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I, Claudius: from the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius (Claudius #1)

by Robert Graves

4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 · rating details · 33,608 ratings · 1,449 reviews

Once a rather bookish young man with a limp and a stammer, a man who spent most of his time trying to stay away from the danger and risk of the line of ascension, Claudius seemed an unlikely candidate for Emperor. Yet, on the death of Caligula, Claudius finds himself next in line for the throne, and must stay alive as well as keep control.

Drawing on the histories of Plutar

Drawing on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, noted historian and classicist Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Emperor Claudius with both skill and compassion. Weaving important themes throughout about the nature of freedom and safety possible in a safety and a monarchy, Graves’ Claudius is both more effective and more tragic than history typically remembers him. A best-selling novel and one of Graves’ most successful, I, Claudius has been adapted to television, film, theatre, and audio.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Graves (1895-1985) was an English novelist, poet, and translator of Classical Greek and Roman literature, and one of the most prominent English writers of the 20th century. He was an extremely prolific writer, who published more than 140 novels and collections of poetry. In addition to novels and poetry, he published groundbreaking analysis of Greek mythology, as well as memoir. Graves is best known for his historical novels, which include I, Claudius, Claudius, the God, The Golden Fleece, King Jesus, and Count Belisarius.

Robert Graves served in combat in World War I and was gravely wounded at the Battle of the Somme. Following his recovery, he wrote several works of war poetry as well as a memoir of his time in combat, entitled Goodbye to All That. In 1934, Robert Graves was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his historical novels dealing with the Roman Emperor Claudius.

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Kindle Edition , 415 pages

Published March 6th 2014 by RosettaBooks (first published 1934)

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Feb 07, 2012 Paul Bryant rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-classic , novels

I Claudius reviewed by Manny :

- Claudius, come here, sit down right by me, don't be shy.

- O o o o o oh, M-m-m-m-m-

- Yes?

- essalina!

I Claudius reviewed by Mariel :

All i can dream about is rabbits every day. every day rabbits. i can't tell you why.

I Claudius reviewed by Ian Graye :

You've seen The Sopranos, so you think you know about gangsters.

But Imperial Rome didn't get its reputation by organising knitting circles.

No, it didn't.

Claudius became emperor accidentally. They found him cowering in a ...more

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Allie Whiteley How fabulous! Makes me even more inclined to read the book. Even if in my head it will always be I Clavdivs (after the Flanders & Swann joke).
Mar 12, 2013 12:39AM

Richard Allie wrote: "How fabulous! Makes me even more inclined to read the book. Even if in my head it will always be I Clavdivs (after the Flanders & Sw ...more
Mar 12, 2013 07:08AM

Mar 15, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction , 100 , classic-lit

Things had to have been boring in ancient Rome with no TV, internet or video games. But after reading I, Claudius , I think that the average Roman citizen’s chief entertainment probably came from watching what the imperial family did to each other. There was the crime and intrigue of a show like The Sopranos . All the narcissism and betrayal of a season of a reality TV show. More sex than cable on-demand porn channels and enough family dysfunction to make Jerry Springer’s guests look classy. You Things had to have been boring in ancient Rome with no TV, internet or video games. But after reading I, Claudius , I think that the average Roman citizen’s chief entertainment probably came from watching what the imperial family did to each other. There was the crime and intrigue of a show like The Sopranos . All the narcissism and betrayal of a season of a reality TV show. More sex than cable on-demand porn channels and enough family dysfunction to make Jerry Springer’s guests look classy. You could have kicked off your sandals, put your feet up and watched out the window as all kinds of people got married, divorced, betrayed, robbed, disgraced, exiled and murdered. You can’t put a dollar value on entertainment like that.

The story is told from the perspective of Claudius, a member of the royal family who managed to survive because he was widely considered to be an idiot due to his stammer and bad leg, and because he never had enough money for anyone to bother killing him for his estate. Shunned and forgotten by most of the family, Claudius becomes a historian and scholar who documents the terrible things that happen around him as everyone seeks to gain and keep power.

Over his life, Claudius will have to deal with three emperors; the noble Augustus, the sullen and paranoid Tiberius and the crazy Caligula. His grandmother Livia, who married Augustus, would ruthlessly manipulate and destroy generations of her own family through various schemes and murders to make sure that her son, Tiberius, would one day inherit the throne.

Great book that really makes Roman history come alive. Claudius is a sympathetic narrator and there’s a streak of hilarious deadpan humor along with all the palace intrigue.
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Jul 17, 2012 Sarah (Presto agitato) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Those interested in the real Hunger Games

Shelves: favorite-books , roma-spqr , historical-fiction

Poor Clau-Clau-Claudius. He stuttered, had a limp, and was deaf in one ear. Considered the family idiot, he had the misfortune to be born into a family that suffered from a congenital lack of compassion.

Robert Graves’s choice of the hapless Claudius as the narrator for this work of historical fiction was ingenious. Seen as dull-witted and harmless by his ruthless relatives, Claudius managed to avoid (view spoiler) the poisoning, banishment, starvation, stabbing, and suici Poor Clau-Clau-Claudius. He stuttered, had a limp, and was deaf in one ear. Considered the family idiot, he had the misfortune to be born into a family that suffered from a congenital lack of compassion.

