Claudius The God by Robert Graves

 

Rating 4.5 ⭐s

488 pages

You can buy Claudius The God....Here

• The Blurb...

Continuing the saga begun in I, Claudius, Robert Graves's Claudius the God is a compelling fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor, published with an introduction by Barry Unsworth in Penguin Modern Classics.

Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. Here he recounts his surprisingly successful reign: how he cultivates the loyalty of the army and the common people to repair the damage caused by Caligula; his relations with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain. But the growing paranoia of absolute power and the infidelity of his promiscuous young wife Messalina mean that his good fortune will not last forever. In this second part of Robert Graves's fictionalised autobiography, Claudius - wry, rueful, always inquisitive - brings to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history.

• Our Review...

There are some spoilers in this review.

Regular readers of our website (if there are any! Give us a shout!) will know that "I Claudius" if one of our favourite novels and Robert Graves autobiography " Goodbye To All That" is probably our favourite autobiography. So it will come as no surprise that we loved this novel. These novels are very accurate in that they get the factual historical points dates, battles, speeches etc correct but the beauty of these tales lies in the colour of the human stories that the author uses to complete the historical outline. It is a potent combination.

Claudius the God is the sequel to I Claudius. In I Claudius we learned the story of how half cripple half idiot fell by luck into firstly surviving the assassination riddled arena of Roman politics and subsequently becoming Emperor of Rome.  In the sequel we follow his tenure as the supreme leader. If anything his life becomes more difficult. The disguise is now lost, those once oblivious to him are now very aware that he is not an incompetent fool. He is now literally a target. In spite of this Claudius tries his best to give good governance and stable leadership to Rome. 

This book is told with such clarity it could be ripped from today's headlines. Any great historical fiction shares the same traits be it Wolf Hall, I Claudius, The Godfather et al the historical contrast is important but not as important as human nature and interaction. The love of power, influence, sex and money are universal through out time. They may be historical novels but are (and always will be) contemporary.

There are three main sections within the book. The story of his friend the loveable rogue Herod Agrippa, his conquest of Britain and his betrayal by his young wife Messalina (who turns out to be a bit of a strumpet.) These threads are set against the back ground of his constant attempts to be a benevolent ruler.

One of the interesting aspects of this book is the first person narrative. Claudius tells his own story in his own words. He is our guide but is he trustworthy. Its his side of history and his story. All his actions seem to be arrived at sensibly and without malice but there is a constant small niggle in the back of your mind as you read. Is he telling the truth? He does seem to have an awful lot of people executed. In addition he yearns to return Rome to a democracy but there is always a reason it cannot be done just yet and he must continue to rule. Is this really the case or is it political spin. 

As every star rises so it falls and Claudius is no exception. Herod Agrippa warns him to trust no one but Claudius has one blind spot his young bride Messalina who has many sexual partners without his knowledge and eventually tries to overthrow him. Claudius is besotted with her and his court is afraid to inform him of her escapades. Eventually he discovers her treachery and avoids the insurrection but the betrayal breaks him in his soul and is left a shell of his former self. He goes within himself and allows others to take the reins of power and eventually comes to sad end. 

I love these books and they constantly remind me of "The Godfather" 

• Selected Quotes...

Herod himself always insisted that he was congenitally a rogue. To which I would reply, ‘No, you are a fundamentally virtuous man wearing the mask of roguery.

there are fools who pretend to be wise men and wise men who pretend to be fools, but you are the first case I have encountered of a fool pretending to be a fool.

There’s truth in wine

one learns more about a man from ten words which he speaks himself on his own behalf than from a ten-hour eulogy by a friend. It does not matter so much what he says in those ten words: what really counts is the way in which he says them.

reminds me of what you said when we had that mystical idiot John the Baptist beheaded – ‘Religious fanaticism is the most dangerous form of insanity.’

You Romans aim at extending your sway over all mankind, but it does not follow that all mankind will immediately accept that sway. I cannot understand, my Lords, how as rulers of a City as glorious as this is, with its houses like marble cliffs, its shops like royal treasuries, its temples like the dreams that our Druids report when they return from magical visits to the Kingdom of the Dead, you can ever find it in your hearts to covet the possession of our poor island huts.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

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The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

• About The Author

Robert Graves (1895-1985) was an English poet, translator, and novelist, one of the leading English men of letters in the twentieth century. He fought in World War I and won international acclaim in 1929 with the publication of his memoir of the First World War, Good-bye to All That. 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 is most noted for his series of novels about the Roman emperor Claudius and his works on mythology, such as The White Goddess.