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CLAUDIO is an Italy|Italian family surname, derived from Latin language|Latin CLAUDIUS, the surname of one of founding five eminent Roman clan (Gens) dating back to fl.500BC.
Origin & History:
CLAUDIO (CLAUDIUS), the name of an eminent Roman Clan (Gens), the most important member of which were:
- Appius Sabinus inregillensis CLAUDIUS (fl.500BC), founder of the family. To the Romans he was known as Appius CLAUDIUS. He was a Sabine from a now unknown town called Inregillum. In 505 BC the Romans successfully waged war against the Sabines, and in the following year, the Sabines were divided as to whether to retaliate or to make peace with the Romans. Appius CLAUDIUS favored peace with the Romans, and as the faction favoring war became more powerful, he fled to Rome along with a large group of his clients. The followers were made citizens and were allowed to settle on the far side of the Anio river, and along with some other Sabines became known as the "OLD CLAUDIAN" tribe. CLAUDIUS was made a senator and quickly became one of the leading men in Rome. He became consul of Rome in 495 BC. According to Livy's History of Rome, he was "harsh by nature" and "loved tyranny", which is said to have resulted in the Struggle of the Orders.
- Appius CLAUDIUS Crassus (fl.450BC), public official, consul 471 & 451, appointed to codify the laws.
- Appius CLAUDIUS caecus (fl.300BC), official orator. He is perhaps best known for the highway named after him, the Appian Way. Consul in 307 & 296.
- Publius CLAUDIUS Pulcher (fl.250BC), naval commander, consul 249, and defeated during the 1st Punic War.
- Appius CLAUDIUS Pulcher (48BC), administrator and orator, consul in 54.
- Publius CLAUDIUS Pulcher, brother of Appius CLAUDIUS Pulcher, usually known as Clodius.
- Tiberius CLAUDIUS Drusus CLAUDIUS (10BC-54AD), his father, Drusus was a younger brother of Tiberius CLAUDIUS Nero Caesar (who married Augustus' daughter, later the Emperor Tiberius, who reign from 14-37AD, after the death of Augustus). He did not hold any position during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. When the latter was assassinated in 41AD, CLAUDIUS was proclaimed emperor by the guard. CLAUDIUS expends enormous sums in building, especially in construction of the famous Claudian Aqueduct. CLAUDIUS reign was that of an able administrator, both in civil and military affairs. Mauretania was made a province, the conquest of Britain was commenced, and progress was made in Germany, Judea and Thrace also became Roman provinces. In 48AD ordered the execution of Messalina because of a love affair, then he married his niece Agrippina, depriving his son Britannicus of his heritage, adopting instead Agrippina's son Nero. Latter CLAUDIUS was poisoned by Agrippina, and Nero became the Emperor. After his death he was declared a god, according to the practice adopted a short time earlier.
- Marcus Aurelius CLAUDIUS (214-70AD), he was an officer in the Roman army and a provincial gobernor, during the reigns of Decius, Valerian, and Gallienus. On the death of Gallienus (268) the soldiers of CLAUDIUS' command chose him Emperor. He is usually known as Gothicus, because the victory of the Goths. His succesor was supposed to be Maximus (The Spaniard), a Roman general gobernor of the spanish peninsula, but CLAUDIUS' son Anthonius, tried to kill Maximus, who latter became a Gladiator, and both died in the Collisium.
In Italy, during the 1800's, experienced the Second Phase of the Italian War of Independence as well as incredibly high food prices due to widespread crop failure due to long periods of drought and crop diseases. Other diseases such as Pallagra and Malaria were causing the deaths of up to 2,000,000 Italians every year. As a result, a majority of Italians migrated to nearby large port cities such as Spain and Portugal with hopes of a better life. Many migrated forward to Argentina and Uruguay.
By 1825, Spain had lost the entirety of her territories in South America and Central America and sought measures of preventing a repeat of this in the Caribbean. It was decided that an influx of Catholic immigrants from Italy, Corsica and Ireland would provide a loyal base for the Crown and appeals were made to encourage immigration. In 1815, the Spanish Crown had issued the Royal Decree of Graces (Real Cedula de Gracias) which fostered the immigration of European Catholics that were not of Spanish origin to its Caribbean colonies, Puerto Rico and Cuba. After five years, those who were not of Spanish origin could request a "Letter of Naturalization" that would make them Spanish subjects.
Many CLAUDIO's enlisted in the military. In the General Military Archieves of Segovia, appears: Jose Claudio, from the Ingieniering Department in 1895; Felix Claudio Barriquete, from the Infantery in 1897 and Jose Claudio Claudio, from the voluntary.
Early documents of Ellis Island note the arrival of one Pasquale Claudio, age 41, who arrived aboard the Iniziativa, from the port of Palermo, in New York on April 24th, 1893. It is later recorded that one Pietro Claudio, age 23, arrived at the same port on December 17th, 1895 aboard the La Champagne from the port of Havre.
As a First Name:
The name CLAUDIO became a popular first name due to the spread of Christianity during the Middle Ages. Parents were encouraged to name their children after well-known saints so that in later years they would enjoy that saint’s patronage. The saint in question here was Saint Claudio, who had been bishop of Besancon in France during the seventh century. A variant of this surname is Claudini and Claudious. CLAUDIO is also used as a first name in other Latin countries like Portugal and Spain.