About this title: The subject of this renowned historical novel is the emperor Tiberius Claudius. Claudius has, essentially, seen it all between the years 44 B.C. and 54 A.D. Growing up in the house of Augustus, Claudius has a limp and a stammer, and is thought to be mentally deficient. In Graves's hands, Claudius's defects are precisely what enable him to survive the intrigue, murder, betrayal, and backstabbing of the members of the courts of Augustus, the vicious Tiberius, and the crazed and decadent Caligula. The novel was made into a BBC miniseries and broadcast to much acclaim in the U.S. as well. It was ...
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Description: Good. 067972477X Earlier trade paperback same content exactly-Aside from newer introduction/afterward, original text has never changed, Standard Used Condition, different cover, No writing or Highlighting, some spine creases, age tan though holding together well, sold for content. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: Good in not issued jacket. From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54. Trade PB (US), glued binding, 468 pp, covers shelfworn & damaged, water damage to upper edge of front cover, creased along spine, corners curled, use smudges along edges & corners of copy, pages yellowing due to age, good reading copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1989-10-23
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: Good. Binding is tight and square. Ex-library book with usual markings or attachments. Text is clean and bright. We recommend PRIORITY mail for even faster delivery! Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 468 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: Very Good. Tight spine, clean copy. Previous owner's inscription inside front cover. Illustrated wraps, edges lightly rubbed, small stain at top corner of last two pages. 468 Pgs. read more
Edition: Vintage International Edition, October 1989
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Binding shows little wear; scattered slight rubbing onedges and corners. Pages clean and bright with no tears or bent corners. Tight binding. x, 468 p. 20cm read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 1989-10-01
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780679724773. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780679724773ISBN:067972477X
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"Incredible book that draws you into the intrigue of Augustun era politics. I read it on the plane over to Rome. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars, is becuase I do not agree with the treatment of Livia. I don't believe she was nearly as evil (but still kind of evil) as many authors/historians, portray her as. Why would she kill her husband of over 40 years as he was already sick, to get her son in power, who had already been an heir for almost a decade. I see no logic in this, and I am bothered some authors and historians think that because of ONE stupid off-line from Suetonius, that he himself said was controversial, people still think this."
"As an exercise in collating evidence from multiple sources and writing a fictional narrative to explain them, I, Claudius is excellent. My knowledge of Roman history is quite poor, but from what I have read much of the book is either known to have happened or is at least plausible based on our records of the time. It also serves as the most thorough treatise I have seen on that old chestnut, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." The text is mostly clear, but I must complain about the very large number of characters with similar names. People are mentioned at several points through the narrative with an expectation that you will recall what has previously been said about them and that you remember the distinction between Drusus and Drusilla, Urgulanilla and Urgulania, and so forth. Only the titular narrator is fully fleshed out, while most other characters we know only be their deeds deemed worthy enough of historical record. (Or in many cases, the deeds done to them.) I can imagine that I would have enjoyed this much more if I had been raised in an era that stressed knowledge of classical antiquity in education, but it was enjoyable even so."
"An enlightening read-fantastical at some, yet engrossing all around...
This ambitious novel took me about 5 days to finish, not because it's a dud to go through, but because it impressed on me, as the saying goes, "too much information," that I often found myself needing to take breaks. Imagine having to trace the goings-on in Imperial Rome from the rise of Octavian to the massacre of Caligula-about 4 generations over. The intricacies of the Julio-Claudian family tree are so convoluted that I had to consult my sketch of their genealogy from time-to-time as I understood it from the book (really, it was one way to keep up with Claudius' narration).
Kin diagrams and reading breaks aside, I, Claudius was quite an easy read. The tone was light and often entertaining. Graves should be credited, not only for the amount of research he has made on the events that surrounded Claudius' life (using him as a pivot to shift from being the terribly clever Livia's grandson, to being the terribly maniacal Caligula's uncle), but also for infusing verve and humor in Claudius' "voice." I laughed my head off when Claudius related how a pear tree, whose fruit apparently killed his son, was charged with murder; and how 2 German brothers, with differing loyalties, traded insults with each other across the battle lines, each of them ending with howls of offended pride, stamping their feet in frustration at wanting to have a go at each other's necks.
This is definitely a novel that should be read-sure, it's a little thick in information that one has to digest it in portions, but, through Claudius, Robert Graves was able to present the turbulence that was Imperial Rome, from the standpoint of an ostensibly blundering fool, too lowly and insignificant to be of any threat to anyone. Though one could wonder how exactly this "Claudius" managed to know how an event was played out without him being there, Graves' writing is really that of a master story-teller that you forget this little technicality. What became absorbing were the insights into the lives of the key players in Rome. Delightful read!!"
"Told from the perspective of the emperor Claudius (before he is emperor), this narrative covers the rise of the Claudian dynasty. It begins with Claudius's grandmother Livia's marriage to Augustus Caesar and runs through the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. Though the narrative doesn't flow like fiction, the book contains an accuracy of detail that one would expect from a renowned classicist like Robert Graves. The story of the Caesars contains enough drama to make a great story without embellishment, though at times Graves gets too caught up in minute details and loses some of the narrative flow. There were even a couple of occasions where he gave up the memoir conceit entirely and stuck in a few footnotes, probably much to his editor's chagrin. Also, there were a lot of characters with the same or similar names. I could have used a genealogy diagram.
In short, a very interesting read for anyone who wants to learn more about this fascinating period of Roman History, though I would suggest it as a substitute for a history book rather than a riveting drama. And Caligula was one crazy bastard."
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