I, Claudius, by Robert Graves

I, Claudius
Robert Graves

Most of us are familiar with the Masterpiece Theater dramatization of I, Claudius now available on VHS and DVD. Don't expect everything you saw in the dramatization to be in the novel. Two scenes I remember distinctly, Sejanus's death and Caligula's murder of his pregnant sister, are mentioned only in passing in Claudius's telling of the story. That is because the novel is not so much a novel as anecdotal memoirs. That is is fictional makes it a novel. However, feel free to picture the incredible cast, Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Sían Phillips (Livia), Brian Blessed (Augustus) and John Hurt (Caligula) as well as many others to enrich your reading. Oh, and Capt. Jean Luc Picarde as Sejanus.



Poet Robert Graves wrote this novel and its sequel, Claudius the God, as a fictional memoir of Emperor Claudius, an early emperor of Rome. Born with various disabilities, Claudius managed to stay alive while literally thousands were poisoned and executed simply because no one regarded him as a credible threat. He is a scholar, a historian, and though he claims otherwise, a very clever man when it comes to manipulating people and situations for his own survival. His grandmother, that queen of poisoners, Livia, seems to come to realize the gem in the rough that Claudius is just before her death and begs him to make her a goddess after her death so she cannot be punished for her evbil deeds in the afterlife. Few others ever come to that realization about him, lucky for him.

Claudius lives through Livia's empire building techniques, then through his paranoid uncle Tiberius's vicious reign and his mad nephew Caligula's reign of terror. In between moments of intense fear he lives through and recounts the stories of the early empire, its battles, conquests, colonization of the rest of the known world, and along with its sublime moments its impious acts.

Clausius's style is personal, relaxed, self deprecating, and insightful, his wit mostly directed at himself, his reminiscence rambling. I must admit that Graves' frequent hints as to Tiberius's inimical sexual practices and then reticence about expanding on what they were was rather frustrating. If anything, I thought Caligula came off at times as rather a tame madman compared to most portrayals of him. He was one scary kid though.

This is the September 1st book for Let's Read Historical Novels on AccessibleWorld.org.

This book is available in just about any medium you could want. The edition pictured is the Penguin Classic. I actually listened to the Borders Audio edition purchased on Audible.com.