M. grant. Roman emperors. Claudius II of the Goths. Claudius II: biography Emperor Claudius 2 years of reign

During his reign, he successfully fought with the barbarian tribe of the Alemanni, as well as with the Goths, over whom he won a convincing victory in the battle of Nis, for which he received the nickname “Gothic”. However, despite the fact that Claudius laid the foundation for the restoration of the power of the Roman Empire, his reign was very short: in 270 he died of the plague.

Claudius bore the following victorious titles: “Germanic Greatest” - from 269, “Gothic Greatest” - from 269, “Parthian Greatest” - from 270. He received the power of the people's tribune 3 times: in 268 (twice: in March and December 10) and in 269.

Early life and career

Only a few sources have survived about the short period of Claudius's reign. It is impossible to say with certainty about his origin, place of birth or name of his father, nor about his career before he became emperor. Of his family, only his brother Quintillus is known, who ascended the throne after his brother's sudden death in the fall of 270.

According to Aurelius Victor, Claudius was the illegitimate son of Gordian II. But, most likely, he was a barbarian by origin, perhaps from a Romanized family.

Ascension to the throne

According to Aurelius Victor, at the end of August or beginning of September 268, Claudius was appointed tribune of the auxiliary detachment stationed at Ticinus. His task was to protect this city from a possible invasion by the Gallic emperor Postumus. There the troops proclaimed Claudius emperor.

Paul Orosius has an interesting indication, which is absent, however, in all other sources known to us, that Claudius took power at the request of the Senate. But this contradicts the reports of other ancient authors, who claim that Claudius became emperor at the initiative of the army.

There is an assumption that he participated in a conspiracy against Gallienus and that before his death he sent Claudius the imperial insignia. However, the deceased emperor still had relatives in Rome who had the right to inherit the throne, namely his half-brother Licinius Valerian and his son Marinian, so it can be assumed that the version of the appointment of Claudius and sending him signs of imperial dignity was only a propaganda invention in order to justify the seizure of power by Claudius.

After Claudius was proclaimed emperor, the senators immediately began to destroy Gallienus' friends and relatives, but Claudius did not support them and even forced them to deify their predecessor. On his orders, money was also paid to soldiers outraged by Gallienus' death. Neither the Senate nor the people expressed their protest against Claudius's accession to the throne.

Appearance and personal qualities

The most complete description of Claudius was left by the author of the “History of the Augustans”:

Eutropius says that Claudius is “a thrifty, meek, fair man, worthy of leading the state, but died in the second year of his reign from illness.” Aurelius Victor characterizes Claudius as a very fair and active person, working for the good of the state. The few sculptural images of Claudius depict a typical officer of the Roman Empire: his cheeks are roughly shaved, his forehead is wrinkled, expressing tension, and his hair is cut short.

Governing body

After ascending the throne, Claudius found that he was faced with many problems that required immediate solutions. The most urgent of these was the invasion of Illyricum and Pannonia by the Goths, although Gallienus had already caused some damage to them at the Battle of Nestus. At this time, the siege of Mediolan, where the usurper Avreolus was located, was still ongoing. Having learned about the change of ruler, Avreol tried to come to a peace agreement, but when his entourage opposed this, he decided to surrender to Claudius, apparently on the condition that his life would be spared. However, he was soon killed - the soldiers were outraged that he had betrayed Gallienus.

After the murder of Avreol, the emperor moved his army towards the Gothic army. At the Battle of Niš, Claudius and his legions utterly defeated the large Gothic army. Under the command of Claudius and the cavalry commander, the future Emperor Aurelian, the Romans captured thousands of Goths and completely destroyed the enemy camp. As a result of this victory, the Goths were expelled from the Roman Empire, and Claudius received the nickname “Gothic,” by which he is known to this day. This success was marked by the release of coins (Latin VICTORIAE GOTHICAE - “Gothic victory”). The Gothic War was won. The Goths did not cross the borders of the empire for almost another hundred years.

After this, in 269, either at the instigation of the usurper Avreol, or because the Roman garrison in the province of Raetia was quite small, since its units were pulled towards Mediolan, the Alamanni easily broke through the Brenner Pass and reached Lake Benac. The emperor reacted very quickly and inflicted such a heavy defeat on the barbarians that barely half of their original number returned to the north. The 8th century historian Paul the Deacon reports that the number of Alamanni reached three hundred thousand. After this, he fired some irresponsible officials and soldiers. At the same time, new detachments of Goths crossed the Danube to help their fellow tribesmen, but they did not achieve much success; another part of them tried to make their way to the cities on the Aegean coast on the ships of the Heruls, but also met resistance and was defeated by the Roman fleet led by the governor of Egypt, Tenaginon Probus. Many Germans who were captured during various wars were enlisted in the Roman army or settled in the north of the Balkan Peninsula as colons. Intensive road construction in this area is evidenced by preserved mile stones.

In the unification of the Roman state, Claudius was greatly helped by the weakening of the Gallic Empire. When the Gallic official Lellian declared himself emperor, Postumus defeated his army, but was soon killed himself because he forbade the plunder of Mogunciak (now Mainz). The army elected Marius as emperor, but a short time later he was overthrown by the praetorian prefect Victorinus. During his reign, Spain and the southern coast of Narbonese Gaul seceded from the Gallic Empire and returned to the Roman Empire after the Vigil prefect Julius Placidianus arrived there with a small force. A year later, Augustodunum voluntarily went over to the side of Rome, and then Victorinus besieged him. However, Claudius did nothing to support the city, so Augustodunum fell and was sacked. It is still unknown why Claudius did nothing to help Augustodunum.

According to the historian Zosimus, during the reign of Claudius, the Palmyreneans under the command of Timagenes captured Egypt and left a garrison there, but the governor of this province, Tenaginon Probus (not to be confused with Emperor Probus), drove them out of there. Then Timagenes gathered a new army and defeated Probus, who, having been captured, committed suicide. Egypt again went to the Palmyra kingdom. From that time on, grain supplies to Rome ceased until Aurelian crushed the Palmyra kingdom.

In the same year, Claudius takes the title "Parthian Great", but the reason why he did this is unknown. Damerau suggests that in fact the Palmyreans defeated the Parthians, and Claudius appropriated their victory.

Under Claudius, propaganda of the power of the empire was carried out, carried out with the help of coins with the inscriptions PAX AETERNA, FIDES MILITVM (Russian: Eternal peace, loyalty to the army). Another inscription - GENIVS SENATVS (Russian Genius of the Senate), according to Andreas Alfodi, indicates an improvement in relations between the emperor and the Senate, as well as the increasing authority of this government body. According to Zonaras, Claudius even left it to the Senate to declare war on both the Goths and Posthumus. Despite the fact that under Claudius the influence of statesmen and military leaders of Balkan origin, as well as foreigners, increased, the government continued to rely on representatives of the Roman nobility, such as the proconsul of Africa Aspasius Paternus, the city prefects Flavius ​​Antiochian and Virius Orfitus, the princeps of the Senate Pomponius Bassus and the consul Junius Veldumnian. Claudius apparently did not make any major changes in the Roman army, unlike his predecessor Gallienus; Apparently, this is explained by the short duration of his reign.

