Claudius (August 1, 10 BC – October 13, 54), was a Roman emperor.
Born in 10 BC. J.-C., son of Drusus and Antonia Minor, brother of Germanicus, he succeeded Caligula in 41 becoming the fourth emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty when he was already fifty years old. Born in Lugdunum (Lyon), in Gaul, he was the first emperor born outside Italy.
It seemed unlikely that a man like Claudius would become emperor. He had indeed a disability, and his family had deemed him incapable of holding public office until he became consul for his nephew Caligula in 37. His disability, however, may have saved him from purges in the Roman noble families that occurred during the reigns of his two predecessors. His survival then allowed him to find himself in a position to be named emperor after the assassination of Caligula:he was then the last man in his family. He came to power by showering gifts (donativa) on the praetorian cohorts, thus inaugurating an unfortunate practice.
Despite his lack of political experience, Claude proved himself an able administrator and a great public builder. His reign saw the Empire grow:five provinces were added to the Empire, including Brittany (where he went to obtain the triumphs, thus seeing himself awarded the nickname of Britannicus, as well as his son), the Lycia, Mauritania, Noricum and Thrace. He took a personal interest in public affairs, studying the laws, presiding over public trials. He went so far as to publish twenty edicts a day.
He extended Roman citizenship to many provinces, perhaps with a bias towards Gaul where he was born. Sensitive to the demands of the Gallic notables, he obtained in 48 from the Senate that they could access the public magistracies of Rome. Grateful, the delegates of the Gallic nations had his speech engraved on the Claudian Tables, bronze plaques placed in the federal sanctuary of Lugdunum, found and exhibited at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Fourvière in Lyon.
In 47, he celebrated the secular Games, according to the new date established by Varro for the foundation of Rome.
However throughout his reign he was perceived as vulnerable by the Roman nobility. He was thus driven to constantly seek to consolidate his power, at the expense of the senators in particular. In 49, he banished the Jews from Rome for active proselytism.
He experienced a number of hardships in his personal life, and his last marriage led to his death. He had first married Plautia Urgulanilla, with whom he had a first son, who died in infancy, and a daughter whom he had exposed, suspecting her of being the fruit of adultery. He then married Ælia Pætina with whom he had a daughter, Antonia. He then allied himself with Messalina, with whom he had two children, Octavia (born in 40, future wife of Nero) and Britannicus (born in 41), and whom he had executed because of his increasingly open infidelities; in fourth marriage he married his own niece Agrippina the Younger.
He died poisoned at the instigation of Agrippina in 54, after having, on the advice of the latter, adopted his son Nero and made him pass before his son for the succession, by marrying him to his own daughter Octavia. These events caused him to be despised by the ancient authors. The most recent historians tend to temper their opinion. [source:A.Br]