ed--that unbounded power, united with
the most extravagant abandonment to sensual pleasures, undermined his
intellect. His caprices and extravagance can only be explained by partial
madness. He had reigned but four years, and all expectations of good
government were dispelled. The majesty of the empire was insulted, and
assassination, the only way by which he could be removed, freed the world
from a madman, if not a monster.

There was great confusion after the assassination of Caius Caesar, and
ill-concerted efforts to recover a freedom which had fled forever, ending,
as was to be expected, by military power. The consuls convened the Senate
for deliberation (for the forms of the republic were still kept up), but
no settled principles prevailed. Various forms of government were proposed
and rejected. While the Senate deliberated, the praetorian guards acted.

(M1068) Among the inmates of the palace, in that hour of fear, among
slaves and freed men, half hidden behind a curtain in an obscure corner,
was a timid old man, who was dragged forth with brutal violence. He was no
less a personage than Claudius, the neglected uncle of the emperor, the
son of Drusus and Antonia, and nephew of Tiberius, and brother of
Germanicus. Instead of slaying the old man, the soldiers, respecting the
family of Caesar, hailed him, partly in jest, as imperator, and carried him
to their camp. Claudius, heretofore thought to be imbecile, and therefore
despised, was not unwilling to accept the dignity, and promised the
praetorians, if they would swear allegiance to him, a donation of fifteen
thousand sesterces apiece. The Senate, at the dictation of the praetorians,
accepted Claudius as emperor.

(M1069) He commenced his reign, A.D. 41, by proclaiming a general amnesty.
He restored confiscated estates, recalled the wretched sisters of Caius,
sent back to Greece and Asia the plundered statues of temples which Caius
had transported to Rome, and inaugurated a _regime_ of moderation and
justice. His life had been one of sickness, neglect, and obscurity, but he
was suffered to live because he was harmless. His mother was ashamed of
him, and his grandmother, Livia, despised him, and his sister, Livilla,
ridiculed him. He was withheld from public life, and he devoted himself to
literary pursuits, and even wrote a history of Roman affairs from the
battle of Actium, but it gained him no consideration. Tiberius treated him
with contumely, and his friends