During the reign of Claudius, according to the History of the Augustans, there was only one usurper - Censorinus, but he was most likely fictitious.

Religious politics

Although Eusebius of Caesarea and Sulpicius Severus portray the period between the reigns of Valerian and Diocletian as a pause in the persecution of Christians, according to the lives of the saints, several Christians were killed during the reign of Claudius II. Apparently, Saint Valentine also died under Claudius. The golden legend says that he refused to renounce Christ before the emperor, for which he was beheaded. According to Aurelius Victor, Claudius consulted the Sibylline Books even before his campaign against the Goths.

Relationship with the Constantine dynasty

At the direction of Constantine (before 310), his father’s relationship with the “divine Claudius” was “restored.” Probably all this was a fiction, which contributed to the fact that the life of Claudius, however without an accurate description of the relationship of the emperors, turned into an enthusiastic panegyric, first mentioned in 310.

According to the History of the Augusti, Claudius had a brother, Crispus, who had a daughter, Claudia. It was Claudia, according to legend, who was the mother of Constantius Chlorus. This statement was widely disseminated by Constantine the Great, who minted coins with the inscription DIVO CLAVDIO OPT IMP, MEMORIAE AETERNAE (Russian: To the Divine Claudius, the best emperor, eternal memory).

Results of the board

The emperor died in January-August 270 in Sirmium from the plague that broke out in the Balkans in the summer of that year. Although Claudius reigned for just under two years, his death was sincerely mourned by both soldiers and senators, and his deification followed immediately upon news of his death. The author of the biography of Claudius in the “History of the Augustans” writes that “they loved him so much that it can be said quite definitely that neither Trajan, nor the Antonines, nor any other of the sovereigns were so loved.” The emperor's armor was delivered to the curia, and a golden equestrian statue of the deified Claudius was erected on the Capitol in front of the Temple of Jupiter (given the economic situation of the empire at that time, most likely, the statue was actually cast from gilded bronze). In his honor, Cyrene was renamed Claudiopolis.

There is a more dramatic version of Claudius' death. According to legend, he actually sacrificed himself, since there was a prediction in the Sibylline books that only his death would help win the Gothic War. The author of the History of the Augustans completely ignores this assumption and says that Claudius simply died of the plague.

There is no doubt that he was an outstanding military leader who showed an excellent example of military art and valor, to which the Roman Empire owes its preservation and the beginning of its recovery from a protracted crisis. Ancient authors left positive reviews about Claudius and his reign. This is due, firstly, to hatred of Claudius’ predecessor Gallienus, and secondly, to the legend of his death.

During his short reign, Claudius did not have the opportunity to deal with the dire economic problems of the empire: for example, the quality of Antoninian became even worse, which adversely affected the already rapid rise in prices. Overall, Claudius of Gotha gave a strong impetus to the restoration of the Roman Empire.

Claudius II of Goth (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius) (268-270) was born around 214, probably in Dardania (Upper Moesia). IN Historia Augusta letters are cited showing that he served as a military tribune under Trajan Decius and Valerian, who appointed him commander-in-chief in Illyricum. These documents are fictitious, but perhaps the made-up messages contain some truth. During the murder of Gallienus in the vicinity of Mediolanus in 268, in which Claudius appears to have taken part, he served as deputy commander in this area. They chose a new emperor from two contenders: Claudius and another major military leader, Aurelian, who was also involved in the conspiracy. It is not known why the army chose Claudius, although Aurelian's reputation as a strict disciplinarian may have played a role. One way or another, the story was put into motion that the dying Gallienus had formally appointed Claudius as his successor.

However, the murder of Gallienus outraged the soldiers, and fermentation began in the troops, which could only be muffled by the traditional promise to pay an additional reward of twenty gold coins per person. For their part, the senators in Rome, outraged that Gallienus had removed them from government, welcomed his death. They immediately began to destroy his friends and relatives, including his brother and son Marian. Claudius called on the senators to show mercy, even insisting on deifying the late emperor and thereby calming the army.

After Claudius's ascension to the throne, the siege of Mediolanus with the rebel general Avreolus, waged by both Gallienus and his assassins, continued without interruption. Having learned about the change of ruler, Avreol tried to come to an agreement, but when his entourage opposed this, he decided to surrender to Claudius, apparently on the condition that his life would be spared. But he was soon killed - the soldiers were outraged that he had betrayed Gallienus. Despite the removal of this danger, Claudius was still forced to remain in northern Italy, since there was a serious threat from the Alemanni. Either at the instigation of Avreol, or because the garrison in Raetia was weakened, its units were pulled to Mediolan, but the Alemanni broke through the Brenner Pass and reached Lake Benac. Here Claudius met them and inflicted such a heavy defeat on the Alemanni that barely half of their original number returned to the north. Claudius appropriated the title “Germanic” to himself.

The breakaway Empire founded by Postumus in the west was falling on hard times, and Claudius, to further weaken it, sent a reconnaissance force under the command of Julius Placidianus into southern Gaul. He, settling down at Cularon, established contact with Spain and thereby returned it to the authority of the central government. Claudius himself did not lead this campaign, as he believed that first of all it was necessary to organize resistance to the honeycombs in the Balkans. In 268, Gallienus failed to achieve a final victory at Naissus, but his general Marcian continued to harass the invaders, and then Claudius himself arrived to complete the defeat. When the Goths, experiencing a lack of food, had to descend from the camp on Mount Hessax to Macedonia in search of food, Claudius fiercely attacked them, apparently not far from the city of Marcianople. This success was marked by the release of coins (VICTORIAE GOTHIC ae) and brought the emperor the title of “Gothic,” by which he has been known since then. New detachments of the Goths crossed the Danubium to help their fellow tribesmen, but they did not achieve much success; another part of them tried to make their way to the cities of the Aegean Sea on the ships of the Heruls, but also met resistance and was defeated by the Roman fleet led by Tenaginon Probus, the governor Egypt. Many Germans captured during various wars were enlisted in the Roman army or settled in the northern Balkans. Intensive road construction in this area is evidenced by preserved mile stones.

Claudius was still busy besieging the Goths on Mount Haemus when reports arrived that the Jutungi tribe, which had hitherto been content with the money paid by Rome, had crossed the Danubium in search of new lands and was threatening Raetia, while another tribe, the Vandals, was preparing to invade Pannonia. Therefore, Claudius, entrusting the fight against the Goths to Aurelian, hurried with his troops to Sirmium to inspect the new theater of military operations. But his army was struck by plague, and in January 270 Claudius himself fell victim to it.

