Claudius I was Roman emperor from 41- 54 CE. As emperor he greatly expanded the Roman Empire's infrastructure

1. Expanding the Roman Empire's infrastructure
in the time of Claudius I.
by Keith Armstrong
Abstract: Claudius I was Roman emperor from 41- 54 CE. As
emperor he greatly expanded the Roman Empire's infrastructure.
Keywords: Infrastructure, Roman, roads, aqueducts, port Osti,
lighthouse, fire brigade, Claudius I.
London
2015

2. Acknowledgments
This paper couldn't have been put together without the assistance of many people. I
am especially grateful for the time and assistance given by I am very grateful to all
those who have assisted me in so many ways with this research: Katharine Ganly,
David Gill, Judith Horsfall, Emilia Maggio, Cecile Mairat, Alice Newsholme,
Rachel O' Dowd, Eva Skoulariki and Weiyan Zhou.
Because of my physical impairment, I would also like to thank the many people who
have helped me to live and have given me support. This includes the people of
Camden.
I would like to thank the many people who have helped me to live and given me the
energy and encouragement to complete this article. This includes the people of
Camden, London. I am particularly grateful to the kind members of staff at all levels
within the British Library in London.
I am particularly grateful to the kind members of staff at all levels within the British
Library and to The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies in London.
-----------
I must point out that any factual errors or sentiment unwittingly suggested are
my responsibility alone. The punctuation and typeface of the authors quoted
have at times been modified.
All rights are reserved. The author's moral rights are asserted. No part of this paper
may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without written permission from the author.
© Copyright 2015 Keith Armstrong, London

3. .

4. 1
Expanding the Roman Empire's infrastructure in the time of Claudius I
There were numerous public works that were created or completed in Claudius' time.
Though they are few in number, they were undoubtedly essential. These included an
aqueduct (originally begun by emperor Caligula); and a water outlet at Lake Fucinus which
was three miles (4.83 km) in length. It was created partly by tunnelling through a
mountain.
This was a work of great difficulty. The tunnelling required eleven years of toil and thirty
thousand men (many of them slaves) labouring round the clock without interruption. [1]
The Claudian aqueduct is constructed of travertine stone. It sits upon a single tier of
arches to Rome with cool and copious fountains that would have spread into numerous
ornamented pools for its citizens. [2]
The remains of the Claudian aqueduct to Rome
which can still be seen today.

5. 2
The classical philologist, Vincent M. Scramuzza wrote:
As a general rule, no other Julio Claudian Emperor, with the exception of Augustus who
reigned three times as long, is represented in the known epigraphical collection copiously
Claudius, few other Emperors built as many roads as he. [...] [3]
Major Roman roads were constructed in Britain, Crete (Greece), Croatia, Egypt, France,
Germany, Sardinia (Italy), Spain, Switzerland, Portugal and Turkey. Two further
aqueducts were also built in Algeria and Turkey in Claudius' time. [4]
During Claudius I's reign, many road projects were completed, including the Alpine Via
Claudia Augusta and the Via Claudia Valeria in Italy. Other road projects helped to
upgrade major routes and bring them up to a Roman standard. Barbara Levick, in her
book Claudius, considers that Claudius' greatest achievement as a road builder was the
roadway over the Brenner Pass to link Tiberius' foundation, Augusta Vindeliciorum in
Augsburg and the Danube basin with northern Italy at Altinum and, further west on the
river Po at Hostilia, the road forking at Tridentum (Trent). The highway stretched for
about 350 Roman miles (525 km) [5]
Navis a Roman ship at sea

6. 3
Ostia in the time of Claudius
Claudius has many connections with the important Roman port of Ostia, from where he
sailed to conquer Britain. He instigated plans to greatly enlarge the harbour to improve its
efficiency and the safety of the ships and their cargo. Livy records that Roman Ostia was
founded before 616 BCE. [6] The town of Ostia takes its name from its locality as it was
constructed at the mouth of the river Tiber.
John White's Latin-English Dictionary reveals the Latin word 'Ostia' comes from the
Latin; ös, öris meaning the mouth (of persons or animals), oscìtä-tìo, önis, [oscit(a)-o]
means an opening of the mouth wide, hence at the mouth of the Tiber. [7]
Ostia is approximately fifteen miles (24 km) from Rome and here lies its significance to
Rome's growing power and population. Rome came to depend increasingly on imports
from overseas, many of which passed through the port of Ostia and then went up river to
Rome.
Russell Meiggs writing in Roman Ostia, states that:
There is little doubt that in the second half of the fourth century [BCE]
merchantmen were coming to the Tiber mouth and that Ostia served the
needs of trade as well as of defence. By the end of the third century the
emphasis had shifted to the navy. [8]
Bow and anchor of a Roman ship

