WHO KILLED CLAUDIUS ?

The Emperor Claudius died OCTOBER 13th 54 AD ; and he was killed, wasn't he ? And who wanted him dead ? Who assassinated him ? Let's analyze what history tells us.

The context
Claudius was Roman Emperor from 41-54 AD. His father was Nero Claudius Drusus and his mother Antonia minor. Claudius married four times, after two failed engagements. His personal life is not very happy: Messalina, his third wife, gives him two children, Octavia and Britannicus, but his misconduct, or his political ambition, pushes Claude to have her executed. In fourth marriage, he marries his niece Agrippina the Younger, who makes him adopt Nero. The real reason for his last marriage was probably that Claudius realized the weakness of his position as a member of the Claudian but not the Julian family. This weakness was compounded by the fact that he did not yet have an obvious adult heir, Britannicus being just a boy.

The motive
According to Suetonius and Tacitus, in the months preceding his death, Claudius regrets his marriage to Agrippina and the adoption of Nero; he openly laments his "shameless, but not unpunished" wives and considers giving his manly gown to Britannicus, although he is not yet of age. If Dion Cassius affirms that Claudius wants to eliminate Agrippina and designate Britannicus as his successor, the other authors are less clear on the intentions of Claudius. He is sixty-four years old and his health has deteriorated. Suetonius says he feels his end is near, makes his will and recommends that senators take care of his sons.


Claudius around 50 AD

The history
Many historians wrote about Claudius' death. The first one was Seneca the Younger who was a contemporary of the Emperor. He reported that Claudius died of natural causes ( Apocolocyntosis 4 ) : "He expired, moreover, while listening to comic actors, so you understand it isn’t without reason that I am afraid of those fellows".
But he had personal reasons to hate Claudius, who had sent him into exile in Corsica in 41, following court intrigues. Seneca had tried to obtain his recall by writing the Consolation to Polybius; in spite of the flattery towards this Imperial freedman, who had Claude's ear, it was in vain. It was only a few years later, probably in the spring of 49, that he was able to return to court, on the intervention of Agrippina...

Pliny the Elder was an author and philosopher during the time of Claudius. He wrote in his Naturalis Historia (Book 2, xxiii,2): " still witness, in our time, the poisoning which made Nero succeed the Emperor Claudius; finally witness the reign of this prince, during which the influence was almost continual and fatal".

In 94 AD, the Romano-Jewish historian Josephus wrote (Antiquities of the Jews XX,8,1) :"Now Claudius Caesar died when he had reigned thirteen years, eight months, and twenty days; and a report went about that he was poisoned by his wife Agrippina".

Tacitus reported around 115 AD (The Annals 12.66) : "Thereupon, Agrippina, who had long decided on the crime and eagerly grasped at the opportunity thus offered, and did not lack instruments, deliberated on the nature of the poison to be used. The deed would be betrayed by one that was sudden and instantaneous, while if she chose a slow and lingering poison, there was a fear that Claudius, when near his end, might, on detecting the treachery, return to his love for his son. She decided on some rare compound which might derange his mind and delay death. (...) writers of the time have declared that the poison was infused into some mushrooms, a favourite delicacy, and its effect not at the instant perceived, from the emperor's lethargic, or intoxicated condition. His bowels too were relieved, and this seemed to have saved him. Agrippina was thoroughly dismayed. Fearing the worst, and defying the immediate obloquy of the deed, she availed herself of the complicity of Xenophon, the physician, which she had already secured. Under pretence of helping the emperor's efforts to vomit, this man, it is supposed, introduced into his throat a feather smeared with some rapid poison".

Suetonius in 120 AD wrote (The life of the twelve Caesars 44.2) : "That Claudius was poisoned is the general belief, but when it was done and by whom is disputed. Some say that it was his taster, the eunuch Halotus, as he was banqueting on the Citadel with the priests; others that at a family dinner Agrippina served the drug to him with her own hand in mushrooms, a dish of which he was extravagantly fond".

Cassius Dio in 230 AD reported (Roman History book LXI, 35): " The emperor received the state burial and all the other honours that had been accorded to Augustus. Agrippina and Nero pretended to grieve for the man whom they had killed, and elevated to heaven him whom they had carried out on a litter from the banquet.


