Utilisateur:Glotz/Brouillon 04

Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre.

Pour les articles homonymes, voir Claude. 

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Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, dit Claude (né le 1^er août 10 av. J.-C. à Lugdunum - mort le 13 octobre 54 à Rome), fils de Drusus et d'Antonia Minor, est le quatrième empereur romain de la dynastie julio-claudienne. Il a régné du 24 janvier 54 à sa mort en 54.

Claude, légérement infirme, n'est pas destiné à être empereur, et sa famille l'exclut presque de la vie publique, avant son consulat de 37 avec son neveu Caligula. C'est peut-être cette infirmité qui le sauve des purges durant les règnes de Tibère et Caligula. Comme il est le dernier mâle survivant de la famille, il est nommé empereur après l'assassinat de Caligula. Malgré son manque d'expérience en politique, Claude se montre bon administrateur et grand constructeur. Son règne voit l'expansion de l'empire, avec la conquête de la Bretagne. Il s'intéresse beaucoup à la loi, préside les procès publics, et publie jusqu'à vingt édits par jour. Cependant, il est perçu durant son règne comme quelqu'un de vulnérable, particulièrement par les nobles. Sa vie personnelle est traversée par les tragédies, jusqu'à son meurtre. D'où une mauvaise répuation chez les écrivains antiques. L'historigraphie moderne tend à le réhabiliter.

Sommaire 1 Infirmité et Personnalité 2 La vie familiale et les années de formation 3 Le règne 3.1 Claude devient empereur 3.2 L'expansion de l'empire 3.3 Les affaires judiciaires et la loi 3.4 La politique de travaux publics 3.5 Claude et le Sénat 3.6 Le secrétariat et la centralisation des pouvoirs 3.7 La réforme religieuse et les jeux 3.8 L'assassinat, la déification et la réputation 4 Mariages et vie privée 5 Ses écrits et leur impact 6 Claude dans la fiction 7 Notes 8 Bibliographie 8.1 Sources antiques 8.2 Sources modernes en anglais

[modifier] Infirmité et Personnalité

Dans ses Vies des douze Césars, Suétone décrit en détail les manifestations physiques de l'infirmité de Claude. Ses genoux, faibles, s'affaissent sous son poids, et sa tête tremble en permanence. Il bégaye, et lorsqu'il rie, sa bouche écume et ses narines coulent. ^[1] Sa voix ne ressemble à rien d'humain ni d'animal, et ses mains elles aussi sont faibles.^[2] Ces symptomes empirent lorsqu'il s'énerve ; cependant, lorsqu'il est calme et assis, ses difformités physiques ne se manifestent pas, et il incarne parfaitement, dans sa grande taille, la dignitas romaine qui sied aux empereurs.^[3] Avec son accession au trône, ses problèmes diminuent.^[4] Claude lui-même affirme qu'il avait exagéré son mal afin de sauver sa vie.^[5]

La diagnostic moderne a changé de nombreuses fois durant le XX^e siècle. Avant le Seconde Guerre mondiale, on pensait que Claude souffrait de Poliomyélite. C'est ce que l'on retrouve dans les romans de Robert Graves. Cependant, la polio n'explique pas tous les symptômes décrits, et des théories plus récentes^[6] privilégient l'infirmité motrice cérébrale.

Du côté de sa personnalité, Claude est décrit par les historiens antiques comme un homme généreux et simple, qui aime l'humour facile, rit sans savoir s'arrêter et dîne avec la plèbe.^[7] Ils le peignent aussi comme assoiffé de sang, cruel et très irritable (dernier trait que Claude assume, et pour lequel il s'excuse publiquement plusieurs fois).^[8] Selon eux, il est crédule et ce sont ses femmes et ses affranchis qui gouvernent réellement.^[9] Ils le présentent aussi comme paranoïaque et apathique, bête et naïf.^[10] Dans ses écrits, Claude se présente comme un homme intelligent, éduqué, administrateur consciencieux qui s'intéresse aux détails et à la justice. Claude reste donc une énigme. Depuis la découverte de sa « Lettre aux Alexandrins », on tend à le réhabiliter.

[modifier] La vie familiale et les années de formation

Tiberius Claudius Drusus naît le 1^er août 10 av. J.-C. à Lugdunum, en Gaule, le jour de la dédicace d'un autel à Auguste. Il est le cinquième enfant de Nero Claudius Drusus et Antonia Minor, frère de Germanicus et Livilla. Les deux autres enfants d'Antonia sont morts en bas âge.

Ses grands-parents maternels sont Marc-Antoine et Octavie, la sœur d'Auguste. Ses grands-parents paternels sont Livie, troisième épouse d'Auguste, et Tibérius Néron. Pendant le règne de Claude circule le bruit que son père Drusus était un fils illégitime d'Auguste.

