Claudius biography briefly

The strong personal qualities of August and Tiberia and the folly of Caligula, his predecessor, and Nero, his heir, made Claudius a secondary character. This was also contributed to the testimonies of historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, who in their works presented the emperor as a person of extremely weak and subject to other people's influence.

Graves’s book to some extent revived the image of Claudius: in it he appeared as a man with a talented and wise, forced to hide behind imaginary stupidity first in order not to attract unnecessary attention, to save his life, then in order to avoid trap placed by his many enemies. Despite the fact that Suetonius in his writings puts Claudius with a complete fool, the facts described by him speak for himself: Claudius was unusually talented and only circumstances forced him to hide his true potential.

In this, perhaps, he repeated the example of Mark Julia Brut, the founder of the Republic of Roman, who, according to Libya, "pretended to be mentally ill when he found out that many Roman patricians, and among them his own brother were killed by Tarkinia." It is undoubtedly that Claudius suffered from a certain disease that helped him imitate dementia. According to the descriptions of Suetonius, Claudius had very weak knees, which affected his gait, in addition, the emperor had an unpleasant laugh, he stuttered and shook his head in the conversation, and when he was angry, he had foam from his mouth.

A detailed analysis of Claudius symptoms suggests that the emperor suffered from Little's disease, a type of bilateral children's paralysis, in which his legs are more affected than his hands, but not affecting mental development. It is also possible that the above symptoms were the consequences of the transferred meningitis. Whatever the ailment had the ailments that had the illness that had been transferred by him as a child, and served, in turn, the reason that Claudius was excommunicated from political life for a long time.

Even the works published by Claudius in his youth, and became the beginning of his painstaking work as a historian, did not bring him proper recognition. Despite the young man’s clear mind, the excellent possession of Latin and Greek and his friendship with such luminaries as Tit Liby and Asheni Pollion, surrounding them continued to believe that physical ailments affected his mind.

So, for example, the mother of Claudius, Anthony, reproaching someone in a scarum, said: "He is as stupid as my son Claudius." The rest of the family also mocked the future emperor in every possible way. August alone, it seems, had a common opinion, watching in surprise how surprisingly this Zaika recited. The situation has changed a little with the accession to the throne of Tiberius, from which Claudius began to receive some minor instructions, and only much later thanks to the will of unpredictable Caligula, he became a consul.

We will not find out whether this was the purpose of one of the eccentric outputs of the royal madman or Caligula, contrary to universal opinion, saw a remarkable mind in his uncle. Claudius contemporaries indicate that he was very distrustful and fearful. For example, he did not dare to attend feasts, but if this happened, he insisted that he was accompanied by an armed guard, and that during the meal his own warriors serve him.

Claudius never visited the patient, without first searching his rooms and not a break all mattresses and pillowcases in search of weapons. Visitors who were honored with audiences were also subjected to the strictest search, and only later, a little softened, the emperor ordered not to search women and allowed the scribes to have a feathers with him in his presence.

According to Lighted, Claudius was so fearful that once, having heard of an allegedly preparing conspiracy, he intended to leave his post and escape from Rome. Despite the obvious natural fear of Claudius, he sometimes had to make difficult and bold decisions, which, for example, was an order to execute his beloved spouse, Messalin, for the fact that she, being Caesar's wife, dared to publicly declare a power with her lover, Silius.

Perhaps, for Claudius, such a trick could mean only one thing - the existence of a conspiracy against his power, therefore his determination in this matter is explained simply - Claudius resorted to radical measure, sensing the threat of his life. Whether the Messalin’s trick was the consequence of the conspiracy or the banal frenzy of the lover, we will no longer recognize, but the fact remains-this episode frightened to the imaginary Claudius to such an extent that he ran up, accompanied by his Praetorians, asking the counterclaims, whether he was still the master of the empire.

On the one hand, Claudius’s extreme shyness could be explained by objective reasons: no matter how he survived the period of terror, who was first made by Tiberius, and then Caligula, and subsequently a senatorial conspiracy that ended the life of the latter.On the other hand, this sticky, cold, panic fear that has been eaten into the soul of Claudius can have a clue in his childhood.

We must not forget that Claudius, in fact, survived only due to chance. If the disease that provoked his physical disabilities manifested itself in infancy, it would simply be abandoned to the mercy of fate, since until the 4th century BC. It is also unlikely that Claudius would have spent his childhood among members of the imperial surname if his illness had made itself felt in the first years of his life, because with such a turn of events he would most likely be given to adoption.

