Reading between the lines in the works of Robert Graves shows that he believes there are strong links between the Emperor Claudius and Jesus. The most obvious link is that they are the same person.

A timeline comparison shows that this is theoretically possible. The dates are not an exact match. Claudius birth date is known exactly it was the date of the sanctification of the temple of the three Gauls in Vienne.

There are arguments about the birthdate of Jesus, but it is close enough that a substitution would not have been noticed.

The dates for Josephus, whose writings are famous as it is believed they provide a brief historical record of Jesus are entered to show that he lives in a significantly later time frame.

Claudius is Jesus

In this scenario Jesus message was deliberately defined and propagated by the Roman State, who found the Jewish faith totally contradictory to it’s own fundamental beliefs. Jesus was one and the same person as the Emperor Claudius. Claudius, intellectually strong though physically disabled was sent to Judaea. Having completed his ministry, he was not crucified, he returned to Rome. Claudius disabilities were caused by a miss-managed fake cruxifiction.

One might ask how a complete stranger could be launched into Judaean society. In fact the gospels themselves give us one possible explanation. That Jesus was hidden away from the public gaze from his twelfth to his thirtieth year and then suddenly launched his ministry in Galilee, not in Judaea itself.

The objective was to establish Jesus in the persona of the Messiah complete with a fabricated genealogy, deliver the chosen message and then terminate his ministry to make a folk hero of the persona he had created.

Claudius then returned to Rome, became Emperor and propagated stories about himself.

Claudius had close relations with the Piso family and therefore according to many genealogies with Mariamne Aria, who is proposed as the real life Mary Magdelene

Certainly Claudius the Emperor had many mistresses any one of which under this scenario might have been Mary Magdelene.

This version does not require multiple alter egos, merely careful stage management.

As Pharaoh of Egypt, Claudius adopted the royal titulary Tiberios Klaudios, Autokrator Heqaheqau Meryasetptah, Kanakht Djediakhshuemakhet (“Tiberius Claudius, Emperor and ruler of rulers, beloved of Isis and Ptah, the strong bull of the stable moon on the horizon”).He could only have become Pharoh if he had been chosen by the senior princess Mirimamne of Parthia otherwise known as Mary Magdelene

Jesus is Claudius

A totally separate speculation but with identical outcomes. This Scenario is that the Roman State was actually controlled by the Egyptian State, who also disapproved of the Jewish beliefs.

In second scenario Jesus’ maternal grandfather was Alexander Helios, son of Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony and his paternal grandmother was Cleopatra VIII daughter of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar. To make it doubly incestuous Cleopatra VIII ‘s partner was Caesarion, her full brother.

They operated under thinly veiled aliases,  Helios is known in the scriptural record as Heli and Cleopatra VIII is known as “Cleopatra Of Jerusalem”. The mission in Jerusalem was the same; to create a religion to replace the jewish religion. This Jesus in later life became the Emperor of rome, Claudius.

Claudius himself, severely disabled lived out his life in obscurity.

Interestingly when Claudius succeeded Caligula as emperor his mentor in Rome, who is said to have pleaded his case before the senate was Herod Aggrippa, grandson of Herod and therefore quite possibly great grandson of Antonius.

Someone else

There are many other theories about Jesus real identity; either a son of Herod the Great, or the King of Edessa or a son of Juba of Mauritania.

For all of these later scenario’s Jesus may have gone to Rome and there been substituted for an ailing Claudius, who was then permitted peaceful retirement.

In some of these scenarios Jesus retired to the east (Parthia or even further?)