Palatine Hill, January 24, AD 41: feet behind a curtain

On the Palatine on January 24, AD 41, a soldier drags the hidden Claudius out from behind a curtain and hails him as emperor.

Transcript

January twenty-fourth, AD forty-one.

Emperor Caligula is dead, and the palace on the Palatine is in uproar.

His uncle Claudius is fifty, walks with a limp and stammers.

In fear he hides behind a balcony curtain.

According to Suetonius, a soldier sees his feet beneath the fabric.

He drags him out from behind the curtain and recognizes him.

Claudius falls at his feet in terror.

And the soldier greets him with a word nobody expected: Imperator.