Download Latin 1B Magistra Kelleher Roman Emperors #2: The Fall of the

Latin 1B
Magistra Kelleher
Roman Emperors #2: The Fall of the Julio-Claudians and the Year of the Four Emperors
After the assassination of Caligula by the Praetorian Guard in 41 AD, some Romans
thought that this would be a return to the old ways of the Republic. However, the Praetorians
would lose their jobs if the government reverted to a republic. To avoid this they captured
Claudius, Caligula’s uncle, and took him to their barracks. There they declared him emperor.
Claudius, who became emperor at the age of 50, is a puzzling figure to modern
historians. Some people believe that Claudius was an extremely intelligent and clever man,
who people mistook for an idiot. Other historians think that Claudius really was a disabled
man and that his wives and freedmen ran the empire in his name. Either way, it is clear
Claudius did suffer from some physical disabilities: he walked with a limp, he could not hold
his head steady, and he spoke with a stutter. Because of the lack of modern medical
understanding, most Romans believed that these were the characteristics of a mentally disabled
man, and he was overlooked and forgotten until the assassination of Caligula. Prior to
becoming emperor, Claudius was focused on scholarly pursuits and he published books on
Roman law, history and languages. Once he became emperor, he modeled himself after his
great-uncle Augustus. He participated in senate meetings and encouraged the senators to take
their duties seriously. Claudius also employed a group of freedmen to be his cabinet. He also
continued military expansion and most notably is given credit for the conquest of Britain in 44
AD.
For all his good work, Claudius was not without problems. Prior to becoming emperor
he was married 3 times. He divorced his first two wives because they committed adultery. In
38 AD he married Messalina. He loved her very dearly and she eventually gave birth to a son
Britannicus. However, Messalina became unhappy with Claudius and began to cheat on him.
She also allied herself with some of his freedmen to manipulate Claudius into doing what they
wanted. Finally in 48 AD, she schemed with her boyfriend Silius to take over the empire and
assassinate Claudius. Luckily Claudius learned of the plot and executed her and Silius before
they could carry out the plan. After this incident he married his niece Agrippina (a law had to
be changed to allow the marriage). Agrippina already had a son by a prior marriage, Lucius
Domitius Ahenobarbus, and because Britannicus was only 5, Claudius adopted Agrippina’s son
as his principal heir. At that time Lucius changed his name to Nero, in honor of Claudius. In
54 AD, Nero turned 16 and was considered a mature man. In the same year Claudius died
suddenly. Many people believe that Agrippina poisoned Claudius to get Nero onto the throne.
At 16, Nero was the youngest man to have ever held supreme power in Rome. In the
early years of his reign Nero was influenced by 3 main people: Seneca, his tutor; Burrus, the
head of the Praetorians; and Agrippina, his mother. The first eight years of Nero’s reign went
well. Nero and his mother poisoned Britannicus; Seneca and Burrus helped Nero run the state.
However, as Nero got older a power struggled developed between him and his mother.
Eventually he had her assassinated. Soon after, Burrus died and Tigellenius replaced him as
Praetorian prefect. Tigellenius was a cruel man who encouraged the worst characteristics of
Nero. Finally, Seneca retired. Nero was left without all the stabilizing influences of his early
career. He soon began appearing in public musical competitions, theatrical performances, and
chariot races. He moved the Olympics from Greece so that he could compete in the games. He
persecuted any who opposed him. He surrounded himself with a group of idle hedonistic men
who engaged in illegal behavior (they would go around the city assaulting people). He had 3
wives (he killed his second wife by kicking her to death when she was pregnant). He took
advantage of the great fire in Rome to build himself a big palace. Finally in 68 AD the legions
in Gaul and Spain revolted and Nero finally committed suicide to escape others from killing
him.
After the death a Nero a year of chaos began. All of the legions were revolting and each
was declaring their commander to be the next emperor. First up was Galba. Galba was the
governor of Spain, and was 66 when his legions declared him emperor. Galba promised to pay
the soldiers their wages which had been denied to them under Nero’s rule, however, upon
becoming emperor, Galba discovered Rome was broke and he had no way to pay them. He
then angered one of his supporters Otho, when he appointed Otho’s enemy Piso governor of
Lusitania (Portugal) instead of giving the job to Otho. Otho then bribed the Praetorians to
declare him emperor and had Piso and Galba killed. Otho then became emperor, however, no
one trusted Otho because he was an old friend of Nero. Unfortunately the legions in Gaul and
Germania declared their commander Vitellius emperor and a civil war began. Vitellius’ forces
easily defeated Otho’s. Otho immediately committed suicide and Vitellius became emperor.
Vitellius was an idle leader. He is best known for his lavish banquets. In his few months as
emperor he spent 900 million sesterces on dining. Soon the dissatisfied legions in the east
declared their commander, Vespasian, emperor. Vitellius immediately tried to abdicate the
throne, but his supporters would not let him run away. Soon Vespasian marched on Rome and
took the city by force. Vitellius tried to flee, but was caught and tutored to death. Finally,
Vespasian became emperor, a post which he held for the next 10 years.