Claudius' Invasion of Britain: AD 43

Britannia

• The Roman conquest of Britain was neither quick nor painless. From the time Julius Caesar first set foot on the island in 55 BC until the time Pax Romana was fully installed, it would take more than 150 years
• Claudius' invasion was the first to attempt to formally establish control over the island, as Julius Caesar had only intended to punish the Britons for lending financial assistance to Gallic tribes he was warring with back in Gaul
• The earliest inhabitants of Briton are thought to have come to the island 50,000 years ago. The Celtic tribes invaded from Europe after about 800 BC, many with long term roots there as well as in northern France
• With them came the advancement of tool and weapon-making materials, heralding in the "Iron Age" of Britain. There were several tribes who inhabited Pre-Roman Britain, who had their own coinage, political systems and cultures. Their wealth lay in natural resources such as copper and tin and commerce was a successful enterprise, even with the Romans
• In 320 BC the Greek navigator/geographer Pytheas conducted a partial exploration of the island called "Albion" to the Greeks. The Romans called the island  "Britannia" - the "Land of Tin"

Situation in Pre-Roman Britain

• Britain had enjoyed diplomatic and trading links with the Romans in the century since Julius Caesar's expeditions in 55 and 54 BC
• Augustus prepared invasions in 34 BC, 27 BC and 25. The first and third were called off due to revolts elsewhere in the empire, the second because the Britons seemed ready to come to terms
• According to Augustus' Res Gestae, two British kings, Dubnovellaunus and Tincomarus, fled to Rome as suppliants during his reign, and Strabo's Geography, written during this period, says Britain paid more in customs and duties than could be raised by taxation if the island were conquered
• By the 40s AD, Britain was in turmoil. The Catuvellauni had displaced the Trinovantes as the most powerful kingdom in south-eastern Britain, taking over the former Trinovantian capital of Camulodunum (Colchester) and were pressing their neighbours the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Julius Caesar's former ally Commius
• Caligula planned a campaign against the Britons in 40 AD, but its execution was bizarre: according to Suetonius, he drew up his troops in battle formation facing the English Channel and, once his forces had become quite confused, ordered them to gather seashells, referring to them as "plunder from the ocean due to the Capitol and the Palace"
• Modern historians are unsure if this was meant to be an ironic punishment for the soldiers' mutiny or due to Caligula's derangement. Certainly this invasion attempt readied the troops and facilities that would make Claudius' invasion possible three years later. For example, Caligula built a lighthouse at Bononia that provided a model for the one built soon after at Dubris (Dover)

Revolts During Claudius' Early Reign

• In 42 AD, one year after Claudius' accession as emperor, a revolt occurred within the provinces, led by senators Annius Vincianus and Furius Camillus Scribonianus
• The revolt included a sizable number of legions from the province of Dalmatia. Both Cassius Dio and Suetonius tell us of the revolt which threatened to embroil Rome in civil war
• Though the revolt ultimately came to nothing, a fundamental weakness of Claudius' rule had been revealed:
• he had little-to-no support from the army or the provinces
• Unlike Augustus or Tiberius, who had personal military experience, or Caligula, who had been constantly seen by the army as a child, Claudius' forced isolation from the public eye meant that many in the army had no connection to their emperor

Activity

1. Why did Vincianus and Camillus Scribonianus lead revolts against Claudius?
• Cassius Dio - Both Vinicianus and Scribonianus had been considered as potential successors after the death of Caligula
• Vinicianus had no military backing, so sought the support of Scribonianus - governor of Dalmatia, with his legions
• Both were afraid of retaliation from Claudius because of their preferable choice as successors after Caligula
• Scribonianus preferred to restore the Republic rather than suffer another emperor
2. Why did the soldiers refuse to support the revolt?
• Cassius Dio - the soldiers suspected that a revolt would only cause further problems such as civil war
• Claudius rewarded their loyalty as soon as they refused to support the revolt
• Suetonius - The superstitious soldiers were dissuaded by bad omens - the eagles could not be adorned nor the standards pulled up and moved
3. According to Dio, how did Claudius honour the legions' loyalty?
• Gave titles to the legions - the "patriotic" and "loyal", the "Claudian" - so they have a personal connection to the emperor
• Had the soldiers saluted by the Senate for their loyalty
• He made a diligent search for those who had plotted against him, and put many to death