En 9 av. J.-C., Drusus meurt subitement, d'une blessure. Claude est élevé par sa mère, qui ne se remarie pas. Lorsque l'infirmité de Claude devient sûre, sa famille s'en écarte. Sa mère le qualifie de monstre, et le considère comme l'image-même de la stupidité. Il semble qu'elle le confie alors à sa belle-mère Livie, qui lui reproche ce manque d'affection maternelle.^[11] On lui choisit pour précepteur un ancien inspecteur des haras^[12] afin de le discipliner, car on pense que son état physique est dû à sa paresse et son manque de volonté. À l'adolescence, les manifestations de sa maladie s'espacent, et sa famille remarque son intérêt pour l'étude. À partir de 7, Tite-Live lui enseigne l'histoire, assisté par Sulpicius Flavius. Claude passe beaucoup de temps avec ce dernier et le philosophe Athénodore. Auguste exprime dans une lettre sa suprise quant aux progrès dans la diction de Claude.^[13]

Finalement, c'est son travail d'historien débutant qui compromet le début de sa carrière. Selon Vincent Scramuzza, Claude commence un ouvrage sur les guerres civiles trop objectif, voire critique envers Octave.^[14] Il était encore trop tôt pour de tels écrits, qui ne font que rappeler à Auguste que Claude descend de Marc-Antoine. Live et Antonia lui font cesser son ouvrage, et considèrent que Claude a fait montre de son incapacité à toute charge publique, car il n'arrive pas à comprendre qu'il faut faire ce que les gens au pouvoir attendent. Lorsque, plus tard dans sa vie, Claude revient à l'écriture, il évite encore les guerres du second triumvirat. Mais le mal est fait, et sa famille le relègue au second plan. Lorsqu'en 8 est érigé à Pavie un arc de triomphe en l'honneur du clan impérial, le nom de Claude (Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus car depuis l'adoption de son frère il est Pater familias de sa famille.) est inscrit à la fin, après celui des princes décédés Gaius et Lucius et des enfants de Germanicus. Certains pensent que c'est Claude lui-même qui fit rajouter son nom quelques décennies plus tard et qu'originellement, il n'apparaissait pas du tout.^[15]

À la mort d'Auguste (14), Claude, alors agé de trente-trois ans, demande à son oncle Tibère de le laisser entamer le cursus honorum. Tibère, le nouvel empeureur, lui répond en lui offrant les ornements consulaires. Lorsque Claude insiste pour avoir le consulat effectif, l'empereur se contente de lui envoyer de l'argent. Claude comprend qu'il doit renoncer à toute ambition publique et se retire dans l'étude et l'otium.^[16]

Malgré le dédain de la famille impériale, le peuple semble le respecter très tôt. À la mort d'Auguste, les chevaliers le choisissent comme chef de leur députation. Quand sa maison brûle, le Sénat veut la rebâtir aux frais du trésor. Les sénateurs demandent également que Claude soit autorisé à participer aux débats de la chambre. Cependant, Tibère fait révoquer les deux décrets proclamant ces décisions.^[17] Juste après la mort du fils de Tibère, Julius Caesar Drusus, on pense parfois à lui comme nouvel héritier. La nature de son exclusion de la vie publique semble donc avant tout politique. Mais comme ces années sont aussi celles où Séjan est influent, Claude évite de trop en demander.

Après la mort de Tibère, le nouvel empereur Caligula reconnaît à Claude une certaine utilité. Il le nomme co-consul en 37 afin d'honorer la mémoire de Germanicus, père de Caligula. Malgré cela, Caligula tourmente sans cesse son oncle : il se moque de lui dans les banquets, l'humilie devant le Sénat, le force à dépenser tout son argent, etc.^[18] À la fin du règne de Caligula, le stress permanent dans lequel est plongé Claude le rend encore plus maigre et maladif qu'à l'accoutumée.^[19]

[modifier] Le règne

[modifier] Claude devient empereur

Le 24 janvier 41, Caligula est assassiné par une conspiration importante (menée par plusieurs sénateurs et Cassius Chaerea, qui dirigeait la garde prétorienne). Aucune preuve n'existe quant à la participation de Claude à l'assassinat, mais certain ont conclu de sa fuite du lieu du crime peu avant l'événement qu'il avait été mis au courant du complot.^[20] Il semble plutôt que Cassius voulait éradiquer la famille impériale (il tue également Caesonia (la femme de Caligula) et sa fille) et que Claude, voyant même des innocents se faire massacrer par la garde allemande, ait fuit le palais pour se cacher. Selon la tradition, c'est Gratus, un garde prétorien l'ayant découvert caché derrière une tenture, qui l'aurait déclaré empereur.^[21] Certains gardes avaient peut-être prévus de le protéger. Ils l'assurent en tout cas que personne ne lui ferait de mal et le placent sous leur protection au camp de la garde.

