Claudius, Messalina and how not to choose political advisers

The Prime Minister has been having some trouble with his inner circle of advisers. Tacitus supplies fine examples of how they worked in Rome.

Emperors chose whomever they liked to advise them. Augustus, for example, chose men like Agrippa and Maecenas, who had provided excellent service for him while Rome was still (just) a republic. The fourth emperor C-C-Claudius, by contrast, despised by the imperial family but thrust into power by the military, put his trust in politically experienced and highly efficient Greek freedmen (ex-slaves). Pallas was put in charge of the treasury, Narcissus in charge of correspondence (nothing got past him), and Callistus in charge of justice and law. One incident illustrates the way Narcissus worked.

Most popular

Cristina Odone

Parents are asking too much of teachers

Claudius’s third wife, Messalina, was young, attractive, randy and faithless, as everyone but the besotted Claudius knew. Crazily, she ‘married’ the incoming consul Silius.