People will laugh at you, but they never kill the one they jest aboutĪs for the rest, it is a fascinating story based on the history of the great, but oh so corrupt and debauched Roman Empire. You resent being made a fool, but it is your salvation, don’t you see

His mother, grandmother and other relatives were too embarrassed by the stammerer who also had a shorter foot to have him at table.Īn analyst would say that the man was seriously impaired by this childhood and continuous mockery that ended up by saving his life.Ĭalpurnia, the woman that Claudius appreciated and loved said at one point, when her lover was depressed: In his childhood and for ever after, until he becomes emperor, Claudius will be persecuted, laughed at and psychologically tortured. These diseases fought to see which one would carry me off and that saved meįrom childhood he is attracted to more intellectual preoccupations, with a penchant for history that will become permanent. With the humor, detachment and sarcasm which characterize this wise man he says something like: He was born prematurely, at seven months into the pregnancy and then he suffered from all sorts of diseases: The man who would become emperor has had a very unpromising start in life and then he was for too long the butt of jokes. This is about “Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus this, that and the other” as Claudius introduces himself. Specially composed music by David Pickvance. How the Sibyl's prophecy came true, for the most unwilling emperor of them all.Ĭlaudius works to restore the republic, but his beautiful wife Messalina has other plans.Ĭremutius - Sean BakerOfficer - Iain Batchelor The new and popular emperor Caligula has some surprises for his uncle Claudius. Tiberius finds his commander of the guard an invaluable aide against treason. Young Claudius grows up in a turbulent household.ĭiscovering his grandmother Livia's true ambition, Claudius and his brother face danger. Can he save Rome from the corruption he's grown to detest? Until one day, as one of the few of his family left alive, he's acclaimed Emperor against his will. But in private, he's as sharp as they come, and keeps a secret history of everything he discovers. In public, Claudius is a stammering, drooling weakling, whose reputation as an idiot keeps him safe from office and assassination. The wickedly entertaining inside story of the lives and deaths of the Imperial dynasty from Augustus to Caligula, is told by their obscure relation, Claudius. This is a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Robert Graves' brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome - one of the most gripping historical novels ever written.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves