Claudius (10 BC - 54 AD)
Nero (37 - 68)
Agrippina crowning Nero
October 13th 54 AD: Claudius dies
On this day in 54 AD the Roman Emperor Claudius died in Rome aged 63. Claudius was the fourth emperor after the Empire was consolidated by the first emperor Augustus. Tiberius, the second emperor, was Claudius’s uncle, and the young Claudius came to power after Tiberius’s successor, the insane Caligula, was assassinated by his own guard. Claudius proved a much more moderate and even-tempered leader than his predecessor despite having previously been excluded from power due to his health problems. The new emperor had a strained relationship with the Roman Senate, who felt they did not have enough power under Claudius. However the fourth emperor is responsible for several notable achievements, perhaps most importantly the Roman conquest of Britain, which greatly added to the territorial power of the Roman Empire. After his wife Messallina was executed for plotting against him, Claudius married his niece Agrippina. However Agrippina had ambitions and supporters of her own and feared Claudius would name his own son as his heir rather than her son Nero. Emperor Claudius died the day after holding a sumptuous banquet, and Roman opinion believed he was poisoned by Agrippina herself in order to secure her son’s succession. She was successful and Nero became Roman Emperor, thus beginning the brutal rule of one of Rome’s most infamous emperors.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário