Tabula Lugdunensis

Unearthed in 1528 at Lyon, the Tabula Lugdunensis preserves the longest speech of a Roman emperor to survive in epigraphic form. In AD 48 Claudius addressed the senate to press a petition by elites of north-western Gaul to hold senatorial rank and office. In support he demonstrated Rome''s history of constitutional innovation, particularly in integrating outsiders, and asserted a commitment to rec...