Robert Graves’s choice of the hapless Claudius as the narrator for this work of historical fiction was ingenious. Seen as dull-witted and harmless by his ruthless relatives, Claudius managed to avoid (view spoiler) the poisoning, banishment, starvation, stabbing, and suicide to which many of his more prominent associates fell victim. He was the family outcast, but innocuous enough to be left alone to observe the antics of those around him, and, as a historian, he recorded it all to share with us.

Claudius, Emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 AD

Graves does an excellent job of taking us into Claudius’s mind, despite the 2,000 year gap in time. Claudius would have considered himself a “good Claudian” (compared to most of his relatives), but he had his flaws, including a cold indifference to slaves and conquered nations and a fondness for drink and gambling. Still, compared to his nephew Caligula, who made his horse a Senator and had entire sections of the crowd thrown to the lions out of boredom, Claudius can not help but seem refreshingly sane and humane.

Claudius’s grandmother, Livia, is depicted as a devious schemer and poisoner, but Claudius even managed to be fair to her. Though he disliked her as much as she disliked him and had the good sense to be afraid of her, he tells us, “...however criminal the means used by Livia to win the direction of affairs for herself...she was an exceptionally able and just ruler” (p. 228).

Livia, the real power behind Caesar Augustus

Graves occasionally allows himself to give commentary through Claudius. I, Claudius was published in 1934, on the eve of World War II, and Graves doesn’t miss the opportunity to stick it to the Germans. He has Claudius’s brother, Germanicus, say, “The Germans...are the most insolent and boastful nation in the world when things go well with them, but once they are defeated they are the most cowardly and abject. Never trust a German out of your sight, but never be afraid of him when you have him face to face” (p. 249). He gives a plug to the English, too, when he lists as one of three impossible things the idea of subduing the island of Britain (p. 232).

Historical fiction is always a bit risky; when it’s bad, it can be really bad, particularly when characters from hundreds of years ago talk like they’re on an MTV special. I, Claudius , however, is excellent historical fiction. The characters are believable, depicted with wit and even a touch of modern relevance. There is the added bonus that modern taxation doesn’t seem nearly so onerous when compared to Caligula’s, when he imposed “a tax...on all married men for the privilege of sleeping with their wives” (p. 425). This is the kind of story that lets you imagine what it would have been like to live in a different age, and then to feel very grateful that you don’t.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Jun 06, 2015 Jr Bacdayan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Game of Rome s

History is the lie of the victors. Or so that’s what they say. But in the case of I, Claudius hailed as one of the best pieces of historical fiction written to date, the so-called lie is either heightened or degraded, depends on how you see it, into a dramatic tale of cunning, deceit, depravity and the glories of ancient Rome chalked with enough back-stabbing, affairs, incest, assassinations, and debauchery you’d doubt whether you’ve unearthed an ancient tabloid. Granted there are c Game of Rome s

History is the lie of the victors. Or so that’s what they say. But in the case of I, Claudius hailed as one of the best pieces of historical fiction written to date, the so-called lie is either heightened or degraded, depends on how you see it, into a dramatic tale of cunning, deceit, depravity and the glories of ancient Rome chalked with enough back-stabbing, affairs, incest, assassinations, and debauchery you’d doubt whether you’ve unearthed an ancient tabloid. Granted there are certain truths that only a tabloid can tell. Of course, in this case it is idiotic to look for historical accuracy in fiction but certain things that happen are just so wicked that you have to wonder whether these lies are just that. This review aims to take on the impossible task of diluting the deceitful mixture to separate the lies of the writer from the more essential lies of the victors.

There's actually very little in I, Claudius that's entirely unattested. But the thing is Robert Graves based on historical works that are biased and unreliable and he portrays the characters in a way to fit his underlying narrative. Graves relied most heavily on Suetonius and Tacitus. He drew on Suetonius and a host of late Roman authors who are inaccurate at best, particularly for his narration of the earlier emperors to provide all sorts of juicy gossip that those works are full of. But then he had a problem. There was a sharp division among writers of the 1st and 2nd Centuries, A.D. as regards Claudius. Many of his contemporaries, and particularly the Neronians, saw Claudius as the bumbling old idiot that you can find in the pages of Seneca and Suetonius. However, under the Flavians Claudius became a model emperor, who was a struggling intellectual and who expanded Roman power militarily and through his public works, rather than the idiot who let everyone else do all the work for him and eventually had to rely on his wife so much that he fell into her trap easily. Graves chooses the Flavian view of Claudius, and attempts to explain away the aspects of his character seen negatively by Suetonius and Seneca by various means. Graves claimed that it occurred to him while reading through Suetonius and Tacitus that perhaps Claudius was not really as stupid as everyone else thought and that he was cleverly trying to stay alive in a time of intrigue and plotting that undoubtedly would have killed him otherwise. As a result, the works are highly sifted and selected to provide particular, no matter how unlikely, versions of the events that took place.