Thus, we have every reason to assume that Claudius was manifested in adolescence, otherwise he would have no chance of remaining a member of the imperial family, since neither his mother, Anthony, nor his grandmother, Libya, did not feel warm feelings for him, if not to say, his existence was ashamed, and his father, his friends, died a few months after his birth.

The only person who cared for Claudia was his elder brother Germanicus, to whom, according to his contemporaries, the future emperor had sincere love and admiration. It was the support of the brother and sympathy by Roman citizens that made Claudius stay in the imperial house. The most serene years in the life of Claudius were, perhaps, in the last years of Tiberius’s reign, which tragically ended in the 19th year school.

The death of his brother, in which, according to Tacitus, his uncle was implicated, probably, became a heavy blow to Claudius, who had lost both the only close person and the patron of both a close person at the same time. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Claudius had reason to fear that he could become the following. The appointment of Claudius Consul was little changed in relation to him by others, from which he still suffered ridicule and mockery: when, as usual, he fell asleep after a meal, olive and finite bones poured into him with a hail, he often woke him with a whip, and dressed female slate, with which he had his face injected.

Fear did not leave Claudius even when he was proclaimed the emperor. Having killed Caligula, the Praetorians left his chambers and found behind the curtains of the trembling Claudius, who, for sure, at that moment already said goodbye to life. The decision on the proclamation of it was made instantly, because it guaranteed the preservation of the existing regime as opposed to the Senate’s intentions to restore the republic.

In addition, according to the testimony of the same Suetonius, at such a crucial moment, Claudius was not at a loss and offered each of the oath of soldiers of 15 thousand sisters, thus becoming the first in the history of Caesar, in the literal sense of the word that bought the devotion of their soldiers. It is unlikely that the timid and indecisive Claudius was eager to become an emperor.

Moreover, it is quite possible that he sympathized with the ideology of the Republicans, but realizing the severity of the situation, he was forced to act, which was, as always by fear and the instinct of self -preservation. Having bought the loyalty of the soldiers, Claudius began to search for worthy co -rulers, turning first of all to his freedmen, who showed him a much more respectful attitude to him in the past than his relatives.

In addition to the freedom, Claudius became famous for the blind confidence in his spouses, first Messalin, and then Agrippina, his niece and daughter of brother Germanicus, the bloodstorming union with whom the Senate himself could not interfere. Many sources indicate that Claudius was a puppet in the hands of his advisers and spouse, being no more than a passive observer of their political intrigues and crimes.

Perhaps there is a share of truth in this, but still the general political and ideological organization of the empire during the reign of Claudius was completely his merit, and many historians agree that in his rule there were more advantages than disadvantages. For example, it was with the light hand of Claudius that the administrative reform of the Empire was realized and the number of officials increased, which led to the emergence of departments responsible for various spheres of finance, culture, etc.

These new departments replaced the outdoor and did not cope with their functions with senatorial commissions. Also, thanks to Claudia, significant changes were made to the legislation. Rumor has it that the emperor was so carried away by the publication of new laws, that sometimes he signed 20 decisions per day regarding even such trifles as the question of which antidote should be healing the bites of poisonous snakes.

Under Claudia, such important structures as a water supply, begun by Gaim Caligula, a drain from Lake Fucinsky and the Harbor to the remains were also built. He became the first emperor to allow foreigners to the Senate. In foreign policy, Claudius tried to avoid conflicts and resolved all issues through diplomacy.All this could not but wander Claudius popular love, which, however, could not prevent the death of this cautious and fearful person at the hands of the conspirators, death, which he was so afraid of and from whom he tried to protect himself all his life.

Almost all historiographers agree that Claudius was poisoned by his wife Agrippina. The death of the emperor was hidden for several days, while the son of Agrippina from his first marriage, Nero, was preparing to take his place. According to Lightonia, the conspiracy was edited at the moment when the emperor, disappointed in his adoptive son, Nero, remade his testament in favor of his dear son, Britain.

The emperor himself, apparently, foresaw his death. Moreover, many tend to believe that Claudius was well aware of what was happening, and his murder was committed with his silent consent, since he could not understand that he signed a will in the name of the Briton, he thereby signed his death sentence. Claudius died, not having learned that his victim was in vain: thanks to the intrigues of Agrippina, Nero was proclaimed the emperor, and the Briton was killed shortly after his death.