Claudius: Rome’s Accidental Emperor
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- Опубліковано 19 лис 2019
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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Morris M.
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
Business inquiries to biographics.email@gmail.com
Other Biographics Videos:
Tiberius: The Reluctant Emperor
• Tiberius: The Reluctan...
Caligula - Rome’s Mad Emperor
• Caligula - Rome’s Mad ...
Source/Further reading:
Excellent podcast series, a few episodes on Claudius here: thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/...
Podcast on Claudius’s life (the following two episodes are also worth hearing): podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR...
Podcast on Claudius’s early life: partialhistorians.com/2013/09...
Britannica’s biography: www.britannica.com/biography/...
Suetonius’s biography in full: penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e...
(Father): www.britannica.com/biography/...
(Cerebral palsy): www.historytoday.com/archive/...
Biographics on Caligula: • Caligula - Rome’s Mad ...
Biographics on Nero: • Nero: Rome’s Antichrist
Claudius playing the fool in order to survive, shows how smart he was. He even managed to survive Caligula's terror regime. In a royal family were assasinating relatives to get rid of rivals was the norm, being shunned and considered an idiot could save your life. Claudius was despised by his own mother because of his physical defects and shyness. He had a tendency to stutter too. However, Suetonius noted that his stuttering and stammering improved pretty noticeably after he became Emperor. Claudius did a pretty good job in being an emperor.
It is the smart man that plays the fool as the fool is underestimated
Something that I used to hope the same would happen to Trump.........
Claduis is my favourite roman emperor
Sounds like Tyrion Lannister... come to think of it, that whole family sounds Roman.
Claudius had quite possibly the most clever rise to power in the history of politics. Even if he secretly wanted to become emperor after all, Claudius knew that survival was his top priority. He decided to turn his weaknesses into a strength, using his physical and mental disabilities to appear harmless. He couldn’t appear power-hungry or ambitious because he really didn’t know how to.
His harmless appearance allowed him to always be spared. Caligula even appointed him as a close advisor of sorts. When Caligula was assassinated, you could argue that Claudius’ decision to hide away in fear of his life could’ve also been apart of his strategy. When the praetorians rose him to power, they and the senate believed they could use him as a puppet and the beginning of Claudius’ reign somewhat proved that. However, after years and years of appearing weak, with one great military conquest, Claudius showed the whole Roman world that he was capable and shouldn’t be taken lightly. From that point forward, he ruled Rome with effective and innovative policies that reformed and restored the empire.
Perhaps Claudius wasn’t perfect, nor the greatest Roman emperor of all time, but you can’t argue that he wasn’t one of the most intelligent rulers in history.
Claudius is my favourite Roman Emperor. He was smart, tenacious and cunning; even Augustus praised him highly for his mind. Everyone underestimated him but he turned out to be the best of his entire family
Well, if we exclude Augustus, that's for sure!
Augustus and most of the royal family saw him as a fool. Augustus only praised him because he was honestly surprised when he found out Claudius was actually pretty sharp
If only his older brother germanicus lived and become and emperor..
So true. But his evil niece had him poisoned...
@@mism847 and Caesar, and aenius, and Germanicus. But yeah right behind those guys.
"Filled the little boy's boots." I see what you did there.
I got into leather crafting recently but have no child to dress up yet.
Yep yep
I literally lol'd when he said that
DAMMIT! Got it in before me! Nice!
You're thinking of Tiberius
I love Claudius lmao, my guy hid behind a curtain because he didn't want to be emperor but ended up being one of the better emperors.
IKR. I love Claudius also...he was darling.
Dude didnt want the job, but he wasnt gonna to half ass it
No, Claudius hid behind a curtain (away from Caligula's assailants) out of fear/as a desperate attempt to save his (own) life/skin (not "because he didn't want to be emperor"); once he (Claudius) was proclaimed Emperor, he gladly accepted!
Not the better but one of the best
@@mariusmatei2946I've never seen someone use so many parenthesis
"Emperor Butt-Cactus" might be the funniest thing I've heard all year.
You can't say enough bad things about Tiberius.
well, the insult fits Tiberius.
Notice the "...soothing scream of Germanicus would never be far BEHIND!!!"
