Claudius

Claudius was written to be a biographical work on the life little-known Claudius, by means of compiling the scattered primary sources that offer a window into the life of the ancient Emperor. Relevant to all who research Claudius or the works of his freedmen, Levick presents the most recent extensive work on his life, along with new historiographical interpretations that without, one's research cannot be effective. Levick, being a well-known Roman historian, has written many great works on the Emperors in biographical form, her most recent being this very book, written in 1990, fairly new considering the ancient topic. Many of her sources come from the primary documents of Tacitus and Suetonius, along with other historians such as Josephus and Seneca, while her secondaries relate many of the great works on Claudius, hers being the first in fifty years. Personal research has revealed that she has not wronged these historians in her interpretations of their written work, presenting a reliable account of the life of Claudius. In regards to her organization, she is unique as she does not follow chronological order, but divides the book into sections of his reign. While recording his reign, she covers it in the aspects that her sources allow, containing greatly to his reign, and little to his life before Though I would recommend having an ample background on Roman history, as Levick sometimes takes for granted her vast knowledge of the time, all who research Claudius would be remiss rule out this book.

This book was an excellent overview of one of the critical emperors during the formation of the early Christian church. Profesor Levick provided new insights into one of the lesser known Emperors, and some excellent suggestions as to why he might have taken some of the actions that he did. This would be an excellent source for anyone studying early Christianity as well as roman emperors.

Barbara Levick's 'Claudius' is a good resource to use when falling under the Claudian spell of such works as Graves' 'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius the God', or the 'I, Claudius' BBC production. This will help put a proper historical perspective on the man and emperor, Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus. Get used to the panoply of names-each noble Roman shares many names with the others in his family, thus making history often confusing.Among the things Graves' readers might miss (and certainly the television-only set will miss) is that Claudius was married four times, had five children, and was much more less of a dolt in these matters than one would realise. Levick explores some of the intrigues of the Julii Caesares as well as the Claudii Nerones; she explores the history from all angles. She looks to the politics and the sociological realities of family and court life to explain what ambitions Claudius really had, and what he might actually look forward to accomplishing in his life. 'Seneca's scathing comment on Claudius after his death was that `nobody thought he had ever been born'. In connection with this a remark of his mother Antonia recorded by Suetonius may be relevant. He claims that Antonia used to speak of her son (she need only have said it once for it to be presented as a leitmotiv!) as `a monstrosity of a human being, one that Nature began and never finished'. Antonia's hostility to her `unfinished' youngest child was probably intensified when she almost immediately lost her husband, and, a quarter of a century later, her even more brilliant elder son: now primacy was lost to her family.'Levick explores Claudius' childhood and education, which continued past the usual age, given his apparent deformities. His tutors attended him well past the usual age of tutelage. She spend a little time also writing of his princeps under Tiberius and Gaius Caligula, which shows he was not universally ignored or despised, and so his accession, though unlikely, was by no means improbable.C.E. Stevens makes the claim that Claudius was the first Roman Emperor; Augustus put together a bundle of offices and powers, which Tiberius variously held and let lapse; Caligula informed the senate of his accession and took all honours almost instantly, so perhaps Stevens is incorrect in his assessment. However, Claudius helped to formalise this automatic transfer of powers and offices as a right of imperial position, such that all future emperors, upon taking the name Caesar as a title (Claudius took it as a name, the prestigious cognomen of his illustrious ancestor) would also instantly have the array of offices and powers at their disposal.Levick continues to explore Roman society and body politic under Claudius by segment: social classes (senate, equestrian order, and aristocracy), the legal machinery (with which he was particularly interested in, and made a shift from tradition to that of individual welfare, a novel approach for the day), finance and the econo