Editing Claudius (section)

==Death==
[[File:Claudius Domus Romana Mdina.jpg|thumb|A statue of Claudius at the [[Domvs Romana]], Malta]]
Ancient historians agree that Claudius was murdered by poison – possibly contained in mushrooms or on a feather (ostensibly put down his throat to induce vomiting) – and died in the early hours of 13 October 54.{{sfn|Tacitus|loc=XII 66–67}}

Nearly all implicate his final and powerful wife, [[Agrippina the Younger|Agrippina]], as the instigator. Agrippina and Claudius had become more combative in the months leading up to his death. This carried on to the point where Claudius openly lamented his bad wives, and began to comment on [[Britannicus]]' approaching manhood with an eye towards restoring his status within the imperial family. Agrippina had motive in ensuring the succession of Nero before Britannicus could gain power.{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=Claudius 43}}

Some implicate either his taster [[Halotus]], his doctor [[Gaius Stertinius Xenophon|Xenophon]], or the infamous poisoner [[Locusta]] as the administrator of the fatal substance.<ref>Accounts of his death: {{harvnb|Suetonius|loc=Claudius 43, 44}}; {{harvnb|Tacitus|loc=XII 64, 66–67}}; {{harvnb|Josephus|loc=''Ant. Iud.'' 19.148, 151}}; {{harvnb|Cassius Dio|loc=61, 34}}; {{harvnb|Pliny the Elder|loc=II xxiii 92, XI lxxiii 189, XXII xlvi 92}}</ref> Some say he died after prolonged suffering following a single dose at dinner, and some have him recovering only to be poisoned again.{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=44}} Among his contemporary sources, [[Seneca the Younger]] ascribed the emperor's death to natural causes, while Josephus only spoke of rumors of his poisoning.{{sfn|Josephus|loc=''Ant Iud.'' 19:67; 20:148}}

Some historians have cast doubt on whether Claudius was murdered or merely died from illness or old age.{{efn|{{harvnb|Scramuzza|1940|pp=92–93}} says that tradition makes every emperor the victim of foul play, so we can't know if Claudius was truly murdered. The Emperor appears to have been seriously ill since at least 53. {{harvnb|Levick|2015|pp=76–77}} raises the possibility that Claudius was killed by the stress of fighting with Agrippina over the succession, but concludes that the timing makes murder the most likely cause.}} Evidence against his murder include his serious illnesses in his last years, his unhealthy lifestyle and the fact that his taster Halotus continued to serve in the same position under Nero. Claudius had been so ill the year before that Nero vowed games for his recovery and the year of 54 seems to have been such an unhealthy year that one sitting member of each magistracy died within the span of a few months.  He may even have died by eating a naturally poisonous mushroom, possibly ''[[Amanita muscaria]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Aveline|2004|pp=473–474}}</ref>  On the other hand, some modern scholars claim the near universality of the accusations in ancient texts lends credence to the crime.<ref>{{harvnb|Levick|2015}} also as opposed to the murder of Augustus, which is only found in Tacitus and Dio where he quotes Tacitus. Suetonius, an inveterate gossip, doesn't mention it at all.</ref> Claudius's ashes were interred in the [[Mausoleum of Augustus]] on 24 October 54, after a funeral similar to that of his great-uncle Augustus 40 years earlier.