Claudius' Reputation

• Who was the Roman leader who led the invasion force?
• Aulus Plautius
• Who was the Roman general who later became an emperor?
• Flavius Vespasianus - conquered the Isle of Wight
• What was the British tribe called who opposed the Roman invasion?
• Catuvellauni and Cantiaci
• Who was the leader of the British resistance forces?
• Togodumnus and Cunobelinus
• What does Suetonius say about Claudius' incasion of Britain? What does this suggest about his view of the campaign?
• It was "of little importance" - perhaps because Britain already cooperated with the Romans, the Romans did not see Britain or the British tribes as a threat
• What role did Claudius himself have in the invasion?
• Dio + Suet - Claudius left the campaign to the charge of Aulus Plautius. He was instructed to notify the emperor of any strong resistance
• Claudius crossed into Britain later in the campaign, led the forces across the Thames and stormed the capital of the Catuvellauni (modern day Colchester)
• Claudius rode into Britain of elephants - proves this campaign was for his own benefit
• What name was Claudius' son honoured with following his father's victory?
• Britannicus - conquest of Britain
• Claudius was honoured with this name too, though he rarely used it aside from some honorific titles
• List the honours Claudius received following his victory over Britain and the ways he emphasised his achievements to the Roman people
• Dio:
• Awarded a triumph by the Senate
• Two triumphal arches were built, one in Gaul and one in Rome
• Claudius and his son were honoured with the name Britannicus - this became the common nickname of Claudius' son
• Messalina: privilege of sitting in front row seats in the theatre, and use of a carriage:
• Suetonius
• Claudius allowed both governors and exiles to come back to Rome to see the victory - he made sure that everyone could see his achievement
• The naval crown was affixed to his house alongside a civic crown - as a sign that he had crossed and subdued the ocean
• Triumphal Arch AD 51-2:
• Senate and people of Rome set up this arch as he received 11 British kings in submission, and was the first to bring barbarian tribes beyond the ocean under the dominion of the Roman people
• Aureus of Claudius AD 46-7
• Reverse of the coin: shows the archway with an equestrian statue of Claudius - shows he is trying to send the message of his triumph throughout the Empire for all of the Roman people to see

Aftermath

Despite the Roman victories, resistance continued past Claudius' reign:

• Pushing into the south west of Britain, the Romans fought a war of sieges to reduce the great Iron Age hill forts of the western tribes. Driving through and beyond the Midlands, they encountered stiffening opposition as they approached Wales, where the fugitive Catuvellaunian prince, Caratacus, rallied the Welsh tribes on a new anti-Roman front
• Wales took decades to subjugate. Before it was done, the east of Britain exploded in 60-61 AD under the reign of the emperor Nero. Bitterness against Roman oppression had driven Boudicca, queen of the Iceni tribe, into a revolt that came close to expelling the invaders
• Later, under the provincial governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola (coincidentally Tacitus' father-in-law), the Romans occupied northern Britain, reaching what is now called the Moray Firth in 84 AD. This, though short of total victory, was to be the high water mark of the Roman empire in Britain

The Accession of Claudius

Caligula's Death: The Reaction
According to Josephus, Rome reacted in many different ways to Caligula's death

• The Senate: "longed for a return to their former status, being desperate to shake off the disgrace of slavery imposed on them by the arrogance of tyrants, now that they had a chance to do so after so long"
• The People: "had no love for the senate, and realised that the emperors acted as a curb for its rapacity and were a source of protection for themselves"
• The Army: "realised that a republican government was incapable of controlling such a vast empire, and if it was established, it would certainly not govern in the interests of the army. But if one man seized power, it would be a significant disadvantage to themselves in every way if they had not helped him to achieve it"

Initial Moves: The Senate

Plans to restore order in Rome by taking steps to seize back power (Josephus)

1. Publicly denounce Caligula and praise the conspirators
2. Disband the popular assemblies who had met to investigate Gaius' death, "furious that the murderers of the emperor had still not been detected"
3. Seize the state treasury and deploy guards to stop rioting and looting
4. Send the soldiers to their barracks and promise "rewards, if they retained their traditional discipline and refrained from riotous destruction"

"Their confidence was fully restored and they were full of a sense of their own importance, since they thought that they would now be in control of government business"

