Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus - commonly called simple Claudius - was Emperor of Rome from AD 41-54. At the time he raised to the Imperial throne by the army after the fall of Caligula, Claudius was considered by many to be somewhat retarded because he had a pronounced stammer. This was far from the case, however, and he soon flowered into one of the Empire's greatest leaders, finishing the job of subjugating the people of Britain which had been begun by Julius Caesar nearly a century before. He led the invasion of these 'distant isles' in AD 43 and achieved the surrender of the city of Camulodunum (Colchester) along with the submission of eleven British kings. They were, no doubt, somewhat overawed by the show of elephants which Claudius brought with him!