EMPEROR CLAUDIUS / Vatican Museum

Claudius was the Emperor between 37 – 54 AD. He was the uncle of Caligula and fourth Emperor of Rome. He was a scholar who had the historian Livy as one of his tutors. He also stumbled as he walked. He suffered from a deformity because of polio, paralyzed as an infant. He was not taken very seriously until he became emperor or Rome, and gained prominence by his decisions. He added at least five provinces to the Empire, including Britain and Morocco (Mauretania). He appointed his freedmen to run the bureaucracy, including Pallas to run the treasury.

Paul the Apostle went on his missionary journeys mainly during the reign of Claudius.

This marble statue found in the Roman theater at Lanuvio. In ancient times Lanuvium was an important town in the nearby of Rome located about 30 km Southeast of Eternal City. Emperors Antoninus Pius and Comodus were born here.

This statue portrays him as the embodiment of Jupiter (Zeus in Greek) with the spectre, a sign of Jupiter’s absolute rule. He is wearing the civil crown of oak leaves and the eagle at his feet. Instead of holding a lighting bolt he holds a libation dish offering a libation for his country.