I, Claudius (original 1934; edition 1969)

I well remember tthat I was much caught up by this book, even though I foolishly failed to do a post-reading review of it. ( )

Hey, has anyone read this?

A brilliant piece of imagination. Claudius is an unlikely author of the kiss & tell memoir, but that's what Graves creates, a kiss & tell of the roman period. Told in the style of a personal memior, it is very direct and first person, which makes it feel very modern. Tells of his family history through the reign of Augustys through to his birth, youth, adult hood & on into a potential declining old age, when he suddenly gets plucked from obscurity and made emperor - much against his will. Goes to show that there really is nothing new in the world, with sex scandals galore (although they did have a few more options concerning punishment that the courts have at their disposal now!). finishes as he is proclaimed Emperor. To someone with only a passing familiarity with the Romans, it all hangs together and rings true - if there are any historical inaccuracies, they don't stand out to spoil a rip roaring tale. ( )

I have a distinct love of anything involving Roman histories and I saw the series years ago (after being recommended to watch it following HBO's Rome), and I adored it. I love the bumbling Claudius, I loved watching all of the intrigue and dirty secrets/plots/stories (after being forced to read them all from Suetonius and other historians at University), and I fucking loved the treatment Livia got. I love it any time women are not pushed to the background, and so all in all, I really did want to get around to reading this classic novel that the series was based on.

I was not disappointed. This is a fictional autobiography of Claudius (heavily borrowing from actual facts and historical sources) with a bit of conjecture and fictional drama thrown in. It was from about the time Augustus was created emperor to the time that Claudius was declared emperor, himself. I liked that the first-person, historical retelling felt intimate. This isn't just reading about the dirty-dirty wrongs of the Julio-Claudian family, this is a friend telling you all about his whacked out family that makes him drink. Heavily.

It was fun. The characterizations are great, once again the treatment of the woman was bad ass (seriously, while I have no doubt Livia would have poisoned my ass in a heart beat, I would have at least had some fun watching the power and drama).

I look forward to the sequel. ( )

I have a distinct love of anything involving Roman histories and I saw the series years ago (after being recommended to watch it following HBO's Rome), and I adored it. I love the bumbling Claudius, I loved watching all of the intrigue and dirty secrets/plots/stories (after being forced to read them all from Suetonius and other historians at University), and I fucking loved the treatment Livia got. I love it any time women are not pushed to the background, and so all in all, I really did want to get around to reading this classic novel that the series was based on.

I was not disappointed. This is a fictional autobiography of Claudius (heavily borrowing from actual facts and historical sources) with a bit of conjecture and fictional drama thrown in. It was from about the time Augustus was created emperor to the time that Claudius was declared emperor, himself. I liked that the first-person, historical retelling felt intimate. This isn't just reading about the dirty-dirty wrongs of the Julio-Claudian family, this is a friend telling you all about his whacked out family that makes him drink. Heavily.

It was fun. The characterizations are great, once again the treatment of the woman was bad ass (seriously, while I have no doubt Livia would have poisoned my ass in a heart beat, I would have at least had some fun watching the power and drama).

I look forward to the sequel. ( )