Among the Romans themselves there were those who thoroughly understood this point, as we may see from the interesting speech of the emperor Claudius in favour of admitting Gauls to the senate.

For Attius Clausus, who was afterward called Appius Claudius at Rome, being himself an advocate of peace, when hard pressed by the agitators for war, and being no match for the party, fled from Regillum to Rome, accompanied by a great number of dependents.

In the midst of this chanting company was Mnester the mime, whom Claudius for honour's sake had made shorter by a head.

" Such event commonly have all these lovers; and he that so marries, or for such respects, let them look for no better success than Menelaus had with Helen, Vulcan with Venus, Theseus with Phaedra, Minos with Pasiphae, and Claudius with Messalina; shame, sorrow, misery, melancholy, discontent.

And with this intent he ordered one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.

With his abilities in dancing he combined great cleverness of repartee, so that once when the crowd with mighty enthusiasm begged him to perform a famous pantomime, he dared to come to the front of the stage and say: "To do this, friends, I may not try; Orestes' bedfellow am I." This, then, was the relation of Claudius to these matters.

Dion Cassius (lx, 35) says that Seneca composed an [Greek: apokolokuntosis] or Pumpkinification of Claudius after his death, the title being a parody of the usual [Greek: apotheosis]; but this title is not given in the MSS. of the Ludus de Morte Claudii, nor is there anything in the piece which suits the title very well.

As if it were not enough for her story that she had attracted her uncle Claudius into love for her by her blandishments and uncontrolled looks and kisses, she undertook to enslave Nero also in similar fashion.

But if an authority must be produced, ask of the man who saw Drusilla translated to heaven: the same man will aver he saw Claudius on the road, dot and carry one.

But his attempt to surprise the city was a failure, and even the assault was in vain, greatly as the king exposed his life; the approach of Gaius Claudius from the Piraeeus, and of Attalus from Aegina, compelled him to depart.

However, he did not accept the offer, but instead waited until the two officials completed the six months' term for which they had been appointed, and then became consul himself, taking his uncle Claudius as a colleague.