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DDH - Death By Mushroom · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  History's strange, it's alien, and it won't give us what we
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  would like to have. Rome in 54 The Common Era was no
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  stranger to political intrigue, backstabbing, sometimes quite
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  literally, and an ever changing balance of power.
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  But even for Rome, the events surrounding the transition from
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  Claudius to Nero were nothing short of extraordinary.
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  Let's take a look at how an awkward, underestimated man like
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  Claudius rose to power, and how his death under suspicious
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  circumstances ushered in the age of Nero, an emperor whose legacy
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  is written in flames and in blood.
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  Claudius's early life was, well, let's just say no one ever
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  expected this man to end up on the throne of Rome.
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  Born in 10 before the Common Era, Claudius had a series of
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  physical ailments, a limp, a stutter, all of which made him
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  the butt of his family's jokes. His relatives, including the
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  brutal Caligula, saw him as weak and incapable of holding any
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  real position of authority. For years he was shuffled aside,
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  treated as little more than a non political pawn in the
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  imperial family, a curiosity more than a threat.
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  But in A twist of fate, in 41 of the Common Era, when his
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  deranged nephew Caligula was assassinated, Claudius became
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  the surprise choice to replace him, declared emperor by none
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  other than the Praetorian Guard. Initially he was thought to be a
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  puppet of the guards in the Senate, but he quickly proved
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  himself to be a capable leader. He conquered Britain, reformed
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  the Roman legal system, and expanded the Empire's
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  bureaucracy. A man no one took seriously
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  actually went on to become Rome's most efficient emperor.
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  But even the most effective rulers are never far from
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  danger, especially when family politics come into play.
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  Claudius had quite the turbulent personal life, with four
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  marriages. His fourth and final wife,
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  Agrapina. The younger.
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  His niece. Yes, his niece was an ambitious
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  woman with designs on power. Agrapina brought with her a son
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  from a previous marriage, a young man by the name of Lucius
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  Demisius, whom we know today as Nero.
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  In 50, Agrapina convinced Claudius to adopt Nero, making
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  him the heir to the throne, leapfrogging Claudius's own
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  biological son, Britannicus. The move was orchestrated by
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  Agrapina, set the stage for an inevitable clash of power.
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  She was always lurking in the background, had her eyes firmly
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  set on securing the empire for her son, and she wasn't about to
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  let anything or anyone get in the way.
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  Now, here's where things get murky.
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  On this day in 54, Claudius died, and his death has been
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  shrouded in mystery ever since. Officially, the story is that he
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  passed away from illness, but ancient historians were not so
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  sure to see this. Cetonius, Gassius Dio all
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  suggested that Claudius may have been poisoned, and not just by
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  anyone, but by his loving wife. The most popular version of the
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  story claimed that Agrapena poisoned Claudius by serving him
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  a dish of his favorite food, mushrooms, that had been
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  poisoned. Some say the poison was
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  delivered slowly through repeated doses, while others
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  suggested that it was all done in one final meal.
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  Theories even exist that a feather Claudius used to induce
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  vomiting after the meal had also been laced with poison.
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  So why, you ask, would she go to such lengths?
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  Simple time was running out for her.
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  Claudius had begun to favor his biological son, Britannicus,
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  over Nero. If Britannicus reached
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  adulthood, Nero's path to power would be blocked.
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  She couldn't risk that. So it's been long believed that
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  she hastened Claudius's demise to ensure that Nero would take
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  the throne. And just like that, after his
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  death on October 13th in 54, Nero ascended to power.
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  He was only 16 years old, but his mother had already set the
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  wheels in motion for a smooth transition.
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  And it wasn't long before Nero made sure his adopted father was
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  deified, which was a standard practice for Roman emperors.
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  But there was a clear reason behind it.
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  By deifying Claudius, Nero cemented his own legacy as
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  emperor. After all, the son of a God was
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  destined to rule, wasn't he? The early years of Nero's reign,
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  Agrippino remained a dominant force, pulling the strings
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  behind the scenes. But it didn't take long for Nero
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  to tire of her influence, and he began to assert his
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  independence, with disastrous results for those around him.
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  But that's a story for another day.
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  In the end, what kind of emperor was Claudius?
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  Well, he was far from the weakling his family had
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  initially assumed. He ruled for over 13 years,
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  during which he brought stability and competence to the
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  Roman Empire, expanded its territory, and reformed its
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  government. But despite his achievements,
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  his legacy was tainted by the constant manipulation of those
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  around him, especially his wives.
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  Let's not forget that his death was overshadowed by rumors of
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  murder, a fitting end for a man who ruled in a time of
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  unparalleled intrigue. With him gone, all eyes turned
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  to Nero, and what followed was nothing short of a spectacle.
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  At first, his reign showed promise, guided by Seneca and
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  Burris. His early years were marked by
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  relatively stable governance, but soon the cracks would begin
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  to show. Nero wanted freedom from his
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  mother's grip, and he wasn't going to let anything, family,
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  friends, or even Rome itself stand in his way.
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  From the murder of his mother, to the persecution of Christians
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  to the infamous Great Fire of Rome, Nero's reign would spiral
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  into chaos. Claudius's death was just the
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  beginning of that wild and destructive ride.
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  The death of Claudius in The Rise of Nero is a tale of
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  ambition, poison, power, and as much as Claudius's reign is
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  remembered for its accomplishments, it is his death
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  in the circumstances around it which paved the way for one of
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  the most notorious emperors in Roman history.
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  Nero's time and power would be defined by extravagance,
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  cruelty, and a growing instability that will leave a
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  lasting mark on the empire. Check out more stories from
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  history@davedoeshistory.org.