Because of form of torture this emperor likes to do is that
Legionary Cadaverus😁
Claudius is one of my favorite of the Julio-Claudians. He didn't want the job, and his reign shows the early and rapid rise of the Praetorians as a power to make or break emperors.
Jimmyinvictus it kinda reminds me of the janissaries of the Ottoman Empire.
@@jordanianchristian8387 Definitely some parallels with Ottoman janissaries!
It's one of those underdog stories in history that you don't often see.
@Randy Mayfield Yep, indeed.
They even hard their own deep state.
Should've hung them all.
"Tiberius was as popular as a rectally inserted cactus" I lost it. The one liners are getting better and more frequent making way for Simon to have yet one more pod-job option (like he needs one) as a stand up comic. But seriously, if he tries to leave Bio or Geo please offer him more money.
Finish the Julio-Claudian dynasty with the man who started it all, Augustus.
FloopyDoopy seconded
Fourth
Fif
Sixth
@@jprophet2870 you had a good run,good job.
Speaking of Claudius, it is truly ironic how Caligula spent much of his life humiliating his disabled uncle Claudius, when the latter obtained when he became emperor (as his sympathetic portrayal of Derek Jacobi in "I, Claudius" and his realistic and deglorified depiction by Richard Kiley in "A.D." showed) everything that his nephew couldn't in life:
-While Caligula wanted the people to remember him as the greatest emperor who ever lived and ended being considered by them as the worst in all history, Claudius won the love of the people and is currently known as one of the best Roman rulers that ever existed.
-At the end of his reign, Caligula decided to start a series of military conquests in order to achieve victories that would be remembered for eternity. However, none of those prospered. Instead, Claudius did warlike wonders such as recovering the last lost eagle from the Teutoburg's disaster and creating the first Roman settlements in Britain.
-The only woman Caligula wanted to marry was his sister Drusilla. However, he was never able to do that because incest between brothers or between uncles and nephews was very frowned upon in Rome. However, Claudius was able to marry his niece Agrippinilla without any problem.
-Perhaps Caligula's greatest purpose was for the people to consider him a God, which it only made them kill him in the end. Although Claudius did not want to be a God, he would end up being considered as such in some parts of Britain
That said, I wonder what Caligula's face looked like in Hell when he saw what his "dummy" uncle Claudius did as emperor.
Such was life for Uncle Claudius
Claudius was a historian and when it comes to learning to be a leader history is the best subject you can study because you are essentially learning from the mistakes of others and you can sidestep the pratfalls as they appear. It is just as good as getting genuine experience, but as Maxwell Smart quipped "Experience isn't everything."
Pitfalls.
Napoleon was also that way. Later on in exile he actually wrote a book on Julius Caesar and explained where he went wrong in his quest for power over Rome.
If we discover his lost works it’d be an earthquake.
@@thunderbird1921 What's the book called, if you don't mind my asking?
Claudius was a cool emperor, his wife done him dirty.
both of them .
...But such was life for Uncle Claudius.
If you want to get technical she did the entire kingdom dirty... heh
@@jasonbelstone3427 dovahatty based history
Dude was a chump. Openly turning head when wife is trying to set records for how many different men she could sleep with in a day. Old G's dont stroll that way. Chump!
Claudius has always been one of my favorite emperors. Having to survive two tyrannical paranoid dictators under Tiberius and Caligula, he survives long enough (BY acting simple minded and therefore not a threat) and does it well enough to become an Emperor himself and actually do Rome some good before he gets murdered by Nero's mom.
It’s always the third dictator that gets ya
It is the smart man that plays the fool as the fool is underestimated
Some parallels to Khrushchev, no?
@@inigomontoya6968 great comparison
Well, Claudius himself was no better than Tiberius in the paranoid behaviour depart. Superstitous and quick to anger, with a fondness for blood, he's known for having killed at least 35 senators and 300 equites, after trialing them in his bedroom. Sure, he was a competent emperor - and even Tiberius was - but he was not the good old Santa Claus-like guy depicted in Graves' books and series based upon them.
Not just born with a silver spoon in his mouth he was practically born suckling a whole cutlery set 😂
Your profile pic concerns me.
Bonefetcher Brimley rightly so
No, a golden fist in the butt! 😌 And only golden showers and everything golden & weird! 😇
Mad T yes ancient roman men bathed each other
Augustus noticing Claudius' disabilities & intellectual gift: "Oh you poor thing, you just needed some actual care, attention and help. Here have this teacher, he'll help you get better"
Rest of the family: "BEAT THE SINFUL DISABILITIES OUTTA HIM"
What a good step grandfather/granduncle he was.