There's nothing to suggest that Claudius, Livia, Augustus, or any of the other characters thought many of the things that Graves puts in their minds. We know they did certain things, and there are a number of reasons why they might have done so. Graves picks the reasons he particularly likes and crafts a very good story from it, imagining that it is true, whether it is or not. The other thing that Graves fabricates is holes in the record. Graves is very fond of linking events together that probably didn't have any connection--the famous example is the important character of Cassius Chaerea, who appears all over the place and is a major plot-driver. The historical Cassius Chaerea is only known as the prefect of the Praetorian Guard who was hated and teased by Caligula and eventually was one of the leaders of the plot to murder him. Whenever Chaerea appears elsewhere in I, Claudius Graves is in fact imposing his character on a historical person. Basically, whenever Chaerea appears before then he's actually playing someone who the record says was named Cassius, and that Graves assumes or pretends was Chaerea, for plot purposes. There's no reason to suggest, for example, that the same Cassius who led the survivors out of the Teutoburg was the guy who killed Caligula--Cassius was, after all, the name of one of the largest families in Rome.

As I end, let me entertain you a bit. If you’ve ever watched Game of Thrones then you should know never to underestimate the weak, repulsive ones. What they lack in strength or in beauty, they make up for in cunning and intelligence. Permit me to say this but I do think Grave’s version of Claudius is, in a certain sense, the true Tyrion. Of course he’s not a dwarf, but he’s deformed in his own way. He’s lame, bowlegged, and a chronic stammerer. He comes from a family that comes to power because of a deceitful but nevertheless remarkable woman Livia aka Cersei then becomes the steward of sorts to his insane nephew Geoffrey or Caligula rather. Not that I’m trying to say Game of Thrones is based on I, Claudius or Roman history, or that Tyrion will become king of the seven realms. I’m just saying that they’re both entertaining, they’re both fiction, but that doesn’t mean they’re both trash. Sometimes you need a lie to get to the truth. Immediately after the book was published the classical community exploded, with some denouncing the book and condemning Graves (who explicitly states that he was not attempting any sort of historical or professional publication with the book, merely his own fancy), but it also initiated scholars to go back and revisit the textual material. In general the book prompted a mass re-reading of all the material on Claudius, if only to fact-check Graves, and a great deal of things that were overlooked until then popped out. This coincided with a revisiting of the emperors in general. So it did have some sort of significance for academics, and it did and continues to awaken the layman’s curiosity about roman emperors and consequently about ancient roman history.

And for Game of Thrones, well the truth is, it’s just awesome. ...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites , r-r-rs

Yo, Claudio

The review I really have in mind will be attempted for this book only after I finish reading Claudius the God (to quench the burning curiosity of how this ‘Clau-Clau-Claudius’, a man, who in the first shock of being made emperor had this outrageous thought come rushing to his mind - "So, I'm Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now.” , will conduct himself as a God-Emperor), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Rubicon: The Last Y ...more

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Sep 16, 2014 Aubrey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star , reviewed , 1-read-on-hand , r-2013 , r-goodreads

There have been multiple periods of time in my life during which I developed a fascination for different historical families, usually of infamous repute. Elementary school was devoted to the Tudors, focusing heavily on the Princess Elizabeth, while middle through high school was preoccupied with the Borgias, an interest more balanced between its equally intriguing members. Every so often those fascinations will spark up again, and I will find myself consuming relevant impressively rendered ficti There have been multiple periods of time in my life during which I developed a fascination for different historical families, usually of infamous repute. Elementary school was devoted to the Tudors, focusing heavily on the Princess Elizabeth, while middle through high school was preoccupied with the Borgias, an interest more balanced between its equally intriguing members. Every so often those fascinations will spark up again, and I will find myself consuming relevant impressively rendered fiction and biographically accurate nonfiction with equal fervor. I would not be able to tell you why these subjects had attracted me while I was young, but I do have a hypothesis as to why they continue to interest me today.

Both the Tudors and the Borgias were at the center of major confluences in their day, and both rested in the eyes of storms largely fueled by religion. While the Borgias clawed their way to the top of the papal throne amidst vicious rumors of debauched blasphemy, the Tudors with Henry VIII as their figurehead rejected that system of belief completely in favor of one that would serve their own ends. And it is this intersection of human figures in places of immense power with religious forces, and what results, that makes for truly spellbinding tales, fictional or no.

I, Claudius is an example of this theological maelstrom, but is even more striking when taken into consideration that the Emperors of Rome could be deified, whether by popular plea by the public or by the crazed hysterics of the ruler himself. Not a king in consultation with powerful people both religious and otherwise, nor a pope equipped with papal infallibility in the spiritual sense. A god.

The effect that this mentality must have had on its believers is not fully explored, as Claudius is not one for psychological profiles or sociocultural analysis. His two interests throughout the story are largely restricted to the realms of historical recountal and simple survival, as his family discredits, banishes, poisons, and pushes to suicide any member they deem in their way. I do not blame him in the slightest, but I cannot help but wish that there was more to the story than the bare facts and occasional personal inputs that Claudius limited himself to. Or I suppose the matter would have fallen to Graves, seeing as this for all its evidence of substantial research is a work of fiction.

