The frontiers and invasion of Britannia

• Claudius is generally thought of as a competent emperor and able administrator.
• One of his biggest weaknesses was lack of military experience and legitimacy.
• Both his predecessors had been successful generals in their own right, while Claudius could not bring himself to accept the title of Imperator.
• Claudius foreign policy was in contrast to the consolidation of Augustus and Tiberius.
• He was more like Caesar taking an expansionist approach.
• North Africa: Claudius would inherit a rebellion from Gaius in the province. He would put this down then split into two provinces. He would also intervene to deal with the anti-semitism of the Greeks in Alexandria.
• The East - new provinces in Thrace and Lydia were added to the empire. Claudius also nominated a pro-Roman nominee in Mithridates to the Armenian throne.
• The Rhine and Gaul - Druidism was abolished in Gaul and Claudius expanded across the Rhine, setting up new colonies in Trier and Cologne.
• Another reason for the need of this invasion was the revolt he experienced the year previous.
• After Claudius had Gaius Appius Silanus put to death on the evidence of his wife Messalina, this convinced Camillus to revolt against Claudius but it did not last long and was poorly supported.
• While the revolt had little impact it convinced Claudius he needed the support of the army.
• He needed some way to placate the army and attain personal glory, which had already troubled him.
• To this point Claudius had relied on connections to Drusus the elder and Germanicus to maintain some form of support and popularity with the army.
• By commemorating his family connections on coins he is connecting himself with his fathers successes.