Caesar did the same with him
I don’t know why but Claudius’ stories makes me want to cry. Here was a man who was routinely abused, mocked, disrespected his entire life, only for him to rise to power, and show his empire morality, kindness and mercy. He did not let resentment, and revenge poison his mind, and genuinely tried his best to make his empire great, and his people happy. In the end his people worshipped him as a god.
Well, no. Claudius was as vicious as his predecessors. If anything, he's known for acting in an even stricter way than other Julio-Claudians. Plenty of informers encouraged by his wives, bedchamber trials, an high number of executions, disregard for Senate's authority. He was a good emperor, but as a man he was ruthless.
I feel really bad for Claudius. Poor kid was hated and mocked by his own family. He was just a child.
Such was life for Uncle Claudius
I suggest reading I Claudius and Claudia's the God the book is a pieced together autobiography using the pieces of the letters, memoirs and self descriptions that survived to modern times . This was combined with historical records and other people's accounts of the emperors reign and childhood and a little-large amount of fiction used to make the story flow. Some of the dialogue is fictionalized, but all of the facts are true. A portion of the writing is his own accounts though.
I found the sections on early Christianity very interesting.
Me too...sweet Claudius.
Still be ended up being one of the best emperor
Well he ended up being the most powerful man in the world so he good.
“such was life for uncle claudius”- Dovahhatty
Augustus showed him kindness and claudius became the first emperor to be worthy of being his successor.
Tiberius was a solid emperor. People just didn’t like him because of his lack of charisma. Also, I don’t believe those stories about him in Capri. Seems like slander. He was a very strict man.
@@myaccount4699 Agree with this strongly. He was a bit of a terror to the senate but a solid emperor and general, and much of the killing of his family was done by Sejanus, rather than him. I think a part of it is that some of his best work was during Augustus's reign such as securing the Illyrian and German borders, and Augustus is given credit for them since they happened during his reign on his orders.
I think he might have been the inspiration for Tyrion Lannister.
Yeah! That was MY exact thought when I first read about him! On top of that, Caligula, his nephew don't forget, certainly reminded me very much of Joffrey: A notoriously unpopular ruler who felt no urge to rule properly while treating his uncle as a toy to be mocked and undermined. Even if Caligula's supposed plan to make his favorite horse co-consul alongside Claudius (as another way of mocking him) really was just a legend and nothing else, it still sounds like the kind of idea both he and Joffrey would have gone through with. Like if someone said it to him he would have responded, "Hey! That DOES sound fun!"
I was felt that Joffery was a little more Nero than Caligula
Definitely , as Joeffrey is inspired by caligula .
@@TheRonster9319 Wow insult Nero why don't ya? Nero atleast was decent at ruling for a time.
@@Kris-wo4pj Nero was a puppet though. Same as Joffery lol
Rome in cartoons. Sophisticated noble people. Roman's in history: Nah these guys were nuts.
What cartoons? beside did you see ever a old movie about Roman?? they were far from good guys and worst, in real history they were the "better" guys than barbarians
Fritz XXI-TFK-777
Yeah I always have this image of Romans being all noble and sophisticated and then I actually read about them and I remember again that they were crazy as hell. And rather being amazed that the Roman Empire collapsed, I am far more amazed that it lasted as long as it did.
@@joellaz9836 but do you know around those times the people were mad like hell?? not just Roman, but everyone around the world-wide, and not for nothing after the Fall of Rome those times are called the "Dark Ages"
Joella Z for the day Romans were very civilised, but this was a day where life was a struggle in every way and people had less rules, you could be killed for the slightest transgression. Compared to other states at the time Rome might’ve been the most forgiving. However, when they started killing each other, certainly went overboard. An example of this is with Sejanus, who through plotting brought upon himself the ire of Emperor Tiberius. Sejanus was killed, but then his entire family was also in a bloody purge. Rome was all about its law and order but given the opportunity would slaughter each other willingly.
Not mutually exclusive \. Usually it's ancient Greeks seen like that
"And as for being half-witted? Well, what can I say? Except that I have survived to middle age with half my wits, whilst thousands have died with all of theirs intact! Evidently, quality or wit is more important than quantity!"
