Claudiusor Tiberius Claudius Drusus

Claudius, or Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, the son of Drusus and Antonia, and grandson of Livia, was born at Lyons in 10 B.C Afflicted from his childhood with lameness and defective speech, he was brought up in seclusion and neglect, devoting himself to literary studies. Caligula promoted him to the consulship, and after the murder of that emperor he was clothed by the Praetorians with the purple (A.D. 41). Personally he displayed an honourable ambition to fulfil the duties of the position. He built the Claudian aqueduct, made the harbour at Ostia, took an active interest in the administration of justice, headed an expedition to Britain, and admitted the Gauls to the higher offices of state. His interests were scholarly - though Suetonius says he always selected the most futile of subjects, such as Who was Hecuba's grandmother? and What language the sirens spoke, and he tried to add three letters to the alphabet. But he was weak enough to yield to the influence of his wives and favourites. He married four times. Messalina, his third consort, was put to death after a career of shameless vice for going through a form of marriage with one of her lovers. The freed men, Narcissus, Pallas, and Polybius, in turn swayed the counsels of their master, who was wrapped up in the composition of historical works, none of which survive. His last wife, Agrippina, having induced him to set aside his own heir Britannicus in favour of her son Nero, poisoned her husband in 54 A.D. in order to prevent his altering his mind.