For most of his life, Claudius was the Rosemary Kennedy of the Caesars. Without the ice pick lobotomy. Hidden from the public. If he wasn’t allowed to participate in Roman affairs, he would look elsewhere. He became a historian, writing a ton of books about his family, the Carthaginians, and about Etruscan history. But he wasn’t boring. He was a bit of a womaniser, and loved to watch games in the arena, gambling, eating, drinking. Things only started to turn around for him when became Caligula’s co-consul in 37 – but whether or not this was Caligula’s little joke is hard to say.

If you're seeing this message, it means you aren't logged in as a subscriber. If want to listen to the premium episodes of the series - hundreds of episodes on the lives of Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero and the Year of the Four Emperors - you’ll need to become one of our subscribers. REGISTER NOW to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's (thank you, Jesus, for that quote).