Robert Graves (1) (1895–1985)

Anyone interested in the history of the Roman Empire would be fascinated with this fictitious autobiography of Claudius. Robert Graves, a noted historian was also known for his works as a translator, essayist, critic, and lecturer, and he did an outstanding job in writing this award winning story of Claudius. It also rates as #14 on the Modern Library List of best novels ever written.

Writing in the first person, the tale begins when Clausius was a mere teenager as he describes being shunned by most of his family because of his disfigured body and severe stutter. There is a lot of focus on family gossip, and of course, the family are all members of the Julio-Claudian Royal Caesar family.

Claudius’s mother was the daughter of Marc Antony, and his father was the nephew of Augustus Caesar. His Great-Great-Uncle was Julius Caesar. To complicate things, his Grandmother on his father’s side of the family was married to his great-uncle Augustus Caesar. The family tree is complicated because of all the inbreeding.

It is almost impossible to understand the full meaning of I Claudius unless you first read some historical background of Roman history and the Caesar Dynasty. Julius Caesar was believed to be a descendant of the Gods, and following generations of his lineage imagined their evil behavior was excused because they were exempt from judgement. They preferred to inbreed, keeping the family blood line as pure as possible.

In any case, the family history was riddled with mysterious poisonous deaths, betrayal, sabotage, and incest. The most evil of the clan were vicious and would do anything to usurp the power of other family members. There was literally a civil war between brother-in-laws (Marc Antony and Augustus). No wonder the mention of Babylon in the Bible is interpreted to mean Rome.

As Claudius struggles to keep a low profile, staying out of controversial family feuds, he becomes an intellectual scholar and immerses himself in writing - alleged to have written over 40 books. He never wanted to rule Rome but due to the assassination of the reigning Caligula Caesar he was unexpectedly selected as a successor.

As the story covers all the scandalous and nefarious activities of the Royal family members it also describes the military conquests, and concludes when Claudius takes over as Emperor of Rome in 41 AD.

After reading the autobiographical novel Great Lion of God which is about Paul the Apostle (lifespan: 5 BC to sometime between 64 and 68 AD), I found it intriguing to contrast it with the autobiographical novel of the life of Tiberius Claudius the Emperor or Rome (lifespan: 10 BC to 54 AD). Interestingly their paths never crossed. Paul was only in Rome twice and only after Claudius had already passed away.

Coincidently, both Claudius and the Apostle Paul were believed to be murdered, Claudius by poison, and Paul by beheading. The Emperor at the time of Paul’s death was Claudius’s successor and grand-nephew Nero. And both fictitious historical novels ended approximately 13 years prior to their death. The similarities end there.

Robert Graves does an excellent job of bringing all the characters to life and the true story of the Caesars is so outrageous there is no need to embellish the fictional account. "I, Claudius" is an enthralling read.

Rated 5 Stars September 2023… (mais)

Robert Graves is primarily known for his memoir Goodbye to All That, I Claudius and Claudius the God. This work which was co-authored with Alan Hodge is exactly what its sub-title claims, a social history of Great Britain between the two World Wars. It does not ignore political history by any means, but the main focus is on the changing manners and mores of the British people in the Twenties and Thirties. It would be a daunting task to recapitulate all of the topics discussed in this work, each of which is described in minute detail. Graves and Hodge use as source material and comment on the British news media, newspapers and wireless programming. Of course, wireless means the fledgling BBC. The newspaper articles, editorial positions, advertising and features are drawn mostly from the middlebrow and lowbrow press. Not much attention is paid to the Times or the Telegraph except to cite them as the newspapers of the "thoughtful" part of the populace or to dismiss them as being in editorial lockstep with government policy. (Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.)

Graves and Hodge play considerable attention to the evolution of Britain's entertainment industries and highlight the major influence of American trends in popular culture as manifested in cinema, music and literature. Fashion was still largely the province of developments across the Channel in Paris. They note what they refer to as a twelve-year lag between a new trend in Paris and its catching on in England.

Politically, the national government headed by Ramsey MacDonald gave way to one headed by Stanley Baldwin that ushered in a Conservative Party era that culminated in Neville Chamberlain's prime ministership and his fruitless effort to preserve the peace in Europe via a policy of appeasement toward the dictators. The authors cover the failed General Strike of 1926, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, the Spanish Civil War, the Munich agreement and they end the book with the entry of Britain into war with Germany in the first week of September 1939.

One theme that resonates throughout the book is the near universal inclination to pacifism in the British people. They were deeply scarred by the experience of trench war from 1914-1918 and agreed with Chamberlain that there was no compelling reason to resort to war due to "...quarrels in far-away countries between people of whom we know nothing."

There is a lot more to this history on the lighter side of life and if you are inclined to the study of social history or to the story of Great Britain "between the wars" there is a lot in this work to recommend itself to you.… (mais)