For the potential of deification works its way into the heart of every major player, beginning with Augustus' boasts of his relations to the deified Julius Caeser, and ending with Caligula's assumption of the role of any god or goddess, a decision dictated only by his increasingly errant and murderous behavior. Of special note is Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus, who of all the characters proved to be the most controversially engaging. Her first manipulation on a grand scale removes her from her first husband and places her at the side of Augustus, then called Octavian, an enemy of her family that drove her father to suicide. From thereon out she is strongly present in the ruling of the Roman Empire, a time when women were banned from the senate and widowed mothers were placed under the guardianship of their own sons. She goes to any lengths without any seeming sentiment in order to ensure the health of the Empire, a health that she believes can be maintained only by her line. When considering her considerable prowess in ruling through Augustus, this was not a bad assumption to make at all. (view spoiler)

In fact, I would have preferred reading the story from her point of view, if it were not for that fact Claudius survived her and lived to see the tumultuous reigns of her son Tiberius and her grandson Caligula. It is through his eyes that one is able to see that, while Livia was a masterful player at the game of all-powerful leadership, she did not give much thought to the psychological damage she was wreaking on those she expected to continue her rule, or how they would manage to cope without her complete control of the realm. If she had, it is hard to say how the history of Western Roman Empire would have evolved. My bets are on that it would not have ended with Nero, and maybe would even have continued for far longer than it ended up doing.

That is pure conjecture, though. What is not is that the book ends with Claudius becoming Emperor, whose story is continued in Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina . Based on the brief insights into his character that he chose to insert into his historical account, within the academically inclined soul of his there lies some small worms of grandeur, lofty views of himself that so far his career of pandering and pretending have not substantiated. It will be interesting to see whether these worms grow any, and how they express themselves when his hands grasp the reins of the Empire and they are let loose on a much wider field of play. He is the newest member of this train of deified royalty, and how he chooses to handles this powerful mantle remains to be seen.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Feb 20, 2007 Luke Peterson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorites

Best book I'd read in years. I, Claudius is a brilliantly written piece of historical fiction from the perspective of a hapless-yet-intelligent black sheep of the Julio-Claudian house during the Augustan era of the Roman Empire who stumbles his way through to survive the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula only to be made emperor himself.

At times hilarious, others disturbing, very interesting all the way through, Robert Graves wrote a masterpiece with this. I challenge anyone to read 'I, ...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Elijah Spector rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

[Cross-posted on my blog, but with pretty pictures!]
I decided that I had to read I, Claudius as soon as possible because of Brian Blessed.

I was watching a documentary about the famous BBC miniseries based on the book (which I desperately want to watch) and saw Mr. Blessed -- one of my favorite people to ever exist, who should really be a "Sir Blessed" -- discuss his reaction to being offered the role of Augustus: he basically (I am paraphrasing) went "oh no, I can't see myself as Augustus... m ...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-and-biography , too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts

- Ave, Imperator!

- A-a-a-a-ave Manny. Heri o-o-o-ccurabamus?

- Parodis Paulii Bryantii erat.

- A-a-a-absit invidia. Latinam loquitis?

- Googlam Translatam utiliso.

- Non i-i-i-intelligo.

- Malefice! Logicus coprae est.

- P-p-parodis Bryantii melius erat.

- Bastarde!

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Jun 10, 2015 Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Compelling, humorous, entertaining and even at time times deeply disturbing, this traces the peripheral rise of an unlikely Caeser.

Historical fiction at its best, Graves provides an in-depth, behind the scenes look at early Roman Imperial intrigue. First published in 1934, this has been selected as one of the finest English language works in the twentieth century.

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Dec 20, 2014 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century , novel , historical-fiction

I was going to write that Graves having translated The Twelve Caesars recycled the Suetonius with a dash of Tacitus and some added murders to create I Claudius - ostensibly the memoirs of the Emperor Claudius.

This, however, seems to be entirely false as Graves wrote I, Claudius more than twenty years before he made that translation. He was though living on Majorca, which is not quite Capri and if isolated and obsessing over his muse not quite in Tiberian style.

In my imagination then I have to p I was going to write that Graves having translated The Twelve Caesars recycled the Suetonius with a dash of Tacitus and some added murders to create I Claudius - ostensibly the memoirs of the Emperor Claudius.

This, however, seems to be entirely false as Graves wrote I, Claudius more than twenty years before he made that translation. He was though living on Majorca, which is not quite Capri and if isolated and obsessing over his muse not quite in Tiberian style.

In my imagination then I have to place I, Claudius back in the 1930s, a few years after this memoir of the First World War Goodbye to all that and put this portrait of an imagined secret life of an Imperial family with its incest, non-normative elective sexual activities some of which remain illegal in various countries, and family murders to gain or maintain power mentally in the context of the official rigid Victorianism of the Britain of George V.

Is I, Claudius just a fictional interpretation of the really already quite turbulent Julio-Claudian dynasty, or is it worth thinking about it as the continuation of Goodbye to all that ? Is this Graves drawing back the Imperial curtain and showing us the archetypal family life of all Emperors? Don't be fooled by the noble faces on the coins he says, they may not smell (view spoiler) but their daily reality is sordid all the same.

Alternatively this is just some whimsy on my part and the genesis of I, Claudius was simply Graves' need to earn some pennies while living on Majorca so that he could continue to obsess over his muse in decent isolation.