Although he reigned for less than two years, his death was heartily mourned by both the soldiers and the senate, and his deification followed immediately. Moreover, his memory was subsequently resurrected again when Constantine the Great stated that his grandmother was Claudius’s daughter or niece. This statement was fictitious, but because of it, the lives of Claudius turned into enthusiastic eulogies. But nevertheless, the fact remains undoubted that he was an outstanding commander, who showed an excellent example of military art and valor, to which the Empire owes its preservation. But he had neither the time nor the opportunity to deal with difficult economic problems; for example, the quality of silver-plated bronze coins became even worse, which adversely affected the already rapid rise in prices. His coins depict a typical representative of the Danuvian military leaders of that time: short-haired, bearded and implacable.

(text based on the publication: M. Grant. Roman Emperors / translated from English by M. Gitt - M.; TERRA - Book Club, 1998)

And that time comes again. No, not New Year or even March 8th. And chocolate-heart-floral Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day. And while love is in the air for everyone, we decided to dig up historical facts about this day that have little to do with falling in love and flowers.

The Roman Emperor Claudius II did not allow his soldiers to marry during the war, as he believed that love and marriage were in no way connected. According to the Golden Legend, a collection of Christian legends and lives of saints, it was under Claudius II that Saint Valentine was executed.

There are actually several legends about St. Valentine. One says that he secretly married lovers, was caught and executed by order of the emperor. According to another, Valentine tried to help Christians who were persecuted in those days escape from prison, and was discovered and captured. He fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and wrote her his first Valentine, signing “Your Valentine.” Be that as it may, Valentine was executed and Pope Julius II beatified him as a saint, presumably on February 14th.

Red roses were the favorite flowers of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. In general, each flower has its own meaning, so try not to give your girlfriend a bouquet of hatred made of yellow lilies, for example. © rexfeatures

It was King Henry VIII of England, famous for the fact that almost all of his six wives died tragically (he executed two himself, one died after childbirth), in 1537 made February 14 an official holiday for lovers.

The city of Verona still receives thousands of letters addressed to Juliet, Romeo's lover. The photo shows the statue of Juliet in Verona. © rexfeatures

It was only in the Middle Ages that Valentine's Day began to be associated with love, and only because, for example, in France and England, the mating season of birds began in February. © rexfeatures

Many historians suggest that February 14 was chosen not because of St. Valentine, but to replace the ancient Roman pagan fertility festival Lupercalia in honor of the god Faun, as well as the founders of the city, Romulus and Remus. During the celebration, goats and dogs were sacrificed, men took off their clothes, ran around the city and lashed everyone with animal skins, especially women, since the blow was considered a blessing. Then leaves with women's names were placed in a vessel, and the men thus chose a couple for a year, after which they got married.

Valentine cards appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, when printing became a less complicated process. At that time, it was not customary to openly express one’s feelings, so valentines came in handy.

In fact, in the 3rd century there lived several Christian martyrs with the name Valentin - the holy martyr Valentin, bishop of the city of Interamna, and the presbyter Valentin of Rome, as well as the martyr Valentin of Dorostolsky, a warrior who accepted death for the open profession of Christianity.

In the Roman church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin you can admire the skull of St. Valentine. Yes, this is one of the main attractions of the church. We hope that this is the skull of the “correct” Valentine. Not going to Rome anytime soon? Great, you can see the rest of his skeleton in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, Great Britain and France.

During the time of Queen Victoria in England, it was considered bad luck to sign Valentine's cards. This was probably explained by the fact that, again, it was not customary to openly declare one’s feelings, since one could compromise one’s beloved.

The oldest valentine with a poem has survived, which was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Unfortunately, his wife died before receiving the Duke's poem.

At the beginning of the 19th century, doctors actively encouraged people to eat chocolate to relieve longing for their loved ones. And at the end of the 19th century, Richard Cadbury released the world's first box of chocolates.

In the Middle Ages, most people were illiterate, so when they had to sign a document, they simply put an X in front of witnesses and then kissed their “signature” as a sign of the sincerity of their decision. Among these documents were marriage certificates.

They put him on a stretcher and carried him to the praetorian camp. The soldiers, bribed by the promise of gifts, proclaimed Claudius emperor. The Senate, making a weak attempt at resistance, recognized him. The Romans were already so accustomed to monarchical rule that there could not be many republicans. Brother Germanicus was expected to love freedom. Thus, Claudius received the throne, thanks to the right of succession, the disposition of the praetorians, the intelligence and determination of the friend of his youth, Agrippa, the grandson of Herod, this brave man acted in place of the indecisive, timid Claudius. An amnesty was declared. Cassius Chaerea, who killed Caligula out of personal enmity and then tried to restore the republic, was excluded from it; he and some other republicans were executed on the advice of the courtiers. This was the only cruelty of the new emperor. A man of very limited intelligence, but naturally good-natured, Claudius at the beginning of his reign showed meekness and justice, so that the Romans were very happy at his accession to the throne. Due to his timidity, he always had bodyguards with him. This retinue of Claudius showed the Romans that they were living under the dominion of soldiers, but they were consoled by the fact that the trials for lese majeste were stopped, the formidable informer Protogen was executed, those in prison were freed, the exiles were returned, burdensome and shameful taxes were abolished, and they were destroyed documents found in Caligula that threatened people with death; The people also liked the love with which Emperor Claudius restored honor to the memory of his relatives and especially his brother Germanicus and his wife, Agrippina the Elder; I liked his good nature: apart from occasional outbursts of anger, he was always kind.

Bust of Emperor Claudius

Personality and character of Claudius

And yet, the reign of Emperor Claudius, which began so graciously, became no less disastrous and terrible than the times of Tiberius and Caligula were; the reason for this was not so much his evil will as his weakness of mind, which made him completely incapable of governing a huge state, in which everything depended on the personality of the monarch. The serious illnesses that Claudius suffered in childhood and youth hindered both his physical and mental development. His figure was pitiful: a body prone to obesity swayed on thin, weak legs; my head was shaking. Before Claudius became emperor, he was the subject of contempt and ridicule by all his relatives. His mother, Antonia, called him a freak whose figure nature began to make human, but did not complete. Timid and awkward, unable to behave with tact and decency, he was not allowed into court society, he was not given honorary titles, and he was treated as if he were weak-minded. Under Caligula, he was the target of the most arrogant jokes of the courtiers. But Claudius was not so weak in mind and not so alien to passions as was generally thought; Since childhood, he had a great love for science, especially history and archeology, and his lifestyle was not innocent: he loved to play dice, drink, and loved women. Claudius was surrounded by women from childhood; he was married five times and was constantly under female influence. He was reluctantly seen at court, and Claudius himself had no desire to be among the courtiers; he lived away from the court, studied Greek and Roman literature and philology very diligently, and wrote learned works. His "Etruscan History", which consisted of 20 books, his "History of the Roman Republic" from the end of the civil wars, his "Autobiography" were not without some dignity. They were used by Tacitus, perhaps also by Titus Livius, who was Claudius’ teacher.

