I, Claudius
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| Author | Robert Graves |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Vintage |
| Released | 1934 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 468 pp (paperback ed.) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-679-72477-X |
| Followed by | Claudius the God |
Claudius the God redirects here, and the two books are discussed together on this page.
I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. Graves's interpretation of the story owes much to the biographies of Tacitus, Plutarch, and (most especially) Suetonius. Graves continued his tale (from Claudius' accession after Caligula's death to his death in 54, as well as a segue involving the early life of Herod Agrippa) in Claudius the God (1935). In 1937, abortive attempts were made to adapt the first book into a film. In 1976, BBC Television's attempts to adapt the book and its sequel into a television serial were more successful.
Contents |
[edit] The Novels
[edit] Content
I, Claudius and Claudius the God were written as if they were the secret autobiography of Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome (41-54 A.D.). The historical Claudius was kept out of public life by his family, the Julio-Claudians, until his sudden elevation at the age of 49. This was due to several peculiarities on his part – including a stammer, a limp, and various nervous tics, which made him appear mentally deficient to his relatives. This is how he was defined by scholars for most of history, and Graves uses these peculiarities to build a sympathetic character whose survival in a murderous dynasty depends upon the incorrect assumption that he is a harmless idiot.
Robert Graves claimed that after he read Suetonius, Claudius came to him in a dream one night and demanded that his real story be told. The life of Claudius provided Graves with a way to write about the first four emperors from an intimate, yet non-intrusive, point of view. In addition, the real Claudius was a trained historian, and is known to have written an autobiography (now lost) in eight books that covered the same time period. I, Claudius is a first person narrative of Roman history from the reigns of Augustus to Caligula; Claudius the God is written as a later addition documenting Claudius' own reign.
Graves provides a strong framework for the story by having Claudius visit Cumae, where he receives a prophecy in verse from the Sybil about the fates of the "hairy ones" (i.e. The Caesars - from the Latin word "caesar", meaning "a fine head of hair") who are to rule Rome. The penultimate verse relates to his own reign as emperor, and Claudius assumes he can tell the identity of the emperor referred to in the last verse. This establishes a fatalistic tone that plays out at the end of Claudius the God, as Nero prepares to succeed Claudius.
Claudius writes his memoirs in Greek, which he believes will remain "the chief literary language of the world." This allows Graves to explore the etymology of Latin words (like the origins of the names "Livia" and "Caesar") that would otherwise be apparent to a native-born Latin speaker like Claudius.
[edit] Major themes
The message of the story appears to concern the relationship between liberty (as demonstrated by the Roman Republic, and the dedication to its ideals shown by Augustus and young Claudius) and stability (as demonstrated by Empress Livia, Herod Agrippa, and the older Claudius). The Republic provided for freedom, but was inherently unstable and threw the doors open for perennial civil wars, the last of which was ended by Augustus after twenty years of fighting. While Augustus harbours Republican sentiments, his wife Livia manages to convince him that to lay down his Imperial powers would be to destroy the peaceful society they have made. Likewise, when the similarly-minded Claudius becomes emperor, he is convinced by Empress Messalina and Herod to preserve his powers, for much the same reason. However, Graves acknowledges that there must be a delicate balance between Republican liberty and Imperial stability; whereas too much of the former led to civil war, too much of the latter led to the corruption of Tiberius, Caligula, Messalina, Sejanus, Herod Agrippa, Nero, Agrippinilla, and countless others – as well as, to a lesser extent, Livia and Claudius himself.
Near the end of Claudius the God, Graves introduces another idea: that when a formerly-free nation has lived under a dictatorship for too long, it is incapable of returning to free rule. This is highlighted by Claudius' failed attempts to revive the Republic; by the attempts of various characters to 'restore' the Republic but with themselves as the true rulers; and by Claudius noting that 'by dulling the blade of tyranny, I reconciled Rome to the monarchy' – i.e., in his attempts to rule autocratically but along more Republican lines, he has only made the Roman people more complacent about their dictatorship.
The female characters are quite powerful, in line with other works of Graves's. Julia, Livia, Drusilla, Messalina, and Agrippinilla are quite obviously the powers behind their husbands, fathers, brothers, and/or sons. One good example is provided by Augustus and Livia: whereas he would have inadvertently caused civil war, she managed, through quiet manipulation, to preserve the peace.
Another common theme throughout the novels is the reality and validity of the Roman religion. All Prophecies made in the narrative come to pass, from the succession of the Caesars, to the "discovery" of the secret autobiography, to the date of Claudius' death. This is the major form of foreshadowing in the narrative.
[edit] Historical Accuracy
The novels are written as if Claudius was telling his own life story and that of his family, with the inclusion of some of the historical Claudius' own words and thoughts contributing to the plausibility of the narration. The emphasis on history is especially evident in Claudius the God, where the majority of the book covers the works of Claudius' reign before delving into his personal life. The historical Claudius' extant speech to the senate on voting and juries, his translated letters to the residents of Trent and the Alexandrians, and the text of the Lyon Tablet are all included. Besides this, Graves worked in arguments said to have been made by the historical Claudius in favour of his policies, such as the reasoning for the Claudian letters, as outlined by Tacitus.
