Claudius AD 41-54 Silver Denarius Lyon

Claudius AD 41-54 Silver Denarius

Bust / SPQR in wreath

The Twelve Caesars

Lyon

RCV1848, 17mm, 3.07g

CLAUDIUS

Tiberius Claudius Drusus was born in Lugdunum on the same day that Augustus dedicated the Great Altar of Lugdunum in 10 BC. The younger son of Nero Claudius Drusus, brother of Tiberius, and Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony.

He was seriously ill as a child and as a result suffered some form of paralysis. Despite his uncouth manner he was a surprisingly good horseman. Claudius was also intelligent and devoted himself to scholarship authoring histories on Carthage and Etruria. Upon the assassination of Caligula he was proclaimed emperor. Claudius proved himself to be a competent ruler and added to the empire through the invasion and partial conquest of Britain in AD 43.

His martial affairs were turbulent and he was responsible for the execution of his third wife Valeria Messallina. He then married Agrippina Junior adopting her son Nero as heir in preference to his own son Britannicus who was later murdered.

Claudius died in AD 54 allegedly from a surfeit of mushrooms although it is thought that these had been poisoned by his wife Agrippina ensuring that the succession went to her son Nero.