Freedmen-favorites of Claudius

Claudius loved to relax in the company of slaves, freedmen, jesters and women. Because of this, he remained completely alien to practical life, did not know either people or the state of affairs; the range of his concepts was very narrow. Every surprise upset him; in moments of fright, Claudius lost all his small reserve of prudence and became an obedient tool of every scoundrel. With weakness of reason and memory, he was constantly the plaything of his wives and freedmen. Their influence on the spineless emperor, incapable of independence, was all the stronger because the Roman aristocracy still did not want to cast aside pride in its former power, did not dare to get closer to the court, accept court positions, or show loyalty to the emperor. Due to the fact that noble families shunned the palace, there was full scope for clever courtiers, whom Emperor Claudius chose from a huge number of his educated and cunning freedmen; They satisfied their greed with cunning and took revenge on high society for contempt for them. Without thinking about the interests of the state, they sought only the favor of the emperor, who rewarded their loyalty with wealth, and extracted monetary benefits from their brilliant but precarious position. They were oppressors of the people, but loyal servants and advisers to the sovereign. Their power in the financial department was especially limitless. All income and expenses of the fiscus passed through their hands. Statius introduces us to one of these people, Claudius Etruscus, who held profitable positions under several emperors, made millions for himself, and when he died as an 80-year-old man, he was buried with amazing splendor. The reign of Claudius was a golden age for his freedmen. Removed from the circle of the imperial family and its entourage, Claudius from childhood moved in the company of slaves, clients and freedmen; they became his all-powerful favorites. There were four main ones between them: Callistus reported requests and other current affairs to the emperor, Polybius was his assistant in scientific studies, Narcissus was his secretary, Pallant was his treasurer. In alliance with Messalina, the emperor's wife, a shameless libertine, they ruled him as they wanted.

Constructions of Claudius

But even under this vulgar government of Claudius, huge structures were erected, testifying that even in the days of deep humiliation, the enterprise and energy of the Romans had not yet died out, the love for great things still remained in them; The main one of these structures was the construction and strengthening of the harbor at Ostia. During the reign of Claudius, the bottom of the harbor was deepened so that large sea ships could enter the Tiber; shipyards and shops were built; maritime trade revived, the correct supply of grain to Rome was ensured, and the danger of famine in the capital was eliminated. The water pipelines built at that time also deserve surprise, especially the one that was named Claudia (Aqua Claudia, consecrated in 52). It, in some places underground, in others along extremely high arcades, brought pure spring water from a very long distance to Rome and was designed in such a way that it rose even to the highest parts of the city; according to Pliny, these aqueducts of Claudius were structures more colossal than which did not exist anywhere on earth. The construction of a canal (emissarius) under Claudius to drain water from Lake Fucin into the Lyris River was also a huge task. It was a tunnel cut through the rock; 30,000 people worked for eleven years on a gigantic task (41-52); its goal was to stop the clogging of the surrounding area by floods of the lake and provide large space for agriculture. But the goal was not fully achieved, because the bottom of the lake lies deeper than the river bed. Traces of this canal built by Claudius are still visible, but the lake, now called Lago di Celano, remained until recently still very large.

Foreign policy of Claudius

The reign of Claudius was not poor in military exploits. The Rhine and Danube borders were protected and successful measures were taken to Romanize them. In the north and south the boundaries of the state were expanded; in the south it was made the Roman province of Mauritania (43); in the north part of Britain was conquered; one of the campaigns there was made with the participation of the emperor himself. In Asia, Domitius Corbulo won victories reminiscent of the glorious days of the republic, and protected Armenia from conquest by the Parthians.

Domestic policy of Claudius

Even in the internal administration, in spite of the harmful influence of Claudius's favorites and his personal cowardice, some good orders were made. In his relations with the Senate, Emperor Claudius tried to imitate Augustus: he increased the number of senators and horsemen; elevated some families to the rank of patricians; wanted to raise the sense of self-respect in the upper classes with various honorary distinctions and a ban on participating in humiliating games. He performed his duties as a censor (“guardian of morals”) diligently and conscientiously, although not always with tact, understanding of the matter, and consistency. As far as he could, he tried to stop the horrors and absurdities of Caligula. A speech has reached us in which the Emperor Claudius proposed to the Senate to give the full right of Roman citizenship to persons holding positions in the cities of the Aedui region, and thereby open for them access to the Senate and to the curule magistrates. Entire districts were given the right of Roman citizenship (48), so that the number of people enjoying this right in the state increased significantly. It must, however, be said that in the granting of this right, bribery of favorites often played a major role. For the incorrect appropriation of the right of Roman citizenship by foreigners, freedmen or slaves, Claudius punished very severely. He tried to reduce the idleness of the masses of commoners in the city of Rome by strict police supervision of hotels and shops that sold ready-made food, and by prohibiting the sale of delicacies. Those religious societies that became dangerous to morality and the state with their voluptuous or cruel rituals were dissolved under Claudius, and their participants were expelled. On the contrary, ancient rituals, such as the Eleusinian sacraments, Roman sacrifices and fortune telling, enjoyed the patronage of Claudius, who loved antiquity. But he reduced the number of holidays that too often interrupted the tribunals' meetings. To examine cases of wills and inheritance in general, he appointed two special praetors. Claudius tried, if possible, to protect the provinces from the oppression of the rulers. In private law he made some good laws. After studying archeology, Claudius loved jurisprudence most of all; his weak mind could not always sort out complicated legal issues, but his zeal was useful for the development of legal sciences. True, decisions in court cases were drawn up not so much by Emperor Claudius himself as by his advisers, and in order for the sentence to be carried out, the consent of his wife and favorites who kept him under their rule was necessary. With all his love for justice, due to his lack of character and mental weakness, it always depended on chance what results would be produced by his orders and judicial sentences. Good measures by Claudius' favorites often turned into bad ones, and the emperor's timidity turned into cruelty.

Empress Messalina, wife of Claudius

While Claudius sat over his learned works, the freedmen sold civil and military positions, sentences in court cases, the right to all kinds of robberies; and Empress Messalina, the granddaughter of the triumvir Mark Antony, a beautiful woman with unbridled voluptuousness, behaved in such a way that her name became a proverb, trampled under her feet all decency, and endlessly indulged in the desires of her vindictiveness, greed and sensuality. The Senate behaved slavishly: it made flattering decisions in honor of despised favorites, determined to erect monuments to their glory at the public expense, so Pliny says: it was difficult to say whether these glorifications should be considered ridicule or evidence of complete dishonesty. Under the influence of the freedmen and their creatures, Claudius’s court increasingly took on an oriental character. Gatekeepers stood at the entrance to the palace and searched those entering to see if they had hidden weapons under their clothes; There were dignitaries in charge of the order of audiences, and a reward was introduced, which consisted of the right to have a ring with the image of the emperor. Disastrous lese majeste trials soon resumed.

