He was short, possessed neither natural dignity nor authority. The senate first considered the restoration of the republic, but faced with the praetorians’ decision, the senators fell in line and bestowed imperial power upon Claudius. Also he might have been deemed a possible puppet emperor, whom one could easily control, by the praetorians. His being made emperor, despite his feebleness and having no military or even administrational experience at all, is most likely due to his being the brother of Germanicus who had died in AD 19 and had been very popular with the soldiery. He was discovered by the praetorians and taken to their camp, where the two praetorian prefects proposed him to the troops who hailed him emperor.

Under Caligula’s reign he was granted a consulship as colleague to the emperor himself (AD 37), but otherwise he was treated very badly by Caligula (who was his nephew), suffering public disrespect and scorn from him at court.Īt the assassination of Caligula in January AD 41, Claudius fled to one of the apartments of the palace and hid behind one of the curtain. Generally he was considered an embarrassment at court. Suffering from ill-health and an alarming lack of social skills, for which most believed him mentally handicapped, he received no public office from Augustus except once being invested as an augur (an official Roman soothsayer). Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus was born in Lugdunum (Lyon) in 10 BC, as the youngest son of Nero Drusus (Tiberius’ brother) and of Antonia the younger (who was the daughter of Marc Antony and Octavia).

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