Il y a au Sénat des débats concernant un éventuel changement de régime, mais aucun de ses membres n'arrive à décider qui serait le nouveau Princeps senatus. Lorsque les sénateurs entendent les demandes des prétoriens, ils demandant à ce que Claude leur soit présenté afin qu'ils puissent l'approuver, mais ce dernier refuse, pressentant le danger que cela représenterait. Flavius Josèphe prétend^[22] que Claude est alors manipulé par le roi de Judée Hérode Agrippa Ier. Cependant, le même auteur minimise le rôle d'Hérode dans un de ses précédents écrits^[23], on ne sait donc clairement quelle fut son influence. Finalement, le Sénat cède, et en retour, Claude pardonne aux assassins.

Claude prend plusieurs mesures pour éviter de potentiels usurpateurs, principalement en se rattachant aux julio-claudiens. Comme il était le petit-fils d'Octavia, il se sentit le droit de prendre le cognomen « Caesar » pour se légitimer auprès du peuple, et abandonne le « Nero » qui lui avait échu lorsque son frère Germanicus avait été adopté par les Claudii Nerones. Comme les deux empereurs précédents à leur accession au pouvoir, il prend le nom « Augustus » et garde l'honorifique « Germanicus » afin de conserver la liaison avec son héroïque frère. Il déifie sa grand-mère paternele Livia afin de bien rappeler qu'elle était femme du divin Auguste. Claude use aussi fréquemment du terme « filius Drusi » (« fils de Drusus ») dans ses titres, afin de rappeler au peuple la grandeur de son père.

Comme il est le premier empereur à être nommé par la Garde prétorienne plutôt que par le Sénat, sa réputation est mauvaise chez les commentateurs (comme Sénèque). Il serait ainsi le premier empereur à pratiquer ouvertement la corruption pour s'assurer la loyauté de ses adversaires. Cette affirmation doit être nuancée : Tibère et Auguste avaient fait bénéficier dans leurs testaments l'armée et les prétoriens de leurs largesses. Claude reste très redevable à la Garde prétorienne, faisant frapper des pièces à son effigie au début de son règne.

[modifier] L'expansion de l'empire

Under Claudius, the empire underwent its first major expansion since the reign of Augustus. The provinces of Thrace, Mauretania, Noricum, Pamphylia, Lycia, and Judea were annexed during his term. The most important conquest was that of Britannia.

In 43, Claudius sent Aulus Plautius with four legions to Britain (Britannia) after an appeal from an ousted tribal ally. Britain was an attractive target for Rome because of its material wealth — particularly mines and slaves. It was also a safe haven for Gallic rebels and the like, and so could not be left alone much longer. Claudius himself traveled to the island after the completion of initial offenses, bringing with him reinforcements and elephants. The latter must have made an impression on the Britons when they were used in the capture of Camulodunum. He left after 16 days, but remained in the provinces for some time. The Senate granted him a triumph for his efforts, as only members of the imperial family were allowed such honors. Claudius later lifted this restriction for some of his conquering generals. He was granted the honorific "Britannicus" but only accepted it on behalf of his son, never using the title himself. When the British general, Caractacus, was finally captured in 50, Claudius granted him clemency. Caractacus lived out his days on land provided by the Roman state, an unusual end for an enemy commander, but one that must have calmed the British opposition.

Claudius conducted a census in 48 that found 5,984,072 Roman citizens, an increase of around a million since the census conducted at Augustus' death. He had helped increase this number through the foundation of Roman colonies that were granted blanket citizenship. These colonies were often made out of existing communities, especially those with elites who could rally the populace to the Roman cause. Several colonies were placed in new provinces or on the border of the empire in order to secure Roman holdings as quickly as possible.

[modifier] Les affaires judiciaires et la loi

Claudius personally judged many of the legal cases tried during his reign. Ancient historians have many complaints about this, stating that his judgements were variable and sometimes did not follow the law.^[24] He was also easily swayed. Nevertheless, Claudius paid detailed attention to the operation of the judicial system. He extended the summer court session, as well as the winter term, by shortening the traditional breaks. Claudius also made a law requiring plaintiffs to remain in the city while their cases were pending, as defendants had previously been required to do. These measures had the effect of clearing out the docket. The minimum age for jurors was also raised to 25 in order to ensure a more experienced jury pool.

Claudius also settled disputes in the provinces. He freed the island of Rhodes from Roman rule for their good faith and exempted Troy from taxes. Early in his reign, the Greeks and Jews of Alexandria sent him two embassies at once after riots broke out between the two communities. This resulted in the famous "Letter to the Alexandrians," which reaffirmed Jewish rights in the city but also forbade them to move in more families en masse. According to Josephus, he then reaffirmed the rights and freedoms of all the Jews in the empire.^[25] An investigator of Claudius' discovered that many old Roman citizens based in the modern city of Trento were not in fact citizens. The emperor issued a declaration that they would be considered to hold citizenship from then on, since to strip them of their status would cause major problems. However, in individual cases, Claudius punished false assumption of citizenship harshly, making it a capital offense. Similarly, any freedmen found to be impersonating knights were sold back into slavery.

