The ancient Romans loved their blood-soaked games, but Emperor Claudius stunned the empire when he stepped into the arena himself to face a truly unusual opponent. Born on the first of August in 10 BC, Claudius entered the world as a member of the great Julio-Claudian dynasty, and from that moment, expectations weighed on him heavily. His father, Drusus, was a distinguished military commander stationed in Roman Gaul, present-day France, with his wife at the time of Claudius’s birth. This fact makes Claudius unique among Roman emperors: he was the first to be born outside Italy.
But being born into a wealthy family did not grant him every advantage. At an early age, Claudius fell ill with a mysterious disease that had severe consequences for the rest of his life. Although he eventually recovered, the boy was never the same, left with a permanent limp and partial deafness. His condition reportedly caused lifelong physical difficulties.
One Roman historian described his illness as manifesting in several ways, including weak knees that buckled under his weight, a shaking head, stammering and disordered speech, and a runny nose whenever he became excited. Modern assessments have offered possible explanations. Later historians, aided by contemporary medical practices and diagnoses, have proposed various causes for Claudius’s symptoms. Before World War II, the polio theory dominated, so widely accepted that fictional accounts of the emperor used that assumed diagnosis.
However, polio does not explain all the symptoms, and more recent theories have suggested cerebral palsy or Tourette’s syndrome as the source of Claudius’s physical suffering. Whatever the illness was, he suffered socially as well. Claudius’s noticeable weakness was a source of great shame for his family, and they shunned him completely as a child. His mother was especially cruel, repeatedly referring to the little boy as a monster and using him as a standard of stupidity.
The future emperor may have felt relief when she finally found a way to be rid of him. After Claudius’s father died in battle, his mother could not bear the burden of her son alone. Records indicate she sent the young boy to live with his paternal grandmother, Livia, for a few years. His grandmother seems to have been kinder to him, though not by much.
She appeared to share her daughter-in-law’s low opinion of the boy. After being excluded from political affairs, Claudius turned his attention instead to scholarly pursuits. By his teenage years, his symptoms began to recede somewhat, and his family took an interest in him again. They noticed his inclination toward intellectual work and decided to do what they had never done before: encourage him.
The results changed everything. In 7 AD, Claudius’s family hired a history tutor to refine the young man’s talents. From then on, Claudius spent most of his time among academics and philosophers. One famous philosopher, Augustus, noticed Claudius’s excellent and evident skills as an orator.
In addition to his new skills, he developed a degree of courage. In other words, the young man was not afraid to speak the truth as he saw it. Claudius proved himself a talented historian with a propensity for honesty. In his work on the civil wars, he did not hesitate to direct sincere and truthful criticism at the Emperor Caesar Augustus, a member of Claudius’s own dynasty.
But his integrity did him further harm. His refusal to toe the party line and erase his dynasty’s history damaged his chances of holding public office. He would have to take matters into his own hands. When Emperor Augustus died in 14 AD, he was succeeded by a new emperor, Tiberius, who was Claudius’s uncle.
The young man saw his opportunity and appealed directly to his powerful relative for a post. Tiberius granted his nephew the honors reserved for consuls but did not actually appoint him to any official position. Humiliated once again, Claudius gave up and returned to his studies. Perhaps his family had missed a political opportunity.
Although his family had always held him in contempt, the Roman public seemed to respect Claudius. Upon Augustus’s death, a delegation of equestrians, the wealthy class just below the senatorial rank, elected Claudius to lead them. When Claudius’s house burned down, the Senate asked that it be rebuilt at public expense, and they also requested that Claudius be allowed to participate in debates, showing the positive feelings toward the young historian. While Tiberius rejected both proposals, perhaps his successor saw political value in Claudius.
In 37 AD, Tiberius’s life and rule came to an end, and Caligula became the new ruler, who happened to be Claudius’s nephew. The young emperor saw use in Claudius, perhaps because of his popularity, and finally gave him what he had long waited for. Shortly after taking power, Caligula appointed Claudius as his co-consul, granting him significant authority. But this association came with serious downsides.
As Caligula’s reign continued, the young emperor became more cruel and sadistic, and according to some accounts, lost his mind. As always unlucky, Claudius became the target of much of this cruelty. His nephew constantly mocked him, extorted vast sums of money from him as co-consul, and insulted him before the Senate. This mistreatment began to take a toll on Claudius.
Claudius’s weakness, stemming from his childhood disability and his nephew’s harassment, meant he was not considered a real threat by enemies of the imperial family. This perception ultimately saved his life. On the twenty-fourth of January, 41 AD, the conspiracy against Caligula reached its peak with the assassination of the emperor and many of his closest allies and advisors. Claudius’s affliction saved him from this purge, and he later claimed he had been exaggerating it precisely for that purpose.
