I, Claudius

At the West Jordan library they had a large display of first books in series. I was astounded at how many there were. (I guess everyone wants to know what happened after the story ended.) One of the books there surprised me--I, Claudius, by Robert Graves. I'm used to thinking of series as a modern phenomenon, usually found in fantasy books (which Tolkein started with LOTR), but I had heard of this book when I was a child and found that it was originally published in 1934. Since Sarah has been studying Roman history along with her Latin (you can't study a language without having something to say in it) I thought that it would be interesting to increase my knowledge of ancient Rome.

I,Claudius is a historical novel that pretends to be an autobiography, and since the real Claudius is a historian, the autobiography extends back before Claudius's birth to establish the historical setting for the things that went on during his life. Graves translated a history by Suetonius (an ancient Roman) called Lives of the Twelve Caesars before he wrote his novel. According to Wikipedia, his story owes a lot to Suetonius.

This was a fascinating read to me. As I have read other info on Roman history, the historians feel that the decline and fall of the Roman empire happened a few hundred years later. Still, the things that I read about everyday life in Rome during this time period strike me as the beginning of that decline and fall. The number of secret combinations in Rome during this time period is astounding. There were so many people who lost their lives so that people who had power could preserve their power. I was also amazed about the attitude regarding marriage at the time. People married and divorced all the time. As the political winds shifted marriages shifted as well. Some people were forced to divorce people they truly loved so others could forge alliances to their families. This loose view of family ties even influenced imperial succession. None of the 5 emperors in this book were really sons of the men they succeeded. They were all adopted sons and heirs, but were nephews or great nephews or other such things--even when there were biological sons around.

I thought this book was really well-written. It was a window into a completely different world for me. Although there were unsavory and immoral things going on, they were generally referred to and not described so this is not a story where you have to watch for inappropriate spots. Another interesting thing is that this story takes place during the same time that the Savior lived, so you get an idea of what the world he lived in was like. They don't really talk about Christians in the book, but one can easily see how what we know about the early church could fit into this environment. It did take some commitment to finish the book. It wasn't one of those where the words fly off the page and you don't realize you are turning the pages. Claudius likely was able to live long enough to become emperor because he had disabilities. Now scholars believe he had cerebral palsy. He limped, was somewhat misshapen, had a tic, and stammered. Many of his family thought he was an idiot and didn't take him seriously. He spent lots of his time in libraries researching history. He was actually quite a prolific author in real life. Graves tries to write the book as if it was Claudius writing it, so it is an interesting style to get used to.

I, Claudius only covers the period of his life up to the point where he becomes emperor. I will admit that I didn't turn right around and head back to the library and check out Claudius the God as soon as I finished the other book. I was ready for something lighter. Still, I expect that sometime, sooner or later I will read it, if only to get the rest of the story. FYI, there is a BBC miniseries based on the novel that received many awards. I remember when it was advertised but never watched it. Your Dad heard that it was somewhat risque at times. I am not surprised given the story it tells. Still, all of that is part of the story about how we got where we are today. That, in my opinion, is one of the reasons that it is worthwhile to read history and historical novels. Like the scripture says, "With all thy getting, get understanding..."