Reconsidering Claudius: Ancient Rome’s Unexpected Emperor
Jan 7, 2027, 6:45 PM ET<a href="https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/reconsidering-claudius?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&promo=276223" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/reconsidering-claudius?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&promo=276223">smithsonianassociates.org…</a>
Historian Colin Elliott argues that, by Roman elite standards, Claudius should never have become emperor. Mocked for his physical disabilities, excluded from politics, and portrayed by hostile writers as a fool, his accession after his nephew Caligula's assassination shocked many. Yet during 13 years in power, Claudius improved aqueducts, harbors, the grain supply, and conditions for slaves, while overseeing the conquest of Britain. Despite his eccentricities and insecurities, says Elliott, he proved a capable ruler whose practical reforms benefited much of the empire.