Numerous edicts were issued throughout Claudius' reign. These were on a number of topics, everything from medical advice to moral judgements. Two famous medical examples are one promoting Yew juice as a cure for snakebite, and another promoting public flatulence for good health. One of the more famous edicts concerned the status of sick slaves. Masters had been abandoning ailing slaves at the temple of Aesculapius to die, and then reclaiming them if they lived. Claudius ruled that slaves who recovered after such treatment would be free. Furthermore, masters who chose to kill slaves rather than take the risk would be charged with murder.

[modifier] La politique de travaux publics

Claudius embarked on many public works throughout his reign, both in the capital and in the provinces. He built two aqueducts, the Aqua Claudia, begun by Caligula, and the Anio Novus. These entered the city in 52 and met at the famous Porta Maggiore. He also restored a third, the Aqua Virgo.

He paid special attention to transportation. Throughout Italy and the provinces he built roads and canals. Among these was a large canal leading from the Rhine to the sea, as well as a road from Italy to Germany — both begun by his father, Drusus. Closer to Rome, he built a navigable canal on the Tiber, leading to Portus, his new port just north of Ostia. This port was constructed in a semicircle with two moles and a lighthouse at its mouth. The construction also had the effect of reducing flooding in Rome.

The port at Ostia was part of Claudius' solution to the constant grain shortages that occurred in winter, after the Roman shipping season. The other part of his solution was to insure the ships of grain merchants who were willing to risk traveling to Egypt in the off-season. He also granted their sailors special privileges, including citizenship and exemption from the Lex Papia-Poppaea, a law that regulated marriage. In addition, he repealed the taxes that Caligula had instituted on food, and further reduced taxes on communities suffering drought or famine.

The last part of Claudius' plan was to increase the amount of arable land in Italy. This was to be achieved by draining the Fucine lake, which would have the added benefit of making the nearby river navigable year-round. A tunnel was dug through the lake bed, but the plan was a failure. The tunnel was not large enough to carry the water, and crooked, which caused it to back up when opened. The draining of the lake was not a bad idea, and many other emperors and potentates considered it, including the emperors Hadrian and Trajan, and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Middle Ages. It was finally achieved by the Prince Torlonia in the 19th century. He expanded the Claudian tunnel to three times its original size.

[modifier] Claude et le Sénat

Because of the circumstances of his accession, Claudius took great pains to please the Senate. During regular sessions, the emperor sat amongst the Senate body, speaking in turn. When introducing a law, he sat on a bench between the consuls in his position as Tribune. He refused to accept all his predecessors' titles (including Imperator) at the beginning of his reign, preferring to earn them in due course. He allowed the Senate to issue its own bronze coinage for the first time since Augustus. He also put the imperial provinces of Macedonia and Achaea back under Senate control.

Claudius set about remodeling the Senate into a more efficient, representative body. He chided the senators about their reluctance to debate bills introduced by himself, as noted in the fragments of a surviving speech:

"If you accept these proposals, Conscript Fathers, say so at once and simply, in accordance with your convictions. If you do not accept them, find alternatives, but do so here and now; or if you wish to take time for consideration, take it, provided you do not forget that you must be ready to pronounce your opinion whenever you may be summoned to meet. It ill befits the dignity of the Senate that the consul designate should repeat the phrases of the consuls word for word as his opinion, and that every one else should merely say 'I approve', and that then, after leaving, the assembly should announce 'We debated'."^[26]

It is not known if this plea had any effect on discourse.

In 47 he assumed the office of Censor with Lucius Vitellius, which had been allowed to lapse for some time. He struck the names of many senators and equites who no longer met qualifications, but showed respect by allowing them to resign in advance. At the same time, he sought to admit eligible men from the provinces. The Lyons Tablet preserves his speech on the admittance of Gallic senators, in which he addresses the Senate with reverence but also with criticism for their disdain of these men. He also increased the number of Patricians by adding new families to the dwindling number of noble lines. Here he followed the precedent of Lucius Junius Brutus and Julius Caesar.

Despite this, many in the Senate remained hostile to Claudius, and many plots were made on his life. This hostility carried over into the historical accounts. As a result, Claudius was forced to reduce the Senate's power for efficiency. The administration of Ostia was turned over to an imperial Procurator after construction of the port. Administration of many of the empire's financial concerns was turned over to imperial appointees and freedmen. This led to further resentment and suggestions that these same freedmen were ruling the emperor.

