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#EpigraphyTuesday - A cracking piece today, with the bronze tablets preserving elements of Claudius' speech to the Senate in AD 48 on admitting Gauls to the Senate.
Image: Lugdunum Museum (AD012); ILS 212. Link - lugdunum.grandlyon.com/fr/Oeuvre/1209…
Image: Lugdunum Museum (AD012); ILS 212. Link - lugdunum.grandlyon.com/fr/Oeuvre/1209…
Discovered in 1528, the bronze panels record Claudius' response to a request from the leading citizens of Gallia Comata that they should be allowed to hold public office in Rome.
Claudius' attempts to convince the Senate of the sense of this proposal include historical examples of 'foreigners' who had brought great benefit to Rome, including the early kings Numa Pompilius and Tarquinius Priscus.
Ancient Coin of the Day: A dupondius of Claudius, ca. AD 41-50. The decoration on the Reverse features 'CERES AUGUSTA' - 'The Augustan Goddess of Corn' - one of a number of personifications of imperial divinities that featured on Claudius' coinage. #ACOTD
Image: RIC Claudius 94
Image: RIC Claudius 94
While the dating of the coin cannot be firmly established, it seems likely that the design was among the earliest produced by Claudius following his accession, given the circumstances with Rome's grain supply at the beginning of his reign.
Seneca (On the Shortness of Life 18.5) informs us that on Claudius' accession the Roman people had only "seven or eight days' food supplies yet remaining", highlighting how precarious the situation of Rome's food supply was and how crucial its management was.
Ancient History Quote of the Day: "He was orphaned as a baby, and nearly the whole of his childhood and youth was so troubled by various diseases that he grew dull witted and had little physical strength" (Suetonius, Claudius 2)
Thread on #Claudius born 1st August 10 BC #AHQOTD
Thread on #Claudius born 1st August 10 BC #AHQOTD
Suetonius also says that "on reaching the age at which he should have won a magistracy or chosen a private career he was considered by his family as incapable of doing either."
Image: Bronze head of an imperial statue, probably Claudius, found at the River Alde, Suffolk (BM).
Image: Bronze head of an imperial statue, probably Claudius, found at the River Alde, Suffolk (BM).
Other sources such as the 'senatus consultum de Pisone patre' (SCPP: 148) and the inscription from the statue group of the imperial family, possibly from Ticinum (EJ 61), both seem to suggest Claudius' remote position in the imperial family.