Already in the first months of the new reign, Julia, the daughter of Germanicus, whom Claudius had first returned from exile, was, at the instigation of the envious Empress Messalina, exiled again and then killed; To prevent her husband Marcus Vinicius from avenging her, he was poisoned. Appius Silanus, a nobleman whose son was betrothed to Octavia, the emperor's daughter, was executed through the intrigue of Messalina, annoyed that he had rejected her offer to be her lover (41); with the help of her ally, the freedman Narcissus, she convinced the emperor that Silanus was plotting against his life. Those around Claudius, taking advantage of the weakness of his memory and cowardice, destroyed all honest people who did not want to flatter the depraved Messalina and the villainous favorites of the emperor. This became especially easy for them when, in the second year of the reign of Claudius (42), a conspiracy was discovered with the goal of restoring the republic. It was destroyed by the legions' devotion to the imperial house. Not only the conspirators and people who knew about their plan, such as Appius Vinicianus, Furius Camillus Scribonianus, but also many senators, horsemen and citizens who were strangers to the plot were executed or took their own lives: they were tortured and condemned to death as guilty . Caecina Petus, a friend of Scribonianus who shared his convictions, stabbed himself to death, encouraged to this determination by the example of his courageous wife Arria; She plunged a dagger into her chest and handed it to him with the words: “Pet, it doesn’t hurt.” The famous philosopher Annaeus Seneca was exiled by Claudius to the island of Corsica. He had to live there for seven years; the flattering letter in which he expressed consolations to Polybius on the occasion of the death of this favorite’s brother did not shorten the reference: Polybius either did not want to bother, or received the letter too late.

So, at the court of Emperor Claudius, oriental pomp and debauchery were combined with cruelty; a shameless woman destroyed the noblest people for resisting her shameful love or to satisfy her greed; unscrupulous people, who had not only merit, but also no knowledge of affairs, distributed positions, decided processes based on calculations of their own benefit, the emperor, in the circle of numerous guests, indulged in gluttony and drunkenness at the table in violation of all decency; - of course, this was supposed to suppress the last remnants of moral dignity among the people.

Empress Messalina. Painting by P. S. Krøyer, 1881

While Claudius came up with three new letters to enrich the Latin alphabet and tried to return Rome to ancient virtue by censorship orders, his feeble-minded gaze did not notice into what filth of vice and villainy his wife, Empress Messalina, was plunging. A special commission was appointed (47), which sat in one of the empress’s rooms, to try Valery Asiaticus, a senator and former consul, a man who was famous for his honesty and straightforwardness and was very rich. He was accused of malicious intent against the emperor and condemned to death, because Messalina wanted to acquire his gardens, which had previously belonged to Lucullus and which he further improved and magnificently decorated. By special grace he was given the right to choose his manner of death; he cut his arteries and died courageously. Poppaea Sabina, the wife of the wealthy senator Lucius Cornelius Scipio, a woman of a frivolous lifestyle, but the first beauty of her time, became a victim of the Empress Messalina, because the empress's lover, pantomime Mnester, had secret meetings with her. Due to Claudius's dementia, Messalina was safe from all his guesses as long as his freedmen were in alliance with her. He was entangled in her nets, and she more and more boldly indulged in unbridled debauchery. They say that, in disguise, she went at night under the name Liciski to brothels and gave herself to everyone who chose her; that she set up a den of debauchery in the palace itself, where married women gathered for dates with their lovers. Finally, Messalina fell passionately in love (48) with Gaius Silius, the most handsome young man in Rome, and confused him with her intrigues so that he divorced his wife and became her lover, partly out of fear, partly out of ambition. Blinded by passion, she forgot all caution. Tacitus says that Messalina visited the house of Silius not secretly, but with a large retinue, appeared with him in public, gave him estates, gave him honors, filled his house with slaves, freedmen, royal luxury, as if the home of her lover was already becoming an imperial palace. Silius realized that the matter had become too dangerous, that his death was inevitable if he did not overthrow Claudius and seize imperial power. He persuaded Messalina in favor of his plan, promising to marry her; but, so that he could not give up his promise after success, she demanded that the marriage be consummated before the start of the enterprise.

Silius agreed, and Rome saw an unprecedented spectacle: taking advantage of the fact that Claudius was not in Rome, Silius and Empress Messalina performed the marriage ceremony in compliance with all legal and religious formalities and celebrated their marriage with a magnificent wedding feast. The insolence of the empress was manifested by this deed with courage, which made Narcissus see that he himself could be overthrown by her if she survived. He opened Claudius's eyes. The trust of the freedmen-favorites in the empress had been shaken earlier, when she lured Claudius through slander to sentence one of them, Polybius, her former lover, to death. They saw that now the opportunity had come to take revenge on Messalina. But in addition to revenge, they had to rebel against her: they knew that if Claudius was deposed, they would lose their influence on affairs and their very lives would be in danger. Therefore, they decided to execute Messalina while Silius and she had not yet begun to carry out their plan. Narcissus hurried to Ostia, where Claudius was then, and revealed the plan of the new married couple. There was a noisy feast in the newlyweds' house - it was the day of the grape harvest, when the Romans had noisy fun. Messalina with her hair flowing and Silius with a wreath of ivy on his head were walking in a bacchanalian procession through the brightly lit halls when terrible news spread through the palace: the emperor was going to Rome, accompanied by Narcissus. The guests fled in horror. Messalina and her children went to meet the emperor, but her requests and tricks lost their former power over him. She was ordered to leave; she went to her villa in the garden of Lucullus, taken from Valerius Asiaticus, and Narcissus gave orders for murders on behalf of Claudius. Silius and his associates were executed; soon Messalina was killed by centurions sent by Narcissus (48). He was in a hurry to kill her so that she would not beg forgiveness from the emperor. Merivale, from some words of Suetonius, deduces the assumption that Narcissus himself arranged for Messalina the opportunity to marry Silius, persuading Claudius to divorce her for a period of time, in order to thereby reject the fulfillment of the words of the soothsayers over him, who announced that Messalina’s husband was in danger of death. Claudius was informed of the death of Messalina while he was sitting at a festive dinner. He continued to eat, showing no anger towards her, no regret, no sadness, no joy; he was already completely stupid by then.

