In A.D. 54, in ancient Rome, Emperor Claudius died, supposedly succumbing to a case of poisoned mushrooms. Emperors could become cult figures after death by being deified, thus The Apocolocyntosis, attributed to Seneca, describes the deification of Claudius, only in the case of the bumbling scholarly emperor, it was deification with a twist. Instead of simply turning into an anthropomorphic god, Claudius became a pumpkin, at least according to the title.
Because his adopted father died, the last of the Julio-Claudians, Nero, became emperor. This shouldn't have been the case. Claudius had a son of his own, but was evidently persuaded by his treacherous wife Agrippina the Younger to adopt her son. Upon completion of the arrangement, it is believed that Agrippina arranged for the poisoning.
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Emperors could become cult figures after death by being deified,
Leading to my all-time favorite ‘last line’ by Vespasian, “Oh dear, I think I’m becoming a god!”
Pumpkins are a product of the Western Hemisphere, and did not become known in Europe until the mid-1500′s. Ancient Celts (at Halloween) hollowed out, and carved faces in turnips, and this might have been the fate of Claudius.
It wasn’t the title given the work by the author, anyway.