Claudius was somewhat content with his position, until the events of January, forty-one A.D. propelled him to the status of emperor.
On the twenty-fourth of January, forty-one A.D., Caligula was assassinated by unhappy members of his bodyguard. Shortly after the assassination, which was the first murder of a Roman emperor, there was a great deal of confusion and panic among the citizenry. At that time, soldiers of the Praetorian Guard began looting the palace. According to the most well known explanation, the Guardsmen found Claudius hiding behind a curtain in the palace and declared him emperor. However, there are other stories that attempt to explain Claudius" rise to emperor after Caligula's assassination. Once the word reached the Senate that Caligula was dead, the Senate met and began debating who should succeed him, or if the Republic should be restored. While this debate was in progress, word of the soldiers" choice reached the Senate. The Senate quickly realized it was powerless considering the thousands of soldiers supporting Claudius as the next emperor (Fagan). On January twenty-fifth, forty-one A.D., Claudius was formally declared emperor of Rome. .
Claudius" first years as emperor were marked by bold actions that would help to define him in the eyes of the citizenry. His first act as emperor was to seek out Caligula's assassins and bring them to justice. Which he accomplished quickly by having them caught and sentenced to death. He then tried his best to undo some of the harm that Caligula's volatile rule had caused the empire. However, even as Claudius was trying to improve the empire, certain people were plotting his downfall. In forty-two A.D. the governor of Upper Illyricum led a revolt against Claudius" reign. The rebellion was weak and unsuccessful, but it showed Claudius that there were influential people within the empire that wanted him out of power. This realization led Claudius to begin to question the people around him, and he became suspicious of even his closest colleagues.