7. 4
Rosa Maria Cimino writing in Ancient Rome and India considers that Ostia can be
viewed as the principal commercial and maritime province of the Empire. However, it was
known for a long time as wrought with dangerous obstacles. The mouth of the harbour was
less than a 328 feet (100 meters) wide, hence the harbour was not able to admit large cargo
ships with an average capacity of approximately three to four hundred tons. These ships
had to drop anchor in the open sea and transfer their cargo onto support boats. These
small vessels then acted as tug boats by which the cargo ships, relieved of their cargo,
were towed into port and assisted with mooring manoeuvres. The entire method was
dangerous, laborious, and certainly uneconomical. If during the operations of loading and
unloading, a sudden storm blew up, the sand banks in front of the mouth of the river posed
a grave danger to all concerned. [9]
Vessels of wine or oil

8. 5
Cimino informs us that at numerous times Rome tried to find original solutions to
the problem. Julius Caesar started the first project, but the enterprise was abandoned
shortly after his assassination.
However, Cimino states that:
In 42 CE, Emperor Claudius visualised a plan to build a totally new harbour
about two miles north of the river, where there already was a small natural
bay. His choice was criticised by engineers of that time, because of the
possible silting-up, due to the current, was greater on that side of the Tiber.
The Imperial desire won out, so the docks were excavated about 80-90
hectares in size. Two curved piers were built in the sea and at the centre of
the left one, a great lighthouse was built. Historians say that the foundation
of the latter was made by filling an enormous ship of Caligula [...] with
concrete and then sinking it. This ship is said to have originally been used to
transport the obelisk destined for the Circus Vaticanus, from Egypt to Rome.
[10]
In order for him to improve the supply of grain to Rome (which at that time
was mainly imported from the eastern Mediterranean) Claudius ordered the
construction of a new harbour at Ostia.This was managed by curving the
breakwaters, while before the entrance a lighthouse was placed in deep water.
Suetonius wrote that it was built on a very high tower after the model of the
Pharos at Alexandria, to be lighted at night and guide the course of ships. [11]
Claudius also stationed his people from Rome in Ostia to provide a fire service for its
granaries and warehouses. This was the start of the first fire brigade, although very
different from current fire services.

9. 6
A diagram of Portiis Augusti Ostiemis
Later on there was a major improvement to the harbour under Trajan (Roman emperor
98-117 CE). [12] Today the former harbour is silted up and it looks more like a simple grass
meadow than anything to do with the sea.

10. 7
Cimino adds that:
The port as a whole was finished after Claudius' death, under the reign of
Nero (conceivably in 64 CE). The experts' objections were correct: Claudius'
port was in constant risk of silting-up, and being too wide and not deep
enough, placed the ships at risk. At least two hundred boats were destroyed
at one time in the year 62 [CE], even before the official inauguration. [13]
However, Eric Warmington writing in The Commerce between the Roman Empire
and India, considers that:
Although Rome was the largest market for goods from the near and from the
far East, the port used for landing the more precious and fragile wares in
Italy was not Ostia, where the silting up of the Tiber caused danger and delay,
but the safer one, Puteoli (Pozzuoli), close to fashionable Baiae, and more
favoured for its proximity to the productive works of Campania [...] [14]
Naumachia

11. 8
Suetonius tells us of Claudius presenting a naumachiariis, a naval battle exhibited
as entertainment [15] involving the use of condemned prisoners;
[Claudius ...] gave several splendid shows, not merely
the usual ones in the customary places, but some of a
new kind and some revived from ancient times, and in
places where no one had ever given them before. [...]
when he was on the point of letting out the water from
Lake Fucinus he gave a sham sea-fight first.
Suetonius adds that when the combatants cried out: "Hail, emperor, they who are about to
die salute thee," he replied, "Or not,"" and after that all of them refused to fight,
maintaining that they had been pardoned. Upon this he hesitated for some time about
destroying them all with fire and sword, but at last leaping from his throne and running
along the edge of the lake with his ridiculous tottering gait, he induced them to fight, partly
by threats and partly by promises. At this performance a Sicilian and a Rhodian fleet
engaged, each numbering twelve triremes [oar powered war ships], and the signal was
sounded on a horn by a silver Triton, which was raised from the middle of the lake by a
mechanical device. [16]

