Her marriage to Claudius was not based on love, but on power.

Polonius assumes that the " ecstasy of love " is responsible for Hamlet's " mad " behaviour, and he informs Claudius and Gertrude.

Edward Gibbon remarks, " f the first fifteen emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct.

She is a loyal wife deeply in love with her husband Drusus, however, she is unloving towards her son Claudius whom she regards as a fool.

Since Legenda Aurea still provided no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single.

If this is the case, then he was the son of Exuperantius of Poitiers, of whom the contemporary pagan poet Rutilius Claudius Namatianus wrote: " Even now his father Exuperantius trains the Armoric sea-board to love the recovery of peace ; he re-establishes the laws, brings freedom back and suffers not the inhabitants to be their servants ' slaves.

Hamlet speaks this on his entry to Act 3 scene 1 ( known as the ' nunnery scene ' because of the Hamlet / Ophelia dialogue after the speech ) which is when Polonius and Claudius put into effect their plan, hatched in Act 2 scene 2, to watch Hamlet with Ophelia to determine whether, as Polonius thinks, his ' madness ' springs from " neglected love ".

Edward Gibbon mentions, of the first fifteen emperors, " Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct "— the implication being that he was the only one not to take men or boys as lovers.

"; Wir Pflügen, harmonised by Dykes and commonly sung to the words " We plough the fields, and scatter " ( a translation of the German hymn " Wir pflügen und wir streuen " by the late eighteenth-century German poet Matthias Claudius ); Melita, sung to the words " Eternal Father, Strong to Save " ( sometimes known as " For those in peril on the sea " from its recurring last line ); Gerontius, sung to the words " Praise to the Holiest in the height " ( taken from Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius ); O Perfect Love ; and Dominus Regit Me, sung to the words " The King of love my shepherd is ", one of the many metrical versions of Psalm 23.

When he returned to the narrative later in life, Claudius skipped over the wars of the second triumvirate altogether.

Since the new Emperor was not any more generous than the old, Claudius gave up hope of public office and retired to a scholarly, private life.

The resultant flood washed out a large gladiatorial exhibition held to commemorate the opening, causing Claudius to run for his life along with the other spectators.

Nevertheless, many in the Senate remained hostile to Claudius, and many plots were made on his life.

Claudius himself claimed that he had exaggerated his ailments to save his own life.

Claudius wrote copiously throughout his life.

Claudius, now fearing for his life, finds a legitimate excuse to get rid of the prince: he sends Hamlet to England on a diplomatic pretext, accompanied ( and closely watched ) by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Claudius also suffered tragic setbacks in his personal life.

Claudius ' reign also included several attempts on his life.

His success as the legate of a legion, earned him a consulship in 51 after which he retired from public life, having incurred the enmity of Claudius ' wife, Agrippina.

* The captured Caratacus is exhibited in chains in Claudius ' triumph in Rome, but his dignified demeanour persuades the emperor to spare his life and allow his family to live free in the capital for short period of time.

Claudius had served with the Roman army for all his adult life, making his way up the military hierarchy until the Emperor Gallienus made him the commander of his elite cavalry force ( hipparchos ) and subsequently his military deputy.

What little is known of Titus's early life has been handed down to us by Suetonius, who records that he was brought up at the imperial court in the company of Britannicus, the son of emperor Claudius, who would be murdered by Nero in 55.

Little is known about her life prior to her marriage to Claudius in AD 38.

The final period of Marcus Claudius Marcellus ’ life began with his fourth election to Roman consul in 210 BC.

Historically, Claudius ' family kept him out of public life until his sudden coronation at the age of forty nine.

The life of Claudius provided Graves with a way to write about the first four Emperors of Rome ( Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius ) from an intimate point of view.

Since he wishes to record his life for posterity, Claudius chooses to write in Greek, since he believes that it will remain " the chief literary language of the world.

Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life.

Drawn from life by the historian Matthew Paris for his Chronica Majora, it was the first elephant to be seen in England since Claudius ' war elephant.

Polonius ' death at the hands of Hamlet causes Claudius to fear for his own life, Ophelia to go mad, and Laertes to seek revenge, which leads to the duel in the final act.

* Claudius Quintianus Pompeianus, a young senator, and the son-in-law of Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus and Lucilla ; he was persuaded by Lucilla to attempt the life of her brother, the emeperor Commodus, but failed and was put to death.

She was the second granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, mother of the Emperor Caligula, maternal second cousin and sister-in-law of the Emperor Claudius and the maternal grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Her mother ’ s marriage to Agrippa was her second marriage, as Julia the Elder was widowed from her first marriage, to her paternal cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus and they had no children.

Livia was the first Roman Empress and was Augustus ’ third wife ( from Livia ’ s first marriage to praetor Tiberius Nero, she had two sons: the emperor Tiberius and the general Nero Claudius Drusus.

Germanicus was the first son born to Antonia Minor and Nero Claudius Drusus.

She was a great-granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter of the Emperor Tiberius, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece and fourth wife of the Emperor Claudius, and mother of the Emperor Nero.

His mother was Antonia Minor and his father was the general Nero Claudius Drusus.

Claudius was Agrippina's paternal uncle and third husband.

Through his mother Antonia Major, Domitius was a great nephew of Augustus, first cousin to Claudius, and second cousin to Agrippina and Caligula.

In the first years of Claudius ’ reign, Claudius was married to the infamous Empress Valeria Messalina.

After Messalina was executed in 48 for conspiring with Gaius Silius to overthrow her husband, Claudius considered remarrying for the fourth time.

Claudius had a reputation that he was easily controlled by his wives and freedmen.

Another freedman, Gaius Julius Callistus, was against Claudius remarrying Paetina and stated to Claudius that he divorced her before and that remarrying Paetina would make her more arrogant.

Pallas stated to the emperor that as Lucius was the grandson to Claudius's late brother Germanicus, by marrying Agrippina, Claudius would ally the two branches of the Claudian house and imperial family.

Claudius was seduced by her passions.

In Roman society, an uncle ( Claudius ) marrying his niece ( Agrippina ) was considered incestuous, and obviously immoral.

In the months leading up to her marriage to Claudius, Agrippina's maternal second cousin, the praetor Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus, was betrothed to Claudius ’ daughter Claudia Octavia.

She also was a stepmother to Claudia Antonia, Claudius ' daughter and only child from his second marriage to Aelia Paetina, and to the young Claudia Octavia and Britannicus, Claudius ' children with Valeria Messalina.