Claudius

In Hamlet, the tragedy written by William Shakespeare, King Claudius begins the Act I, scene II by announcing his recent marriage to his murder brother’s wife, Gertrude. After the announcement, he is brought a letter from Fortinbras demanding the land his father lost returned to Norway. He sends Voltimand and Cornelius to speak to the King of Norway about his vengeful nephew. Claudius is then presented Laertes, who seeks permission to return to France and is granted the right to leave Denmark.…

Nero, stepson of Claudius, was not favored to inherit the throne of Rome until Nero's mother convinced Claudius otherwise. Nero would reign over Claudius' biological son. Shortly after Nero was set as the heir, Claudius was poisoned by a mushroom and died. Nero and his mother Agrippina stepped to the throne. After his stepfather’s convient death, Nero became the fifth Roman empire. In the beginning of his reign, Nero acted for the benefit of his people. He reduced taxes, banned capital…

There is a saying that if you do one good thing and one bad, people will always remember you for the bad. A possible cause for this being that humans would rather see the bad in others versus the bad in themselves. This is especially true for many world leaders who often have the possibility of “messing things up” on a much bigger scale. A good example of this is Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome. Nero’s legend was truly a product of his mother. Telling Nero’s story would be…

adultery and how she manipulated Claudius to achieve her desires with other men. Cassius Dio puts Claudius into an unflattering light, making him appear compliant to Messalina’s wishes and gullible towards her. Dio appears to be critical of both Claudius and Messalina. He mentions another instance of Claudius being manipulated by Messalina by using a freedman, Narcissus, to warn Claudius of the dream he had in which Silanus had murdered Claudius . Messalina used Claudius to have Silanus killed…

Only with Nefertiti, she and Akhenaten shared a common goal, whereas Agrippina acted as a free agent, especially in the manipulation of Claudius to adopt her son, Nero, and make him the next emperor. Agrippina and Nefertiti are also similar in that they both reigned as regent after their husbands died. However, Nefertiti’s reign ended with her death, while Agrippina’s reign ended with Nero…

For years Roman entertainment has fascinated historians. Gladiators were one form of entertainment. The Romans liked gladiators because they liked seeing blood, it gave them hope, and they liked to celebrate a champion. The entertainment of the people was the first priority, the gladiator’s lives not so much. The biggest population of gladiators were slaves, prisoners of war or criminals (Watkins 9). The gladiators were taught to fight with a short sword and shield. Others used a net and a…

Hamlet is not sure of the Ghost's account, not sure that the phantom is indeed the spirit of his father, or that of a demon. In order to prove that Claudius is a murderer, Hamlet plans to reveal the King's guilt through means of a play: I'll have grounds More relative than this-- the play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King. (2.2.603-605) Hamlet urges Horatio to observe the King's reaction to the play so he can be sure of his guilt and positive that…

investigate Augustus’ granting of rights to equestrians that permitted them to enter Egypt and Arminius being an equestrian in his youth, Tiberius’ attitude and role in treason trails and the role of Sejanus, Gaius’ relationship with the Senate, Claudius’ actions towards the Senate and his promotion of equestrians, and finally Nero’s relationship with the Senate and the role…

“fiddled” while his great city burned. Some contradictory sources such as Tacitus, however, have reasoned that Nero did not torch Rome, a judgement which is shared by several significant modern scholars. Regardless of his role in the fire of Rome, Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus was undoubtedly a ruthless historical figure, with his years ascending to the Emperor being almost as tumultuous and deceptive as those in office. Nero was born of…

Embodiment of a True Leader Exceptional leaders have come from many different backgrounds and have existed in many different time periods, but they always share a few traits that distinguish them from the rest. The same goes for not so great leaders while they may share some of the traits mentioned before by not possessing as little as one of the aforementioned traits they earn their place among the most notorious leaders of all time. The leaders I will discuss, in chronological order are…