794 .-- A.D.

42.
Old as I am, And withered as you see these war-worn limbs, Trust me, they shall support the mightiest load Injustice dares impose .-- _Mason's Caractacus_.
1.

As soon as the death of Calig'ula was made public it produced the greatest confusion.

The conspirators, who only aimed at destroying a tyrant, without attending to the appointment of a successor, had all sought safety by retiring to private places.2.Some soldiers happening to wander about the palace, discovered Clau'dius, Calig'ula's uncle, lurking in a secret place where he had hid himself.
Of this person, who had hitherto been despised for his imbecility, they resolved to make an emperor: and accordingly they carried him upon their shoulders to the camp, where they proclaimed him at a time when he expected nothing but death.
3.

Clau'dius was now fifty years old.