He commenced his reign, A.D. 41, by proclaiming a general amnesty. He restored confiscated estates, recalled the wretched sisters of Caius, sent back to Greece and Asia the plundered statues of temples which Caius had transported to Rome, and inaugurated a régime of moderation and justice. His life had been one of sickness, neglect, and obscurity, but he was suffered to live because he [pg 585] was harmless. His mother was ashamed of him, and his grandmother, Livia, despised him, and his sister, Livilla, ridiculed him. He was withheld from public life, and he devoted himself to literary pursuits, and even wrote a history of Roman affairs from the battle of Actium, but it gained him no consideration. Tiberius treated him with contumely, and his friends deserted him. All this neglect and contempt were the effects of a weak constitution, a paralytic gait, and an imperfect utterance.
The able administration of Claudius.
Claudius took Augustus as his model, and at once a great change in the administration was observable. There was a renewed activity of the armies on the frontiers, and great generals arose who were destined to be future emperors. The colonies were strengthened and protected, and foreign affairs were conducted with ability. Herod Agrippa, the favorite of Caius, was confirmed in his government of Galilee, and received in addition the dominions of Samaria and Judæa. Antiochus was restored to the throne of Commagene, and Mithridates received a district of Cilicia. The members of the Senate were made responsible for the discharge of their magistracies, and vacancies to this still august body were filled up from the wealthy and powerful families. He opened an honorable career to the Gauls, revised the lists of the knights, and took an accurate census of Roman citizens. He conserved the national religion, and regulated holidays and festivals. His industry and patience were unwearied, and the administration of justice extorted universal admiration. His person was accessible to all petitioners, and he relieved distress wherever he found it. He relinquished the most grievous exactions of his predecessors, and tenderly guarded neglected slaves. He also constructed great architectural works, especially those of utility, completed the vast aqueduct which Caius commenced, and provided the city with provisions. He built the port of Ostia, to facilitate commerce, and drained marshes and lakes. The draining of the Lake Fucinus occupied thirty thousand men for eleven years. [pg 586] While he executed vast engineering works to supply the city with water, he also amused the people with gladiatorial shows. In all things he showed the force of the old Roman character, in spite of bodily feebleness.
Conquest of Britain.
The most memorable act of his administration was the conquest of South Britain. By birth a Gaul, being born at Lugdunum, he cast his eyes across the British channel and resolved to secure the island beyond as the extreme frontier of his dominions, then under the dominion of the Druids—a body of Celtic priests whom the Romans ever detested, and whose rites all preceding emperors had proscribed. Julius Cæsar had pretended to impose a tribute on the chiefs of Southern Britain, but it was never exacted. Both Augustus and Tiberius felt but little interest in the political affairs of that distant island, but the rapid progress of civilization in Gaul, and the growing cities on the banks of the Rhine, elicited a spirit of friendly intercourse. Londinium, a city which escaped the notice of Cæsar, was a great emporium of trade in the time of Claudius. But the southern chieftains were hostile, and jealous of their independence. So Claudius sent four legions to Britain, under Plautius, and his lieutenant, Vespasianus, to oppose the forces under Caractacus. He even entered Britain in person, and subdued the Trinobantes. But for nine years Caractacus maintained an independent position. He was finally overthrown in battle, and betrayed to the Romans, and exhibited at Rome. The insurrection was suppressed, or rather, a foothold was secured in the island, which continued henceforth under the Roman rule.
Messalina.
The feeble old man, always nursed by women, had the misfortune to marry, for his third wife, the most infamous woman in Roman annals (Valeria Messalina), under whose influence the reign, at first beneficent, became disgraceful. Claudius was entirely ruled by her. She amassed fortunes, sold offices, confiscated estates, and indulged in guilty loves. She ruled like a Madame de Pompadour, and degraded the throne which she ought to have [pg 587] exalted. The influence of women generally was bad in those corrupt times, but her influence was scandalous and degrading.
Claudius also was governed by his favorites, generally men of low birth—freedmen who usurped the place of statesmen. Narcissus and Pallus were the most confidential of the emperor's advisers, who, in consequence, became enormously rich, for favors flowed through them, and received the great offices of State. The court became a scene of cabals and crimes, disgraced by the wanton shamelessness of the empress and the venality of courtiers. Appius Silanus, one of the best and greatest of the nobles, was murdered through the intrigues of Messalina, to whose progress in wickedness history furnishes no parallel, and Valerius Asiaticus, another great noble, also suffered the penalty of offending her, and was destroyed; and his magnificent gardens, which she coveted, were bestowed upon her.
Agrippina. Assassination of Messalina. Marriage of Claudius with Agrippina.
But Messalina was rivaled in iniquity by another princess, between whom and herself there existed the deadliest animosity. Thus was Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, who had been married to Cn. Domitius Ahenobardus, grandson of Octavia, and whose issue was the future emperor Nero. The niece of Claudius occupied the second place in the imperial household, and it became her aim to poison the mind of her uncle against the woman she detested, and who returned her hatred. She now leagued with the freedmen of the palace to destroy her rival. An opportunity to gratify her vengeance soon occurred. Messalina, according to Tacitus, was guilty of the inconceivable madness of marrying Silanus, one of her paramours, while her husband lived, and that husband an emperor, which story can not be believed without also supposing that Claudius was a perfect idiot. Such a defiance of law, of religion, and of the feelings of mankind, to say nothing of its folly, is not to be supposed. Yet such was the scandal, and it filled the imperial household with consternation. Callistus, Pallas, and Narcissus—the favorites who ruled Claudius—united [pg 588] with Agrippina to secure her ruin. The emperor, then absent in Ostia, was informed of the shamelessness of his wife. It was difficult for him to believe such a fact, but it was attested by the trusted members of his household. His fears were excited, as well as his indignation, and he hastened to Rome for vengeance and punishment. Messalina had retired to her magnificent gardens on the Pineian, which had once belonged to Lucullus, the price of the blood of the murdered Asiaticus; but, on the approach of the emperor, of which she was informed, she advanced boldly to confront him, with every appearance of misery and distress, with her children Britannicus and Octavia. Claudius vacillated, and Messalina retired to her gardens, hoping to convince her husband of her innocence on the interview which he promised the following day. But Narcissus, knowing her influence, caused her to be assassinated, and the emperor drowned his grief, or affection, or anger, in wine and music, and seemingly forgot her. That Messalina was a wicked and abandoned woman is most probable; that she was as bad as history represents her, may be doubted, especially when we remember she was calumniated by a rival, who succeeded in taking her place as wife. It is easier to believe she was the victim of Agrippina and the freedmen, who feared as well as hated her, than to accept the authority of Tacitus and Juvenal. On the death of Messalina, Agrippina married her uncle, and the Senate sanctioned the union, which was incest by the Roman laws.