Claudius I, full name Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus 10BC-AD54
Fourth Roman emperor

Born in Lyons, he was the younger son of the elder Drusus and nephew of the Emperor Tiberius. His supposed imbecility saved him from execution by Caligula, but he was a great scholar. After Caligula's assassination (AD41), Claudius was the only surviving adult male of the imperial family, and was proclaimed emperor by the army, against the wishes of the senate. His reign was marked by expansion of the Roman Empire: he created new provinces (Mauretania and Thrace), and inaugurated the conquest of Britain, taking part in the opening campaign in person (43). He tried to integrate provincials in the empire through the extension of Roman citizenship, and, unsuccessfully, to secure the co-operation of the senate in government. A hostile tradition portrays him as a weak personality, too influenced by his freedmen and his wives. His third wife, Valeria Messalina, was notorious, and when she went through a form of public marriage with a young lover, Claudius had her executed (48). He next married his niece, Agrippina, the Younger, who persuaded him to adopt Nero, her son by an earlier husband, although Claudius had a son of his own, Britannicus. Agrippina is believed to have poisoned Claudius with a dish of mushrooms to secure the succession of Nero.

Bibliography: Vincent M Scramuzza, The Emperor Claudius (1940)