I think you mean "quality OF wits".
@@pyromania1018 Don't be pedantic, it's a very unattractive quality.
@@louthegiantcookie Get the quote right, and I won't have to, Bucky ;)
Yes, I've also watched I, Claudius.
@@James_Wisniewski Damn good isn't it? For my money it's one of the greatest TV shows ever made. I wish they still did historical shows of that caliber.
Emperor Claudius: Proof that kid picked last for sports can get to live longer than the ones that were picked first. Like a cross of "The Tortoise and the Hair" and "Game of Thrones".
“When you race the tortoise and the hare, you either win or you die”
It is the smart man that plays the fool as the fool is underestimated
Well, you know what they say. The tall poppy gets cut down.
The tortoise and the throne....aka "fast and furious 25"
I really like the reign of Claudius. And Claudius as a man. He jumped at his chance when fortune gave it and made himself the greatest man in the world even with his personal handicaps and failings. I didnt remember till this video how bad claudius had it growing up; and in any case I havent read Seneca yet. I have read Cassius Dio.
I can't hear the name Claudius whithout seeing Sir Derek Jacobi. Excellent, as always.
morskojvolk I’d be interested to find out just how much modern views of Claudius have been influenced by Robert Graves. There is an interview where Graves describes the traditional view of Claudius, in Graves’s own time, as an insignificant dotard. Graves talks of “Claudius wasn’t like that” as an intuition. As a Briton myself, I am aware that Claudius succeeded dramatically where Caesar himself very nearly came badly unstuck.
What I think one of the most tragic aspects of his story is that Agrippina was probably able to gain Cladious’ blind trust so easily because all she needed to do was be nice to him. He was so mistreated by his family and everyone else that he was starved for kindness and she may have been the first one to show him kindness, although insincere.
I should really stop watching these roman Biography videos as they're seriously hurting my love life. Acts of kindness/decency seem like a cover for something more nefarious.
If I ever meet a woman called Agrapina I'm making a run for my life...
Lol! Best pun I've heard in a long time!
She has a new name now
@@nhlanhlashamase3453 Karen?
I'm sure there is an agrapina hiding somewhere in southern Italy
Will anybody have that name today? 😂
I am sorry you didn't mention Claudius' work as an academic. This included a History of the Etruscans, and a History of the Carthaginians. And apparently Claudius could read, write and speak Etruscan and wrote a Lexicon / Dictionary of Etruscan. Sadly aside from a few fragments none of Claudius' works have survived.
ooooo... wow...
Dang, so we could've rediscovered the Etruscan language thanks to his efforts? What a shame.
Yes, I still hold my hope one day in some forgotten basement they find examples, Claudius was an interesting dude.@@thevisitor1012
The best leaders are those who do not want power.
Not always, actually if you look up emp. Tiberius, he didn't want to be and because of that he was a pretty weak emp.
It's always said he was paranoid but that was for a good reason because of the powervacuum his reign created there were a lot of candidates to fill it.
It's more the reasons you want power, in order to fix a broken system or just for personal gain or glory.
This axiom is true, if those leaders also have a strong desire to serve the common good. Standing by and doing nothing is letting evil prosper.
9:45 that relief was perfect. The Praetorians look like. "What the Hell do we do now? I don't know!? But try looking that way and I look this way!"
Sentient spiky suppository: I'm not supposed to be giggling this hard at work!
Same problem! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Love it!
We'll I would say Claudius likely had a sense of empathy and knew from experiences of seeing all the evil done around him to leave some things alone.
1:40 - Chapter 1 - The family of blood
4:45 - Chapter 2 - From bad
8:00 - Chapter 3 - To worse
11:10 - Mid roll ads
12:35 - Chapter 4 - Stepping stones to greatness
15:45 - Chapter 5 - Changing attitudes
18:40 - Chapter 6 - Goodbye , Uncle
I must admit my interest in Claudius began with Robert Graves's books, I Claudius and Claudius The God (and then the BBC series I Claudius) in 1976. I later read all I could find about him. He was a study in bad judgment in his personal life, but he lived to become emperor of Rome and did a mostly good job of it. He tried to undue Caligula's tyrannical edicts, built more aqueducts, and conquered Britain among some of them.
