Claudius I, full name Tiberius·Claudius·Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, often translated as Claudius, Claudius, or Claudius I who imitated later European monarchs' habit of putting numbers on his head, isImperium RomanumJULIA CLAUDI DYNASTYThe fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, reigned from AD 41 to 54.
ClaudiusIt was an accidentAscend the thronebyHead of StateOf.In AD 41, the emperorCaligulaAfter being assassinated,GuardsThe middle-aged man of the Claudius family was supported and receivedSenateAnd succeeded toRoman emperor。His rule strives for harmony among all classes and adoptsa middle course, mending the relationship between the Caligula emperor andSeniorsThe broken relationship between the members of parliament increased the political power of provincial citizens in Rome, and built national industries.Later historians believed that,Imperium RomanumIncipient politicalcentralizationThe form of rule was peacefully transferred in his hands.[1]
ClaudiusIn his father DrususGaulBorn in Lugdunu Gaul (today'sLyon, FranceRegion).Claudius' father died when he was a baby.Later, his elder brother Germanicus was treated by his great uncleOctavianTherefore, he inherited Claudius' family.
Statue of Claude I
Claudius paid attention to reading ancient books and learning from his youth.He studied history under the guidance of Li Wei, with 20 volumesEtruria8 volumesCarthageAnd intends to writeMark AnthonyBut the latter is related toAugustusAnd give up the negative material.He also studied the language of the time and used newlatin alphabet。
Nevertheless, Claudius had obvious defects in appearance due to his physical disability (possibly polio) in his childhood and adolescence.It makes him lack vitality in both body and mind.His mother Antonia often referred to him as "a strange person who was born by nature but not completed by nature".After he became an adult, Octavian once mentioned in his letter: "... If he is sound, then why should we suspect that he should be promoted step by step like his brother? However, if we clearly know that his physical and mental development is not sound, we should not provide people who are accustomed to ridicule and sarcasm with his own and the handle to insult us."[2]
So, in AugustusTiberius During the two emperors' terms, this member of the Claudius family never got any chance to participate in public life.[1]
Accidental accession to the throne
In AD 37, ClaudiusCaligulaAfter he became emperor, he became the first RomanConsul。But this vanity did not bring him respect.Since he had never been cultivated in politics in the past, Claudius could not clearly make a speech before the public;Kaligura also looked at the uncle's embarrassment with a mocking attitude.Therefore, people never paid attention to this royal family member and always watched his gaffes in public by watching jokes.[1]
The Roman Colosseum
In AD 41, many classes of people in Rome were disgustedCaligula, was assassinated by the commander of the guards, who also killed Kaligura's wife and daughter.The guards found the 50 year oldClaudius, the soldiers called him emperor and took him to the barracks for protection.Claudius thought that the guards were rebelling, and he was very afraid. Later, the situation became clear.When the Senate learned that Caligula was dead, it immediately held a meeting to discuss the future situation. Someone proposed to restorerepublicSystem;Later, people decided to maintainAugustusEstablishedHead of StateThe system recognized the behavior of the guards and Claudius had all the power of the emperor.[1]
Ruling period
ClaudiusAfter serving as the emperor, he once faced many turbulence.Asiacusfactional political struggleIn China, she plotted to assassinate the emperor Claudius, but was caught and failed. Empress Mesalina took the opportunity to expand her influence and eliminate political enemies.Fulius, deputy general of Dalmatia, intended to start a civil war, but was suppressed within 5 days due to the fear of the army.[2]
Despite the turbulent situation, Claudius I still left many achievements.When he took office, he sent troops to Britain to expand the territory of the Roman Empire;During his fourteen year rule, he completed some important public works, allowed provincial nobles to enter the senate and appointed senior officials, and initially establishedImperium RomanumOfBureaucracy。[3]During his reign, the "Regional Assembly" of the Roman Empire passed laws on women's guardianship.[4]
In AD 48, Claudius I killed his own queen, Mesalina, who had "fallen out of love"Agrippina Minor Marriage.[1]
Mysterious death
In October 54,ClaudiusIn a family dinner, he died of food poisoning.It was widely suspected that she was Claudius' fourth wife,Agrippina Minor Poisoning.Claudius was 64 years old and had been in power for 14 years.After his death, he was buried by the king, and his name was listed as a god.NeroWhen he was in power, he canceled the honor, but laterVespasianTo restore his "sacred" title.[2]
Measures for politics
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Consolidate political power
The Expansion of the Roman Empire
CaligulaMany of his acts of perversion caused the people of all walks of life to be hostile to the emperor.After Claudius I came to power, he immediately expressed his special respect for the Senate, and many administrative measures were left to the Senate for final decision;He also respected Rome's secondary political group, the clan assembly（Curia）AndCivic AssemblyAnd do not suppress their voices with their own will.Faced with the dual problems of "no profit for senators" and the professional ethics of defense lawyers, Claudius I stipulated that defense lawyers could receive a reward of less than 10000 sesquites, and the senators could also earn a certain amount of income by acting as defense lawyers.[5]