Empress Agrippina the Younger - second wife of Claudius

Claudius was accustomed to being under the authority of his wife, and could not remain without a wife; therefore, his favorites began to consult among themselves on whom to marry him. After quite a long discussion, they agreed to marry the emperor to his own niece, Agrippina the Younger, the daughter of Claudius’s brother, Germanicus, an intelligent, very beautiful woman, but power-hungry and depraved; She was then a widow: her first husband was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a rude libertine. She lived with him for 12 years, their relationship was bad; she was now thirty-three years old. Claudius really liked the idea of ​​marrying her. The Senate and the people asked him to pass a law allowing marriages between uncles and nieces, then they asked him to marry Agrippina (49); she introduced new vices and crimes into the palace. Agrippina was voluptuous, like Messalina, but far surpassed her predecessor in lust for power and energy. Immediately after the marriage, she began to work for the emperor to marry her son from her first marriage, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, to his daughter Octavia. Octavia already had a fiancé, Lucius Junius Silanus, the great-grandson of Augustus. At the request of Agrippina, the vile libertine Vitellius accused Silanus of having an affair that made him unworthy of marriage with the emperor's daughter, and he was declared unworthy of this marriage. Agrippina began to arrogantly rule over Emperor Claudius and the court. Nobles who seemed dangerous to her and women who aroused her envy with their beauty were subjected to fictitious accusations and punished for imaginary crimes. This is what she did with Lollia Paulina, who was her rival in the candidacy for the rank of empress, and with the wondrous beauty Calpurnia. Agrippina was more careful about maintaining external decorum than Messalina; but her cunning, lust for power, greed and courage for all sorts of atrocities forced the Romans to find that under Messalina times were less terrible.

Empress Agrippina the Younger

Nero and Seneca

Soon after the marriage, Agrippina received the title of Augusta, which was the title of Octavian Augusta's wife, Livia. Like Livia, she set the main goal of her intrigues to make her son the heir to the emperor in order to ensure dominion over the state for life. Her 12-year-old son was announced as the groom of Octavia, who was then seven years old. Soon after, Emperor Claudius adopted him. Claudius Nero Drusus, as the son of Agrippina became known by adoption, became a rival of the son whom the emperor had by Messalina. The son of Claudius, who received the name Britannicus in connection with his father's expedition against the British, was several years younger than the son of Agrippina. Nero was given unheard of honors; Agrippina wanted to prepare the people for the idea that he would be the heir to the emperor. So that the people had a good opinion of him, Agrippina entrusted his education to the famous philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, whom she returned from Corsica, where he was exiled on charges of secret relations with Claudius’ niece, Livilla, but in fact for his letter to Marcia, in which he expressed a republican way of thinking. But it was difficult to give good direction to a young man with ardent passions, spoiled by his previous servile teachers, at that time already depraved, already carried away by dreams of his artistic talents and completely spoiled. Seneca tried to instill good rules in his pupil Nero through oral lessons and essays that he wrote for him (one of such essays is the discourse “On Anger”).

But natural inclination, the flattery of others, independence from the teacher, given by the high position of the pupil, were stronger than all Seneca’s concerns; however, the goal for which Agrippina returned Seneca to Rome was achieved by her. She entrusted the upbringing of her son to a famous writer who had a reputation as a supporter of freedom, who was subjected to the suffering of exile for his love of freedom - this gave her good fame, and he wrote works that further glorified her rule of the state. It was natural that the learned statesman, who helped Agrippina in all her personal affairs with his advice and services, became a close friend of this intelligent woman. She had the calculation that if he gained influence over her son, it would be very useful in strengthening her power. When Nero was fifteen years old, his marriage to Octavia was consummated (53). On the wedding day, her former fiancé Silan took his own life. Agrippina began to push back Claudius' son, Britannicus, more and more. He was deliberately kept so that his abilities did not develop. Agrippina's creatures spread the rumor that he was suffering from epilepsy, that he was weak-minded; people got used to thinking about Britannica in this way; everyone worshiped the empress, who knew how to destroy her opponents and showered her friends with honors and riches. Emperor Claudius, completely subordinate to Agrippina, gave her such a position that she enjoyed the same honor as him. Even on coins, her image stood next to his image. The flattering Greek cities of Asia Minor gave her divine honors, built monuments, erected statues in her honor. At the suggestion of Agrippina, the emperor appointed one of her adherents, Afranius Burrus, as prefect of the Praetorians, to whom she entrusted Nero with the military education. In honor of Pallant, a former slave, a monument was erected in the forum near the statue of Caesar; He earned this honor by being especially zealous in persuading Claudius to marry her.

Death of Emperor Claudius

But soon after her son's wedding, Agrippina noticed that the emperor's favor towards her was decreasing. Narcissus began to fear her lust for power and, at his suggestion, the emperor began to shun her more, expressed remorse for giving her son preference over his own, and began to show tenderness towards Britannicus; Agrippina decided that it was necessary to poison Claudius. Narcissus fell ill and went to the waters of Sinuessa for treatment. This made the execution of the intention easier. The famous Gallic poisoner Locusta prepared poison for Claudius; The eunuch Galot, who was obliged to taste the food served to the emperor, helped the matter, and Claudius ate poison in his favorite food, mushrooms. He died (October 54) at the age of 64, in the 14th year of his reign. Agrippina hid his death until all the orders necessary to proclaim Nero emperor were made; she pretended to be stricken with grief and in need of consolation; under this pretext, she kept Britannicus and Octavia with her, and Nero, accompanied by Burrus, went to the praetorian camp, promised gifts to the praetorians, and they proclaimed him emperor. The convened Senate agreed with the decision of the Praetorians, and the entire state recognized Nero as emperor.

Claudius's funeral was performed with the greatest splendor, and the deceased emperor was elevated to the rank of god (received apotheosis). Nero delivered a speech at the funeral that Seneca had written for him. There is a lampoon of Claudius called Apokolokyntosis Divi Claudii ("Transformation of the divine Claudius into a pumpkin"), attributed to Seneca. The title of this satire is based on a comic play on words: “apotheosis - apocolokintosis” (“deification - deification”). If this pamphlet really belongs to Seneca, then the philosopher rewarded himself with this parody of a laudatory speech for his participation in the apotheosis. Narcissus was immediately taken to prison after the death of the emperor and there forced to take his own life. Without asking the consent of the new emperor, Agrippina ordered the poisoning of the proconsul of Asia, Marcus Junius Silanus; it was the brother of Octavia's groom; Agrippina feared that he would proclaim himself emperor and avenge the death of the deceased. He was a rich man, but of limited intelligence; Caligula called him the golden sheep; but he was a descendant of the Caesars, and enjoyed the favor of the people for his reputation for impeccable honesty.

Originally Illyrian. During his reign, he successfully fought with the barbarian tribe of the Alemanni, as well as with the Goths, over whom he won a convincing victory at the Battle of Nis, for which he received the nickname “Gothic”. However, despite the fact that Claudius laid the foundation for the restoration of the power of the Roman Empire, his reign was very short: in 270 he died of the plague.

Early life and career

Only a few sources have survived about the short period of Claudius's reign. It is impossible to say with certainty about his origin, place of birth or name of his father, nor about his career before he became emperor. Of his family, only his brother Quintillus is known, who ascended the throne after the sudden death of his brother in the fall of 270.