Initial Moves: The Army/Praetorian Guard

• The Army did not heed the Senate's orders, and immediately decided to act by appointing their own emperor, knowing:
• "If they made him emperor, he would be likely to feel a debt towards them and repay them with gifts" (Josephus)
• Meanwhile, in the royal palace, the imperial family and their associates were terrified of the news of Caligula's death, assuming that a similar fate would soon fall on them
• Among these was Claudius, who had fled to a nearby residence to await the outcome of events
• When the soldiers came for him, Claudius famously hid behind a curtain, where he was discovered by members of the Praetorian Guard
• Expecting a similar fate to Caligula, Claudius was stunned instead to see the soldiers kneel before him and swear fealty
• Then they kidnapped the future emperor and took him to the Praetorian Camp, where Claudius promised each soldier 15,000 sesterces as a gift
• "By this act he was the first of the Caesars who resorted to bribery to secure the loyalty of the troops" (Suetonius)

Why Claudius?

"There was none who was his superior either in the distinction of his ancestry or in his commitment to his own learned studies" (Josephus)

• Claudius had been the black-sheep of the Imperial family
• He had a stutter, walked with a limp, and had a slight hunch in his back
• Augustus had advised he be deliberately kept out of the public eye to avoid bringing "familial shame"
• However, he was also highly educated, writing histories and philosophies, and was the younger brother of imperial poster-boy Germanicus

The Senate's Bluff: Josephus

• When the senate heard that the Praetorians had taken Claudius to their camp and proclaimed him emperor, they were in a state of anxiety
• They immediately sent a delegation to Claudius: "to point out to him forcibly that it was his duty to make no attempt to seize the throne by force"
• They asked instead that "He should rather defer to the senate, recognising his subordinate position as but one individual among many, and should allow the law to take responsibility for managing the state in the general interest"
• However, when the delegates began to plea with Claudius after seeing the force he now commanded in the Praetorians: "Claudius fully realised that the senate's delegation was an audacious bluff"

Final Attempts to Restore the Republic are Lost

• The Senate attempted to assert control over the Roman mob, but:
• "could not control the crowd, nor could they reach a decision on the choice of emperor, since on the one hand the troops refused to listen to them, yet on the other hand Gaius' assassins refused to allow them to give way to the soldiers demands."
• Furthermore, when Chaerea (who had allied with the Senate) demanded the soldiers under their charge bring him the head of Claudius:
• "the soldiers refused to take any notice of his words. They drew their swords, raised their standards, and marched off to join those who had sworn allegiance to Claudius"

"So they were left there, the senate without military support, and the consuls reduced to the level of any ordinary citizen" Josephus

The Emperor Claudius

• Claudius was formally declared emperor by the Senate 30 days after the death of Caligula
• Despite his unlikely rise to power, posterity would remember Claudius as a "good" emperor
• He conquered Britain
• He commissioned enormous public works in Rome, such as numerous aqueducts and the harbour at Ostia, that employed tens of thousands of Romans and improved public health
• He reformed the Principate in many positive ways to make the empire more efficient and fair

Activity

1. Bullet point the steps Claudius took as emperor following his accession
• Suetonius, Claudius, 11
1. Ordered a general amnesty - apart from executing a few of the tribunes and centurions who had plotted against Gaius (and who were now plotting against him) - this would have kept the people happy, whilst showing a firm hand and eliminating those who threatened his rule
2. He used "By Augustus" as "the most sacred and frequent of his oaths" - probably to flex and to show devotion
3. He made the senate decree his grandmother Livia divine honours and an elephant drawn carriage for her image, to match Augustus' - makes him look good
4. Annual Circus games on his father's birthday - during which the image of his mother (now posthumously given the title Augusta) was paraded in a carriage - once again a flex
5. Even honoured Mark Antony 
6. Completed marble arch near Pompey's theatre for Tiberius
7. Annulled all of Caligula's edicts, but would not allow the day of his assassination to be proclaimed a public festival - makes him look forgiving and fair (and prevents anyone thinking that he played a part in Caligula's assassination)
• Cassius Dio, C3 (pp54)
1. Immediately accepted all honours voted to him except the title 'Father of the Fatherland'
2. Waited until the 30th day to enter the Senate
3. "Exercised great caution in everything" - didn't want to make the same mistakes as those before him
4. Made everyone in his presence undergo a search to see if they were armed and always had some soldiers present at parties - to stop any assassination attempts
5. Put Chaerea and some of his associates to death - makes an example of them and eliminates the threat they pose
6. Bestowed honours and offices upon those who had "openly canvassed" for democracy or had been thought of as a worthy candidate for emperor - stops people trying to usurp him and quashes any fear they may have had about repercussions
7. Abolished the charge of maiestas - reduced people's fear and showed himself to be fair and different from Caligula