The fact that he managed to stay alive through Tiberias and Caligula's bloody reigns are proof of how clever he was. Unfortunately, he didn't have the foresight to realize what a monster his nephew was before making him his heir, instead of his son Britanicus.
Claudius has always been one of my favorite emperors. I've always thought history didn't give him the credit he deserved.
Don't think so. Legions of people praising Claudius (or rather the Gravesian fictionalized depiction of Claudius) surely go to show he gets appreciated enough. Considering the fact he was as far from being a benign emperor as Tiberius and Gaius, I don't reallt understand why he's passed as some kind of hero.
@@tiberiuscave4617 what do you mean by "far from benign" his whole thing was about being cool with literally everyone
@@minimax9445 Well, he executed 35 senators, 221 knights, often trialing them in his own cubiculum, starved to death his niece, executed another, lead a bloody kangaroo court in the aftermath of Messalina's downfall. How is Claudius benign? No doubt he was not evil, but no doubt he was quite ruthless, much like his relatives.
Truly underrated as a man and Emperor. Such was life for Uncle Claudius
If you like this watch 'I Claudius with Derek Jacoby you'll love it
Best series ever! In the top 10 best quality series ever made...they do present it on PBS very rarely...But a definite MUST watch at least once on your life....totally accurate about the general atmosphere,family connections and unfolding diabolical connivances (including murder) and every human evil behavior the Romans are famous for.A great program in every detail.
Great series I have rewatched it multiple times, and it's on youtube as well.
Also the books by Robert Graves that inspired the series are very good. I, Claudius & Claudius the God
P-p-p-poison??!!!
I saw it when it originally aired. I was 6 yo, and my father, who was a total Anglo-file, had me stay up an hour after my bedtime on a school night to watch, (it aired on Sundays). Ironically, at the same time as this, he forbade me to watch The Flinstones, which aired in reruns during the afternoons. One day when he came home from work, he almost caught me watching it, and I would have been in so trouble, but my mom helped me keep it from him.
Hail Emperor Butt-Cactus! That's an even better nickname than Caligula!
I disagree. Long live Emperor Bootsie!
@@pyromania1018 Just don't offer to sacrifice yourself in exchange for the gods sparing him!
I could not stop laughing at "rectally-inserted cactus", lost it when you called Tiberius x
'General Butt Cactus' 🤣
"As popular as a rectally inserted cactus,"
I knew those things were gonna take off!
Claudius is the Forrest Gump of Rome it seems.
exept hes smart
Honestly if I was Claudius after 3-4 assassination attempts, I’d go full Caligula on the 5th guy. By the time I’m done everyone who ever thought about it would suffer a leaky bladder at the mere thought.
Claudius was a man who totally deserves my respect. Despite his disabilities, the constant bullying he suffered since his childood, his tragic amorous life, the great amount of assassination attempts he suffered and losing many of his loved ones (specially his brother Germanicus), he probably became the best Roman Emperor in history. This disgusting World we live in didn't deserve someone like him. I just hope he's now reading his works in Heaven among the other Gods
“Butt Cactus” Sounds like a good name for a band. Their hit single “Hemorrhoid Rage”
Zack Belden 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I love how Claudius looks like Augustus, look at their ears!
I think certain disability comes with humility and a greater capability for compassion, and this was his strength in the end.
Although as I said before about Caligula, if the disability is a constant suffering that no one seems to understand, this can turn in the complete opposite direction.
I believe Claudius was the best emperor of the julian claudian dynasty after Augustus of course.
11:01 “…the greatest Emperor since Augustus”
As much as I love Claudius, the competition for that role was not fierce 😂
I'm a proponent of Claudius' pro-flatulance policies.
According to Suetonius (something of a flatulist himself), as Claudius began choking from the poisoned mushrooms, he discharged an explosive fart that might have saved him, so a slave on Agrippina's payroll inserted a poison-dipped feather into his mouth to finish the job.
Make Rome Fart Again
Dereck Jacobi's performance as Claudius was brilliant.
Claudius was _sharp._ Highly sensitive also.