However, Graves was selective in his use of the ancient sources (primarily Tacitus and Suetonius), not always following their assessments. For example, the worst allegations against Tiberius and Caligula are repeated as fact, while similar allegations against Augustus are pinned on Livia's influence. Livia is made to confess to murders (Marcellus, Agrippa, Augustus, Gaius, and Lucius) that she is only alleged to have performed in a single ancient source (Tacitus), and Messalina's rather shocking sexual appetites are presented as true, despite being rather difficult to believe. Augustus, meanwhile, is depicted as a kindly man who is sadly misled by his megalomaniacal wife, Livia.
A common charge of the ancient historians against Claudius is that he was easily ruled by his wives and freedmen. Graves rejected this assertion when it comes to Claudius' major works and good deeds – as do modern historians. However, he accepts this same explanation as an excuse for the less acceptable or understandable actions of the historical Claudius. Most of the capricious executions and blunders which marred his reign are blamed on the scheming of Messalina, Agrippinilla, Narcissus, and Pallas. Graves carries this to the point where nearly all those tried or executed seem to be innocent of any crime, or undeserving of a harsh sentence. This is clearly at odds with the records. The historical Claudius was the subject of more assassination attempts than any emperor before, perhaps because Caligula's death revealed that an emperor could indeed be killed and replaced. Undoubtedly some of those condemned for treason were guilty, while others were wrongly accused.
The adoption of Nero is another case where Graves absolves Claudius of accusations. Graves has Claudius give in to every one of Agrippinilla's demands in order to show Rome the face of real tyranny. The problem of adopting an heir above Britannicus never comes up, until a strange plot is revealed at the end. In reality, the motivations for the adoption of an older teenager were most likely political. It was probably done in order to preserve Claudius' rule by indicating that a mature heir was ready (so no usurper could grab power). This was effective in that the number of assassination attempts on Claudius dropped off precipitously afterwards. Nero was a minor at the time, popular with the public, and unconnected with any scandal or plot - there was no indication of his future behavior as Emperor. As Britannicus approached manhood in 54, the historical Claudius made preparations to name him the heir apparent (or co-heir), right on schedule.
The last major case of Graves' tendency to follow sources selectively is when Claudius' accession is instigated by Herod Agrippa. This is based on an account by Josephus where the role of Agrippa is played up in order to show how Jews had helped Rome. This account fits in with Graves' portrayal of Claudius as a Republican, as it explained how Claudius could unwillingly come to power. However, this is inaccurate in the view of both modern historians and the rest of the ancient sources (including another account by Josephus). Nearly everyone in Rome sensed the plot against Caligula, and the historical Claudius was no exception, though he did not have a direct hand in it. After Caligula's murder, Claudius was faced with a choice of either becoming Emperor or being killed. He naturally chose the former. There is no indication of Republican hesitancy on his part in the record, aside from Josephus' claim.
Modern historians suggest that if Claudius is to be credited with all the accomplishments of his reign, he should also be held responsible for the mistakes as well, whether it is the result of justified cautiousness, mistaken reasoning, failure to foresee future effects, paranoia, or even too much faith in his advisers.
Graves ignored or accepted historical fact as it fitted the chosen narrative. There is no historical evidence of the withdrawn, fatalistic Claudius of the end of Claudius the God – a Claudius completely ruled by Agrippinilla in all matters. The historical Claudius continued to be politically active after the fall of Messalina, and is noted to have fought with Agrippinilla over the succession until his murder. Graves seems to have based his view on Victorian scholarship that painted the second half of Claudius' reign as a wash. An inactive period would more readily fit in with Graves' idea about the effects of tyranny. Another example of difference from the historical record is the prophecy of Claudius' death. The problem in any fictional autobiography is that a person cannot foresee their own murder, or they would prevent it. However, the prophecy allowed Graves to give the reader a real conclusion to the story that would otherwise have been impossible.
A few minor discrepancies are due to research performed after the books were first published. The current consensus is that Claudius suffered from cerebral palsy, not infantile paralysis as noted in the novels. Graves himself confirmed this in a later interview (he referred to it as "Little's disease"). Another concerns the age of Messalina at the time of their marriage. At the time I, Claudius was written, Messalina was considered to be a child-bride of 14 years of age. It is now known that Messalina's younger half-brother Faustus Sulla was at least 17 when this occurred. Messalina was therefore in her early to mid-twenties, and probably already once-divorced.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
The Claudius novels, as they are called collectively, became a huge hit when first published in 1934. They are probably Robert Graves' best known work aside from his own autobiography Goodbye to All That. Despite their critical and monetary success, Graves later professed a dislike for the books and their popularity. He claimed that they were written only from financial need on a strict deadline.
[edit] Later references
The Canadian independent film I, Claudia was inspired in title by this book. Another title punning I, Claudius is the book I & Claudius: Travels with My Cat by Clare de Vries about the author's drive across the United States with her old Burmese cat. Sesame Street's Monsterpiece Theatre also has aired a parody of the play (Me, Claudius). When the re-cut version of the infamous Gore Vidal-penned motion picture Caligula was released in Italy, it was re-titled Io, Caligola, in order to capitalize on the acclaim of Graves' work. A. E. van Vogt wrote a novel Empire of the Atom which is a wholesale transliteration of Graves's novel into a science fiction context. Eando Binder's first Adam Link story published under the title I, Robot as well as Isaac Asimov's I, Robot make referance to the title I, Claudius.
[edit] Quotation
- "...as for being "half-witted", what can I say... except that I have survived to middle age, with half my wits, while thousands have died with all of theirs intact!" – Derek Jacobi as Claudius, upon being installed (against his will) by the Roman military.
