Claudius Becomes Emperor and Invades Britain
The Praetorian Guard found Claudius behind a curtain on 24 January 41 and made him emperor. Caligula had been murdered that morning in a corridor by officers of his own guard, in a conspiracy that included men he had personally humiliated. The senate met and spent the day debating whether to restore the republic, which nobody had governed under for seventy years. Claudius was fifty and had been treated as an embarrassment his whole life. He limped, his head shook, he stammered, and he drooled when excited — probably from cerebral palsy — and his own mother is said to have used him as a benchmark for stupidity. The family had kept him out of public life, which is very likely why he survived Tiberius and Caligula. He was found hiding, expecting to be killed, and was carried to the Praetorian camp instead. He promised each man 15,000 sesterces, which is the first time an emperor bought the guard's loyalty outright, and the senate had no army with which to argue. The reign was better than anyone had reason to expect. He invaded Britain in 43 and made it a province; annexed Thrace, Lycia, Noricum and Mauretania; built the harbour at Ostia and two aqueducts; drained the Fucine Lake; extended citizenship widely; and admitted Gauls to the senate over its objections, in a speech that survives on bronze. He also relied heavily on freedmen secretaries, which the senate never forgave. He died in 54, probably poisoned by his wife. The donative he paid became a customary expectation, and the guard sold the throne outright in 193.
- Year: 41 CE
- Category: Political