Caligula named Claudius as Consul, and was in fact quite fond of Claudius, because - in his own words - Claudius was the "only one to ever be truly kind to him." The 'forcing' Claudius to take out huge loans was more the actions of a spoiled boy than the demands of a tyrant. _(As in whining until Claudius found a way to pay for his whims. Most of us know a relative such as this.)_ Claudius knew the boy was sick in the head, but he also pitied him. He saw _how_ he had been pushed to become a monster.
that actualy makes caligula a very sad tale
I don't envy historians having to sift through the timeline of events where practically everyone has the same dozen names just shuffled around in random order
'Emperor Butt-Cactus': I am going to have some weird dreams tonight.
6:40 - Fill the little boy's boots? I see what you did there.
I, Claudius used to be free on UA-cam. Shame something so classic can't be offered to the masses free of charge. It's a timeless masterpiece.
You can find it if you search
That PBS mini-series "I, Claudius" is pretty good, especially for the production value.
We watched it in History class back in the day.
Its more like a play than a TV show.
Great series although it's a BBC production
@@phildavies7666 oh derp 😆 I didn't even think about it.
It was PBS where I always watched it and where my teacher recorded it from.
Back in the days of VCRs and that big, heavy bulb TV ratchet-strapped to a cart.
That kinda ages me, doesn't it.
BBC not PBS! Clearly a UK production
And when we had paper books :-) Have you read the original books by Robert Graves?
@@phildavies7666 no. We just watched the series.
Back when math wasn't conceptual.
“...an entire cutlery set.” Yikes, what a mangled metaphor. The whole time Simon was waxing poetic, I could not help but think of Sir Derek Jacobi and his tour-de-force performance as Claudius for PBS so many years ago. Still, this was a pleasant reminder of one of history’s true albeit unlikely success stories.
I, Claudius was an outstanding series on PBS years ago. I think it had been put out by the BBC. It’s lengthy but worth the watch.
Great job, as always! I live in Lyon, the city where he was born and a few months ago, there was an exhibit on dear old Claudius and it was such a massive success, it was almost always sold out and they had to add more dates !! Not too bad, for a fool lol
"The soothing hemorrhoid cream of Germanicus.."
hahahhahah love you Simon
I'd love to see a Monty Python of Claudius' life. With guest star, Peter Sellars as Claudius. Ah, the good ol days.
Simon and Team....I truly don’t know how you all do it. You had me laughing at “rectal cactus” and somber at the deep felt words at the close. To be considered a good and decent man is a wonderful thing whether it be Ancient Rome or our modern society. Thank you all for this video. You should be nominated for an award.
My favorite, well, one of my favorite Roman emperors. He passed legislation that you could break wind at a senate meeting. And he did everything he could to integrate the Gauls and was a good adminestrator.
I just discovered this channel and I am completely - and pleasantly - blown away ! My academic achievements vis-a-vis ancient history have always been,, I am ashamed to say, abysmal. This channel has awakened an appreciation for history - I cannot thank Simon and his coworkers enough - the presentation is brisk, to the point, and engaging in no small measure due to the injection of witty humor here and there.
Gentlemen, I thank you most sincerely !
Such is life for uncle Claudius...
“Say not always what you know, but always know what you” Claudius
Stop with the quotes
@@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un Never
His brother germanicus is who should have been emperor he was Rome's Alexander the great
I believe it was Augustus' wife who poisoned Germanicus? And I totally agree with what you say here.
@@icatz there's alot of possibilities on who poisoned him but him and his father drucus the elder were amazing military minds and if either him or germanicus had become emperor I think they might have possibly even outdone Augustus I believe they would have conquered up to the Elba river and pacified Germania and conquered Dacia before Trajan and continued conquering into Mesopotamia as caesar was planning and I think they had the military minds to have been successful at all 3 especially if drucus the elder hadn't died so young from a freak accident and germanicus and him had been in control of the legions working together cause germanicus displayed military genius at a young age
@@NYCfrankie Preaching to the choir.
Claudius, by all accounts, would've agreed with you. He was often heard to say he wished Germanicus had been alive to rule instead of him. However, Germanicus might not have been nearly as good an Emperor for Rome, domestically, as Claudius turned out to be.
Germanicus was a glory hound who was very popular in the army but had little to no political skill. The main reason he kept campaigning out of Rome was because he hated dealing with the Senate. From what has been written of him by contemporaries like Claudius himself it's apparent Germanicus would have behaved like Tiberius towards the Senate if he had become emperor. Also, he wasn't that successful in actual warfare, given that the Arminius campaign was basically a series of slogging quagmires with very little to show in the end. The reason Germanicus has a great rep today is because he had two emperors who were his fanboys and never ceased extolling his virtues while he was alive: His own son and brother.