Gaius Caligula 37-41 AD

"He has all of Sulla's vices with none of his virtues" - Tiberius

Succession Choices
In the latter years of Tiberius' life, the question of succession arose again. Tiberius had three choices from within the Imperial Family

• Claudius - Tiberius' nephew (his brother Drusus' son), Claudius was the eldest male in the family but was considered the "black sheep" due to his physical problems and personality
• Tiberius Gemellus - Tiberius' grandson (his son Drusus and Livilla's child), however, he was still only a child
• Gaius Caligula - The son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, despite Tiberius' hostility to Agrippina he was still widely popular with the people due to his father's reputation

Gaius Caligula

• As a young boy, Gaius had accompanied his father in his campaigns in Germania, earning the affectionate nickname "Caligula" from the soldiers who would often see him parading the camp in tiny military attire (Caligula means "Little-Boots")
• When Germanicus had died, he had temporarily lived with his mother Agrippina. After her banishment he lived with Livia until her death and then his other grandmother Antonia
• Caligula's older brothers were exiled and killed under the charges of treason. Caligula only being spared because of his youth
• In the latter years of Tiberius' life, Caligula had lived with him on the island of Capri, essentially under house arrest alongside his three sisters

Joint Heirs

• Tiberius decided upon appointing Gemellus and Caligula as joint heirs
• However, Gemellus was still too young to rule when Tiberius finally died in 37 AD, and so the appointment of Princeps fell to Caligula
• Suetonius describes the joy felt upon Caligula's appointment following Tiberius' death:
• "By thus gaining the throne he fulfilled the highest hopes of the Roman people, or I may say of all mankind, since he was the prince most earnestly desired by the great part of the provincials and soldiers, many of whom had known him in his infancy, as well as by the whole body of the city populace, because of the memory of his father Germanicus and pity for a family that was all but extinct. Accordingly, when he set out from Misenum, though he was in mourning garb and escorting the body of Tiberius, yet his progress was marked by altars, victims, and blazing torches, and he was met by a dense and joyful throng, who called him besides other propitious names their "star," their "chick," their "babe," and their "nursling"

Tiberius' Will Snubbed

• So fervent were the people for Caligula's accession that Macro and Caligula used this opportunity to overthrow Tiberius' will
• "full and absolute power was at once put into his hands by the unanimous consent of the Senate and of the mob, which forced its way into the House, and no attention was paid to the wish of Tiberius, who in his will had named his other grandson, still a boy, joint heir with Caligula" - Suetonius

Caligula's Popularity Strengthened

Caligula took further steps to secure his popularity with the Roman people:

• He held a series of games
• He recalled all exiles and dismissed all pending criminal charges made under Tiberius
• He made a public statement reunifying the imperial household, adopting Tiberius Gemellus as his heir and honouring his grandmother Antonia with the title Augusta
• He sailed to Pandataria and brought his brother and mother's remains to the Mausoleum of Augustus
• He also played heavily on his father's popularity, as seen on coins depicting Germanicus on one side and Caligula on the other

Gaius' Change

• Suetonius: "So much for Gaius the Emperor, the rest of this history must needs deal with Gaius the monster"
• After six months of a seemingly optimistic rule, the more sadistic elements of Caligula's behaviour, which as of yet had been suppressed, gradually began to surface
• In late October 37 AD, Caligula fell seriously ill. Though the illness itself is still unknown (Historians suspect perhaps serious bipolar disorder caused by epilepsy, which many in the Julio-Claudian family suffered from)), when Caligula recovered he was never quite the same

Caligula the Monster

What were Caligula's characteristics according to the sources?

