¿Le temí­a Claudio a la muerte? [Suetonio, Claudio 43-46]

Abstract

All ancient sources present Claudius' accession to power as a fortuitous evento According to them, Claudius became emperor by chance and all his reign was characterized by insecurity and instability. Such an instability being so great he was obviously afraid. But this defect, fear, is greatly exaggerated by Suetonius, who devotes several chapters to its description. Nevertheless, when the moment comes for hí­m to narrate Claudius' death and his decision of the successor in favour of Britannicus, his son, and his courage implicit in that decí­sion, Suetonius presents a simple and short narration of the facts. Suetonius has deliberately reduced the í­mportance of this last act of Claudius, by narrating it in a simple and concise way, without commentarí­es, without interpretation, and at the same time, he has emphasized and exaggerated his defects, fear and cruelty. The main goal of this paper is, therefore, to show the tendentious feature present in Suetonius' narration and to rescue the image of the unjustly reviled emperor