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biography
| name: |
Claudius
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in full Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
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pronunciation:
[klawdius]
| sex:
| male
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| born:
| 10 BC
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| died:
| 54 AD |
| biography:
| Roman emperor (41–54), the grandson of the Empress Livia, the brother of Germanicus, and the nephew of the Emperor Tiberius. Kept in the background because of his physical disabilities, he devoted himself to historical studies, and thus survived the vicious in-fighting of the imperial house. Becoming emperor largely by accident in the chaos after Caligula's murder, he proved to be an able and progressive ruler, despite his gross and sometimes ridiculous indulgence of his wives and freedmen. Through his lavish public works and administrative reforms, he made a lasting contribution to the government of Rome and the empire, and through the annexation of Britain, Mauretania, and Thrace, a significant extension of its size. He died poisoned, it was widely believed, by his fourth wife Agrippina. |
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