I, Claudius the Idiot: Lessons to be learned from reputation management in Ancient Rome

Within hours of the assassination of his predecessor, Caligula, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, henceforth referred to as Claudius, succeeded to the Roman Empire’s throne. Even though he was nephew to Emperor Tiberius, he had not even been considered a remote contender as he was widely regarded unfit for the job. Out of despair he had turned to drinking, gambling, and writing history. At the age of 51, he would succeed the likes of Julius Caesar or Octavian Augustus to great success for Rome. What followed next was a unique exercise in personality public relations. Claudius’s systematic management of his image holds lessons both for academics and practitioners, suggesting that image making by individual political leaders goes back well into history, predating the modern political era considerably