Western Civilization I / Unit 7 WC1 0606 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Tiberius Ends Expansion; Caligula and Claudius
Captions available
The idea
Tiberius, fourteen to thirty-seven, was competent for a decade and ended sustained expansion, a shift in priorities rather than a policy. Caligula, thirty-seven to forty-one, ruled by cruelty and was murdered. Claudius, forty-one to fifty-four, conquered Britain and built a true bureaucracy.
In practice
Incitatus the horse supposedly consul; Claudius poisoned by his wife.
Where people slip
Historians have rehabilitated Tiberius, the anchor says. The murders stand.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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