When the time came to translate the novels into German, Graves, who spoke the language, decided instead to rework them into a one volume edition. He collaborated with translator Hans Rothe and they jointly produced a shortened edition which left out the many digressions which were incorporated into the English original, with the aim of presenting Claudius' story in a clearer and more effective way. The contents of the books were thus roughly cut down to a half. [15] The book is published as Ich Claudius, Kaiser und Gott ( I Claudius, Emperor and God) with Graves being styled Robert von Ranke Graves, which is how he is credited in all German editions of his works. Claudius was portrayed this way by scholars for most of history, and Graves uses these peculiarities to develop a sympathetic character whose survival in a murderous dynasty depends upon his family's incorrect assumption that he is a harmless idiot. Graves' interpretation of the story owes much to the histories of Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Plutarch, and (especially) Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Graves translated Suetonius before writing the novels and claimed that after reading Suetonius, Claudius came to him in a dream one night and demanded that his real story be told. [6] The life of Claudius provided Graves with a way to write about the first four emperors of Rome from an intimate point of view. I, Claudius is written as a first-person narrative of Roman history from Claudius' perspective, covering the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula; Claudius the God is written as a later addition documenting Claudius' own reign. The real Claudius was a trained historian and is known to have written an autobiography (now lost) in eight books that covered the same period. Writing in the first-person (from an unspecified time period, presumably late in his own reign as emperor), Claudius establishes himself as the author of this history of his family and insists on writing the truth, which includes harsh criticisms of the deified Augustus and especially of Livia. The narrative begins prior to his own birth, as he describes many of the events leading to the foundation of the Roman Principate and the increasingly firm emplacement of Augustus as emperor despite Augustus' own publicly expressed intention to eventually restore the former Republic. During his prosperous reign, Augustus is plagued by personal losses as his favored heirs, Marcellus, Marcus Agrippa, Gaius Caesar, and Lucius Caesar, die. Claudius reveals that these untimely deaths are all the machinations of Augustus' third wife Livia (who is also Claudius' paternal grandmother), a calculating murderess who seeks to make her son Tiberius (Claudius' uncle) succeed Augustus as the next emperor. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License and the GFDL; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.

Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina - Goodreads

Robert Graves Interviewed By Malcom Muggeridge 1965". Youtube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 . Retrieved 9 December 2020.

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This marriage ended in tragedy. The ancient historians allege that Messalina was a nymphomaniac who was regularly unfaithful to Claudius— Tacitus states she went so far as to compete with a prostitute to see who could have more sexual partners in a night [55]–and manipulated his policies to amass wealth. In 48, Messalina married her lover Gaius Silius in a public ceremony while Claudius was at Ostia. MAGAZINE, DISCLAIMER (2 March 2018). "I, Claudius: An Epic That Changed Television". Medium . Retrieved 29 August 2023. The madness having reached a tempest is finally quelled by Cassius Chaerea, a captain of the Praetorian Guard who plots with the other captains to assassinate Caligula, along with his wife and daughter. Horrified, Claudius hides behind a curtain and is discovered by a disgruntled Praetorian Guard. Realizing they need a new emperor, the Guards suddenly and bemusedly declare Claudius emperor. Claudius pleads that he does not want to be emperor and only wants to see the Republic restored, but the Guards ignore him. He sadly accepts for the sake of his wife and unborn child, and for the access the emperorship will give him to valuable historical documents, on a whim deciding that as emperor he will finally be able to demand that people read his books. The novel has also been adapted for opera by Igor Escudero [21] under the title I, Claudius and Claudius the God (2019). [22]

Claudius the God by Robert Graves | Goodreads Claudius the God by Robert Graves | Goodreads

David Chase, creator and showrunner of the acclaimed 1999 HBO series The Sopranos has spoken highly of the book, calling it one of his favorite works of fiction. [28] While Chase has stopped short of drawing a direct connection, many have compared the Machiavellian Livia Soprano to Claudius' grandmother, Livia Drusilla. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] These suspicious tend to find confirmation in the maiden name Chase selected for Livia—Pollio, one shared by Gaius Asinius Pollio, who makes a decisive appearance in I, Claudius. [35] a b Jace Lacob (3 July 2012). "PBS' 'I, Claudius' Still Captivates With its Taut Drama". The Daily Beast . Retrieved 18 October 2017.

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Lesbian kisses, nudity and sex: groundbreaking British TV moments". The Daily Telegraph. 17 June 2016 . Retrieved 23 December 2017. Ephron, Hallie (2005). The Bibliophile's Devotional: 365 Days of Literary Classics. London, United Kingdom: Adams Media. pp.Mar 26. ISBN 978-1605501055. Under Claudius, the empire expanded for the first time since the reign of Augustus. The provinces of Thrace, Judea and three other provinces were annexed during his term. The annexation of Mauretania, begun under Caligula, was completed after the defeat of rebel forces, and divided into two provinces. [4] The most important new expansion was the conquest of Great Britain ( Latin: Britannia). [5] In 43 CE, Claudius sent four legions to Britain. The island was an attractive target for Rome because of its wealth – particularly mines and slaves. It was also a haven for Gallic rebels and the like, and so could not be left alone much longer. Claudius himself traveled to the island after the completion of initial offensives, bringing with him reinforcements and elephants. In the chaos following the murder, Claudius witnessed the German guard cut down several uninvolved noblemen, including many of his friends. He fled to the palace to hide. According to tradition, a Praetorian named Gratus found him hiding behind a curtain and suddenly declared him princeps. [13] Claudius was spirited away to the Praetorian camp and put under their protection.

‘It’s readable all right, but it’s not history’: Robert

The truth is probably more political. The attempted coup d'état by Silius and Messalina probably made Claudius realize the weakness of his position as a member of the Claudian (but not the Julian) family. This weakness was compounded by the fact that he did not yet have an obvious adult heir, Britannicus being just a boy. Agrippina was one of the few remaining descendants of Augustus, and her son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (the future Nero) was one of the last males of the Imperial family. Coup attempts might rally around the pair and Agrippina was already showing such ambition. It has been suggested that the Senate may have pushed for the marriage, an attempt to end the feud between the Julian and Claudian branches. [62] Since Claudius was the first emperor proclaimed on the initiative of the Praetorian Guard instead of the Senate, his repute suffered at the hands of commentators (such as Seneca). Moreover, he was the first emperor who resorted to bribery as a means to secure army loyalty and rewarded the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard that had elevated him with 15,000 sesterces. [21] Tiberius and Augustus had both left gifts to the army and guard in their wills, and upon Caligula's death the same would have been expected, even if no will existed. Claudius remained grateful to the guard, issuing coins with tributes to the Praetorians in the early part of his reign. [22]In 9BC, Claudius's father Drusus died on campaign in Germania from a fall from a horse. Claudius was then raised by his mother, who never remarried. When his disability became evident, the relationship with his family turned sour. Antonia referred to him as a monster, and used him as a standard for stupidity. She seems to have passed her son off to his grandmother Livia for a number of years. [6]