Claudius

Claudius was Roman emperor from AD 41 to 54, was underestimated for his entire life, and proved an effective administrator. Born in Lugdunum in 10 BC, a son of Drusus and nephew of Tiberius, he had a limp, a stammer, a persistent tremor and a running nose, probably from cerebral palsy or a similar condition. His own mother reportedly called him a monster of a man, and the family kept him out of public life, which almost certainly saved him during the purges that killed his relatives. He spent those years as a scholar, writing histories of Etruria, Carthage and the civil wars, and a defence of the letter forms he later tried to add to the Latin alphabet. Livy encouraged him. He held no significant office until Caligula made him consul in 37. When Caligula was murdered in January 41, praetorians found Claudius hiding behind a curtain in the palace and proclaimed him emperor, and he paid them for it — the first time an emperor bought the guard's support, a precedent with long consequences. He governed seriously. He invaded Britain in AD 43 and made it a province, adding Thrace, Lycia, Judaea and Mauretania as well. He built the harbour at Ostia and the Aqua Claudia, drained the Fucine Lake, extended citizenship widely, and admitted Gauls to the Senate in a speech that survives on a bronze tablet at Lyon. He heard court cases personally, sometimes eccentrically. He relied heavily on freedmen secretaries, which the senatorial sources resented. His wife Messalina was executed in 48 for a public bigamous marriage. He then married his niece Agrippina, adopted her son Nero, and died in 54, probably poisoned.

• Lived: 10 BCE – 54 CE
• Nationality: Italian
• Roles: ruler, historian