I, Claudius
Ratings49
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings49
Average rating4.1
Despised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the intrigues, bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman dynasties. In I, Claudius he watches from the sidelines to record the reigns of its emperors: from the wise Augustus and his villainous wife Livia to the sadistic Tiberius and the insane excesses of Caligula. Written in the form of Claudius’ autobiography, this is the first part of Robert Graves’s brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome, and stands as one of the most celebrated, gripping historical novels ever written.
Featured Series
2 primary booksClaudius is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 1934 with contributions by Robert Graves and Stephen Alcorn.
Reviews with the most likes.
Poisonings, stabbings, poisonings, orgies, fires, rapes, poisonings, and then Claudius becomes Emperor. Really good stuff!
Murder your kinfolk
but make cool statues of them
~just emperor things~
This is a long time re-read, having read it at the time of the BBC series. It is troublesome if you want to keep track of the vast array of characters mentioned by Claudius, but if, after a cursory look at the many genealogical trees on the web, you just abandon hope of making sense of all the details it is simply very instructive recreation of a fascinating historical period. What I do not know is if, Graves' interpretation has stood the test of time.