Several coup attempts were made during Claudius' reign, resulting in the deaths of many senators. Appius Silanus was executed early in Claudius' reign under questionable circumstances. Shortly after, a large rebellion was undertaken by the Senator Vinicianus and Scribonianus, the governor of Dalmatia and gained quite a few senatorial supporters. It ultimately failed because of the reluctance of Scribonianus' troops, and the suicide of the main conspirators. Many other senators tried different conspiracies and were condemned. Claudius' son-in-law Pompeius Magnus was executed for his part in a conspiracy with his father Crassus Frugi. Another plot involved the consulars Lusiius Saturninus, Cornelius Lupus, and Pompeius Pedo. In 46, Asinius Gallus, the grandson of Asinius Pollio, and Statilius Corvinus were exiled for a plot hatched with several of Claudius' own freedmen. Valerius Asiaticus was executed without public trial for unknown reasons. The ancient sources say the charge was adultery, and that Claudius was tricked into issuing the punishment. However, Claudius singles out Asiaticus for special damnation in his speech on the Gauls, which dates over a year later, suggesting that the charge must have been much more serious. Asiaticus had been a claimant to the throne in the chaos following Caligula's death and a co-consul with the Statilius Corvinus mentioned above. Most of these conspiracies took place before Claudius' term as Censor, and may have induced him to overlook the Senatorial rolls. The conspiracy of Gaius Silius in the year after his Censorship, 48, is detailed in the section discussing Claudius's third wife, Messalina. Suetonius states that a total of 35 senators and 300 knights were executed for offenses during Claudius' reign.^[27] Needless to say, the necessary responses to these conspiracies could not have helped Senate-emperor relations.

[modifier] Le secrétariat et la centralisation des pouvoirs

Claudius was hardly the first emperor to use freedmen to help with the day-to-day running of the empire. He was, however, forced to increase their role as the powers of the Princeps became more centralized and the burden larger. This was partly due to the ongoing hostility of the senate, as mentioned above, but also due to his respect for the senators. Claudius did not want free-born magistrates to have to serve under him, as if they were not peers.

The secretariat was divided into bureaus, with each being placed under the leadership of one freedman. Narcissus was the secretary of correspondence. Pallas became the secretary of the treasury. Callistus became the equivalent of the U.S. Attorney General. There was a fourth bureau for miscellaneous issues, which was put under Polybius until his execution for treason. The freedmen could also officially speak for emperor, as when Narcissus addressed the troops in Claudius' stead before the conquest of Britain. Since these were important positions, the senators were aghast at their being placed in the hands of former slaves. If freedmen had total control of money, letters, and law, it seemed it would not be hard for them to manipulate the emperor. This is exactly the accusation put forth by the ancient sources. However, these same sources admit that the freedmen were loyal to Claudius.^[28] He was similarly appreciative of them and gave them due credit for policies where he had used their advice. However, if they showed treasonous inclinations, the emperor did punish them with just force, as in the case of Polybius and Pallas' brother, Felix. There is no evidence that the character of Claudius' policies and edicts changed with the rise and fall of the various freedmen, suggesting that he was firmly in control throughout.

Regardless of the extent of their political power, the freedmen did manage to amass wealth through their positions. Pliny the Elder notes that several of them were richer than Crassus, the richest man of the Republican era.^[29]

[modifier] La réforme religieuse et les jeux

Claudius, as the author of a treatise on Augustus' religious reforms, felt himself in a good position to institute some of his own. He had strong opinions about the proper form for state religion. He refused the request of Alexandrian Greeks to dedicate a temple to his divinity, saying that only gods may choose new gods. He restored lost days to festivals and got rid of many extraneous celebrations added by Caligula. He reinstituted old observances and archaic language. Claudius was concerned with the spread of eastern mysteries within the city and searched for more Roman replacements. He emphasized the Eleusinian mysteries which had been practiced by so many during the Republic. He expelled foreign astrologers, and at the same time rehabilitated the old Roman soothsayers (known as haruspices) as a replacement. He was especially hard on Druidism, because of its incompatibility with the Roman state religion and its proselytizing activities. It is also reported that at one time he expelled the Jews from Rome, probably because the appearance of Christianity had caused unrest within the Jewish community.^[30] Claudius opposed proselytizing in any religion, even in those regions where he allowed natives to worship freely. The results of all these efforts were recognized even by Seneca, who has an ancient Latin god defend Claudius in his satire.^[31]

Claudius performed the Secular Games, marking the 800th anniversary of the founding of Rome. Augustus had performed the same games less than a century prior. Augustus' excuse was that the interval for the games was 110 years, not 100, but his date actually did not qualify under either reasoning. Claudius also presented naval battles to mark the attempted draining of the Fucine lake.

[modifier] L'assassinat, la déification et la réputation

The general consensus of the ancients is that Claudius was murdered by poison — possibly contained in mushrooms — in the early hours of October 13 54. There are various accounts, some of which implicate Halotus, his taster, and some Xenophon, his doctor as the administrator of the poison.^[32] Some say he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at dinner, and some have him recovering only to be poisoned again. All implicate his wife, Agrippina, as the instigator. Now that Britannicus was approaching the age of majority, there was no need for Nero to be heir in case of Claudius' death. There was now no chance of a minor ascending the throne and setting off civil war. Thus, Claudius began to talk of divorce. Agrippina most likely acted to ensure the succession of Nero before changes could be made. In modern times, some authors have cast doubt on whether Claudius was murdered or merely succumbed to illness or old age.^[33] Considering the longevity of his relatives who reached even middle age (his grandmother Livia died at 85 or 86, his uncle Tiberius reached age 77, and his mother Antonia committed suicide at 72) this seems unlikely. The universality of the murder story in the ancient texts also lends credence to the crime.^[34] Claudius' ashes were interred in the Mausoleum of Augustus on October 24, after a funeral in the manner of Augustus.