The future emperor Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius was born on May 10, 213 in Dardania (sometimes a later year is indicated - 219 or 220, but this date does not have much support among historians). He apparently came from Illyria. The History of the Augustans, a source full of errors and falsifications, says that Claudius “descends from the ancestor of the Trojans, Ilus, and from Dardanus himself”. The life of Claudius in the “History of the Augustans” is presented only by a few facts from the life of the emperor.

Before coming to power, Claudius served in the Roman army, where he made a good career and achieved appointment to the highest military positions of the empire. Under Decius Trajan, he was a tribune (he was sent to defend Thermopylae, in connection with which the governor of Achaia was given the order to send Claudius two hundred Dardanian soldiers, sixty horsemen, sixty Cretan archers and a thousand well-armed recruits), under Valerian - again as a tribune of a certain V Marsov legion (however, the V Legion of Mars is unknown; the IV Legion of Mars, founded, apparently, by Aurelian, stood in Arabia at the beginning of the 5th century), as well as the dux of Illyricum (its subordination included all military units located in the province of Thrace, two Moesia, Dalmatia, Pannonia and Dacia), until Emperor Gallienus made him commander of the cavalry. The biography of Claudius in the History of the Augustans also includes, undoubtedly, false letters attributed to the emperors Decius, Valerian and Gallienus, and presenting him in an exclusively favorable light. At the same time, perhaps they contain some grain of truth.

Ascension to the throne

There is some evidence that Claudius was wounded during Gallienus's campaign to suppress the rebellion of the usurper Ingenuis and that he later served with Aureolus during the war with Postumus.

According to Aurelius Victor, at the end of August or beginning of September 268, Claudius was appointed tribune of the auxiliary detachment stationed at Ticinus. His task was to guard this city from a possible invasion by the Gallic emperor Postumus. There the troops proclaimed Claudius emperor.

There is an assumption that he participated in a conspiracy against Gallienus and that before his death he sent Claudius the imperial insignia. However, the deceased emperor still had relatives in Rome who had the right to inherit the throne, namely his half-brother Licinius Valerian and his son Marinian, so it can be assumed that the version of the appointment of Claudius and sending him signs of imperial dignity was only a propaganda fiction in order to justify the seizure of power by Claudius.

After Claudius was proclaimed emperor, the senators immediately began to destroy Gallienus' friends and relatives, but Claudius did not support them and even forced them to deify their predecessor. On his orders, money was also paid to soldiers outraged by the death of Gallienus. Neither the Senate nor the people expressed their protest against Claudius's accession to the throne.

Appearance and personal qualities

The most complete description of Claudius was left by the author of his biography in the collection of imperial biographies “History of the Augustans”:

“Claudius himself is remarkable for his strict morals, remarkable for his extraordinary way of life and exceptional chastity. Abstinent in drinking wine, he was a hunter of food; He had a tall stature, a fiery gaze, a wide and full face and such strong fingers that he often knocked out the teeth of horses and mules with one blow of his fist.” .

Governing body

Coins issued during the reign of Claudius II provide some, albeit limited, insight into his reign. In addition to the standard images embodying the virtues of the princeps, which are common to most emperors of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, coins were issued proclaiming the security of the empire (lat. SECVRITAS PERPETVA, PAX AETERNA), loyalty to the army (lat. FIDES MILITVM) and military victories over the Germans and Goths (lat. VICTORIA GERMAN and VICTORIAE GOTHIC). In addition, the mints of Claudius the Gotha produced some other interesting and unusual coins.

For example, Claudius is one of the very few emperors who issued coins with a portrait of the patron of blacksmithing, Hephaestus. They depicted a standing god with a hammer and tongs, and also contained a unique inscription “ REGI ARTIS"(Russian: Tsar of Art). Coins with the sea god Neptune are also rare. Images of the Invincible Sun on some coins indicate interest in this deity, whose cult would become dominant in the Roman Empire a few years later. In addition, Claudius was the first emperor to have a portrait of the Egyptian goddess Isis appear on his coins.

During his short reign, Claudius did not have the opportunity to deal with the dire economic problems of the empire: for example, the quality of Antoninian became even worse, which adversely affected the already rapid rise in prices.

Wars with barbarians

After ascending the throne, Claudius found that he was faced with many problems that required immediate solutions. The most urgent of these was the invasion of Illyricum and Pannonia by the Goths, although Gallienus had already caused some damage to them at the Battle of Nestus. At this time, the siege of Mediolan, where the usurper Avreolus was located, was still ongoing. Having learned about the change of ruler, Avreol tried to come to a peace agreement, but when his entourage opposed this, he decided to surrender to Claudius, apparently on the condition that his life would be spared. However, he was soon killed - the soldiers were outraged that he had betrayed Gallienus.

A short time after the murder of Avreol, the emperor moved his army towards the Gothic army. The Gothic army, according to some reports, reached 320 thousand. It included the following peoples: Grutungi, Austrogoths, Tervingi, Visas, Gipedi (all Gothic tribes), Peucians, as well as Celts and Heruli. With 2 thousand ships they attacked Moesia from the Black Sea. Before this, Claudius sent Aurelian, led by cavalry, to Macedonia to protect Illyria from attack, while with the main forces he went to the enemy. At the Battle of the Moesian city of Naissus, Claudius and his legions utterly defeated a large Gothic army. Under Claudius and the cavalry commander, the future Emperor Aurelian, the Romans captured thousands of Goths and completely destroyed the enemy camp. Up to 50 thousand enemy soldiers died. As a result of this victory, the Goths were expelled from the Roman Empire, and Claudius received the nickname “Gothic,” by which he is known to this day. This success was marked by the release of coins (Latin VICTORIAE GOTHICAE - “Gothic victory”). The Gothic War was won. The Goths did not cross the borders of the empire for almost a hundred years. In the area of ​​Dober and Lake Doiran, the Goths lost 3 thousand soldiers in a battle with Aurelian's cavalry.

At the same time, new detachments of Goths crossed the Danube to assist their fellow tribesmen, but they achieved little success; another part of them tried to make their way to the cities on the Aegean coast on the ships of the Heruls, but also met resistance and was defeated by the Roman fleet led by the governor of Egypt, Tenaginon Probus. Many Germans captured during various wars were enlisted in the Roman army or settled in the north of the Balkan Peninsula as coloni. Intense road construction in this area is evidenced by surviving mile stones. The victory over the Goths made a significant contribution to the restoration of the Roman Empire. This was a significant step, leading to the subsequent successes of Aurelian and the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine. The main factors in the defeat of the Goths were their lack of food, which led to famine, as well as various diseases that affected the soldiers, especially the plague.

Thus, the main theater of military operations was the Roman provinces of Upper and Lower Moesia, as well as Thrace. Numerous battles took place near Marcianople, Byzantium and Thessalonica (the latter was captured by the barbarians in the absence of Claudius). It should be noted that during this period the armed forces present in Roman Dacia were very few in number. Therefore, when Aurelian came to the throne, he disbanded this province between 271 and 274.