Anyhow this is a fun bit of historical fiction even if the reality may well have been slightly less murderous than Graves' novel since the Romans seem to have been the least shy of all earthly empires to date when it came to prematurely terminating the reigns of Emperors.

["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Apr 02, 2015 David Sarkies rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Roman Empire buffs

Recommended to David by: Sariah

Shelves: historical

A fictional autobiography of a Roman Emperor
23 February 2015

Well, here is another historical novel that I actually quite enjoyed, but that may be because, unlike most historical novels that deal with fictional characters placed in an historical time period, this deals with real characters, namely the Imperial Family from the establishment of the empire to the ascension of Claudius to the throne. As can be seen by the title, the main character is the emperor Claudius before he became emperor (th ...more

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Sep 23, 2014 Dawn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 400-pre , locale-roman-empire , historical-fiction , read-2014

I am a fan of anything to do with the Roman Empire. I find it endlessly fascinating how much of their systems of law and politics we continue to use and the amount of their language that is still a part of our lives.

As the intention must obviously have been, seeing as the point of view is from Claudius writing a history, this book is heavy on the facts and chronicles of events. Though it is written with a personal opinion on the characters, as Claudius is their contemporary.

I found the style o ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Andy Dowling rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This thing is basically 'The Wire' in togas. It has much of the complex plotting, political positioning, warring and double crossing of that show, with a bit of incest and poisoning thrown in for good measure. A lot of poisoning actually. If the amount of poisoning in this book is at all historically accurate, then the Romans must have experienced the same abject terror sitting down to every meal, which we in modern life are thankfully now only exposed to when faced with no option but to use a K ...more

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Jul 05, 2007 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first book that convinced me that history could be engrossing. Ridiculously fun to read - it delivers a thrill on a level with the first time you saw "The Mikado", heard the Saint-Saens cello concerto, Callas singing 'Casta Diva'. You get the picture

It is a stroke of genius for Graves to choose Claudius, the drooling 'halfwit' among the Caesars, overlooked and ridiculed by his more ambitious relatives, as his mouthpiece. In a voice that is irresistibly gossipy and remarkably shrewd, he draws ...more

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Jul 21, 2015 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: rome , historical-fiction

Robert Graves does a remarkable job bringing the various Caesars to life in this book. But, oddly enough, the least compelling Caesar is Claudius. That's crazy, because Claudius--due to his lameness, his stutter, and his assumed idiocy--managed to survive most of his family (and the reign of his insane nephew Caligula) to become emperor in 41 A.D. And he was a good emperor--definitely the best and most capable of the Caesars since Augustus.

That makes Claudius a particularly enticing figure to s Robert Graves does a remarkable job bringing the various Caesars to life in this book. But, oddly enough, the least compelling Caesar is Claudius. That's crazy, because Claudius--due to his lameness, his stutter, and his assumed idiocy--managed to survive most of his family (and the reign of his insane nephew Caligula) to become emperor in 41 A.D. And he was a good emperor--definitely the best and most capable of the Caesars since Augustus.

That makes Claudius a particularly enticing figure to speculate about, and perhaps embellish a little, but Robert Graves instead uses Claudius as a convenient narrator who happens to live throughout the turbulent years of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. In the introduction to Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina , Graves makes a point to say that his reviewers have accused him of simply regurgitating Suetonius and Tacitus, but he also uses many other writers like Josephus, Seneca, and Claudius himself to create a narrative that is as historically accurate as possible. Claudius is never the star of these histories or even of his own writings, so he acts as the historian for his own autobiography. He says at the outset of the book that he's going to relate his history as objectively as he can, and that requires him to segue frequently into explanations of which Julio-Claudians are doing what and why. Because this is written as a narrative, with Claudius relating rather than showing the action to the reader, that leaves little room for Claudius to break out and become a real character.

I've included spoilers below, although all "spoilers" here are historical ones. If you aren't familiar with the history of the early Roman emperors and would like to be surprised while reading this book as a work of fiction, by all means don't read them! Otherwise, if you don't mind knowing the broad course of events, the spoilers are safe.

I have two main problems with this book, one technical and the other historical. The technical issue is that it has no narrative arc. Since Claudius relates the events of his life as they occur, there isn't really anything tying it together. It ends with (view spoiler) . The facts of the Caesars' reigns are so convoluted that, if you choose to stick with one main character, it's necessary for you as an author to make a story out of that history. Instead, Graves goes for accuracy above all else. Characters appear and then die horribly within two pages, without having a real effect on Claudius. It's a good introduction to the period and to the many colorful people that inhabited the early empire, but it's not particularly great, fleshed-out fiction. It's all narrative related by Claudius after the fact, rather than actual live scenes happening between the characters.

The historical issue is that Graves relies on the ancient historians to create the character of Livia. (view spoiler)

The Caligula parts of the book are the best, possibly because Graves has so much to work with. The battle that Caligula has with Neptune--in which the soldiers throw their javelins at the waves and then collect seashells as booty--is particularly funny. The conversation between Claudius and Caligula when Caligula reveals himself as a god made me laugh out loud (and it's a good example of how good Graves is when he writes scenes, rather than narrative!). I also really liked the idea that (view spoiler) .

