I, Claudius is more of a fictional work of history than a historical work of fiction. What I mean by that is that Robert Graves isn't content with telling a story that takes place in a different era using historical events as devices that move along the narrative. Instead, the historical events are the narrative. Claudius, our narrator is a figure in the events, but he is approaching the events and other characters as a historian rather than as a participant. Graves' Claudius is a uniquely appropriate figure for this task. Although he is a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, his physical handicaps make him seem an imbecile and black sheep. Claudius' infirmities camouflage a keen mind, which allows him to give a insiders account of the turbulent consolidation of the Roman imperial system from an outsiders perspective.The fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of Empire is one of those bits of history that have become a archetype for fictional works.* Needless to say, an account of the original is eventful enough. One of Graves main theme is the effect of absolute power and cult of personalities on both the individual and societal level. The main drama focuses on members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which easily qualify as the most dysfunctional family in literary history. Graves does an admirable job of creating real characters out of figures we tend to think of as marble statues. Claudius early in the book points out that members of the Claudian family tend to be either good or bad, there isn't much room for grey. All the characters in the book, with a few exceptions, are usually completely virtuous or completely despicable. However, the despicable characters still maintain some motive. Graves was a historian and his knowledge show. I, Claudius isn't supposed to work as a description of everyday Roman life during the time of Christ. However, Graves does impart some cultural information without disrupting the flow of the narrative. He doesn't put in extraneous historical detail to show off his research, unlike some historical-fiction writers. This is one of the books that makes me wish that you could give half stars or rate on a skill of ten. While I really enjoyed the book, I really didn't find it mind-blowing. I had some issues with the book. At times it got a little melodramatic, dry, and repetitive. This isn't necessarily Graves' fault, he's just repeating history, but the inter-family betrayals and double-crosses wear a little thin after a while. Actually, the whole reign of Tiberius was a little slow. If Augustus was the decent benevolent, yet manipulatable, tyrant and Caligula was the sociopathic culmination of history, the Tiberius was somewhere in between. You need the progression to get to the result (Caligula), but it can be slow going. Also, some of the minor characters can be hard to keep track of.** If I could I would give the book 4 1/2 stars.I'm look forward to eventually reading Graves' followup, Claudius the God. It seems that Graves reached the culmination of all his themes in the closing pages of this work. It should be interesting to see where Graves goes in the sequel. *A prime example of this is the Star Wars films. Excuse the digression, but I, Claudius works as one of the prime examples of how much more interesting the prequel trilogy could, and should, have been. Instead we get sloppy storytelling with no real human feeling in it. **I usually don't have this problem. However, the cast of characters is so large and family ties are so important in this novel it can get confusing. Characters marry each multiple different times, producing children from each marriage, and sometimes from adulterous affairs. Take Caligula for instance: His father was Germanicus who was brother of Claudius. Germanicus and Claudius were the sons of another Germanicus and Antonia. Germanicus the elder was the brother of Tiberius. Tiberius and Germanicus were the sons of Livia another Tiberius. Livia divorced the older Tiberius and married Augustus who later adopted both Germanicus and Tiberius. Claudius and Germanicus' mother was Antonia who was the daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia (Augustus' sister). Caligula's mother was Agrippina who was the daughter of Agrippa (a close ally of Augustus) and Jullia. Jullia was the only natural child of Augustus by his first marriage. Jullia and Agrippa had several different sons who are major characters and she later married Tiberius (Germanicus' brother) and had a son by him, who is also a main character. All these family relationships are important to the narrative, I recommend making a family tree and updating it as you go along.
I read this over the course of three weeks and blogged about it along with several other writers. (The Big Read II) That kind of slow, reflective read is perfect for this book. There are many historical characters to keep track of, and just who is going to be poisoned by whom.Julius Caesar is merely the backstory, the real story here is about a sickly cripple that manages not to get assassinated before he becomes the Emperor at the ripe old age of 50 something. (That is not a spoiler...we learn this right up front, along with the prophecy.)Meet the twisted Tiberius, and the even more twisted Caligula. You can find out here how they got their dastardly reputations. You begin to wish for the days of his wicked grandmother, Livia, as it seems does Claudius.There are amusing moments when you can just see the historian peeking through the veil of his fictionalized history, winking at you over his telling of the tale. There are moments when you'll cringe over your laughter while witnessing horrific deaths, making you wonder if Tarantino took notes from this book. There are moments when you'll just have to look away. Wives are shuffled about depending on politics and whims.You'll definitely want this chart and this A href="http://www.historyexplorer.net/?Other.... I made a character chart here.
Do You like book I, Claudius (1989)?
Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα,μια καταπληκτική τοιχογραφία της ρωμαϊκής κοινωνίας στα πρώτα χρόνια της αυτοκρατορίας.Καλύπτει την περίοδο απο τη δολοφονία του Ιούλιου Καίσαρα μεχρι και την ανάρρηση του Κλαύδιου στο θρόνο.Ίντριγκες,πάθη,φιλοδοξίες,δολοφονίες ξετυλίγονται μπροστά μας.Η ιστορική ακρίβεια και η μυθοπλασία είναι στενά συνδεδεμένα και δημιουργούν ένα υπέροχο,ολοζώντανο και πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο που με συνεπήρε.Το μόνο του πρόβλημα είναι τα πολλά ονόματα και οι μπερδεμένες συγγενικές σχέσεις των Ιουλίων και των Κλαυδίων.Πολλές φορές δυσκολεύτηκα να θυμηθώ ποιος υιοθέτησε ποιον,ποιος παντρευτηκε τη γυναίκα ποιου,ποιου ειναι τα παιδιά κτλ και κατέφυγα στο διαδίκτιο.
—Eirini
Best book I'd read in years. I, Claudius is a brilliantly written piece of historical fiction from the perspective of a hapless-yet-intelligent black sheep of the Julio-Claudian house during the Augustan era of the Roman Empire who stumbles his way through to survive the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula only to be made emperor himself.At times hilarious, others disturbing, very interesting all the way through, Robert Graves wrote a masterpiece with this. I challenge anyone to read 'I, Claudius' who doesn't at least begin the less-favored sequel (Claudius the God) at its conclusion.In my opinion, this book should be required reading in high school world history courses. It is dirty and violent enough to hold the interest of any hormonal teenage boys, has enough intrigue and behind-closed-doors politicking to trap the attention of young women. I finished this book and began a year-long dive into all the Roman history I could find, culminating in a vacation to the Eternal City in November '06.
—Luke Peterson
I found I, Claudius to be really hard to get through. I just wasn't gripped by the story. There were no characters that I could identify with, including Claudius himself as the narrator. While there were a few tidbits here and there that held my attention, overall, the book seemed like a hopeless jaunt through decadent and debauched Rome with no upside to balance it out. In short, this book read like a modern day soap opera but with better use of language. I did commit myself to complete the book, but I don't think that for me it will be a very memorable read.
—Good Reader
