feeble contemporaries; and placed himself, after an interval of 300 years, among the poets of ancient Rome." His poems brought him into such repute that, at the request of the Senate, the emperors Arcadias and Honorius erected a statue in his bonor, in the Forum of Trajan. The productions of Claudianus that have come down to us consist of two epic poems-The Rape of Proserpine, and the incomplete Battle of the Giants. besides panegyrics on Honorius, idyls, epigams, and occasional poems. Claudianus isplays 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 Prosperine, of which two, from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, are in the Laurentine Library at Florence. The best editions are by Birt (Berlin, 1892) and Koch (Leipzig, 1893). A poor English translation was executed by Hawkins (London, 1817). Consult Hodgkin, Claudian; The Last of the Roman Poets (London, 1875). CLAUDIANUS MAMER TUS (?-c.474). A Christian poet and philosopher. 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 Varios and Pange lingua gloriosi lauream certaminis have also been ascribed to him. In his famous philosophical treatise, De Statu Animæ (published by Mosellanus, Basel, 1520, and, with notes, by C. Barth, Zwickau, 1655), he shows that "thought is inseparable from the essence of the soul, and that its spiritual activity is indestructible" (Neander, History of Dogmas). His complete works were edited by Engelbrecht, and published in Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, vol. xi. (Vienna, 1885). Consult Engelbrecht, Untersuchungen über die Sprache des Claudianus Mamertus (ib., 1885).

CLAUDIA QUINTA. 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.

CLAUDIO. (1) In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, a young Florentine lord. He is in love with Hero; but his affection is not strong enough to prevent his believing the scandal against her. (2) In Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, the lover of Juliet.

CLAUDIUS. (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, when 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 ghost of Cæsar, in Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Cæsar.

CLAUDIUS I. (TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS NERO DRUSUS; officially TI. CLAUDIUS CESAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS) (B.C. 10-A.D. 54.) Roman Emperor (A.D. 41-54). He was the youngest son of Nero Claudius Drusus, stepson of the Emperor Augustus, and was born at Lugdunum

(Lyons), B.C. 10. Being naturally sickly and infirm, his education was neglected, or left to be cared for by women and freedmen. His supposed imbecility saved him from the cruelty of Caligula; but Claudius, in his privacy, had made considerable progress in the study of history, and wrote in Latin and Greek several extensive 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 military 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, his timidity led him to yield himself entirely to the guidance of his infamous wife, Messalina, who, in concert with the freedmen Pallas and Narcissus, practiced cruelties and extortions without restraint. Claudius meanwhile lived in retirement, partly occupied in studies, and expended enormous sums in building, especially in the construction of the famous Claudian Aqueduct, 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 command of the Emperor, and some progress was made in Germany. After the execution of Messalina, Claudius married his niece, Agrippina (q.v.), who exercised as unlimited influence over him as had his former wife. Under her inspiration he deprived his son Britannicus of the succession to the Imperial power and adopted Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero, the son of Agrippina by Gnæus Domitius Ahenobarbus. 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 Gourdification.

When

CLAUDIUS II. (MARCUS AURELIUS CLAUDIUS, better known as Claudius Gothicus) (214270), Roman Emperor (268-270). He had been Governor of Illyria, and, after the death of Gallienus, in 268, 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 Masia, 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 commemorate the victories of Claudius in Britain. It was destroyed in the seventeenth century.

CLAUDIUS, MATTHIAS (1740-1815). A German poet and author, known as 'Asmus,' or 'Der Wandsbecker Bote,' born at Reinfeld, Holstein. He studied from 1759 to 1763 at the University of Jena; from 1771 to 1775 was editor, under the name of 'Asmus,' of the newly established Wandsbecker Bote (whence his surnames), and in 1776 of the Landzeitung, at Darmstadt. In the following year he returned