This book is widely regarded as a masterpiece of historical fiction. Given that it was published in 1934 and pioneered the genre, I'll give Graves the credit he's due. But I truly believe there's ample room for a subversive or character-driven novel that features Claudius (or Livia!!), and that's the book that I would have rather read.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Michael Emily wrote: "Michael wrote: "I am broken hearted that anything from Graves received less than five stars! I read your qualms, and they are reasonable ...more
Jul 21, 2015 01:02PM

Emily Michael wrote: "I think that exploring that bias and the way that it colors Roman history is as enjoyable as a good narrative, and a tool that we can ...more
updated Jul 23, 2015 03:39PM

Feb 17, 2011 Good Reader rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction , ancient-history , fiction

I found I, Claudius to be really hard to get through. I just wasn't gripped by the story. There were no characters that I could identify with, including Claudius himself as the narrator. While there were a few tidbits here and there that held my attention, overall, the book seemed like a hopeless jaunt through decadent and debauched Rome with no upside to balance it out. In short, this book read like a modern day soap opera but with better use of language. I did commit myself to complete the boo ...more

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Sep 22, 2015 awesomatik.com rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Endlich fertig! Ich dachte schon das wird nix mehr. Dieses Buch sollte man auf jeden Fall so gut es geht am Stück lesen, sonst ist es die reine Qual, denn "I,Claudius" ist eigentlich keine Geschichte sondern eher eine endlose Aneinanderreihung von geschichtlichen Anekdoten, die teilweise historisch belegt und teilweise fiktiv sind. Auf knapp 400 Seiten kommen und gehen mehrere Hundert Charaktere mit komplizierten lateinischen Namen. Es wird gemeuchelt und vergiftet, intrigiert und gefoltert was
Endlich fertig! Ich dachte schon das wird nix mehr. Dieses Buch sollte man auf jeden Fall so gut es geht am Stück lesen, sonst ist es die reine Qual, denn "I,Claudius" ist eigentlich keine Geschichte sondern eher eine endlose Aneinanderreihung von geschichtlichen Anekdoten, die teilweise historisch belegt und teilweise fiktiv sind. Auf knapp 400 Seiten kommen und gehen mehrere Hundert Charaktere mit komplizierten lateinischen Namen. Es wird gemeuchelt und vergiftet, intrigiert und gefoltert was das Zeug hält.

Das ganze verpackt als Memoiren des Kaisers Claudius, der aber so gut wie gar nicht in Erscheinung tritt. Viel mehr geht es um das Leben und Sterben der gesamten imperialen Familie von Julius Caesar bis zum titelgebenden Claudius. Und das so gut wie ohne wörtliche Rede! Der Horror.

Eigentlich wollte ich das Buch nach 50 Seiten wegwerfen, da ich keine Lust hatte mir die drölfhundert Charaktere zu merken aber dann haben mich die Machenschaften der intriganten Livia doch in ihren Bann gezogen. Fortan wurde die Lektüre zu einer Art Hassliebe. Der Mittelteil war die reine Qual das letzte Drittel mit der Herrschaft des wunderbar verrückten und grausamen Caligula schon wieder recht unterhaltsam.

Robert Graves hat in jedem Fall eine sensationelle Arbeit abgeliefert, die eigentlich locker fünf Sterne verdient hätte, wenn sie nicht so mühsam zu lesen wäre.

Wer hier einen historischen Roman erwartet, wird enttäuscht sein. Wer sich aber auf das Experiment einlassen kann, wird ein historisch fundiertes und gleichzeitig phantasiereiches Werk lesen, das einem das römische Reich mit viel (Galgen)Humor in all seiner Herrlichkeit und Grausamkeit nahe bringt.

PS: die Lektüre war für mich Vergleichbar mit Bill Brysons "Eine kurze Geschichte von fast allem", das ich irgendwann aufgegeben hatte, weil es so detailreich war. Super geschrieben und unterhaltsam aber nach dreißig Seiten hatte ich die ersten zehn schon wieder vergessen.

...more

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Aug 29, 2015 Eirini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα,μια καταπληκτική τοιχογραφία της ρωμαϊκής κοινωνίας στα πρώτα χρόνια της αυτοκρατορίας.Καλύπτει την περίοδο απο τη δολοφονία του Ιούλιου Καίσαρα μεχρι και την ανάρρηση του Κλαύδιου στο θρόνο.Ίντριγκες,πάθη,φιλοδοξίες,δολοφονίες ξετυλίγονται μπροστά μας.Η ιστορική ακρίβεια και η μυθοπλασία είναι στενά συνδεδεμένα και δημιουργούν ένα υπέροχο,ολοζώντανο και πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που με συνεπήρε.
Το μόνο του πρόβλημα είναι τα πολλά ονόματα και οι μπερδεμένες ...more

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Jul 26, 2013 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction , rome-fiction

Having just read Everitt's recent bio of Augustus, and being glued to HBO's Rome, I turned to this classic novel to get a better feel for Augustus and his times. The first two thirds of this novel, covering the administrations of Augustus and Tiberius, are dominated by the influence of Livia, an influence that extends into the Caligula era.