• Suetonius:
• Sadistic - "let them know that they are dying"
• Unpredictable - Caligula attacked a priest instead of the animal during a sacrifice - He also joked at dinner that he could have the consuls' throats cut
• Cruel - Made families watch their relatives' executions
• Narcissistic - forced Senators to grovel or face execution if they criticised his plays or refused to worship his genius
• Threatened by the Senators - Ones who opposed him were killed. Plebians more generally spared - "If only all of Rome had a single neck"
• Rules through fear - "let them hate me so long as they fear me"
• Caligula considered his own best characteristic to be his "inflexibility"
• Cassius Dio:
• "Monarchial"
• "Most lustful of men" - seized a woman at her wedding and "snatched" others who were already married
• "Surpassed Tiberius' licentiousness and bloodthirstiness"
• Short tempered, fickle and unstable - hated people for negative comments about Tiberius, but also hated those who praised him. He initially refused statues and sacrifices dedicated to him, but then wanted them
• Dishonest/Sly - pretended to burn incriminating letters, but they turned out to only be copies
• Josephus:
• "Gaius' madness was now an offence to god and man"
• "A flawed character, who had turned viciousness into a fine art"
• Seneca:
• "Nature spawned (him) to be the ruin and disgrace of all humanity"
• "With an inconsistency born of madness" - he would grow his hair and then shave it randomly
• He "inflicted the most savage punishments on those whose grief (for his dead sister) he deemed inadequate"
  

Caligula's Assassination - 41 AD
Resistance:

• Caligula's brutality, particularly to the Senatorial and Equestrian classes, had antagonised almost everyone in Rome against him
• Unsurprisingly, a conspiracy to eliminate the Princeps was organised, led by a group of conspirators including:
1. Aemilius Regulus (Proconsul of Spain)
2. Cassius Chaerea (Head of the Praetorian Guard)
3. Annius Vinicianus (a senator)
4. Callistus (an imperial freedman)
5. Cornelius Sabinus (Praetorian Tribune)
6. Marcus Clemens (Praetorian Prefect)
• The head of the conspiracy was Chaerea, who had been elevated to the commander of the Praetorian Guard after Macro had fallen out of Caligula's favour and committed suicide out of fear of reprisals

The Plot:

• The plot was to take place during a festival held on the Palatine Hill, the palatial district of the emperors
• Chaerea and the Praetorians, who had the closest access to the emperor, would lead him away from the crowds and down into the cryptoporticus, a labyrinth of tunnels running under the imperial palace that allowed the emperor to move around the district out of sight
• The others would be waiting for him...

Caligula's Death: Activity

What do the sources say about the motives of the conspirators in wishing to kill Caligula?

• Suetonius:
•  The two tribunes that killed him had previously been "accused of being implicated in a previous plot and, although innocent, realized that Gaius hated and feared them" - they basically wanted to kill him before he killed them
• Cassius Dio:
•  The whole of Caligula's entourage were persuaded to take part, "both to further their own interests and to benefit the state" and those who did not want to join the conspiracy "concealed their knowledge of it"
• Cassius Chaerea was angry with Caligula because Caligula kept accusing him of being effeminate
• Josephus:
• "The reasons for their hatred varied"
• Aemilius Regulus - "general sense of outrage and a hatred of the injustice of Gaius' actions"
• Annius Vinicianus - wanted revenge for Lepidus - "one of his closest friends and one of the best of Romans" - Gaius had put Lepidus to death
• Chaerea - "felt deeply offended at the insults regularly cast upon his manhood by the emperor" - he also "regarded it as the duty of a free man to bring about his demise"

What can we learn from the sources about how different groups in Rome (the people, the Praetorian Guard, the Senate etc) reacted to the news of Caligula's assassination?

• Suetonius:
• The people were reluctant to believe that he had been assassinated, instead believing he had invented the story to see what they thought of him. The conspirators, some bent on restoring the republic, met the senate in the Capitol rather than the Julian Senate House. Some wanted all statues and temples of the Caesars to be destroyed
  
• Cassius Dio:
• The people now spat on him, ripped down honours to him, and the Germanic bodyguard rioted and caused some deaths. The Praetorians tried to find the murderers, until a consular shouted "I wish that I had killed him", which stopped them
• Josephus:
• The Consuls denounced Gaius, but the people rioted about the murder. They were stopped by the aforementioned consular. They couldn't decide between a republican government or a single ruler