Definition: The penultimate Julio-Claudian emperor, Claudius, is familiar to many of us through the BBC production of Robert Graves' I, Claudius series, starring Derek Jakobi as a stuttering Emperor Claudius. Ti. Claudius Nero Germanicus was born on August 1, in the year 10 B.C., in Gaul. His parents were the son of Augustus's wife Livia, Drusus Claudius Nero, and Mark Antony's daughter, Antonia. His uncle was the emperor Tiberius. Claudius suffered from various physical infirmities which many thought reflected his mental state. As a result, he was secluded, a fact that kept him safe. Having no public duties to perform, Claudius was free to pursue his interests and read much, including material written in Etruscan. He first held public office at the age of 46 when his nephew Caligula became emperor in 37 A.D. and named him suffect consul.
Claudius became emperor shortly after his nephew was assassinated by his bodyguard, on January 24, A.D. 41. The tradition is that he was found by some of the Praetorian Guard hiding behind a curtain. The guard hailed him as emperor. After adopting his fourth wife's son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero), in A.D. 50, Claudius made it clear that Nero was preferred for the succession over his own son, Britannicus. Tradition has it that Claudius' wife Agrippina, now secure in her son's future, killed her husband by means of a poison mushroom on October 13, A.D. 54.
Source: Claudius (41-54 A.D.) - DIR