In contrast, the Everitt bio downplays Livia saying that she's shrewd businesswoman and loving advisor (if not much of a sexual partner) to Augustus. With car Having just read Everitt's recent bio of Augustus, and being glued to HBO's Rome, I turned to this classic novel to get a better feel for Augustus and his times. The first two thirds of this novel, covering the administrations of Augustus and Tiberius, are dominated by the influence of Livia, an influence that extends into the Caligula era.

In contrast, the Everitt bio downplays Livia saying that she's shrewd businesswoman and loving advisor (if not much of a sexual partner) to Augustus. With careful words and footnotes, Everitt separates what is known and what isn't. He says there is no proof that Livia is behind poisonings and the like for which she has come to be associated. He handles Julia's banishment as an overreaction by Augustus alone.

Graves, though, gives a ton of circumstantial evidence that points to Livia as not only a poisoner, but also the center of power in both the Augustus and Tiberius administrations. She clearly had the motivation to orchestrate the poisonings and banishments and was the only true beneficiary of the family turmoil. Late in the novel, Graves gives us a telling historical fact, (I had not known this, and checked it out) about her father and his death. This alone sets the stage.

Graves, in describing Germanicus and how he was perceived by Tiberius, gives us a full picture of Tiberius' world view. His cruelty was not a freak of nature. The odds are that a mother without conscience will raise children to be like her, and hence we have Tiberius. We also watch the young Caligula, also a product of his grandmother's counsel, grow up from burning down his uncle's house to larger and more perverse crimes.

Graves is brilliant in choosing Claudius, the stammering historian, to be his voice. He breathes life into the history here. While Everitt can find no evidence to support this rendering, there is none to refute its basic theory. Graves gives what appears to be a plausible decription of how the republic devolved into an amoral empire. ...more

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Mar 31, 2008 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature , read2008 , historical-fiction

I read this over the course of three weeks and blogged about it along with several other writers. (The Big Read II) That kind of slow, reflective read is perfect for this book. There are many historical characters to keep track of, and just who is going to be poisoned by whom.

Julius Caesar is merely the backstory, the real story here is about a sickly cripple that manages not to get assassinated before he becomes the Emperor at the ripe old age of 50 something. (That is not a spoiler...we learn ...more

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Jan 28, 2008 Rustom Davar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you think your family is bad, wait till you see what Emperor "Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other" had to put up with! This historical novel is written from the point of view of Claudius, a stammering, lame, benign man who is taken for a fool by everyone who knows him (which happens to works in his favour). Claudius starts his tale with the reign of Augustus and ends the book with his own ascension to power. There is a sequel to the book called "The God Claudius" ...more

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May 19, 2010 Bryan Jones rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Absolutely one of the worst books I ever read. I will never understand its popularity. Historical fiction at its worst. No themes, no depth, no undertones. Graves simply regurgitates facts and characters from 1st Century Roman high society.

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Mar 25, 2015 Kiwi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

A work of historical fiction as it should be: entertaining but based on solid research, including accurate dates and places.

The book narrative is in the first-person, as if Claudius were writing his autobiography, complete with Homeric references and Latin vocabulary. Although its stated purpose is of a biography, the story is rich with many historical figures related to the Julio-Claudian family line. Claudius’ observations on these characters provide interesting behind-the-scene information o ...more

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Apr 21, 2010 A.J. Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-library-100-novels , finished-in-2010 , time-100 , bookshelf-fiction

I, Claudius is more of a fictional work of history than a historical work of fiction. What I mean by that is that Robert Graves isn't content with telling a story that takes place in a different era using historical events as devices that move along the narrative. Instead, the historical events are the narrative. Claudius, our narrator is a figure in the events, but he is approaching the events and other characters as a historian rather than as a participant. Graves' Claudius is a uniquely appro I, Claudius is more of a fictional work of history than a historical work of fiction. What I mean by that is that Robert Graves isn't content with telling a story that takes place in a different era using historical events as devices that move along the narrative. Instead, the historical events are the narrative. Claudius, our narrator is a figure in the events, but he is approaching the events and other characters as a historian rather than as a participant. Graves' Claudius is a uniquely appropriate figure for this task. Although he is a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, his physical handicaps make him seem an imbecile and black sheep. Claudius' infirmities camouflage a keen mind, which allows him to give a insiders account of the turbulent consolidation of the Roman imperial system from an outsiders perspective.

The fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of Empire is one of those bits of history that have become a archetype for fictional works. * Needless to say, an account of the original is eventful enough. One of Graves main theme is the effect of absolute power and cult of personalities on both the individual and societal level. The main drama focuses on members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which easily qualify as the most dysfunctional family in literary history. Graves does an admirable job of creating real characters out of figures we tend to think of as marble statues. Claudius early in the book points out that members of the Claudian family tend to be either good or bad, there isn't much room for grey. All the characters in the book, with a few exceptions, are usually completely virtuous or completely despicable. However, the despicable characters still maintain some motive.

Graves was a historian and his knowledge show. I, Claudius isn't supposed to work as a description of everyday Roman life during the time of Christ. However, Graves does impart some cultural information without disrupting the flow of the narrative. He doesn't put in extraneous historical detail to show off his research, unlike some historical-fiction writers.