He is modest and gentle and refuses to useIngrado(i.e“Commander in Chief”）As a title.[2]He often attends judicial hearings and litigation judgments in person.In order to improve his reputation in the army, he organized 27 legions and commanded them to fight in personBritain，[3]Calm down the local rebellion.All these made him loved by the people in the short term.[1]
Industrial construction
Roman aqueduct
ClaudiusNot many public works have been completed, but they are all important.He dug up the lagoon "Fukinus Lake" on the Apennine Mountain, and introduced the lake water into Rome through the waterway;The project took 11 years to complete, and a total of three miles of drainage was completed.Another major project was to expand the outer port of Ostia in Rome. Two curved breakwaters were built on both sides of the port, and a wave barrier was built at the deep-water section of the entrance. Finally, a lighthouse was built to guide ships coming and going at night based on the Phalos Island lighthouse in Alexandria.[2]He also expanded roads in Italy.[3]
Attach importance to provinces
The members of the Roman Senate are only elected from the top citizens of Rome and Italy;After the conquest of CaesarGaulMost of the provincial dignitaries have no access.stayClaudiusDuring his reign, after a heated debate, he agreed to grant the nobility of the later naturalized regions of Gaul, Belgium, the qualification of being elected to the Senate.[1]He also granted Roman citizenship to provincial residents.In addition, he also built a new province of Mauritania.[3]
Bureaucracy
Claude I initially established a set of bureaucracy: the Secretariat was in charge of internal affairs, foreign affairs and military affairs, the Finance Department was in charge of finance, and the Justice Department was in charge of legal affairs.[3]
Character evaluation
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General comments
Claudius is inCaligulaAfter the assassination, the political and economic situation in Rome was quickly pacified.And made certain contributions to the stable development of the empire.Judging from the oath of succession of the later Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Tumishan ("I will follow the governance of Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius..."), his performance was finally positively evaluated by the Romans.[1]
Evaluation of past dynasties
French enlightenment thinkerMontesquieuGladys finally eliminated the old order - he gave the right to judge to his officials.Marius andSulaThe main purpose of the war was to solve the problem: who should this power belong to, the elder or the knight?But when the imbecile guy was happy, he canceled the power of both... No one was more autocratic than the monarch who ruled after the Republic, because he had all the power of the people, and the people could not limit themselves.[6]
Edward Gibbon, British historian: In the first century AD, Britain was the only province added by the Roman Empire.This forty year long war was started by the most foolish and ignorant emperor, supported by the most immoral emperor, and ended by the most cowardly and cowardly emperor.(Refers to Claudius, Nero and Tumishan respectively)[7]
Latin America's famous "liberator"Simon Bolivar : Every Cincinnatius has one hundredKarakala；Every onetrajan There are a hundred Caligulas;Every Vespasian has a hundred Claudius.[8]
American historianLeften Stavros Stavrianos : Indeed, the four emperors after Augustus Tiberius (14-37 AD), Caligula (37-41 AD), Claudius (41-54 AD) and Nero (54-68 AD) were incompetent.However, the empire withstood their tyranny[9]
Anecdotes and allusions
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a great man becomes famous late in life
Claude I was the fourth emperor of the Roman Empire. When he was young, he did not live the life that an emperor should have.He has been lame since childhood and has physical defects. Even his mother described him as a "deformed person".Claude has always been ignored and laughed at, so he spent most of his youth drinking, playing dice and doing academic research.It was not until he was 46 years old that he took office and became the consul of his nephew, the then emperor Caligula.In AD 41, when Caligula was assassinated, the guards immediately declared the old Claudius the new Roman emperor, which shocked the world.Many people expect Claudius, who is 50 years old, to be a weak ruler, but he galloped through the dangerous place of Roman politics with his amazing insight.[10]
Sad marriage
Claudius had three marriages before he ascended the throne.When he was a teenager, he had an unrealized marriage with Emilia Leibida, and later engaged to Livia Midurina, but the woman died before marriage.In the first real marriage, he married Ugulania, but divorced her because of her scandal and murder suspicion.He married Elena Paytina again. She gave birth to a daughter for him, but she died early. Soon they divorced because of the quarrel in life.The third marriage was with Valeria Mesalina, the daughter of her cousin, who gave birth to a daughter for him in successionOctavianYa and her son Brittanikus[2], two years laterClaudiusWhen she became the emperor, she also became the queen of the empire.