Basanite statue of Agrippina the Younger 54-59 AD

Medically, several details provided by ancient authors, inability to speak but persistent tenderness to pain, diarrhea, semi-comatose state, are consistent with symptoms of poisoning. Other authors pretend, however, that it could be a matter of food poisoning or accidental poisoning , a malaria attack or a heart attack. So what's your verdict ? Who was the killer ? Agrippina? Nero ? Xenophon ? or Halotus ?
Conclusion
Claudius is thus the first deified emperor after Augustus. This deification is commemorated by a coinage. Agrippina built a temple dedicated to her worship, the Temple of the Divine Claudius, on a huge terrace on the Caelius. Nero abolishes this cult after Agrippina's death and transforms this temple into a nymphaeum overlooking the Domus aurea. Vespasian restores it and re-establishes the worship of the divine Claudius..........

On the day of Claudius' death, show me your coin of this Emperor, of his successor Nero or of his beloved wife Agrippina !

Claudius As RIC 116

Claudius Dupondius RIC 110

Nero Sestertius RIC 223

 

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Another great write up and GREAT Cla-Cla-Claudius coins, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix !

AGRIPPINA


RI Agrippina II 50-59 BCE AE 26mm Egypt Bust of Euthenia w Corn in Hair RPC 5188

 

CLAUDIUS


RI Claudius 41-54 Ae As 28mm LIBERTAS AVGVSTA holding pileus S-C RIC 113


BRITANNICUS


Roman Principate
Judaea
Claudius w-Britannicus
CE 41-54
Æ Prutah
17mm 2.8g
Antonius Felix-procurator
Dated RY 14 54 CE
2-crossed shields spears -
Palm tree BPIT K AI L IΔ date
Hendin 1348


NERON


RI Nero AR Tetradrachm 54-68 CE Eagle

 

Great post as usual, O.


Nero, Alexandria, BI Tetradrachm, (24 mm, 13.08g), 64-65 AD (RY 11.), ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑY ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ Radiate bust of Nero to r., wearing aegis./ Rev. ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑ - L ΙA Eagle, wings closed, standing l. with palm frond behind; in field to r., simpulum. RPC I 5284.

 

Engaging write-up about the suspicious end of Claudius, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix.

Here's the unhappy couple:



Claudius, with Agrippina Junior. AD 41-54. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.58 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 51. TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG GERM P M TRIB POT P P, laureate head of Claudius right / AGRIPPINAE AVGVSTAE, draped bust of Agrippina the Younger right, wearing wreath of grain ears from which one long tie hangs down at the back, her hair in fastened in a long plait looped up behind her neck, two locks fall loose down her neck. RIC I 81; von Kaenel Type 50 (unlisted dies); RSC 4. From the Maxwell Collection.

 

MOTHER OF BRITANNICUS ...

MESSALINA


RProv Valeria Messalina m-Claudius 41-54 CE Alexandria BI Tet yr 42-43 13.1g 25mm RPC I 5131

 

This is the kind of work and write up that make me so excited to see what's going on at CT
Thanks for shining a light on such a pivotal time in Roman history.
Here's the deceased, usual suspects and other kin:

 

Another great historical review, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!

Here are my coins featuring Claudius and his killer.


Claudius, AD 41-54 and Agrippina II, AD 50-59.
Roman provincial Æ 20.2 mm, 5.81 g, 10 h.
Lydia, Thyatira, AD 50-54.
Obv: ΤΙ ΚΛΑYΔΙΟC CЄΒΑCΤΟC, bare head of Claudius right.
Rev: ΑΓΡΙΠΠΙΝΑΝ CЄΒΑCΤΗΝ ΘΥΑΤΙΡΗΝΟΙ, draped bust of Agrippina right.
Refs: Sear 507; RPC I 2380; BMC 22. 301, 57; SNG München 611; SNG von Aulock --; SNG Copenhagen --; Mionnet --; Wiczay --.


