Emperor Claudius succeeds Emperor Caligula

By George Leggett, 1st Year Ancient History

Caligula was one of the most notorious emperors of Ancient Rome, he was also the first to be assassinated. Caligula was assassinated by the Praetorian guard, who, ironically, was made to act as the emperor’s bodyguard. The man to replace him as emperor was his uncle Claudius, who in succeeding him became the fourth emperor of Rome. Claudius succeeded him as emperor on January 24, 41 AD, the very same day.

Although it has never been proven, it has been theorised that Claudius had a hand in the assassination of his nephew. According to ancient historian Cassius Dio, even though Caligula appointed Claudius as co-consul, he treated his uncle so poorly that he was thinning from stress towards the end of Caligula’s reign. Claudius also had an incentive to arrange Caligula’s assassination, as he would take over as emperor.  However, most accounts argue that Claudius was not involved in the assassination. Supposedly, Claudius cowered in fear behind a curtain after Caligula, along with his wife and child, were murdered. Following this, the Praetorian Guards that found him did not kill him but saluted him as the new emperor.

Caligula was allegedly stabbed 30 times, the same number of times that his great-grandfather, Julius Caesar, was supposedly stabbed. The first blow was struck by the chief plotter of Caligula’s murder, Cassius Chaerea. Like Claudius, Chaerea was said to have been taunted by Caligula, particularly for his apparent effeminacy. Though Chaerea had a personal motive to kill the emperor, the assassination was aided by several others, concocted due to a variety of objections with the ruthless emperor.

After a successful start to his reign, Caligula had soon become ill and unhinged; his character changed, and he became thoroughly unpopular with the Roman public. Some of his actions included declaring himself a living god, living a debauched and sexually deviant lifestyle, ruthlessly punishing anyone who spoke against him, and allegedly declaring war on Neptune, the god of the sea. He had been ruling for less than four years at the time of his assassination, which was not the first attempt against his life during his reign.

Claudius would go on to become a far more successful emperor than his nephew. He completed the Roman annexation of Britain, restoring Rome’s economy and improving the city’s infrastructure. However, according to historians in antiquity, Claudius, like Caligula, is thought to have been assassinated. The killing of Claudius was thought to have been engineered by Agrippina, the sister of Caligula and the wife and niece of Claudius himself. Having coaxed Claudius into naming her son Nero as his successor, some believe Agrippina ordered the assassination of Claudius to make Nero, Claudius’ stepson, the new Roman emperor.