La ridicolizzazione delle risposte di Claudio a fenomeni di opposizione al suo principato

When one thinks of ridiculed emperors, the thought cannot fail to go to the ‘pumpkinified’ Claudius. Derided as varius and censured for his cruelty, he is above all mocked as unable to keep in check his wives and freedmen, who freely condemned numerous men to death. This essay focusses on three instances of executions: Junius Silanus in AD 42, Valerius Asiaticus in AD 47, and Valeria Messalina and Gaius Silius in AD 48. These three episodes are linked by Claudius’ portrayal as so faltering that he looks risibly inept. However, this article analyses the protagonists and the context of the episodes, and the accounts of the extant sources in order to try and discern a conscious political action that aims to lay the blame of the condemnations on other people while steadying and strengthening the political standing of the ‘hidden’ beneficiary.