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The Julio-Claudian dynasty refers to , Tiberius , Caligula , Claudius , and Nero . They ruled the Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 68 , when the last of the line, Nero , committed suicide. The five rulers were linked through marriage and adoption into the familial Gens Julia and Gens Claudia .


DYNASTIC RELATIONS

The dynasty is so named because its members were drawn from two of the Patrician Gentes of Ancient Rome, the Julii and the Claudii . Its founder, Augustus , was a Julian through his adoption by his great-uncle, Julius Caesar . Augustus' stepson Tiberius , whom he adopted as his successor, was a Claudian. The final three Julio-Claudian emperors— Caligula , Claudius I and Nero —were all of joint Julio-Claudian Ancestry .

The dynasty of the five emperors included in the ''Julio-Claudian dynasty'' are all linked to Julius Caesar either by marriage or adoption, and their "right to rule" by their relationship to the first emperor, ''' Caesar Augustus '''. Augustus was not initially a Julian, but became one after being adopted by Julius Caesar. ''' Tiberius ''' was born a Claudian but, like Augustus before him, became a Julian upon his adoption. The third emperor, ''' Caligula ''', however, had both Julian and Claudian ancestry being a Julio-Claudian, and was also a direct blood great-grandson of Augustus. The fourth emperor ''' Claudius ''' was a Claudian, though he was descended from the Julian family through his maternal grandmother Octavia Minor —sister of Augustus—whose own maternal grandmother was Julia , Caesar's sister. Like Caligula before him, ''' Nero ''' also shared Julian and Claudian ancestry. Nero, again like Caligula, was a descendant of Augustus, a blood great-great-grandson.


GREAT-NEPHEWS

It is interesting how commonly the blood relationship of great-uncle
/great-nephew is found between the rulers of Julio-Claudian dynasty.
  • 1) Augustus was the great-nephew of Julius Caesar (and his adopted son).

  • 2) Caligula was the great-nephew of Tiberius (and his adopted son)

  • 3) Claudius was the great-nephew of Augustus.

  • 4) Nero was the great-nephew of Claudius (and his adopted son).

    • The other recurring relationship between emperor and successor is that of stepfather/stepson, a relationship not by blood but by marriage:

  • 1) Tiberius was Augustus's stepson

  • 2) Nero, as well as being Claudius' great-nephew, was also his stepson (his mother Agrippina being Claudius' niece, and also Claudius' fourth wife). The uncle/nephew relationship also is prominent: Tiberius was Claudius' uncle, and Claudius was Caligula's uncle.


No Julio-Claudian Emperor was a blood descendent of his immediate predecessor. Both Tiberius and Claudius had male direct descendants (Tiberius' grandson Tiberius Gemellus , Claudius' son Britannicus ) available for the succession, but their great-nephews were preferred.

The fact that ordinary father-son (or grandfather-grandson) succession did not occur has contributed to the image of the Julio-Claudian court presented in Robert Graves' '' I, Claudius ,'' a dangerous world where scheming family members were all too ready to murder the obvious, direct heirs so as to bring themselves, their own immediate families, or their lovers closer to the succession.


EMPERORS OF THE DYNASTY

# Augustus ( 27 BC – AD 14 )
# Tiberius (14– 37 )
# Caligula (37– 41 )
# Claudius (41– 54 )
# Nero (54– 68 )


SEE ALSO