ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> <html><head> <title>Julio-Claudian Genealogy</title></head> <body background="Augustus_bkgd_1.bmp" onLoad="window.moveTo(20,20); window.resizeTo(750,750);"> <!-- DYNASTY TITLE --> <div style="text-align:left; background-color:transparent; position:absolute; left:00px; top:20px; width:300px; height:40px; padding:0px;"> <table style="text-align:center; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: auto; background-color:yellow;" border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"><colgroup span="2"><col span="1" width=300></col></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(127, 0, 255); "> <b><div style="color:yellow; text-align:center;">&#160;· The Julio-Claudian Dynasty ·&#160;</div></b> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <!-- CLOSE-WINDOW CODE --> <div style="text-align:center; background-color:transparent; position:absolute; left:80%; top:20px; width:50px; height:25px; padding:0px;"> <a tabindex=1 href="JavaScript:window.close()">Close</a> </div> <!-- PAGE TITLE --> <div style="text-align:left; background-color:transparent; position:absolute; left:15px; top:60px; width:400px; height:60px; padding:00px;"> <p><span style="color:darkgreen"><span style="font-size:larger;">Claudius</span><br> Great-nephew of Augustus<br> Fourth emperor, 41 - 54 <span style="font-variant:small-caps;">a.d.</span></span></p> </div> <div style="text-align:left; background-color:transparent; position:absolute; left:00px; top:150px; width:auto; height:360px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; padding:00px;"> <!-- START OF PAGE CONTENT --> <p>As a child Claudius is believed to have suffered from cerebral palsy, although he is thought to have largely recovered from this by his teenage years.</p> <p>In any event, his mother  <a tabindex=10 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Minor" target="_blank" title=" Wikipedia article on Antonia Minor">Antonia Minor</a>  and grandmother  <a tabindex=20 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livia" target="_blank" title="Wikipedia article on Livia Drusilla">Livia Drusilla</a>, wife of Augustus  treated him with utter contempt and described him as a monster&#160;:&#160; not in the sense in which we to-day think of Caligula and Nero but meaning that he was defective.</p> <p>He presided over the first significant expansion of the empire since the days of Augustus, including, in 43&#160;<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">a.d.</span>, the conquest of Britannia.</p> <p>Claudius also enjoyed the law and would himself judge many cases that might have fallen to lesser officials to deal with.&#160; Although some of his pronouncements would be seen to-day as harsh, his reign seems to have been a time of general good order and peace.</p> <p>He was an avid reader and writer, interesting himself in all branches of philosophy  sometimes with comical results, such as when he issued an edict promoting public flatulence as contributing to good health&#160;!</p> <p>In particular he supervised many public works, such as the building of aqueducts and improvement of ports (including a brand new one that helped to ensure the grain supply and mitigated the flooding to which Rome was subject).</p> <p>Claudius had a poor relationship with the Senate and there were several conspiracies and attempted coups against him.</p> <p>The third of his four wives  a very interesting character whose name, <a tabindex=30 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeria_Messalina" target="_blank" title="Wikipedia article on Valeria Messalina">Valeria Messalina</a>, has become a synonym for a really dreadful woman  bore him a son, Germanicus, later renamed Britannicus in honour of the Britannic conquest.&#160; Messalina herself acquired a reputation for sexual promiscuity  even for going out in to the night in disguise to work all night in a brothel.&#160; In 47&#160;<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">a.d.</span> she became the lover of the senator C. Silius and they plotted the murder of Claudius, aimed at Silius s accession.&#160; When Claudius learnt of the plot he ordered the execution of both.</p> <p>In marrying his fourth wife, <a tabindex=40 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippina_the_Younger" target="_blank" title="Wikipedia article on Agrippina Minor">Agrippina Minor</a>, mother of the future emperor Nero, he sealed his fate. <p>Claudius died in 54&#160;<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">a.d.</span>, it is generally considered at the hands of a poisoner working for Nero and his mother.</p> <p>Britannicus, the heir apparent, was eclipsed by his step-brother Nero&#160;;&#160; when Claudius died, Britannicus was just thirteen and Nero assumed the throne.&#160; When Agrippina threatened to admit to the Senate her  and Nero s  part in the murder of Claudius, which would have made Britannicus the rightful heir, Nero arranged for the murder of Britannicus&#160;;&#160; he was just short of his fourteenth birthday.</p> <!-- END OF PAGE CONTENT --> </div> </body> </html>