From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (42 page)

Undeterred by the advice of Augustus that the Empire should be kept with the limits that he had established for it, Claudius added no less than five provinces: Mauretania (two provinces), Britain, Thrace and Lycia. This policy arose partly from the legacy that he had received from Gaius of a Mauretania in revolt and of a Britain proclaimed as ripe for annexation, but also in part from his belief that the time had come to advance and to replace client-states by direct rule in some areas.

The revolt of Mauretania, which followed the murder of its ruler Ptolemy by Gaius (see p. 241), was led by one of his freedmen Aedemon, but it could not last long. The conquest of the country was begun by C. Suetonius Paulinus (41–2), who in a bold march became the first Roman to cross the Atlas mountains and reach the Sahara; it was completed by Cn. Hosidius Geta by 44. Two provinces were created, Mauretania Caesariensis and Tingitana with capitals at Caesarea (Cherchell) and Tingis (Tangiers) respectively; both towns, together with Tipasa and Lixus, received colonies of Roman veterans.
^11a
The conquest of Britain is described below (pp. 252 ff.): in 43 Claudius hastened to join his general Aulus Plautius, who had forced the Thames, and witnessed the defeat of Caratacus. South-east Britain became a Roman province with a colony of veterans established at Camulodunum (Colchester) and its frontiers guarded by client-kings. Claudius himself, who returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph in 44, named his young son Britannicus. In Thrace, which had long been restless, the reigning king was murdered by his wife, and Claudius decided that the time had come to annex it (46). Lycia, which also had been disturbed, was made a province in 43.

In Gaul, where some whole tribes received Latin rights and many individuals were given Roman citizenship, there was much development. The legate of Lower Germany, Cn. Domitius Corbulo showed his military efficiency be reducing the Frisii who were again restless (47) and by checking raids of the Chauci who were organizing piracy in the North Sea under the leadership of Gannascus who had served formerly in the Roman Auxilia. After killing Gannascus and destroying his ships Corbulo was ordered by Claudius to withdraw westwards over the Rhine: the emperor had no intention of adopting a new policy towards Germany and the Rhine frontier. A colony was established at Cologne, named Colonia Agrippinensis in honour of Claudius’ wife, and colonial status was given to Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier or Treves), an important centre in the Moselle valley between the Rhineland and Gaul. The administration of Noricum was entrusted to an equestrian procurator in place of the
praefectus
whom Augustus had employed, while control of Achaea and Macedonia was given back to the Senate.

In the East also, especially in Asia Minor, road-building and other development proceeded apace. Claudius rewarded his friend Herod Agrippa for his past services (see p. 243) by installing him as ruler of Judaea, which since A.D. 6 had been a Roman province. But when Agrippa died in 44, Claudius judged that it might be too risky to leave such a key position under any other native ruler, and so Judaea reverted to provincial status, governed again by procurators. But Agrippa’s brother, Herod, who had been installed in the little principality of Chalcis, received the right to nominate the High Priests and to supervise the Temple of Jerusalem and its funds. Commagene was restored in 41 to its king Antiochus IV, whom Gaius had first installed and then deposed;
Antiochus reigned until 72 when Vespasian incorporated Commagene into the province of Syria. Towards Parthia Claudius at first showed a firmer hand than Gaius had done and managed to gain some control over Armenia owing to the dynastic dissensions in Parthia, but near the end of his reign a new king, Vologeses I, established himself on the throne of Parthia and his brother Tiridates on that of Armenia (52–4); thus it was left to Nero to tackle the Armenian question once again.

In some respects Claudius’ line of thought followed Julius Caesar rather than Augustus. He set less store on the privileges of Rome and Italy and tried to raise the status of the provinces by generous grants of Roman citizenship and municipal rights, not least in the less romanized parts of the Empire. This policy is well illustrated by his treatment of Volubilis in Mauretania, which is known to us from an inscription.
¹²
This town, which had helped Rome during the war, received Roman citizenship, municipal status and exemption from taxation for ten years; further, the native tribes (
incolae
) living within the territory of the
municipium
were ‘attributed’ to it. By this wise provision the more backward inhabitants of an area could be introduced to the responsibilities of city life by gradual stages: in this case, the
incolae
were probably given the right to vote for the municipal magistrates but not to hold office themselves. Rome thus gave citizenships to those who were ripe for it and trained the less civilized peoples of the empire in the responsibilities of citizenship before they were raised to this status. The colonies that Claudius established in Mauretania, Britain, Gaul and Germany have already been mentioned; there were others in Thrace, Cappadocia and Syria.

