![]() The story concludes with Claudius ascending to the imperial throne. Claudius’ informal narration serves to emphasise the banality of the imperial family’s endless greed and lust. Palace intrigues and murders surround him. The benefits of his seeming ineffectuality are twofold: he becomes a scholar and historian, and he is spared the worst cruelties inflicted on the imperial family by its own members during the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. Physically weak, afflicted with stammering, and inclined to drool, Claudius is an embarrassment to his family and is shunted to the background of imperial affairs. The book is written as an autobiographical memoir by Roman emperor Claudius. The original I, Claudius, based on the novel by Robert Graves, covers the reigns of several Roman emperors Augustus, Tiberius, the famously twisted Caligula and the stuttering, limping. 54.Ĭonsidered an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and poisonings of the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the Mad Caligula to become emperor in 41 A.D. From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. ![]() ![]() Our book group choice for January 2016 is I, Claudius by Robert Graves. His historical novel I, Claudius (1934) and its follow-up, Claudius the God (1943), are certainly his two best-read creations. ![]()
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