feoble conteniporiiiies; and placed himself, after Hii interval of 300 years, among tlie poets of aniieiit Home." His poems brought him into sueh re|)Ute that, at the request of the Senate, the emperors Arcadius and Honorius erected a statue in his honor in the Forum of Trajan. The productions of Claudianus that have come down to us consist of two epic poems — The Rape vf I'roseriiine, and the incomjdete Uiilllr of the iiiantx. besides panegyrics on Honorius. idyls, epigrams, ami occasional poems. Claudianus displays a brilliant fancy and rich coloring, with variety and distinctness in his pictures; but he is often deficient in taste and gracefulness. There are several manuscripts of The Rape of I'losperinr. of which two. from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, are in the Laurentine Li- brarv at Florence. The best editions arc h' Birt (Berlin. 18il2) and Koch (Leipzig. 180.3). A poor Knglish translation was executed by Haw- kins ( London, 1817 ) . Consult Hodgkin. f'/nHdian; The Last of the Roman Poets (London, 1875).
CLAUDIANUS MAMER'TUS (?c.474).
A ('iirislian poet and philo>ophcr. A younger
brother of Saint Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne. he
was consecrated by the latter to the priesthood,
and became his assistant. He systematized the
liturgy, and was the author of the hymns known
as the Small Liturgies, sometimes heard in
Catholic churches during the services preceding
Ascension Day. The hymns Contra Poetas
'arios and Pange lingua gloriosi lauream cer-
taminis have also been ascribed to him. In his
famous philosophical treatise, De i^tatu Animw
(published by Mosellanus, Basel. 1.520. and. with
notes, by C. Earth, Zwickau, Itio.l). he shows
that "thought is inseparable from the essence
of the soul, and that its spiritual activity is in-
destructible" (Neander. History of Dogmas).
His complete works were edited by Engelbreeht.
and published in Corpus Scriptorum Ecelesias-
ticorum Latinorum, vol. xi. (Vienna. 1885).
Consult Engelbreeht. Vntersuehungen iiber die
Spraclie des Claudianus Mamertus (ib., 1885).
CLAU'DIA QUIN'TA. A Roman woman who
disproved the charge of unchasteness brought
against her, when the ship carrying the image of
Cybele was brought to Rome from Pessimus in
B.C. 204. The vessel grounded on a shoal at the
mouth of the Tiber, and when the soothsayers
declared that it could be moved only by a pure
woman, Claudia came forward and, seizing the
rope, towed the ship to Rome.
CLAU'DIO. ( 1 ) In Shakespeare's .1/hc7i Ado
Ahoiit Xothing, a young Florentine lord. He
is in love with Hero: but his affection is not
strong enough to prevent his believing the scan-
dal against her. (2) In Shakespeare's Measure
for Mrasurr. the lover of Juliet.
CLAU'DIUS. (1) In Shakespeare's Hamlet.
the King of Denmark, who poisons his brother,
Hamlet's father, and marries the widow. He is
slain by Hamlet, Mhen the Queen, by mistake,
drinks the poisoned wine. (2) A servant whom
Brutus accuses of calling out in his sleep, after
the appearance of the glinst of Caesar, in Shake-
speare's tragedy .Julius Cwsar.
CLAUDIUS I. (TiBERirs CL.Kvmvfi Nero
Drisis: ctKcially Ti. Claudu-.s Cesar Au-
Gr.STAvus Cermaxicus) (B.C. 10-A.D. 54.3' Ro-
man Emperor ( a.d. 41-54) . He was the youngest
son of Xero Claudius Drusus. stepson of the
Emperor Augustus, and was born at Lugdunum
(Lyons), B.C. 10. Being naturally sickly and
inlirm, his education was neglected, or left to be
cared for by women and freedmcn. His sup-
])oscd ind)ecility saved him from the cruelty of
Caligula ; but Claudius, in his privacy, had
made considerable i)rogress in the study of his-
tory, and wrote in Latin and Greek several ex-
tensive works now lost. After the assassination
of Caligula. Claudius was found by the .soldiers
in a corner of the palace, where, in dread, he had
concealed himself. The Pretorians carried him
forth, proclaimed him Emperor, and compelled
his recognition by the Senate and many citizens
who had hoped to restore the Republic. By his
payment of the troops, who had raised him to the
throne, Claudius I. gave the first example of the
baneful practice which subjected Rome to a mili-
tary despotism under the succeeding emperors.
The first acts of his reign seemed to give promise
of mild and just government : but in the year 42,
when a conspiracy against his life was detected,
liis timidity led him to yield himself entirely to
the guidance of his infamous wife, Messalina,
who, in concert with the freedmen Pallas and
Xarcissus, practiced cruelties and extortions
without restraint. Claudius meanwhile lived in
retirement, partly occupied in studies, and ex-
pended enormous sums in building, especially in
the construction of the famous (I'laudian Aque-
duct, Aqua Claudia. This great work occupied
30.000 laborers during 11 years. Abroad, the
armies of Claudius were victorious. Mauretania
was made a Roman province, the conquest of
Britain was commenced under the personal com-
mand of the Emperor, and some progress was
made in GJermany. After the execution of Mes-
salina, Claudius married his niece, Agrippina
(q.v. ), who exercised as unlimited influence over
him as had his former wife. Under her inspira-
tion he deprived his son Britannieus of the suc-
cession to the Imperial power and adopted
Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero, the son of Agrip-
pina by Gna-us Domitius Ahenobarbus. When
Claudius showed some inclination to deprive
Nero of the succession Agrippina caused him to
be poisoned with a dish of mushrooms. After
his death, Claudius was deified, giving occasion
to Seneca's bitter satire, Apocolocyntosis, or
Gourdificatioyt.
CLAUDIUS II. (Marcus Aireuus Clau-
dius, better known as Claudius Gothicus) (214-
270), Roman Emperor (268-270). He had been
Governor of Illyria, and, after the death of Cial-
lienus, in 208. was proclaimed Emperor by the
soldiers. In the same year he overthrew his
rival. Aureolus, and conquered the Alemanni; in
the following year he defeated a great host of
Goths that menaced Moesia, and 50.000 of them
perished in battle, whence the title Gothicus.
Claudius died of the pest, at Sirmium. April, 270.
CLAUDIUS, Arch of. A triumphal arch at
Rome, erected in a.d. 43 on the Via Lata, to com-
memorate the victories of Claudiiis in Britain. It
was destroved iji the seventeenth centurv.
CLAUDIUS, Mattias (1740-1815)." A Ger-
man poet and author, knovn as 'Asmus.' or
'Der Wandsbecker Bote,' born at Reinfeld,
Holstein. He studied from 1759 to 1703 at
the University of .Jena; from 1771 to 1775 was
editor, under the name of 'Asmus,' of the newly
established Wandsbecker Bote (whence his sur-
names), and in 1776 of the Landzeitung. at
Darinstadt. In the following year he returned
