frankq Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Anyone have any dope on the size of Claudius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Anyone have any dope on the size of Claudius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Dictionary of Greek & Roman biography & mythology just repeats Suetonius. For me, if William Smith and gang didn't elaborate with any other account, then that is all there was/is to go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankq Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 The issue with her always stuck with me when I read I, Claudius back in the 70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankq Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 BINGO! I found something. From a German historian, Maike Vogt-L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 BINGO! I found something. From a German historian, Maike Vogt-L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankq Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 There were no footnotes, so I would have to wade through her long bibliography. She has many juicy tidbits too about Messalina that I haven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I'm a little suspicious. Claudius was not an adonis, and quite clearly was lucky he wasn't exposed at birth. Having been sidelined for his disabilities he nonetheless makes appearances at public events. Would the Divine Augustus want him married to someone so coarse and unappealing? Wouldn't that make the embarrasement of Claudius worse? Perhaps poor Plautia has received a bad press. She may not have been as desirable as some, but Boter got off with her didn't he? She was therefore willing to entertain an affair with someone of lesser status and quite possibly felt that being hitched to Claudius was a comedown despite being married into the royal family. It is interesting that she isn't described in better detail by anyone. A sign of an unremarkable woman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotWotius Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I believe Urgulanilla recieves a bad press because of her name. A while back I mentioned the name to a friend who has no idea who she is (like all the cool kids do), and the first thing that came to her mind was a brute with hairy arms and one eyebrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankq Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I'm a little suspicious. Claudius was not an adonis, and quite clearly was lucky he wasn't exposed at birth. Having been sidelined for his disabilities he nonetheless makes appearances at public events. Would the Divine Augustus want him married to someone so coarse and unappealing? Wouldn't that make the embarrasement of Claudius worse? Perhaps poor Plautia has received a bad press. She may not have been as desirable as some, but Boter got off with her didn't he? She was therefore willing to entertain an affair with someone of lesser status and quite possibly felt that being hitched to Claudius was a comedown despite being married into the royal family. It is interesting that she isn't described in better detail by anyone. A sign of an unremarkable woman? Interesting speculation but she married Claudius in 10 AD, only four years before Auggie's passing. And they (royal family) tried to keep Claudius out of the limelight as much as possible. When Tiberius came to power, decorum and social events went to the winds, he could have cared less. Yet, I think your suspicions are well founded. Compare the match to her to Messalina, a head turner of the times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.