The Tunnels of Claudius consist principally of a 6 km-long tunnel together with several monumental service tunnels which Roman Emperor Claudius had built by 52 AD to partially drain the Fucine Lake in Abruzzo, protecting riparian villages from floods and creating agricultural land. It was a massive engineering project involving 30000 workmen and slaves who completed it in just 11 years, and considered among the grandest in antiquity. It was the longest tunnel ever built until the inauguration of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel in 1871.

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor at Lugdunum in Roman Gaul, where his father was stationed as a military legate. He was the first Roman emperor to be born outside Italy.