12. 9
End Notes
Note 1: Suetonius, T., The Lives of the Caesars, V. XX.
Suetonius, Tranquillus, Caius, (1997, 2001: 36 - 37), The Lives of the Caesars: Vol. II, Loeb
Classical Library No. 38, [Trans. from the Latin by J. C. Rolfe], (Cambridge, Massachusetts
and London: Harvard University Press).
Note 2: Rich, Anthony, (Ed.), (1873: 45), Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities,
(3rd Ed.), (London: Longmans, Green, & Co.).
Note 3: Levick, Barbara, (1990, 1993: 173), Claudius, (London: Batsford).
Note 4: Levick, Barbara, (1990, 1993: 173), Claudius, (London: Batsford).
Note 5: Levick, Barbara, (1990, 1993: 173), Claudius, (London: Batsford).
Note 6: Epigraphical - inscriptions on buildings or structures.
Scramuzza, Vincent M., 'Claudius Soter Euergetes' Harvard Studies in Classical Philology,
51 (1940), 261.
Note 7: Livy, T., The History of Rome, I. XXXIII.
Note 6: John White's Latin-English Dictionary suggests its word origin came from the
Sanskrit root language that is based on an ancient dialect of India. However, the word is
not found in the general plural: White, John T., (1926: 432 - 3), Latin-English Dictionary,
(London: Longmans, Green & Co.).
Note 8: Russell Meiggs states that the Roman navy had been using Ostia since c. 338 BCE.
Meiggs, Russell, (1973, 1997: 24), Roman Ostia, (2nd Ed.), (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
Sadly, the photographs in Meiggs book are of a very poor quality considering it was
published by such an esteemed publisher as Oxford University Press.
Note 9: Cimino, Rosa Maria, (Ed.), (1994: 43 - 44), Ancient Rome and India :
Commercial and Cultural Contacts between the Roman World and India, (New Delhi :
[The Centre]).
Note 10: Rich, Anthony, (Ed.), (1873: 522), Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities,
(3rd Ed.), (London: Longmans, Green, & Co.).
Note 11: Cimino, Rosa Maria, (Ed.), (1994: 43 - 44), Ancient Rome and India :
Commercial and Cultural Contacts between the Roman World and India, (New Delhi :
[The Centre]).

13. 10
Note 12: Suetonius, Tranquillus, Caius, (1997, 2001: 9), The Lives of the Caesars: Vol. II,
Loeb Classical Library No. 38, [Trans. from the Latin by J. C. Rolfe], (Cambridge,
Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press).
Note 13: Cimino, Rosa Maria, (Ed.), (1994: 43 - 44), Ancient Rome and India :
commercial and cultural contacts between the Roman world and India, (New Delhi :
[The Centre]).
Note 14: Warmington, Eric Herbert, (1928: 4), The Commerce between the Roman
Empire and India, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Note 15: Rich, Anthony, (Ed.), (1873: 441), Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities,
(3rd Ed.), (London: Longmans, Green, & Co.).
Note 16: Suetonius, T., The Lives of the Caesars, I. XXI.

14. Further texts on Claudius by Keith Armstrong available on the Internet 1
Claudius I the man, his physical impairment, and reactions to it
Challenges the suggestion that both Emperor Claudius I and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
had Polio. Both world leaders had major physical impairments before they came to public
office.
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/claudius-the-man-his-physical-impairment-and-reactions-to-it
A few words about the word 'claudius'
1 Introduction
2 Claudius or Claudia as a personal or first name
3 The word 'claudius' and it many meanings in Latin
4 The word 'claudius' as used in Old and Medieval English
5 The word 'claudius' in the Cymraeg-Welsh language
6 The word claudius as used in Anatomical Biological and Medical terms
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/a-few-words-about-the-word-claudius-keith-armstrong
India and Sri Lanka in the time of the Roman Julio-Claudians
Reveals the Roman discovery of the trade winds and Sri Lanka, a Buddhist delegation to
emperor Claudius's court and on going Roman trade with India.
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/india-and-sri-lanka-in-the-time-of-the-roman-julio-claudians-by-
keith-armstrong
Social policies under Claudius I
Discusses Social policies under Claudius I. The treatment of old or impaired slaves in both
Roman and Anglo-Saxon societies. Claudius also made substantial changes to the laws
governing women as he "upgraded the mother's right to inherit. This concession to her
contribution to the family was also a move in line to the 'cognatic' principle of wills, which
tended to spread goods beyond the male line of agnatic succession.
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/social-policies-under-claudius-i-by-keith-armstrong1
Emperor Claudius I and the Etruscans
Apart from being an emperor he was also a major Roman historian who was tutored by
Livy (one of most significant Roman historians of all time). Claudius wrote a number of
history books and he was one of the last major figures to be fluent in Etruscan. Emperor
Claudius I first wife was Etruscan. He also wrote a history of the Etruscans which has
since disappeared.
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/claudius-i-and-the-etruscans

15. Further texts on Claudius by Keith Armstrong available on the Internet 2
Emperor Claudius I and his relationships with women
Emperor Claudius I was married four times, unfortunately each relationship was worse
than the one before. A true tale of love, marriage and murder.
http://www.slideshare.net/yourkamden/emperor-claudius-i-and-his-relationships-with-women-by-keith-
armstrong