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A Roman Emperor: AD 41, 1871
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
In AD 41, the debauched Roman emperor Caligula was murdered. Gratus, a member of the Praetorian, draws a curtain aside to reveal the terrified Claudius who is hailed as emperor on the spot. Beneath the herm in the background, lie the bodies of Caligula, his wife Caesonia, their young daughter and a bystander. The blood stains on the herm denote the struggle that has transpired as well as the setting, the Hermaeum, an apartment in the Palace where Claudius had sought refuge. Opus LXXXVIII |