Claudius was undeniably one of the greatest emperors of Rome; we know this because of the many ancient sources that tell us of his achievements.

After Caligula’s reign the empire was in chaos. Finances were low, treason trials were still being practiced and the Praetorian Guard had established a great deal of control and influence. Claudius corrected these problems, with much help from a group of freedmen. He organised this centralized bureaucracy which created as Barrat states a more efficient system for Rome to run on.  He put freedmen in charge of different areas, such as putting Narcissus in charge of judicial and law issues and Pallas in charge of finances. This meant Claudius could keep Rome in an organised state without having to rely on the incompetent senate. Tacitus and Cassius Dio argue that Claudius left too much power to these freedmen, but they proved to be a successful system, which Nero also employed during his reign.

At the beginning of Claudius’s reign, the treasury was extremely low due to the careless spending of Caligula. Claudius solved this problem quickly without increasing the taxes of Rome. He did this through the extension of the empire and taxing of Britain. He also built a port in Ostia which increased Rome’s trading regime. Cassius Dio praises Claudius as being a ‘visionary’ due to the success the port brought to Rome’s financial crisis. If Claudius did not rebuild the finances of Rome, the empire would have continued in a state of disarray, once again showing how important Claudius’s achievements were to the Roman Empire.

Claudius also had radical ideas of extending the citizenship to the provinces beyond Italy. He allowed new patrician families and took a big step by extending senatorial privileges to the Gauls. Senators and imperials alike disapproved of this change as it and appeared disrespectful and diminished their power. Claudius displays his statesmen like attitude by justifying the addition to the senate as being a new precedent that will one day become itself.

Claudius is considered to be one of the most humane leaders of Rome. He treated freedmen and woman with great respect. This can be seen through his employment of freedmen and the power he installed in his wives. His gentle and respectful behaviour is also characterised in his treatment of Caractacus. Many citizens of Rome would have considered this an act of great respect and dignity. Claudius even showed great consideration when expelling notoriously bad senators, he gave them the choice to leave honourably rather than become expelled.

Claudius is notably one of the best emperors Rome has ever seen. He achieved a great deal during his reign and is recognized for this by modern and ancient sources. The government during his reign was extremely efficient. He left the highly developed empire a god, and his achievements bettered Rome for the centuries to come.