to be a fool and a jester, thanks to which the young emperor did not see in him a real enemy and political opponent. Claudius’ intelligent attitude saved him from the dangers of an internal struggle for power in the imperial family. No one predicted that he could play any political role.

Suetonius says, however, that there were situations that suggested Claudius would assume power in the future. The following incident took place during his consulate with Caligula.

It was only under his nephew Gaius, who in the early part of his reign tried to gain popularity by every device, that he at last began his official career, holding the consulship as his colleague for two months; and it chanced that as he entered the Forum for the first time with the fasces, an eagle that was flying by lit upon his shoulder.

– Suetonius, Claudius, 7