Given what happened next, his claim may have held some truth. With his nephew dead, Claudius found himself the only adult male left in the imperial family. In a single day, he went from being the emperor’s laughingstock to the most likely candidate for his succession. If it seemed a little suspicious, that was because it may have been deliberately orchestrated.
Shortly after his nephew’s death, the Praetorian Guard found Claudius and escorted him to their camp under their protection. There they proclaimed him the new emperor of Rome. After an argument with the Senate about guaranteeing his safety, Claudius finally returned to the court, where the Senate confirmed his position. He immediately set about purging the court of conspirators, executing everyone involved in the plot by the sword.
It was an extraordinary rise, but he still needed to win hearts and minds. As the first emperor proclaimed by the Praetorian Guard rather than the Senate, Claudius had to convince the legislative body that he was a worthy ruler. He chose to sit among them during regular sessions, waiting for his turn to speak and rarely asserting his authority as emperor. Roman custom dictated that new rulers adopt the titles of their predecessors, but Claudius refused them, assuring the Senate that he would earn them himself over time.
This political acumen distinguished his reign. After all those years of being barred from public office by his family, Claudius proved them wrong during his rule. Despite his relative lack of experience, he proved to be a highly competent and effective administrator, earning popularity among the common people. He also showed support for himself.
One of the progressive reforms Claudius implemented was empowering freedmen. Previously, freed slaves were not allowed to hold any political authority. Claudius chose to expand the imperial bureaucracy by appointing freedmen to administrative positions. In return, the freedmen remained fiercely loyal to him, strengthening his position.
He also had to put his house in order. Caligula, Claudius’s nephew and predecessor, was notorious for his extreme rule and for spending vast sums of public money. Claudius proved his capability as a ruler, helping to reform the empire’s finances throughout his reign. But this did not mean he was afraid to spend money.
Claudius had a practical and compassionate approach to governance, reflected in many of the construction projects he undertook. For example, he built a new harbor north of the Roman city of Ostia, aiming to combat winter grain shortages. Furthermore, the emperor worked to correct his predecessor’s mistakes. He abolished the food taxes imposed by his predecessor and even went further by reducing taxes on communities suffering from drought or famine.
His projects to expand food supplies did not stop there. Claudius’s grandest ambition was to eliminate famine in Italy entirely. He hoped to achieve this by dramatically increasing the area of fertile land and embarked on a project unprecedented in its ambition. Claudius intended to drain Lake Fucine, hoping this would facilitate year-round access to the nearby river, allowing resources to move more easily.
But the project went completely wrong. Claudius’s plan for Lake Fucine involved digging a tunnel under the lake. However, the project was more difficult than expected, and the tunnel ended up too twisted and too small to handle the water flow. Nevertheless, Claudius went ahead with a grand opening ceremony, staging a massive gladiator show to celebrate the project.
But when the tunnel was opened, its small size caused the water to back up, flooding the local area. The show was drowned, forcing Claudius and the other spectators to flee for their lives. His project had failed, but it was a rare blemish on a record full of achievements. Claudius also achieved great success on the military front.
In fact, the empire saw its first major territorial expansion since Augustus during his reign. The shrewd emperor managed to annex the provinces of Judea, Lycia, Mauretania, Noricum, and Thrace during his rule. He also looked beyond the European mainland. Claudius’s territorial ambitions were far-reaching, and he set his sights on an island in western Europe.
In 43 AD, Claudius sent a commander and some legions to the island of Britannia. That was the first step in the conquest of Britain, which ultimately succeeded. Although the conquest began under Claudius, it remained incomplete until after his reign. However, he gained control over enough of the island to reward himself with a short holiday.
After the success of the initial attacks on Britain, Claudius decided to travel to the island himself to inspect his new territory. He brought military reinforcements, including a procession of war elephants. A great temple was opened in modern-day Essex, dedicated to Claudius during his visit. It was surprising he found time to rest at all.
Throughout his life, Claudius wrote an astonishing amount of literature. He was a talented and diligent historian, as well as a skilled linguist. He composed a complete dictionary of the Etruscan language and even added three new letters to the Latin alphabet. As if that were not enough, Claudius also published a book on dice games.
But among his passions, one stood out above the rest. Claudius took a great personal interest in law throughout his life. He studied it seriously in books and legislative documents, as well as practically, by observing the Senate and the various trials that took place in his time. Once he became emperor, he took his passion to the next level.