Claudius, AD 41-54, and Agrippina II, AD 50-59.
Roman provincial Æ 19.6 mm, 4.19 g, 12 h.
Lycaonia, Iconia (as Claudiconium), magistrate M. Annius Afrinus, AD 50-54.
Obv: ΚΛΑΥΔΙΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ϹЄΒΑ, laureate head of Claudius, right.
Rev: ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ ЄΠΙ ΑΦΡЄΙΝΟΥ ΚΛΑΥΔЄΙΚΟΝΙЄѠΝ, bare-headed and draped bust of Agrippina II, right.
Refs: RPC I 3542; von Aulock Lyk. 258–62.


Claudius, AD 41-54 and Agrippina II, AD 50-59.
Roman provincial Æ 12 Nummia, 9.30 gm, 25.0 mm.
Bosporos, under King Kotys I, AD 50-54.
Obv: ΤΙ ΚΛΑΥΔΙΟΥ ΚΑΙCΑΡΟC, laureate head of Claudius, right.
Rev: ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΙΝΑΝ CΕΒΑCΤΗΝ, head of Agrippina II, left, in loop ponytail; BAK before.
Refs: SGI 5438; RPC 1925; BMC 13.52,7; Anokhin Bosporus 348; SNG Copenhagen 31.

 

Claudius:


A young Nero with his mother (AE17 from Myrina in Aeolis). So innocent looking!


And my favourite (if not the most historically accurate) version of the story:

 

The Provincial below shows three children of Claudius on the reverse: Octavia and Britannicus, who are mentioned in the OP, alongside their elder half-sister, Claudia Antonia, Claudius's daughter by his second wife, Aelia Paetina. According to Suetonius, Nero, after the death of his wife Poppaea in AD 65, tried to marry Antonia. When she refused him, he had her executed.


CLAUDIUS
AE24. 9.25g, 24.4mm. JUDAEA, Caesarea Panias, circa before AD 49, pre-royal coinage of Agrippa II. RPC 4842; Meshorer 350; Hendin 1259. O: [TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR IM P P], laureate head left. R: [ANTONIA B]RITANN[ICVS OC]TAVIA, the children of Claudius: from left to right, Antonia, Britannicus, and Octavia, the two daughters each holding a cornucopia.

 

A great post!

Claudius/Libertas:



Nero/IVPPITER CVSTOS (sorry for the blurriness -- a typical FR photo):



Nero/Salus:



Nero/Alexandria:

 

Wow, kinda fits into the Egyptian adage:
“Vice is Nice, but Incest is Best!”

 

One of my favorite emperors

RIC 94 Ceres


RIC 113. Libertas

 

Excellent writeup as usual


Claudius, As produced at a "branch mint", AD 41-42
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, Bare head of Claudius left
CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI, Constantia helmeted standing left holding spear, SC in field
10,84 gr
Ref : RCV #1857, Cohen #14
For better understanding of where this might have been minted, see : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=65318.0


A more classical portrait :


Claudius, Dupondius
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, head left
CERES AVGVSTA, Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left on ornamental throne, holding two corn-ears and a long torch, S C in exergue.
11,20 gr
Ref : RCV # 1855, RIC # 94

Q

 

My smallest Roman Provincial shows Britannicus, Octavia and Antonia. The three of them easily fit on a thumb's nail...



AE11 Cyzicus, Britannicus, Antonia and Octavia (under Claudius). Obv. Bust of Britannicus right. [NEOS GERMANIKOS]. K-Y in the field. Rev. Busts of his sisters facing each other. AN-OKTA. 11 mm, 1.63 gr. RPC 2248.

 

This is another coin of the family, showing the notorious couple itself:



Nero (54-68) with Agrippina junior, AE17. Orthosia, Caria. Obv. Jugate draped busts of Nero and Agrippina Junior right. [ΝƐΡWΝ] ϹƐΒΑϹΤΟϹ [ΑΓΡΙΠΠ]. Rev. Laureate head of Zeus right. Brown patina with patches of red and green. ΟΡΘWϹΙƐWΝ. 17 mm, 6.73 gr. RPC I 2826 (3 pcs.). The obverse is offcenter, but I really like the artistic style.

 

Father:



Mother:




Claudius and his succesor Nero :

 

Great write-up @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix !

Claudius - Attaleia in Pamphylia, provincial bronze.



Nero - billon tetradrachm Alexandria/Serapis

 

If you see THOSE mushrooms, you have ALREADY eaten mushrooms... and way too many!