Claudius was deified by the Senate almost immediately. Those who regard this homage by Agrippina as cynical should note that, cynical or not, such a move would hardly have benefited those involved, had Claudius been "hated", as some commentators, both modern and historic, characterize him. Moreover, though Claudius's divinity was annulled by Nero, it was later restored by the "good" emperor Vespasian, who had been a general in the British conquest. Despite this, many of Claudius' less solid supporters quickly became Nero's men. His will was suppressed and never read. Claudius had changed it shortly before death to either recommend Nero and Britannicus jointly or perhaps just Britannicus, who would be considered a man in a few months. Agrippina had sent away Narcissus shortly before Claudius' death, and now murdered the freedman. The last act of this secretary of letters was to burn all of Claudius' correspondence - most likely so it could not be used against him and others in an already hostile new regime. Thus Claudius' private words about his own policies and motives were lost to history. Nero and his circle wasted no time vilifying Claudius; Nero even criticized him in his eulogy. Most of Claudius' laws and edicts were annulled, under the reasoning that he was too stupid and senile to have meant them. This opinion of Claudius, that he was indeed an old idiot, remained the official one for the duration of Nero's reign. Eventually Nero stopped referring to his deified adoptive father at all, and realigned with his birth family.

The Flavians, who had risen to prominence under Claudius, took a different tack. They were in a position where they needed to shore up their legitimacy, but also justify the fall of the Julio-Claudians. They reached back to Claudius in contrast with Nero, to show that they were good associated with good. Claudius' temple was built over Nero's golden house. Commemorative coins were issued of Claudius and his natural son Britannicus - who had been a friend of the emperor Titus. However, as the Flavians became established, they needed to emphasize their own credentials more, and their references to Claudius ceased. Instead, he was put down with the other emperors of the fallen dynasty.

The main ancient historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio all wrote after the last of the Flavians had gone. All three were senators or equites. They took the side of the Senate in most conflicts with the princeps, as well as the senator's views of the emperor. This resulted in biases, both conscious and unconscious. Suetonius lost access to the official archives shortly after beginning his work. He was forced to rely on second-hand accounts when it came to Claudius (with the exception of Augustus' letters which had been gathered earlier) and does not quote the emperor. Suetonius painted Claudius as a ridiculous figure, belittling many of his acts and attributing the objectively good works to his retinue.^[35] Tacitus wrote a narrative for his fellow senators and fit each of the emperors into a simple mold of his choosing.^[36] He wrote Claudius as a passive pawn and an idiot - going so far as to hide his use of Claudius as a source and omit Claudius' character from his works.^[37] Even his version of Claudius' Lyons tablet speech is edited to be devoid of the emperor's personality. Dio was less biased, but seems to have used Suetonius and Tacitus as sources. Thus the conception of Claudius as the weak fool, controlled by those he supposedly ruled, was preserved for the ages.

As time passed, Claudius was mostly forgotten outside of the historian's accounts. His books were lost first, as their antiquarian subjects became unfashionable. In the second century, Pertinax, who shared his birthday, became emperor, overshadowing any commemoration of Claudius. In the third century, the emperor Claudius II Gothicus usurped his name. When Claudius Gothicus died, he was also deified, replacing Claudius in the Roman pantheon.

[modifier] Mariages et vie privée

Claudius' love life was unusual for an upper-class Roman of his day. As Edward Gibbon mentions, of the first fifteen emperors, "Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct" - the implication being that he was the only one not to take men or boys as lovers. Gibbons based this on Suetonius' factual statement that "He had a great passion for women, but had no interest in men."^[38] Suetonius and the other ancient authors actually used this against Claudius. They accused him of being dominated by these same women and wives, of being uxorious, and of being a womanizer.

Claudius married four times. His first marriage, to Plautia Urgulanilla, occurred after two failed betrothals. The first was to his distant cousin Aemilia Lepida, but was broken for political reasons. The second was to Livia Medullina, which ended with the bride's sudden death on their wedding day. Urgulanilla was a relation of Livia's confidant Urgulania. During their marriage she gave birth to a son, Claudius Drusus. Unfortunately, Drusus died of asphyxiation in his early teens, shortly after becoming engaged to the daughter of Sejanus. Claudius later divorced Urgulanilla for adultery and on suspicion of murdering her sister-in-law Apronia. When Urgulanilla gave birth after the divorce, Claudius repudiated the baby girl, Claudia, as the father was one of his own freedmen. Soon after (possibly in 28), Claudius married Aelia Paetina, a relation of Sejanus. They had a daughter, Claudia Antonia. He later divorced her after the marriage became a political liability (although Leon (1948) suggests it may have been due to emotional and mental abuse by Aelia).

