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Narcissus
Secretary general who handled the emperors correspondance from all areas of the empire
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Pallas
- Head of the financial department
- He supervised the revenues into the imperial provinces
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Callistus
- Legal secretary
- Dealt with judicial inquiries and looked after the emperors court papers and cases
- He had also been associated with the conspiracy of Gaius' death
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Polybius
Librarian and speech writer
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Felix
Was given commands some infantry cohorts and was the governor of Judea from AD 52- 60
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Harpocras
He earned the privilege of riding through rome in a litter and threw public entertainments "as though he were an eques"
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Posides
A eunuch "to whom at his British triumph he actually awarded an honorary spear"
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Tacitus' attitude towards the freedmen
He felt nothing but contempt for them, referring to them constantly as ex slaves
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Suetonius quote about the freedmen
"Claudius fell so deeply under the influence of these freedmen and wives that he seemed to be their servant rather than their emperor"
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Why did the principate need to be modified administratively
Because the running of the empire and become more complex and so in order to increase efficiency Claudius centralised and streamlined government by creating new offices of state
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What did the freedmen do
They were the chief officers of the new offices of state
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How did the freedmen wield so much power
- Through patronage and intrigue
- They also acquired riches by legitimate and illegitimate means
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What years was Claudius censor
47 and 48
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How did Claudius encroach on the Senate's privileges (4 things)
- He set up the imperial civil service and the senate became embittered as they watched the emperor entrust confidential tasks to his freedmen
- He also held 4 consulships
- He freed the the fisci from the control of the senate
- Executed senators and equites
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How many senators and equites did Claudius execute
He executed 35 senators and 300 equites with "little apparent concern"
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Why was Claudius popular with the equites
Prior to being made a senator he had been one of them
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What was the position of censor
Traditionally 2 senators had been elected every 5 years to conduct a census, review the membership of the senate and oversee public morality
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What was Claudius like as a censor
Suetonius comments that as a censor "he proved inconsistent, as much in his general principles as in his particular decisons"
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What is the Lyon tablet
- Preserved another version of Claudius speech to the senate c. AD 48 regarding the addition of provincials
- Although it is slightly different to Tactitus' account it is mostly similar
- Both show that interruption was allowed, highlighting Claudius' liberal policies
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Examples of Claudius' incompetence as censor
- Suetonius tells us that he once published 20 edicts in one day
- One of these edicts concerned how good that years wine tasted
- He relied heavily on inaccurate information collected by informers
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What was the name of the law which introduced provincials to the senate
Consul popicola
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7 Reforms Claudius made to the senate
- Added provincials
- He returned the election of magistrates to the senate
- In AD44 he returned the provinces of Achea and Macedonia to the senate
- Changed the duties of queastors
- Made changes to how equites were to rise through the ranks of a military career
- He joined the court sessions which had previously been split into summer and winter into one
- Expelled bad senators
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How did Claudius expell bad senators
He offered them the chance to step down to avoid humiliation
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How did Claudius show respect for the senate
- He encouraged the senators to debate and vote seriously
- In his speeches he argued with moderation and recognised the Senate's point of view
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Influence of pallas
- Pallia promoted Agrippina as Claudius' fourth wife and was possibly later her lover
- Tacitus tells how he was awarded 15 million sesterces by the senate and they openly praised him
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Influence of Narcissus
His role in messalina's death
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Claudius' social reform aspects
- Public works
- Justice
- Religion
- Finance
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Suetonius quote on Claudius public works
- "Claudius' public works, though not numerous, were important"
- He also tells how Claudius took all possible steps to import grain and that he even encouraged non romans to build ships which he insured against storm damage
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What was Claudius' general policy towards justice
- He had a great interest in justice and spent a lot of time in the courts
- He introduced legislation ruling against the harsh treatment of debtors, banning unruly behavior in the theatre and helping slaves
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Suetonius quotes on Claudius and justice
- "Claudius was a most conscientious judge"
- "however his behavior in court varied unpredictably... He had a tendency to decide against which ever party happened to be absent... Such erratic behavior brought Claudius into open and widespread behavior"
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3 examples of Claudius' public works
- Completed 2 aqueducts to carry water to the hills of Rome
- Constructed a new harbour at rome
- Built an extensive road network in Italy and in the provinces
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What was Claudius' general policy towards public works
He was interested in improving utilities and accomplishing great engineering feats
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What was Claudius' general policy towards religion
- He attempted to follow Augutsus' policy to restore some of the old religions
- He suppressed Druidism, Judaism and astrology but was tolerant of many other faiths
- He prohibited the worship of himself in the provinces
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What was Claudius' general policy towards finance
He focused on concentrating financial control in his own bands, such as pallas' control of the imperial treasury and pro-curators increasing the supervision of taxes in the provinces
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Suetonius quote about Claudius and religion
"in matters of religious ritual... Claudius not only revived obsolescent traditions but invented new ones"
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How do we know Claudius gave many public shows
Suetonius details the many different types of gladiatorial games in a variety of places "where nobody had ever seen them staged before"
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Major public work in Claudius reign
He held a secular games just 47 years after Augustus
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