Clemens (impostor)


Clemens was an impostor in ancient Rome.

Biography

He was a former slave of Agrippa Postumus, the grandson of Julius Caesar, who was killed around the time Tiberius came to power. Clemens appeared claiming that he really was Postumus, and gained a significant band of followers, but was captured and executed by Tiberius. It is reputed that when he was brought before Tiberius, he was asked: "How did you become Agrippa?" Clemens replied "The same way you became Caesar".

In fiction

Robert Graves, in his novel I, Claudius, makes the suggestion that this person really was Postumus. This was not included in the 1976 TV adaptation, which does not include Clemens and instead explicitly shows Postumus being killed while in exile.