Claudius Caesar
Claudius Caesar
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USDThe story of Claudius has been often told before. Ancient writers saw the emperor as the dupe of his wives and palace insiders; Robert Graves tried to rehabilitate him as a far shrewder, if still frustrated, politician. Josiah Osgood shifts the focus off the personality of Claudius and on to what his tumultuous years in power reveal about the developing political culture of the early Roman Empire. What precedents set by Augustus were followed? What had to be abandoned? How could a new emperor win the support of key elements of Roman society?
This richly illustrated discussion draws on a range of newly discovered documents, exploring events that move far beyond the city of Rome and Italy to Egypt and Judea, Morocco and Britain. Claudius Caesar opens up a new perspective not just on Claudius himself, but all Roman emperors, the Roman Empire, and the nature of empires more generally.
- Gripping narrative of Claudius' years in power, allowing the reader to understand the interrelationship of key events and the process of decision-making within one emperor's reign
- Exploits many recently discovered documents, as well as more familiar texts such as Tacitus' history and the New Testament, and explores how these can best be used for the reconstruction of imperial history
- Includes numerous illustrations, demonstrating how important visual imagery was in the political culture of Rome
Reviews & endorsements
"Claudius Caesar is an altogether exemplary biography." --BMCR
"...the book reads well, perhaps because of the character that Osgood puts into his writing. ...Osgood creates what might be termed a political biography and, as a result, has made a very useful contribution to our understanding of both Claudius and the early principate." --Ancient History Bulletin Online Review
Product details
December 2010Paperback
9780521708258
374 pages
229 × 152 × 17 mm
0.59kg
82 b/w illus. 5 maps
Available
Table of Contents
- Prologue: the Roman Empire in 41 AD
- Introduction: the problem of Claudius
- 1. Claudius Caesar
- 2. A statue in silver
- 3. Imperial favors
- 4. Subduing the ocean
- 5. Lists of peoples and places
- 6. Caesar-lovers
- 7. The eight hundredth year of Rome
- 8. Practical pyramids
- 9. The burden of government
- 10. The judgment of Pallas
- 11. Signaling retreat?
- 12. The golden predicament.
