Apocolocyntosis of Claudius by Seneca the Younger

This is a satirical work from ancient Rome. The word “apocolocyntosis” is a play on words. It mocks “apotheosis,” the transformation of a deceased Roman emperor into a God. In the work, Claudius dies, ascends to heaven, but is then judged harshly and sent to Hades. He is brutally insulted at every turn. The Latinized Greek word “apocolocyntosis” is often translated as “pumpkinification.” Pumpkins are a New World crop that was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Instead, the word referred to a wild gourd that was commonly used as a laxative. Thus, along with suggesting that Claudius has an empty head, the gourd is bathroom humor. So it’s worse than political mud-slinging.

The concept of apotheosis was a way to reconcile Roman respect for the idea that men should be ruled by men with the Eastern notion that kings (e.g., the Egyptian pharaoh) should be worshipped as gods.  The emperor was regarded by Romans as a human being during his lifetime but would be venerated as a god after his death (e.g.,  Julius Caesar was deified after his murder on the floor of the Senate). Rome eventually developed the policy that its conquered peoples could worship their own gods, as long as they also worshipped the Roman emperor.  This policy was acceptable to polytheists, but the Jews found it abominable, which led to all sorts of trouble.

The apocolocyntosis is called a Menippean satire, a style created by the Greek writer Menippus three centuries earlier.  It may have been written by Seneca the Younger, who had reason to hold a grudge against Claudius.  (Thus, nothing in the piece should be taken at face value.) When Claudius became emperor, Claudius’ wife Messalina accused Seneca of adultery with Julia Livilla, the sister of the former emperor,  Claudius’ nephew Caligula.  The accusation may have been false, since Messalina had reasons to want to neutralize Julia Livilla and her supporters. Nevertheless, Seneca was convicted by the Senate and sentenced to death.  Fortunately, the death sentence was commuted and he was exiled to Corsica for eight years. Messalina was later accused of political intrigues and killed. Later on, Caligula’s sister Agrippina married her uncle Claudius. Agrippina arranged a praetorship for Seneca and had him appointed tutor to her son Nero, who became the next emperor.  All of this was dramatized in the 1976 BBC series I, CLAUDIUS, which was based on Robert Graves’  novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

The British have long had a conflicted attitude about Claudius. Ancient sources often depict him as mentally and physically defective, a half-witted stammerer.  For this reason, Elizabethan audiences would have understood immediately that “King Claudius” in Hamlet was a bad king.  Yet the emperor Claudius succeeded where Julius Caesar and his nephew Caligula had failed: he invaded Britain, adding what is now England and Wales to the British Empire.

Here’s the text of an English translation: Apocolocyntosis | Project Gutenberg

Here’s a reading of the English translation: Apocolocyntosis Audiobook

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