One area in which Claudius was keen to demonstrate the 'democratic' tradition he had inherited both from the Claudii and from Iulius Caesar was the distribution of corn to the urban population. Responsibility was transferred from the aerarium to the fiscus; legal privileges were granted to importers of grain; there were changes in the system of distribution - to bring an end to the crush which had taken place once a month, eligible citizens were given tickets telling them on which day of the month to collect their allocation. The fact that it was the emperor, not the Roman state, who ensured that people did not starve, was symbolized by the fact that distributions were now undertaken by an imperial procurator (the de Minucid), though there is no positive evidence that the senatorialpraefecti frumenti dandt were formally abolished; the post had in any case largely been a sinecure. The personal role of the emperor and his family in looking after their dependent people by ensuring the proper functioning of the corn supply is shown by its use to publicize the succession. In 45, Octavia's betrothed, Lucius Silanus, represented Claudius at the distribution of largesse.
Coins and inscriptions confirm the emperor's personal interest in providing his people with 'Augustan grain' and fresh water. Apart from constructing the Aqua Claudia, Claudius instituted a second gang of slaves to look after Rome's aqueducts. He took equally seriously his patronal responsibilities to protect the people from fire and flood damage. An inscription shows that the canal he had dug in the lower reaches of the Tiber as part of the works associated with the construction of new harbour facilities at Ostia was not only intended to assist navigation, but also advertised as having the result that 'he freed the city from the danger of flooding'.44
Claudius was consul yet again in 47. Together with Vitellius, he also held the first formal census for over thirty years. This again was a way of honouring his supporters, and seeking the support of potential opponents. A large number of new senators owed their position to Claudius; and many families which had played a political role for two or three generations were raised to patrician status. Of course, we should not exclude completely a genuine feeling for past tradition as one of Claudius' motives in wanting to hold the ancient office of censor, and ensuring that there were patricians to carry on archaic religious rituals.
That Claudius had genuine antiquarian interests is clear from the speech in which he defended his decision to allow Gallic aristocrats who were Roman citizens to stand for political office and join the Senate. The speech is summarized by Tacitus, and fragments survive from a copy set up at Lyons.45 When the census was completed in 48, the consul Lucius Vipstanus Poplicola duly suggested that Claudius should be granted the tide pater senatus-, that was rejected - it would have defined the relationship of dependence of all senators on the emperor too clearly for comfort.
In the same year, he arranged a series of magnificent spectacles associated with the ceremony of the ludi saeculares, the date of which he had himself re-calculated so as to coincide with the eighth centenary of the foundation of Rome. They included a performance of the 'Troy game'; it was noted that when Britannicus, aged six, and Claudius' grand-nephew, Agrippina's son the nine-year-old Domitius Ahenobarbus, led the two groups, it was Domitius, as a descendant of Germanicus, who won most applause. But notwithstanding his descent, Domitius was still too young to be considered by Claudius a potential transitional ruler to fill the gap until Britannicus was old enough to succeed. One suitable candidate for this caretaker role was Antonia's husband Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus. The likeliest immediate successor to Claudius was still Lucius Silanus, who had been elected praetor peregrinus in this year (ten years or so before the normal age). The prominence of the Silani in these years can also be deduced from the fact that Lucius' brother Marcus Iunius Silanus had been consul ordinarius for the entire twelve months of the year 46.
The year 48 also saw the last major threat to Claudius' rule, an attempt by his wife Messallina to replace him. Responsibility for the removal of a number of potential rivals both inside and outside the imperial household is ascribed to her by our sources: they include Germanicus' daughter lulia Livilla and C. Appius Iunius Silanus in 42; Tiberius' granddaughter lulia (wife or widow of Rubellius Blandus) in 43; powerful senators such as Catonius Iustus in 43; Marcus Vinicius in 46, and Valerius Asiaticus in 47. Also in 47, the husband of Claudius' daughter Antonia, Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus, was executed, together with the parents through whom he derived descent from Pompey and Crassus. Antonia was re-assigned to Faustus Sulla, a son of Domitia Lepida: as Messallina's half-brother, he was no threat to her. In at least some of these cases, the blame may be assigned to Messallina. She had a claim to Julian blood in her own right, and was building up a power base for herself and her two children. But her plans threatened not just Claudius' daughter Antonia, but also many of the servants of the domus « ILS 212 = GCN 369 = AN 570; cf. Griffin 1982 (в 237).
Caesaris. The freedmen Narcissus and Mnester organized the opposition to her; she was accused of planning - or perhaps actually carrying out — a divorce, followed by a remarriage to the patrician Gaius Silius, who would presumably rule Rome as her consort until Britannicus was old enough to take over. Claudius was convinced of the truth of these allegations, and Narcissus had Messallina executed.46
Although Messallina's plot was suppressed, it again underlined the weakness of Claudius' rule. Despite his promise to the praetorians never to have anything to do with women, another matrimonial alliance was essential to put an end to speculation about the succession. There were several possible candidates. Lollia Paulina, who had been married to Caligula, was supported by Callistus, who had served that emperor. Antonia's mother Aelia Paetina had been married to Claudius before, and was descended from an ancient republican family. Agrippina was the most direct descendant of Augustus. Her candidature was strongly opposed by the freedman Narcissus, who saw that it would be the end of Britannicus' chances of succeeding. Agrippina was selected, thanks to the support of Antonius Pallas, who had been the trusted procurator of Claudius' and Germanicus' mother Antonia. Vitellius was given the task of asking the Senate to set aside the legal objections to a marriage between uncle and niece, and the wedding was celebrated on i January 49.
The rise of Agrippina implied the fall of the man who had been nearest to being Claudius' successor during Britannicus' minority, Lucius Iunius Silanus. For several years, he had been engaged to Claudius' daughter Octavia, now aged ten. Again it was the loyal Vitellius who arranged what was necessary: he accused Silanus of incest with his sister Iunia Calvina, the wife of his own son Lucius. Four days before Claudius' wedding, Silanus was forced to give up the praetorship to which he had been appointed and was expelled from the Senate. His only option was to kill himself. The new dynastic relationships were demonstrated publicly during Claudius' fifth and last consulship in a.d. 50: on 2 5 February he adopted Agrippina's son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus as Nero Claudius Caesar. Agrippina herself was given the title of Augusta, and her birthplace Cologne honoured with the title Claudia Ara Agrippinensis. After Nero came of age in a.d. 51, the Arval Brethren prayed for him in the same terms as for Claudius himself; he was appointed princeps iuventutis\ and Cassius Dio mentions an edict in which Claudius entrusted the cura of the empire to Nero. For the next ten years, those men against whom Agrippina bore a grudge - such as Galba and Vespasian — disappeared from public life.