Declaring Claudius Emperor 3D Render, Digital Art by android65mar

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Declaring Claudius Emperor 3D Render, Digital Artwork by android65mar

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Declaring Claudius Emperor

3D Render by android65mar

The future Emperor #Claudius was said to have been found by the Praetorian Guard following the assassination of his Nephew, the Emperor Gaius (Caligula). Claudius tends to get a lot of sympathy in some depictions such as in I Claudius. There he is shown as the ultimate survivor in a family where everything is going crazy and your nephew thinks he's a god. As it was he perhaps comes across as not a bad sort, simply because he was preceded by his vicious psychopath of a nephew and succeeded by a man who brought Rome to the brink of ruin- Nero and the Julio-Claudian Dynasty to a full stop, This scene is inspired by a specific painting Proclaiming Claudius Emperor by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. I experimented with one version where it was being performed on stage, possibly by an amateur rep company..

SCENE: “BEHIND THE CURTAINSETTING:
A dim corridor of the imperial palace. Echoes of distant shouting. A curtain hangs slightly ajar. Blood somewhere offstage—not seen, but felt.

CHARACTERS

CLAUDIUS – dishevelled, terrified, trying to be invisible
PRAETORIAN GUARD – armed, alert, fresh from the chaos
(Optional) distant voices: shouting, running, confusion

[Lights up]
(Noise offstage—shouting, a cry, then silence. Footsteps approach.)
CLAUDIUS (whispering to himself behind the curtain)
Stay still… stay very still… They never see what they do not look for…
(a nervous laugh he tries to swallow)
A lifetime of practice… don’t fail now.
(Footsteps stop. A shadow falls across the curtain. It is yanked aside.)
PRAETORIAN
Who’s there?
(CLAUDIUS is revealed—crumpled, blinking, trying awkwardly to bow and retreat at once.)
CLAUDIUS
Please—please don’t—
I am nothing. You want someone else. There are plenty of better men—
(He half-turns as if to flee, then freezes, unable to decide.)
PRAETORIAN (studying him)
…Claudius.
(A beat. CLAUDIUS trembles.)
CLAUDIUS
You see? That’s all I am. Just Claudius.
Unwell, unfit, unimportant—ask anyone—ask my family—
(voice catching)
They always said so.
(The PRAETORIAN steps closer. Suddenly—he drops to one knee.)
PRAETORIAN
Hail, Caesar.
(Silence. CLAUDIUS stares, not understanding.)
CLAUDIUS
No… no, you mistake me—
PRAETORIAN (firm, louder)
Hail, Caesar!
(Offstage, another guard’s voice.)
VOICE
What have you found?
PRAETORIAN (calling out)
The Emperor.
(A flicker passes across CLAUDIUS’ face—fear mixed with something else.)
CLAUDIUS
Emperor?
(a faint, incredulous laugh)
My nephew was Emperor.
PRAETORIAN
Your nephew is dead.
(Short silence. The weight of that lands.)
CLAUDIUS (quietly)
…Then I am a dead man too.
PRAETORIAN (rising, decisive)
Not if we say otherwise.
(He offers his hand—not helping, but commanding.)
PRAETORIAN (cont.)
Come. The Guard will protect you.
(Beat. CLAUDIUS hesitates—this is the hinge of the scene.)
CLAUDIUS
Protect me…
(softly, almost to himself)
Or use me?
PRAETORIAN (after a pause, honest or perhaps not)
Both.
(Another beat. CLAUDIUS straightens a little—still awkward, but something settles in him.)
CLAUDIUS
Then…
(a breath)
best not keep Rome waiting.
(He takes the soldier’s arm. As they turn to leave, other guards begin to appear and kneel.)
GUARDS (overlapping, building)
Hail, Caesar!
Hail, Caesar!
(CLAUDIUS glances once back at the curtain—his hiding place—then forward.)
CLAUDIUS (almost a whisper)
The curtain falls… and I walk on.