Educating Claudius: Transforming the Family Outcast into the Emperor of Rome

When the mad Roman Emperor Caligula was assassinated in 41 AD, his uncle Claudius ran to one of the palace’s apartments and hid behind a curtain. Claudius was soon discovered by the praetorian guards and escorted to their camp, where he was introduced to the troops who proclaimed him emperor.

Despite being the youngest son of Nero Drusus (brother of Emperor Tiberius) and Antonia the younger (daughter of Mark Antony and Emperor Augustus’ sister Octavia), Claudius was never a front-runner to be the Roman Emperor. Deemed an embarrassment at court due to his poor health and alarming lack of social skills, it was only when Caligula came to power that he was eventually offered a consulship as a colleague to the emperor himself only to be treated horribly by the young emperor and suffer public scorn at court.

Despite his image as the slow-witted member of the imperial family,

Claudius’ initial moves in office were thoughtful and decisive. Though he sentenced Caligula’s assassins to death, he did not launch further investigations on the matter. Instead, he eliminated treason trials, burned criminal records, and destroyed Caligula’s fabled stockpile of poison.

A bust of Emperor Claudius. (Michael Cambridge / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Claudius also puts an end to any rebellions against him before they begin. Early in his reign, it was discovered that the instigators of a revolt had connections to Rome’s most powerful aristocrats. The new emperor’s horror at how near such conspirators have prompted him to impose strict security measures which helped to prevent any of the six or more conspiracies against him throughout his twelve-year rule. Disgrace to his family though he was, Claudius has survived longer than most of his relatives.

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Top image: AI image of Roman Emperor Claudius.   Source: byerenyerli / Adobe Stock

By Martini Fisher