The comparison to Alexander is apt. Alexander's campaigns bankrupted Macedon and denuded his core lands of productive youth. This became immediately apparent once the Diadochi split the empire, showing Macedon as the poorest and weakest of the lands, primed for takeover by fledgling warlords. This would have been the case with Rome had Germanicus become emperor.
These Roman Emperor videos are great. Terrific work.
This has become one of my fav channels recently, keep up the great work!
My sleeping wife: What is so funny. Your shaking the bed
Me pulling headphones out: 😂I’m watching a biography on a Roman Emperor🤣
My wife: 🤫🙄 (eyes rolling out loud).
Thank so much for posting.
Simon: "...like...Buster Keaton in a hurricane."
Millenials: "Who?"
It wasn't an accident. He was Livia's hail mary...
I, Claudius is an extremely underrated and influential TV show. Watch it, Love it.
I second that. I saw it five years ago for the first time and loved it.
Absolutely love this channel!
"no mean feat when you remember those other relatives were total arseholes"
And that sort of thing, Simon Whistler, is why I watch your many, many channels.
Now I gotta rewatch "I, Claudius"
My personal favorite player of the imperial game. If anything it shows that he was Nikita Kruschev of his era. Playing an idiot saved his life and was the best course of action.... but bloody hell over 300 assissination attempts...or alleged ones. This is insane levels right there. It rivals everything else thus far. If he only saw the dangers of Aggripina in time... but alas. All Hail to the best emperor :).
Emperor Claudius - The Dale Gribble of Roman age
Caligula most likely made Claudius consul because he was the brother of his father, Germanicus.
Caligula, in his early reign, made attempts to raise up his side of the family. Including honouring Livia's will, whicb Tiberius ignored.
Aggripina the Younger is one of my favourite Romans we know about.
The BBC series "I, Claudius" from 1977 is a probably the best rendition I've ever seen. Derek Jacobi brilliantly plays Claudius, and the rest of the cast is just as brilliant. A young John Hurt plays Caligula, Sian Phillips, Brian Blessed, Patrick Stewart before Star Trek or even Excalibur, John Rhys-Davies et al. If it has any faults it would be the lack of production value. That aside, the acting and story is so engaging you hardly notice.
"Hey Claudius, you killed my father. BIG mistake"
Claudius has a touch of the Khrushchev's about
What? Not a game of thrones reference???
What manner of man are you sir?
Really?
Disappointed I only just discovered this fantastic channel today with the Augustus video. Great work, please keep it up...
I recommend the series “I, Claudius” if you are interested in the story of Claudius
jajajaja man, I've seen TONS of your videos, but the humor in this one is particularly good ! Keep those videos coming !
I loved it! Thank you Simon
Good work guys. Love the way you tell the story
Ah, this one, I've been waiting for. Thanks for posting!
"No mean feat when you remember that all those relatives were arseholes." LMAO
Such is life for uncle Claudius
That viper in the intro to 'I, Claudius' was awesome!
Mr. Simon might overestimate Tiberius's unpopularity; he was considered an able administrator after all. Most of the criticism has to do with jockeying for power at the top.
I wonder if Augustus saw a bit of himself in Claudius. Maybe not in the full "He's like the son I always wanted" way. Moreso like "Everyone thought I wouldn't amount to anything until Caesar took me in. Maybe I should keep a close watch on the kid."
I haven't seen your videos in forever. Top Tenz back in 2015 I watched your videos all day. You're one of my top eight favorite youtubers. I'm watching a TV show on Netflix and they mentioned Emperor Claudius who was poisoned by his wife. And I looked it up and it just popped up so I'm going to watch it later.
Great vid, brilliant points you make. Keep up the good work!!
Emperor Butt-cactus. Dude, you owe me a beer. Mine was just ejected through my nose!
I so love Simon's adlibs and smart antics lol so funny!!! A whole cutlery set!!!! Lol
Agreed. Claudius is one of the very best Rome produced--a surprisingly steady hand for a very critical time. He is a personal favorite historical figure for me.
Great video!
"emperor Butt-Cactus"!!!! so awesome!