Leaderboard

This has been suggested often enough but why would anyone involve doddering and stuttering Claudius? He stood little to gain from such a conspiracy ad indeed was lucky not to have been slaughtered in the family purge that followed the assassination of Caligula. The Praetorians had other plans when they found him hiding behind a curtain - he was their ticket to preserving their perks and privileges. So a tense stand-off between the magistrates (who had seized power with the urban cohorts) and the Praetorians (who had seized Claudius) for a day or two. The Senate backed down and had Claudius declared Princeps.