Claudius’ generous attitude to Roman citizenship, which is summed up in Seneca’s gibe that ‘constituerat enim omnes Graecos, Gallos, Hispanos, Britannos togatos videre’, is illustrated in another inscription containing an edict of Claudius granting citizenship to the Anauni and some other Alpine tribes.
¹³
Difficulty had arisen because these peoples had been assuming citizen rights in the belief that they were members of the
municipium
of Tridentum (modern Trento), whereas an enquiry showed that some of them were only ‘attributed’ to the
municipium
and others had not even this status. When Claudius found that many of them had made good use of their supposed citizenship (some were serving in the Praetorian Guard, others as centurions), he wisely granted them citizenship and thus showed that he believed this should be the reward given for service to those who had attained an adequate degree of Romanization. The extent to which in practice he granted citizenship to communities or individuals must not be exaggerated: what is important is that he realized that the Empire had now had time to settle down, that Latin culture was being more widely assimilated, and that further extension of rights was desirable.

The possession of Roman citizenship by a provincial gave him many social
and economic advantages, but it also enabled him, in theory, to stand for office in Rome and seek entry into the Senate: prejudice, rather than law, stood in his way. This issue became alive when some Gallic chieftains sought admission. During his censorship (47–8) Claudius outlined his policy in a speech to the Senate which is partly preserved in an inscription (the so-called Lyons Tablet found at Lugdunum) and also in the version given by Tacitus in the
Annals
.
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Drawing on his knowledge of Rome’s history Claudius emphasized that the Republic had flourished because it had welcomed foreign elements into the citizen body and because it had adjusted the constitution to meet each fresh need. Thus he persuaded a reluctant Senate to proclaim the right of all Roman citizens in Gallia Comata to stand for office in Rome. At the same time as censor he probably added some of the nobles of the Aedui to the Senate by virtue of his right of
adlectio
, thus saving them from the need to go through the minor qualifying offices. This was a great step forward: under Augustus the Senate had become more representative of
tota Italia
, and now Claudius opened the way to the Senate House for more provincials, though at the cost of alienating some of the older senatorial families.

Thus in general Claudius developed an imaginative provincial policy in line with Rome’s better traditions. He extended the frontiers, where he judged this advisable; he promoted good administration (a procurator like Felix in Judaea fell below the average); he suppressed disorders; and by extending citizen and municipal rights he began to raise the provinces nearer to equality with Italy.

Almost a century passed between Caesar’s invasion of Britain in 55 B.C. and the Claudian conquest in A.D. 43, and during these years the face of Britain had changed somewhat.
¹⁵
The south-east had been united within the kingdom of the successors of Caesar’s opponent Cassivellaunus, who had moved his capital to Prae Wood above Verulamium (St Albans) and had reigned peacefully until
c.
15 B.C. Later Cunobelinus (Cymbeline) overran the territory of the Trinovantes in Essex (whom Julius Caesar had protected against the Catuvellauni), parts of Kent and the middle Thames valley; he thus dominated the south-east. About A.D. 10 he moved his capital to Camulodunum (‘the fortress of Camulos’, the war-god, at Colchester) where it sprawled over some twelve square miles surrounded by dykes. Though essentially an agricultural community, as the corn-ear on the coinage proclaimed, the kingdom of Cunobelinus began to absorb Mediterranean influences. In art an interesting blending of Celtic and classical styles took place, while the British nobles began to demand luxury imports from the Roman world: jewellery, glass, fine pottery, metal-work and wine. These imports were paid for by exports
which in the time of Augustus included, so Strabo records, wheat, cattle, hides, slaves, hunting-dogs, gold, silver and iron; of these the metals must have come from beyond the borders of Cunobelinus’ kingdom. The import of goods from Italy and Gaul helped to stimulate the growth of a trading-post on the north bank of the Thames at Londinium. On the death of Cunobelinus his realm was divided between his sons Caratacus and Togodumnus (40–3).

West of this kingdom were rival tribes. Commius, king of the Gallic Atrebates, had deserted Julius Caesar and settled with his followers in Surrey and Kent (see p. 113). Other Gauls had followed his example, settling in Dorset and Hampshire amid peoples of their own culture. Such immigrants gave the name Belgae to the tribe in Wiltshire; they defended their settlements with great ramparts and ditches. Out of these warring tribes there emerged in Surrey and Sussex the realm of a descendant of Commius, named Verica (
c.
A.D. 10) who maintained himself for thirty years until he was driven out by Cunobelinus and his sons: he fled to Rome to seek help from Claudius, thus following in the steps of the exiled Amminius who had appealed to Gaius two or three years before (see p. 241). The fact that Verica had used the Latin title
rex
on his coinage suggests that he had had some contact with Rome earlier, even if he fell short of having become a client-king.

