Editing Claudius (section)

===Religious reforms===
[[File:Bust of the Roman Emperor Claudius, 37-64 CE. Marble. From Acerra near Formia, Italy. Altes Museum, Berlin.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Claudius, [[Altes Museum]], Berlin]]
Claudius, as the author of a treatise on Augustus's religious reforms, thought himself to be in a good position to institute some of his own. He had strong opinions about the proper form for state religion. He refused the request of Alexandrian Greeks to dedicate a temple to his divinity, saying that only gods may choose new gods; he restored lost days to festivals and got rid of many extraneous celebrations added by Caligula. He also re-established old observances and archaic language.

Claudius was concerned with the spread of eastern mysteries within the city and searched for more Roman replacements. He emphasized the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], which had been practiced by so many during the Republic. He expelled foreign astrologers, and at the same time rehabilitated the old Roman soothsayers (known as [[haruspices]]) as a replacement. He was especially hard on [[Druidism]], because of its incompatibility with the Roman state religion and its [[Proselytism|proselytizing]] activities.{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=Claudius 25}}