After the announcement on 13 October 54 CE of the emperor Claudius’ death, the Senate of Rome later that day recognized Claudius’ adopted son, the sixteen-year-old Nero, as the new emperor, and—by the vote of cult honors—recognized Claudius himself as a god. Apocolocyntosis is a satiric account written in prose and poetry of the late emperor’s final moments on earth and of what happened after he made his way to Olympus. The Senate’s own actions are conspicuously omitted, although the satire’s author, Seneca, was a senator, as well as Nero’s tutor and also a prolific philosopher and writer of tragedies. The Greek title Apocolocyntosis, attested not by manuscripts of the satire but only in the Roman history …
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Citation: Osgood, Josiah. "Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 April 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33495, accessed 22 November 2024.]
