AS SEEN ON TV: CLAUDIUS I

We celebrated one famous Italian yesterday with a showcase for Marco Polo. And today we have Roman Emperor Claudius.....

CLAUDIUS I

AS SEEN IN:
"I, Claudius"

AS PLAYED BY:
Derek Jacobi

From Wikipedia:

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( 1 August 10 BC – 13 October 54 AD ) (Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to AD 4, then Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus from then until his accession) was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 24 January AD 41 to his death in AD 54. Born in Lugdunum in Gaul (modern-day Lyon, France), to Drusus and Antonia Minor, he was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italia.

He was reportedly afflicted with some type of disability, and his family had virtually excluded him from public office until his consulship with his nephew Caligula in AD 37. This infirmity may have saved him from the fate of many other Roman nobles during the purges of Tiberius' and Caligula's reigns; potential enemies did not see him as a serious threat to them. His very survival led to his being declared emperor (reportedly because the Praetorian Guard insisted) after Caligula's assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family.

BCnU!