Claudius (10 B.C.-A.D. 54) was the emperor of Rome from A.D. 41 to 54. Claudius was a capable but eccentric ruler. He built aqueducts, drained marshes, and made a harbor near Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber River. However, he became unpopular for executing senators and for giving secretaries who had been slaves great influence. He ordered the conquest of Britain that began in A.D. 43 and made the Balkan Peninsula (then called Thrace) a Roman province in A.D. 46. He also granted citizenship to many people from Rome’s provinces.
Claudius was born on Aug. 1, 10 B.C., in Lugdunum (now Lyon), France. His full name was Tiberius Claudius Nero. Lame and a stutterer, Claudius was kept from public view in his youth. He spent his time studying and writing histories of Etruria and Carthage. Claudius married several times. After he married his niece Agrippina the Younger, he adopted her son Nero. Claudius died on Oct. 13, A.D. 54, and it is generally believed that Agrippina murdered him so that Nero could become emperor (see Nero ).