This appeal, though not determining Claudius’ policy, will have been timely, since he was already probably contemplating action against Britain, partly in order to restore prestige after Gaius’ fiasco, but primarily no doubt because he wanted and needed military success: the Praetorian Guard had helped him to the throne, but the armies as a whole would like to see the son of the elder Drusus in the field, extending the Empire and reviving Rome’s martial traditions. Lesser motives may have contributed to his decision, as the desire to stamp out Druidism (cf. p. 255) and to acquire wealth from the island. Further, the fact that the Britons replied to Rome’s refusal to extradite some refugees by causing disturbances on the coast of Gaul will have encouraged Claudius to act at once rather than to allow a British ‘question’ to develop in the future, the more so since the thought of annexing the island had been ‘in the air’ from the time of Augustus.

In A.D. 43 four legions were mustered under the command of Aulus Plautius: II Augusta, XIV Gemina and XX Valeria Victrix from the Rhine armies and IX Hispana from Pannonia. Together with their auxiliary troops they numbered some 40,000 men. Unwillingness to leave the quarters they knew led to a temporary refusal to embark, but at last they sailed in three divisions, and finally the main force landed in the safe harbour of Rutupiae (Richborough), where traces of their defensive works still survive. Their first real battle was fought against Caratacus on the Medway, where in a two-days’ engagement Vespasian, commander of the Second Legion, and Hosidius Geta contributed manfully to a decisive victory; Caratacus fled west, while the
troops of his dead brother Togidumnus retreated northwards. Plautius then halted the advance at the Thames and waited until Claudius could arrive and lead his troops to a final victory north of the river. Claudius then entered Camulodunum, the old capital of Cunobelinus, established it as the capital of the new province of Britannia, and received the submission of other tribes: Cogidumnus, King of the Regni, whose capital was at Noviomagus (Chichester in Sussex), received Roman citizenship and the title of ‘rex et legatus Augusti’; Prasutagus, king of the Iceni in Norfolk, was also accorded Rome’s friendship. With its flanks thus protected by client-kings, the new province was left to the care of its first governor Plautius, and Claudius returned to Rome where he celebrated a triumph, set up a commemorative arch in the Campus Martius and named his son Britannicus.

Since Caratacus was still at large, building up his strength in Wales, Plautius decided on a threefold advance. The Ninth Legion, acting as the right wing, advanced northwards towards Lindum (Lincoln) and established peaceful relations with Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, who occupied a large part of northern England. A central column marched through the Midlands. Vespasian, who led the Second Legion westwards, reduced Vectis (the Isle of Wight), over twenty native fortresses (
oppida
), and ‘two powerful tribes’, who will be the Durotriges and Belgae in Dorset and Wiltshire. Archaeological evidence has revealed the grimness of the struggle when the Romans stormed the great fortress of Maiden Castle and has shown how after capturing another fort on Hod Hill (near Blandford) they established a camp of their own on it for legionary detachments and cavalry. Soon the Severn estuary and the Wash had been reached, and it was perhaps Plautius rather than his successor P. Ostorius Scapula (47–52) who created a military frontier line (
limes
) based on the Fosse Way from Exeter to Lincoln with supporting forts, thus protecting S.E. England. Disturbances among the Silures of S. Wales and the Brigantes, however convinced Ostorius that to hold the lowlands required further advance. He therefore decided to disarm all tribes south of the Fosse Way and to advance beyond it into the gap between the headwaters of the Severn and Trent. He intervened against the Brigantes, and attacked the Deceangli of Flintshire (49), tribes that were perhaps acting together; he probably advanced his Midland troops to Uriconium (Wroxeter) for this campaign. He then turned to the Silures, with whom Caratacus had taken refuge, and established a legionary base at Glevum (Gloucester). But Caratacus, who had no intention of being caught like a rat in a trap, moved to the district of the Ordovices in N. Wales. Here, however, he was defeated in a pitched battle (perhaps near Caersws), and although he escaped to Cartimandua, the Brigantian queen handed him over to the Romans (51). Claudius, however, treated him well and kept him in honourable confinement in Rome. Thus Ostorius had done much to advance and strengthen the new province. He also established a
colony of veterans at Camulodunum, where the city was being developed on Roman lines as a worthy capital, with a temple of Claudius as the centre of the imperial-cult. This was the first colony in the province; it is uncertain whether Claudius gave the charter of a
municipium
to Verulamium. Thus Rome had gained firm control of S.E. England, with legions at Gloucester and (soon) at Lincoln to cover the Trent-Severn frontier, within which the autonomous client-kingdoms of the Regni and Iceni were allowed to exist. The whole area was now opened up to the peaceful penetration of Roman influences.
¹⁶