In 38 or early 39, Claudius married Valeria Messalina, who was his first cousin once removed and closely allied with Caligula's circle. Shortly thereafter, she gave birth to a daughter Claudia Octavia. A son, first named Tiberius Claudius Germanicus, and later known as Britannicus, was born just after Claudius' accession. This marriage ended in tragedy. The ancient historians allege that Messalina regularly cuckolded Claudius — Tacitus states she went so far as to face-off with a prostitute^[39] — and manipulated his policies in order to amass wealth. In 48, Messalina married her lover Gaius Silius in a public ceremony while Claudius was at Ostia. Sources disagree as to whether or not she divorced the emperor first, and whether the intention was to usurp the throne. Scramuzza, in his biography, suggests that Silius may have convinced Messalina that Claudius was doomed, and the union was her only hope of retaining rank and protecting her children.^[40] The historian Tacitus suggests that Claudius's ongoing term as Censor may have prevented him from noticing the affair before it reached such a critical point.^[41] Whatever the case, the result was the death of Silius, Messalina, and most of her circle. Claudius made the Praetorians promise to kill him if he ever married again.

Despite this declaration, Claudius did marry once more. The ancient sources tell that his freedmen pushed three candidates, Caligula's former wife Lollia Paulina, Claudius's divorced second wife Aelia, and Claudius's niece Agrippina the younger. According to Suetonius, Agrippina won out through her feminine wiles.^[42] The truth is likely more political. The coup attempt by Silius probably made Claudius realize the weakness of his position as a member of the Claudian but not the Julian family. This weakness was compacted by the fact that he did not have an obvious adult heir, Britannicus being just a boy. Agrippina was one of the few remaining descendants of Augustus, and her son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (later known as Nero) was one of the last males of the imperial family. Future coup attempts could rally around the pair, and Agrippina was already showing such ambition. It has been suggested in recent times that Senate may have pushed for the marriage to end the feud between the Julian and Claudian branches.^[43] This feud dated back to Agrippina's mother's actions against Tiberius after the death of her husband Germanicus, actions which Tiberius had gladly punished. In any case, Claudius accepted Agrippina, and later adopted the newly mature Nero as his son.

Nero was made joint heir with the underage Britannicus, married to Octavia and heavily promoted. This was not as unusual as it seems to people acquainted with modern hereditary monarchies. Barbara Levick notes that Augustus had named his grandson Postumus Agrippa and his stepson Tiberius joint heirs.^[44] Tiberius named his great-nephew Caligula joint heir with his grandson Tiberius Gemellus. Adoption of adults or near adults was an old tradition in Rome when a suitable natural adult heir was unavailable. This was the case during Britannicus' minority. S.V. Oost suggests that Claudius looked to adopt one of his sons-in-law to protect his own reign.^[45] Possible usurpers could note that there was no adult to replace him. Faustus Sulla, married to his daughter Antonia, was only descended from Octavia and Antony on one side — not close enough to the imperial family to prevent doubts (that didn't stop others from making him the object of a coup attempt against Nero a few years later). Besides which, he was the half brother of Messalina, and at this time those wounds were still fresh. Nero was more popular with the general public as the grandson of Germanicus and the direct descendant of Augustus.

[modifier] Ses écrits et leur impact

Claudius wrote copiously throughout his life. Arnaldo Momigliano^[46] states that during the reign of Tiberius — which covers the peak of Claudius' literary career — it became impolitic to speak of republican Rome. The trend among the young historians was to either write about the new empire or obscure antiquarian subjects. Claudius was the rare scholar who covered both. Besides the history of Augustus' reign that caused him so much grief, his major works included an Etruscan history and eight volumes on Carthaginian history, as well as an Etruscan Dictionary and a book on dice playing. Despite the general avoidance of the imperatorial era, he penned a defense of Cicero against the charges of Asinius Gallus. Modern historians have used this to determine both the nature of his politics and of the aborted chapters of his civil war history. He proposed a reform of the Latin alphabet by the addition of three new letters, two of which served the function of the modern letters W and Y. He officially instituted the change during his censorship, but they did not survive his reign. Claudius also tried to revive the old custom of putting dots between different words (Classical Latin was written with no spacing). Finally, he wrote an eight-volume autobiography that Suetonius describes as lacking in taste.^[47] Since Claudius (like most of the members of his dynasty) heavily criticized his predecessors and relatives in surviving speeches,^[48] it is not hard to imagine the nature of Suetonius' charge.

