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. ( )

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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! ( )

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