Roman Imperial Texts: A Sourcebook

6. Claudius

6 Claudius Claudius (10–54 ce; emperor 41–54 ce) Gaius Caligula was killed by his own praetorian guard in 41. Men from the praetorian guard also took the initiative to find and acclaim Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, as the next emperor, though he promised and paid them 150 gold pieces each during this passage of power. From this transition onward, the support of the praetorians would be essential for aspiring emperors. While the pretext of hereditary succession by a biological or adopted son would remain, support from the praetorians and from a critical mass of the legions became essential. Claudius was a scholarly, reserved figure, not the military veteran Augustus and Tiberius had been. It is thought that he had cerebral palsy. Some sort of physical deficiency, combined with his lack of public experience when he became emperor at age fifty, seems to have allowed Suetonius to describe him as a buffoon. Still, considerations of the gods’ favor, as well as Claudius’s cruelty and diligence as a ruler, allow him a distinct legacy. Claudius’s comprehensive knowledge of Roman history allowed him to use images in ways that secured his influence and power. 18. CLAUDIUS’S COIN TO THE PEACE OF AUGUSTUS 1 The following coin image of the Pax Augusta illustrates Claudius’s moderately successful attempt at imitating Augustus’s powerful use of images to express continuity with the Roman Republic and awe for the developments of the Principate. Classicist J. Rufus Fears writes of Claudius’s effectiveness in setting forth a reassuring agenda by means of emphasizing the nourishing and protecting virtues that were worshiped in the Principate: 1. Permission to use the photos of this coin from Auktionshaus H. D. Rauch (www.hdrauch.com) is gratefully acknowledged. 67 With Claudius, for the first time, the Virtues appear on accessionyear issues, concisely proclaiming the program and promise of the new regime: Libertas Augusta, Spes Augusta [“Augustan Hope”], Victoria, Pax Augusta, Constantia Augusti [“Steadfastness of Augustus”], and Ceres Augusta [Augustan grain goddess]. Libertas commemorated the overthrow of the tyrant and the restoration of constitutional government. Spes invoked the hope of mankind, newly awakened and focused upon the imperial saviour. Pax and Victoria were essential elements in the Augustan heritage, but by varying their types Claudius created a personal statement of the role of these Virtues in his own principate. Particularly suggestive is his type dedicated to Paci Augustae [“to the Peace of Augustus”] and portraying the personification of Pax with the wings of Victory. Holding the caduceus of Concordia and Felicitas [“Concord” and “Happiness”], Pax raises her skirt in the gesture of Pudicitia [“Chastity”]; she is accompanied by a snake, the symbol of Salus [“Health”]. . . . The concept of Pax Augustua thus embodied in itself all those Virtues which secured the well-being and felicity of the human order: Concordia, Felicitas, Victoria, Salus, and that Pudicitia, so lacking in Gaius and so essential to maintaining the pax deorum [“peace among/with the gods”].2 This particular coin is thought to have been struck in circa 49–50 CE, though Claudius minted coins “to the peace of Augustus” from the very first year of his reign. The inscription on the obverse of this coin, around the head of Claudius reads: TI[BERIVS] CLVD[IVS] CAESAR AVG[VSTVS] P[ONTIFEX] M[AXIMVS] TR[IBUNICIAE P[OTESTAS] VIIII IMP XVI, or “Tiberius Claudius, Caesar Augustus, Highest Priest, holding tribunician power for the ninth time, acclaimed as imperator for the 16th time.” On the reverse, around the image of the peace goddess who is holding a staff toward a snake that symbolizes health, we find the words PACI AVGUSTAE, or “to the Augustan peace.” Since the positive symbol of the snake symbolizes salus, or health, it is possible that imagery such as seen on this coin partially prompted Paul to write in Romans 16:20, “May the God of peace soon crush Satan under your feet” in response to Roman imperial propaganda that the emperor’s peace 2. J. Rufus Fears, “The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology,” ANRW 2.17.2, 893–94. Bracketed words added to quotation. 68 | Roman Imperial Texts promotes salus. Paul thus brings a different connotation to the symbol of a snake, informed by his scriptures (Gen 3:13-15; Ps 91:13; see also Rev 20:2). 19. SIGNS OF THE DIVINE IN CLAUDIUS 3 The stories preserved by Suetonius illustrate very...