After assuming leadership, Claudius immersed himself in his interest in law. He chose to preside over many public trials, was regularly present in Roman courts, and enjoyed creating laws as much as he enjoyed enforcing them. During his reign as emperor, Claudius issued daily decrees, ranging from moral judgments to medical advice. During Claudius’s reign, a disturbing practice was very common among slave owners.
If a slave fell ill, the owner would abandon them rather than provide medical help and care. However, if the slave was destined to survive, many owners would simply take them back into service. Claudius banned this practice, ruling that slaves who were abandoned and then recovered became free. In other words, there was no going back.
He even made owners who ended the lives of their sick slaves subject to legal accountability. This was a very progressive stance for the time, yet Claudius remained humble despite it all. Claudius held strong opinions about the administration and practice of the Roman state religion and introduced many reforms reflecting these views. He also practiced what he preached.
When the Jews of Alexandria proposed dedicating a temple to his deification, Claudius refused, insisting that only the gods could choose new gods. This was only one of the many ways he showed his humility and simplicity. Ancient historians described Claudius’s behavior as very kind and modest. As a ruler, he was popular with the masses and reciprocated their affection.
He was said to sometimes have lunch with the plebeians, the ordinary Roman citizens from whom the term “plebeians” is derived. But despite his good humor, there was another side to the emperor. Claudius was as famous for his quick temper as he was for his closeness to the people. He was incredibly quick to anger, often erupting in public.
To his credit, Claudius acknowledged this flaw in himself and apologized publicly for his temper on at least one occasion. He often directed this immense anger toward his favorite non-academic hobby. Claudius had an irresistible passion for games and gladiators, and he was constantly seen watching matches in the arenas of Rome. He often publicly praised his favorite fighters, and he established and presided over many new and innovative events, holding annual games to celebrate his ascension to the throne.
Some of these games were quite absurd. He fought a killer whale. Not hand-to-hand combat, mind you. Claudius often staged naval battles in lakes as a form of entertainment.
And on one occasion, a killer whale got stuck in the port of Ostia, and Claudius seized the opportunity. After gathering a crowd of spectators, Claudius and a contingent of the Praetorian Guard decided to hunt the whale for entertainment using spears thrown from a naval ship. But despite all this fun, Claudius’s reign was not always safe or stable. Although he was very popular with the masses, Claudius did not enjoy the same confidence from his noble peers and other politicians.
His position remained at risk throughout his reign, with many conspiracies against his life and attempts to overthrow his regime. Claudius had to take some steps. The constant threats left Claudius no choice but to strengthen his position. This involved responding to those who tried to assassinate him, resulting in the elimination of many senators.
This only further deteriorated his reputation with the Senate. They began to exploit what they considered flaws in his character. Claudius’s love life was turbulent. After parting ways with his first fiancée, a distant relative named Aemilia Lepida, for political reasons, Claudius married Livia Camilla.
His second marriage lasted only a few hours. Livia died suddenly on the very day of their wedding. The emperor fared little better in his third marriage to Plautia Urgulanilla, who was said to be frequently unfaithful. Matters were even worse with his fifth wife, Valeria Messalina, whom rumors openly accused of infidelity and promiscuity.
She eventually left Claudius to marry her lover. Perhaps the next time would bring him luck. Unfortunately, Claudius’s luck continued to decline. His sixth marriage was political, to Agrippina the Younger, his niece.
But Agrippina felt no familial or marital loyalty to her new husband. Once they were married, she gradually began to try to wrest power from Claudius, conspiring to eliminate the rivals of her son Nero to prepare him to become the next emperor. This would prove to be Claudius’s downfall. In the months before his death, Claudius and his wife were said to be arguing constantly.
Their relationship became increasingly hostile, and the emperor publicly complained about the marital situation in which he found himself. He was not wrong. In the early hours of October 31, 54 AD, Emperor Claudius died at the age of 63. All evidence pointed to poison as the cause.
Many historians agree that his wife was the instigator of his death, responsible for the plot, if not directly responsible for administering the poison. To make matters worse, Agrippina got exactly what she wanted. Claudius’s successor was his grand-nephew and legally adopted son, Nero. Agrippina’s conspiracy had paid off, and her son was now the ruler of the Roman Empire.
Making matters even worse, Nero quickly began working to erase his predecessor’s legacy, annulling many of his official decrees on the grounds that Claudius had been so stupid and senile that he could not have truly meant them. This stance reflected a broader trend at the time. Partly because of Nero’s rewriting of history and partly because of the hostility of his political contemporaries, Claudius’s reputation among ancient writers was very poor. Many criticized his reign and its prevailing tendencies.
However, modern historians have sought to correct that reputation, and Claudius is today regarded as one of the best and most progressive Roman emperors to have ruled the ancient world.