Weakening of the Gallic Empire

In the unification of the Roman state, Claudius was greatly helped by the weakening of the Gallic Empire. In the spring of 269, Ulpius Cornelius Lellian, one of the subordinates of the Gallic emperor Postumus, declared himself emperor in Upper Germany. Postumus defeated the usurper, but at the same time refused to allow his soldiers to plunder Mogontiak, which served as Lellian's headquarters. This turned out to be the reason for his downfall. The enraged legionnaires rebelled and killed Postumus. Marcus Aurelius Marius, chosen by the troops, became the new emperor of Gaul. Marius did not rule for long, and was soon overthrown by the praetorian prefect Victorinus. Having ascended the throne, Victorinus saw that his state was in a difficult situation.

During his reign, Spain and the southern coast of Narbonese Gaul seceded from the Gallic Empire and returned back to the Roman Empire after the Vigil prefect Julius Placidianus stationed himself with a small force at Cularon and established contact with them. Fortunately for the Gallic emperor, it was there that Placidianus stopped and Victorinus's position stabilized.

Relations with the Palmyra Kingdom

Sources report that relations between the Roman Empire and Palmyra gradually weakened during the year 270. From the “History of the Augusti” it is known that under Gallienus an army was sent under the command of Aurelius Heraclian to the East, but it was destroyed by the troops of Zenobia. However, since Heraclian was not actually in the East in 268 (at which time he was actively involved in the conspiracy against Gallienus), we see that this report is not entirely correct. It is quite possible that, out of a desire to blame Gallienus for all the troubles, the ancient historian deliberately transferred the events of Claudius’s reign into Gallienus’ biography.

Claudius and the Senate

Under Claudius, propaganda of the power of the empire was carried out using coins with the inscriptions “ PAX AETERNA, FIDES MILITVM"("Eternal peace, loyalty to the army"). Another inscription - “ GENIVS SENATVS"("Genius of the Senate") - according to Andreas Alfodi, indicates an improvement in relations between the emperor and the Senate, as well as an increase in the authority of this government body. According to Zonaras, Claudius even left it to the Senate to declare war on both the Goths and Posthumus.

Despite the fact that under Claudius the influence of statesmen and military leaders of Balkan origin, as well as foreigners, increased, the government continued to rely on representatives of the Roman nobility, such as the proconsul of Africa Aspasius Paternus, the city prefects Flavius ​​Antiochian and Virius Orphitus, the princeps of the Senate Pomponius Bassus and the consul Junius Veldumnian. Claudius apparently did not make any major changes in the Roman army, unlike his predecessor Gallienus; Apparently, this is explained by the short duration of his reign.

During the reign of Claudius, according to the History of the Augustans, there was only one usurper - Censorinus, but he was most likely fictitious.

Religious politics

According to Aurelius Victor, Claudius consulted the Sibylline Books even before his campaign against the Goths.

Death

While the emperor was busy besieging the Goths on Mount Gem, he received reports that the Yutung tribe (English) Russian, which until then had been content with the money paid by Rome, has crossed the Danube and is threatening Raetia and Noricus, while the Vandal tribe is preparing to invade Pannonia. Therefore, Claudius, entrusting the fight against the Goths to Aurelian, hurried with his troops to Sirmium to inspect the new theater of military operations. But his army was struck by plague, and around January - March 270, Claudius himself fell victim to it.

There is a more dramatic version of Claudius' death. According to legend, he actually sacrificed himself, since there was a prediction in the Sibylline books that only his death would help win the Gothic War. Surprisingly, the author of the History of the Augustans completely ignores this assumption and says that Claudius simply died of the plague.

Relationship with the Constantine dynasty

At the direction of Constantine (before 310), his father’s relationship with the “divine Claudius” was “restored.” Probably all this was a fiction, which contributed to the fact that the biography of Claudius, however without an accurate description of the relationship of the emperors, turned into an enthusiastic panegyric, first mentioned in 310.

According to the History of the Augusti, Claudius had a brother, Crispus, who had a daughter, Claudia. It was Claudia, according to legend, who was the mother of Constantius Chlorus. This claim was widely disseminated by Constantine the Great, who minted coins with the inscription DIVO CLAVDIO OPT IMP, MEMORIAE AETERNAE(“To the Divine Claudius, the best emperor, eternal memory”).

Results of the board

Despite the fact that Claudius reigned for just under two years, his death was sincerely mourned by both soldiers and senators, and his deification followed immediately after news of his death was received. The author of the biography of Claudius in the History of the Augustans writes that “they loved him so much that it can be said quite definitely that neither Trajan, nor the Antonines, nor any other of the sovereigns were so loved”. The emperor's armor was delivered to the curia, and a golden equestrian statue of the deified Claudius was erected on the Capitol in front of the Temple of Jupiter (given the economic situation of the empire at that time, most likely the statue was actually cast from bronze and then gilded). Cyrene was renamed Claudiopolis in his honor.

There is no doubt that he was an outstanding military leader who showed an excellent example of military art and valor, to which the Roman Empire owes its preservation and the beginning of its recovery from a protracted crisis. Ancient authors left positive reviews about Claudius and his reign. This is due, firstly, to hatred of Claudius' predecessor Gallienus, and secondly, to the legend of his death. Overall, Claudius of Gotha gave a strong impetus to the restoration of the Roman Empire.

Comments

Notes

1. Lendering, Jona. Historia Augusta (undefined) . Livius.org. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
2. , XI. 9.
3. , 34. 1.
4. , p. 90.
5. , XVI. 1.
6. , 33. 28.
7. Pavel Orozy. History against the pagans. VII. 23.1.
8. , IX. 11.1.
9. , I. 41.
10. Lyubzhin, A. B. Notes // Lords of Rome. - M., 1992. - P. 364.
11. Parker, H. A. History of the Roman World A.D. 138 to 337. - P. 176.
12. , Herkunft, Jugend & Karriere.
13. , XIII. 5.
14. , IX. 1.
15. , 34. 2.
16. , Einleitung .
17. Gibbon, Edward. Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire. - Ch. eleven.
18. , p. 109.
19. , p. 110.
20. Paul Deacon. Roman history. IX. eleven.
21. , pp. 52-54.
22. Watson, Alaric. Aurelian and the Third Century. - P. 43.
23. History of the Augustans. Divine Claudius. Note 19.
24. , pp. 62-75.
25. , pp. 54-61.
26. , p. 55.
27. , IX. 8.
28. Watson, Alaric. Aurelian and the Third Century. - P. 155-157.
29. Polfer, Michel. Postumus (A.D. 260-269) (undefined) . De Imperatoribus Romanis (200-03-06). Retrieved December 6, 2013.
30. Polfer, Michel. Marius (A.D. 269) (undefined) . De Imperatoribus Romanis (24 June 1999). Retrieved October 30, 2013.