After becoming the queen, the power and desire of Mesalina increased.In order to ensure her son's future succession to the throne, she tried her best to suppress the relevant members of the royal family who had the opportunity to inherit, including Agrippina, the mother of the future emperor Nero.In order to seize the mansion of the emperor's secretary, Paulius, Meselina found an opportunity to make a rebellion and let Claudius kill her secretary.
In 48 AD, taking the opportunity that the emperor was not in the city, Mesalina held a wedding ceremony with her lover Gaius Silius.After hearing the news, Claudius feared that this was a plot to seize his throne, in addition to his wife's infidelity.He hurries back to Rome in a huff and puff, takes his trusted follower Bruce as the new guard officer, and orders the arrest of the queen, Silius and the wedding attendants.The emperor's secretary Nalchisus's obstruction eliminated the queen's personal faceClaudiusThe opportunity to intercede forced Mesalina to commit suicide, and Silius and many senators, senior officials and officers involved were killed together.
GermanicAgrippina, the daughter of Nicus, entered the palace as the niece of the emperor to help Claudius with his housework.Claudius decided to get married again after the death of Metarina, and was facilitated by Secretary Pallas. In AD 49, Agrippina married her uncle Claudius.She also let the son born in the past marriage“Nero(formerly known as Domitius).However, Claudius I's last death was suspected to be related to his queen, and this adopted Nero became a famous tyrant in Roman history.[1]
Family members
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parent
Drusus: Claudius I's biological father was the emperorTiberiusMy brother.
Little Antonia: the mother of Claudius I, gave birthGermanicNicus and Claudius I.[2]
wife
Emilia Leibida: fiancee, Claudius gave up the marriage before marriage because his parents were political enemies of Augustus.
Livia Midurina: The fiancee died on the day of the wedding ceremony.
Prautia Ugulania: First wife.
Elena Paytina: Second wife.
Valeria Mesalina: the third wife, the first queen.
Drusus: The son of Ugulania died unexpectedly when he was approaching adulthood.
Claudia: She is the daughter of Ugulania. First, Ugulania had an affair with Claudius.
Antonia: Daughter of Paytina.
Octavian: Daughter of Methalina.
Brittancus: son of Mesalina.
Nero: The adopted son, the son of little Agrippina and her ex husband.[2]
Character controversy
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Erudite Claudius
In terms of personality,ClaudiusstayTacitusHe is described as a cowardly emperor.This historian believes that Claudius was manipulated by his freed slaves and wives, which is a typical example of an incompetent.He is also lascivious to women.[1]In terms of family life, the Roman historian Suvitonius also described many bad deeds of Claudius.He executed the older daughter's husband and the younger daughter's fiance, of which the former wasCatamite childWas stabbed to death in his arms.[2]In criminal justice, he repeatedly expanded the scope of punishment for fear of others' conspiracy to seize power, and did not refuse to torture suspects for confessions, as well as throw rebels into the cruel punishment of beasts, so his measures in this regard are not good for future generations.
becauseClaudiusIt was in his middle age that he unexpectedly became emperor. He had no preparation talents for the ruling group before.Therefore, Claudius reused the freed slaves in his own family as secretaries.Over time, Claudius' family became the core of national administration.His secretaries: Palas, Nalchisus, Polibius, Calistus, all expanded their power rapidly during his administration.The great wealth obtained by historians from his secretary is presumed to beInner CourtCorruption is bound to be very serious.[1]
