Great historical fiction.
I first enjoyed this book more than 45 years ago - when it introduced me to some treasures of ancient Roman writing - Tacitus and Ceasar especially. Rereading after so long was interesting - I now have a good basic understanding of the Roman history of the period, so I was more able to sit back and enjoy the ride. Graves produced a masterpiece - good solid factual history, interspersed with believable novelistic details. ( )

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 ( )

4.25/5 ⭐️'s. After January 6, 2021, I truly feared for our country and its democracy. I naively thought that I had witnessed humankind at its worst ... until I read about ancient Rome and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. No wonder this line only lasted until Nero: death by beheading, poison, debauchery of all kinds ... a fascinating yet violent read. I'll have to read CLAUDIUS THE GOD now to see how he turns out as emperor. ( )

This is a fictional biography, although filled with actual events. Robert Graves gave Claudius a voice and personality - and what a personality! Intrigues and depravity were frequent but a speech impediment and physical handicap made Claudius appear innocuous, an unappealing target. He took to writing a history that made this into a gossipy journal that would give modern scandal sheets a run for their money. Reading it reminded me of a tv series I loved of the same name featuring Derek Jacobi and William Hurt that was broadcast a few decades ago. Excellent reading. ( )

Well, I think this was a situation where my expectations were sky high, and they were not realized. I've watched the mini series, based on this book, twice, and I really enjoyed. Plus, it is epic historical fiction, which usually I love (James Michener fan here). I just felt this book could have been so much more.

In my mind, Graves is just not a good storyteller. The book is narrated by Claudius, who was born into the leading family of the Roman Empire, and who happens to be considered mentally handicapped because of his physical infirmities and speech impediments. As it turns out, Claudius is quite clever and a student of history, and he manages to survive a time period filled with the absolutely most heinous plots, banishments, poisonings, etc. etc.

For all the MANY exciting things that happen in this book, I didn't feel like Graves brought it to life successfully. It was so much of a narrative. Telling, not showing, the reader what happened. There were so many characters that without a family tree it was easy to get lost. And I've seen the mini series! And I downloaded a family tree - - which still didn't cover about a third of the characters mentioned.

What I did like is that the book did give a strong picture of what life was like in the Roman Empire at that time - - it made me more interested to pick up a true history book on the time period.

The last quarter of the book seemed like someone else wrote it to me. It focused on the rule of Caligula, and suddenly the storytelling became a lot better and more compelling, and it mostly followed one person - - which made it a lot easier to absorb.

I wanted to love this book - - maybe I wanted to love it too much. As a result, it was just okay for me. I recommend watching the mini series instead! ( )