Philosophy & satire

Seneca: The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius

When someone important and of questionable character dies, should we make fun of them?

Claudius depicted as the Roman god Jupiter, 1st century, Vatican Museum — Wikimedia

“His last words heard among mortals — after he had let out a louder sound from that part with which he found it easier to communicate — were as follows: ‘Good heavens. I think I’ve shat myself.’ Well, I don’t know about that, but he certainly shat up everything else.” (The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius, 4)

This irreverent bit about the recently deceased (13 October 54 CE) emperor Claudius was written by Seneca the Younger, otherwise known as one of the major Stoic philosophers, advisor to Claudius’ successor, Nero, and — among other things — a playwright who ended up influencing Shakespeare.

The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius was written shortly after the emperor’s demise, likely on the occasion of the Saturnalia festivities of December 54 CE, an appropriate moment, given both that Claudius was fond of festivals and that the Saturnalia were meant to be irreverent and to (temporarily) overturn social conventions.

If your image of Claudius is shaped by the wonderful acting of Derek Jacobi in the BBC version of Robert Graves’ “I, Claudius” you may want to pause and…