Unfortunately, none of the actual works survive. They do live on as sources for the surviving histories of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Suetonius quotes Claudius' autobiography once, and must have used it as a source numerous times. Tacitus uses Claudius' own arguments for the orthographical innovations mentioned above, and may have used him for some of the more antiquarian passages in his annals. Claudius is the source for numerous passages of Pliny's Natural History.^[49]

The influence of historical study on Claudius is obvious. In his speech on Gallic senators, he uses a version of the founding of Rome identical to that of Livy's. The detail of his speech borders on the pedantic, a common mark of all his extant works, and he goes into long digressions on related matters. This indicates a deep knowledge of a variety of historical subjects that he could not help but share. Many of the public works instituted in his reign were based on plans first suggested by Julius Caesar. Levick believes this emulation of Caesar may have spread to all aspects of his policies.^[50] His censorship seems to have been based on those of his ancestors, particularly Appius Claudius Caecus, and he used the office to put into place many policies based on those of Republican times. This is when many of his religious reforms took effect and his building efforts greatly increased during his tenure. In fact, his assumption of the office of Censor may have been motivated by a desire to see his academic labors bear fruit. For example, he knew his ancestor Appius Claudius Caecus has used the censorship to introduce the letter "R", and so used his own term to introduce his new letters.

[modifier] Claude dans la fiction

L'empereur Claude est le personnage principal de la série Moi, Claude, Empereur (I, Claudius, années 1930) de Robert Graves, écrite à la première personne pour donner au lecteur l'illusion de l'autobiographie. Graves présente son ouvrage comme la transcription de manuscrits récemment découverts et traduits. Les lettres, discours et propos que Claude a réellement prononcés et écrits sont inclus dans le texte, pour le faire gagner en authanticité.

A. E. van Vogt a réinterprété I, Claudius dans ses romans Le Sorcier de Linn (1950) et L'Empire de l'atome (1956).

En 1937, le réalisateur Josef von Sternberg tente d'adapter I, Claudius, avec Charles Laughton en Claude. Malheureusement, le rôle féminin principal Merle Oberon manque de mourir durant le tournage et celui-ci n'est jamais conclu. En 1965, les extraits restants ont été montré dans le documentaire The Epic That Never Was.

Les deux ouvrages de Grave ont finalement été adaptés en 13 épisodes par la BBC en 1976 sous le titre I, Claudius. Claude y est interprété par Derek Jacobi.

Dans le Caligula de Tinto Brass, Giancarlo Badessi joue un Claude idiot, tandis de Freddie Jones devient célèbre grâce à son interprétation dans Claude dans la série anglaise de 1968 The Caesars.

[modifier] Notes

[modifier] Bibliographie

[modifier] Sources antiques

• Suétone, Vie des douze Césars, Claude.
• Tacite, Annales, livres XI et XII.
• Dion Cassius, Histoire romaine, livres LX et LXI.
• Flavius Josèphe, La guerre des juifs, livre II, chapitres 11 et 12.
• Flavius Josèphe, Les antiquités juives.
• Sénèque, L'apocoloquintose du divin Claude.
• Claude, Lettres aux Alexandrins.
• (en) Claude, Édit sur les droits des habitants de Trente.

[modifier] Sources modernes en anglais

• B. Baldwin, « Executions under Claudius: Seneca’s Ludus de Morte Claudii », dans Phoenix n° 18, 1964.
• M. Griffin, « Claudius in Tacitus », dans Classical Quarterly n° 40, pp. 482-501, 1992.
• B. M. Levick., « Claudius: Antiquarian or Revolutionary? », dans l'American Journal of Philology n° 99, pp. 79-105, 1978.
• Barbara Levick, Claudius, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990.
• E.F. Leon, « The Imbecillitas of the Emperor Claudius », dans Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association n° 79, pp. 79-86, 1948.
• D. McAlindon, « Claudius and the Senators », dans l'American Journal of Philology n° 78, pp. 279-286, 1957.
• A. Major, « Was He Pushed or Did He Leap? Claudius' Ascent to Power », dans Ancient History n° 22, 25-31, 1992.
• Arnaldo Momigliano (traduction anglaise de W.D. Hogarth et W. Heffer), Claudius: the Emperor and His Achievement, Cambridge, 1934.
• S.V. Oost, « The Career of M. Antonius Pallas », dans l'American Journal of Philology n° 79, pp. 113-139, 1958.
• Ruth, Thomas De Coursey. The Problem of Claudius, Johns Hopkins Diss., 1916.
• F.X. Ryan, « Some Observations on the Censorship of Claudius and Vitellius, AD 47-48 », dans l'American Journal of Philology n° 114, pp. 611-618, 1993.
• Vincent Scramuzza, The Emperor Claudius, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1940.
• M. Stuart, « The Date of the Inscription of Claudius on the Arch of Ticinum », dans l'American Journal of Archeology n° 40, pp. 314-322, 1936.
• E.G. Suhr, « A Portrait of Claudius », dans l'American Journal of Archeology n° 59, pp. 319-322, 1955.
• D.W.T.C. Vessey, « Thoughts on Tacitus' Portrayal of Claudius », dans l'American Journal of Philology n° 92, pp. 385-409, 1971.

Les empereurs romains
Julio-Claudiens
Précédé par : Caligula (37 - 41)	Claude (41 - 54)	Suivi de : Néron (54-68)
Série Rome antique