Claudius, who is not the first emperor to use freedmen to help with the day-to-day running of the Empire, is forced to increase their role as the powers of the Princeps become more centralized and the burden larger.

This is partly due to the ongoing hostility of the Senate but also due to his respect for the senators.

Claudius does not want freeborn magistrates to have to serve under him, as if they were not peers.

The secretariat is divided into bureaus, with each being placed under the leadership of one freedman.

Narcissus is the secretary of correspondence.

Pallas becomes the secretary of the treasury.

Callistus becomes secretary of justice.

There is a fourth bureau for miscellaneous issues, which is put under Polybius until his execution for treason.

The freedmen can also officially speak for the Emperor, as when Narcissus addresses the troops in Claudius' stead before the conquest of Britain.

Since these are important positions, the senators are aghast at their being placed in the hands of former slaves.

If freedmen have total control of money, letters, and law, it seems it would not be hard for them to manipulate the Emperor.

This is exactly the accusation put forth by the ancient sources.

However, these same sources admit that the freedmen were loyal to Claudius.

He is similarly appreciative of them and gives them due credit for policies where he has used their advice.

However, if they show treasonous inclinations, the Emperor does punish them with just force, as in the case of Polybius and Pallas' brother, Felix.

There is no evidence that the character of Claudius' policies and edicts changed with the rise and fall of the various freedmen, suggesting that he was firmly in control throughout.

Regardless of the extent of their political power, the freedmen do manage to amass wealth through their positions.

Pliny the Elder notes that several of them were richer than Crassus, the richest man of the Republican era.