A must read book. Graves takes the known facts about Emperor Claudius of Rome, who was reputed to be an idiot, and turns them into a compelling first person narrative where he emerges as not quite such an idiot after all. A great novel of political intrigue, as Claudius is surrounded by people he can't trust, and for good reason. This is followed by Claudius the God, which completes the story. ( )

Always read any book written or translated by Robert Graves. ( )

The granddaddy of all historical novels on ancient Rome. A small part of the genius of Graves is that he chose Claudius as his subject: A short-term, minor emperor, he demonstrates what the Julio-Claudian dynasty was all about. Graves imagines Claudius understanding all but unable to affect anything. ( )

Brilliant and absorbing. ( )

Claudius is a stuttering and crippled unlikely hier to the Roman monarchy, a position he wouldn't take if it was handed to him because he is a Republican, dedicated to seeing that form of government resurrected, even to the detriment of his family. Graves' book is a first person autobiography wirtten as though Claudius was looking back on his life. Caudius fancies himself a master historian, as well as one dedicated to the objective truth at all costs. Though it's clear from the account that Claudis is not the most reliable narrator, especially as relates to himself.

I feared that the subject material would not be interesting to me, as I rarely delve into Roman or Greek history and myth. And I was right. The writing of the book, though, kept me through until the end, even if I found the people and story hard to connect with. There was a bit of an air of a dry history text book but, thankfully, Graves peppered in some more human material on occasion.

Don't take my rating as a reason not to read this one if you are interested in the subject material. But if you don't care about Roman political intrigue, don't read this one. ( )