Editorial Review:

Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus lived from 10 B.C. to 54 A.D. Despised as a weakling and dismissed as an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and poisonings that marked the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the mad Caligula, to become Emperor of Rome in 41 A.D. I, Claudius, the first part of Robert Graves's two-part account of the life of Tiberius Claudius, is written in the form of Claudius's autobiography and stands as one of the modern classics of historical fiction. Poet, novelist, critic, translator, essayist, scholar, and historian, Robert Graves was one of the leading English men of letters in the twentieth century. Born in 1895, he fought in World War I and won international acclaim in 1929 with the publication of his autobiography, Goodbye to All That, an appraisal of the effect of the war on his generation. After the war, he was granted a Classical Scholarship at Oxford and subsequently went to Egypt as the first professor of English at the University of Cairo. He died in 1986.

Having never seen the famous 1970s television series based on Graves' historical novel of ancient Rome and being generally uneducated about matters both ancient and Roman, I wasn't prepared for such an engaging book. But it's a ripping good read, this fictional autobiography set in the Roman Empire's days of glory and decadence. As a history lesson, it's fabulous; as a novel it's also wonderful. Best is Claudius himself, the stutterer who let everyone think he was an idiot (to avoid getting poisoned) but who reveals himself in the narrative to be a wry and likable observer. His story continues in Claudius the God.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Fine:

Book was in OK quality, took far longer than it should have to ship it seems like however, more than a month between order and receiving it.

Great to read the first time, second time, third time....:

I first read I, Claudius and Claudius the God and His Wife Messilina when I was a teen... That was over 30 years ago and I still enjoy reading this saga... This is one of the best story I have read. Also, watch the BBC version of this great saga with Derek Jacoby playing Claudius... Wonderful!

Good Read...:

I am 100% satisfied with my purchase. It's a remarkable 1st person character study of a man who crept in the back door to become the Emperor of Rome.

If you like your history lite then I, Claudius is your book.:

If you like your history lite then I, Claudius is your book. Written as an autobiography of the life of Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, who became Emperor of Rome in 41 A.D., I, Claudius is actually historical fiction. As such, there seems to be no way to measure the accuracy of the accounts given in this first part of Graves's two-part series.
Nevertheless, I, Claudius is interesting - it reads like a novel - and reveals the sordid details of the lives and times of the Royal family from... more info

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