This is one of the books that makes me wish that you could give half stars or rate on a skill of ten. While I really enjoyed the book, I really didn't find it mind-blowing. I had some issues with the book. At times it got a little melodramatic, dry, and repetitive. This isn't necessarily Graves' fault, he's just repeating history, but the inter-family betrayals and double-crosses wear a little thin after a while. Actually, the whole reign of Tiberius was a little slow. If Augustus was the decent benevolent, yet manipulatable, tyrant and Caligula was the sociopathic culmination of history, the Tiberius was somewhere in between. You need the progression to get to the result (Caligula), but it can be slow going. Also, some of the minor characters can be hard to keep track of. ** If I could I would give the book 4 1/2 stars.

I'm look forward to eventually reading Graves' followup, Claudius the God. It seems that Graves reached the culmination of all his themes in the closing pages of this work. It should be interesting to see where Graves goes in the sequel.

* A prime example of this is the Star Wars films. Excuse the digression, but I, Claudius works as one of the prime examples of how much more interesting the prequel trilogy could, and should, have been. Instead we get sloppy storytelling with no real human feeling in it.

** I usually don't have this problem. However, the cast of characters is so large and family ties are so important in this novel it can get confusing. Characters marry each multiple different times, producing children from each marriage, and sometimes from adulterous affairs. Take Caligula for instance: His father was Germanicus who was brother of Claudius. Germanicus and Claudius were the sons of another Germanicus and Antonia. Germanicus the elder was the brother of Tiberius. Tiberius and Germanicus were the sons of Livia another Tiberius. Livia divorced the older Tiberius and married Augustus who later adopted both Germanicus and Tiberius. Claudius and Germanicus' mother was Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia (Augustus' sister). Caligula's mother was Agrippina who was the daughter of Agrippa (a close ally of Augustus) and Jullia. Jullia was the only natural child of Augustus by his first marriage. Jullia and Agrippa had several different sons who are major characters and she later married Tiberius (Germanicus' brother) and had a son by him, who is also a main character. All these family relationships are important to the narrative, I recommend making a family tree and updating it as you go along. ...more

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Sep 19, 2014 umberto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction , penguin-classics

I bought this paperback after reading his wonderful autobiography "Goodbye to All That"; however, I thought I would never finish reading this seemingly formidable historical fiction due to its 34 chapters, lengthy narration (e.g. two full pages, pp. 222-223, without any paragraph), those innumerable names unfamiliar to me, etc. Incidentally, we can see Graves has understood his readers by adding lively, amusing or informative dialogs as appropriate. This fiction on ancient Rome has definitely su ...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Taka rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012 , other_lit

A masterpiece?

Hardly. Engrossing? Well, yes, it did pull me through 432 pages of dense and complicated Roman history, 98% of which is told in a narrative instead of rendered in scene. Even the rare scenes of dialogue are stripped of live actions of the characters and I was more than a little disappointed in not being able to get to know the historical characters in flesh, as it were.

Another weakness was that there really is no overarching narrative arc. It's mostly Claudius recording the vile, m ...more

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Nov 19, 2013 K.M. Weiland rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know what I expecting when I started in on this. Something dull as tombs, a la some of the other classics I've been reading lately. Or something ostentatious, based solely on my familiarity with Graves as a poet (which makes no sense, because he's a wonderful poet). At any rate, the book totally blew my expectations out of the water. Fascinating from the word go, this is a stellar historical account of the early Roman Empire, as seen through the eyes of its misfit Emperor Claudius. For a ...more

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Aug 17, 2008 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of HBOs <i>Rome</i> or <i>Sopranos</i>

Shelves: little-city-book-sale-2008

I'd recommended the BBC/PBS TV series to anyone who'd listen for years, but only just got around to the book. Much more intrigue and mayhem than could be conveyed in the series, and I'll probably seek out Claudius the God in the near future.

My favorite bit was when a character appeared to have choked on a pear, Graves/Claudius writes: As was the custom in such cases, the pear tree was charged with murder and sentenced to be uprooted and burned.

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Jan 16, 2014 Geoffrey Fox rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What moved Graves, in his 39th year and during the vigorous rise of fascism, to write about the Roman Empire, from the last years of Augustus, through Tiberius, and up to the murder of Caligula? My question is not simply what gave him the inspiration but more seriously, what sustained him throughout the project. It is a monstrous allegory of his own times. No cruelty or treachery he had witnessed was unknown to the Romans of this period. The world did not yet know of genocide -- Hitler had becom ...more

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About Robert Graves

Robert Ranke Graves, born in Wimbledon, received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G. H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That ) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, G Robert Ranke Graves, born in Wimbledon, received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G. H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That ) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, "who had felt as I did".
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier , in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration . The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue , and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs , a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius . Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart failure. ...more

More about Robert Graves...

Other Books in the Series

Claudius (2 books)

Books by Robert Graves

Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (Claudius, #2)

The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21523063-i-claudius?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395335069l/21523063.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21523063-i-claudius?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]I, Claudius: from the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius by Robert Graves[/url]