Claudius the God

Robert Graves has obviously done his research. While I am not a professional historian, I know enough from scholarly sources to see the research shining through these pages. I trust that the parts I did not know are similarly accurate. Now, given that this is a historical novel, I’m sure Graves took some literary license here and there, and that’s okay if you accept this book for what it claims to be - a well researched novel, not a piece of serious scholarship. The strength of the book is, for me, it’s greatest weakness. It gives a very good look at what it was like to be Emperor of the Roman Empire on a day to day basis. I learned a lot, because I must admit I had never thought of some of these issues. But for me this was a weakness because it was a bit routine. I’m sure a student of political science would probably find t more interesting. For me the most interesting part was Claudius’ description of the invasion and conquest of Britain. I got to see Claudius the scholar use his scholarship, and I got to see Claudius the Emperor listen to, and ultimately overrule, his generals. There was a lot of the man in these pages. Overall, I would say this book was very well written, and if you want to know more about the day-to-day of running the Roman Empire, this may be a good book for you.

Claudius The God : And His Wife Menssalina is the second part of a two part account of the life, fictional of course, of Tiberius Claudius. The first part was I, Claudius, which to be honest, is very much the superior book.Funny enough the second book is good, some parts funny, some parts seriously depressing, and some parts sad. We saw Claudius overcome insane family members and crazy politics to become ruler of Rome in the first book. And in this book, even before we open it, we know that the pages before us will contain his downfall. He wants to return the Republic. We know he won’t. He hopes to find honest men. We know he will fail. He hopes to shield the ones he loves. We know he can’t.Even when he triumphs we know it will be short lived. He hopes to make Rome so sick of tyrants that they will turn back to Republican ideals. We know that will never happen. Not for centuries.Also this is a fictional version of him. And the real Emperor was no where as nice or as interested in turning things around.And when you think about him trying to turn the wheel of history backwards we all know that it's pretty hard to do. Maybe this was Robert Graves’ way of teaching us a lesson. Once you turn the wheel you’re kind of stuck with where you ended up. A must read but, unlike the first book, I am not sure it is worth a reread.

Claudius the God is basically Part II (<-- Roman Numerals) to I, Claudius. The story picks up after Claudius' ascension to the throne. Claudius was an unwilling emperor, but he truly attempted to restore Rome to its earlier grandeur and status. During middle-age (50ish), Claudius was persuaded to marry the beautiful teenaged Messalina. Claudius was madly in love with her however, she didn't quite feel the same to him. She was smart enough not to let him know this and kept her indiscretions away from him knowledge.Messalina persuaded Claudius to allow her to help run the empire. He had total faith in her abilities and she was an extension of his will. Messalina misused the very same power creating the very problems that Claudius was attempting to fix. Eventually her extravagances were too much for Claudius' advisors and someone finally had the courage to tell him what had been going on. She was going to be tried, but as custom allowed she might commit suicide as an honorable way out. Instead of doing so, one of Claudius' generals chose it for her.Much later, at Claudius' death, the style of writing changes and three other author's takes of his death are submitted. This is the part where it became not only difficult to read but I even lost my desire to continue reading and thus the 4* review instead of 5*s.

"Claudius the God" is the second of Graves' two-part story of the Roman Emperor Claudius, told in the form of an autobiography. It continues right where "I, Claudius" leaves off, at Claudius's ascendancy to Emperor following Caligula's rather bloody end. Thanks to Livia, Tiberius, and Caligula, most of the politically prominent citizens of Rome have been poisoned, exiled, or otherwise done away with when Claudius begins his reign. So things are relatively peaceful for a while.If you've read the other reviews of this book, you may get the impression that it's not near as good as the first and that you wouldn't be missing out on much by skipping it. And I guess it all comes down to your tastes. If you're looking for a story packed with intrigue and deception culminating in a triumphant ending, you won't find it in the sequel. There aren't as many loonies around anymore to laugh at. And the last few years of Claudius's reign are decidedly sobering.Yet if you like reading about history as much as I do, there's still a ton of fascinating material here to immerse yourself in. Such as a rich background on Herod Agrippa, the Jewish king who feigns friendship with Claudius while secretly fomenting rebellion. Or interesting details on the Celtic druids' rituals. And of course an account of Claudius's successful invasion of Britain. Back at home Claudius's lovely wife Messalina eventually reveals her shocking true colors, leading to a purge of Rome's corrupt nobility by Claudius.All narration is in the same style that distinguished the first book: witty, humorous, and anything but dry. At the end of the first book, I simply had to know what happened to Claudius next. So for me, this book was a necessary read and I'm pleased to say that it far surpassed the expectations I had formed upon reading many of the other reviews here. Claudius makes a heroic effort to repair the extensive damage that the mad Caligula wreaked on the Empire's finances and general well-being (such as adding ~150 holidays to the year!). He largely succeeds but only temporarily, then ultimately yields to the Empire's natural entropic tendency to fall into disorder. You may feel somewhat down after reading it, but you'll have to agree that the ride was fascinating while it lasted!Highly recommended.

I was put off reading this and I, Claudius by the rather lurid BBC production years ago. I can see now where Robert Harris got the idea for Imperium (apparently a memoir by Cicero's slave).I really enjoyed Goodbye to All That so I decided to give this and its companion a second chance.In reasonable mimicry of the style of Livy (see the Penguin edition of The War with Hannibal) Claudius the God tracks the most reluctant emperor in the history of the World as he tries to do his best to return Rome to a republic whilst not getting assassinated (especially by his wife).

Robert Graves recreates the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius, as if Claudius were writing his biography in secret. The first part of his story, I Claudius, follows events up until the fearful and comic moment when, against all expectations, Claudius, the stutterer, the fool, the gauche academic, becomes emperor of the Roman Empire. Claudius the God describes his subsequent years as emperor. If Claudius could have chosen his life, he would have been a historian working quietly in some pleasant university. Through Graves' imagination, Claudius's subject becomes himself, and the way people organise leadership. In I Claudius, we saw the dark consequences of deciding that the messy business of life is all too much. Instead of frustrating debate, disagreement, and compromise, why not throw all of that out of the window and get yourself a tyrant? In some of the most charming sections of Claudius the God, we actually see the advantages of this plan. Claudius is a good emperor who uses his power to defeat short-term self-interest and small mindedness. Corn merchants, for example, object to plans to improve Rome's harbour at Ostia, because a secure supply of corn coming in through a safer harbour might depress prices. Claudius has the power to cut through all that and transform Ostia. Sadly, at the end of the book, with the promise of Nero's rule to come, we see that these advantages will be short-lived. It is very difficult to get yourself a good tyrant, to find someone with the humility to see that power does not rest in themselves, but in the fear of others.I loved the second book as much as the first. Graves seems to get into Claudius's mind so successfully, that a reader appreciates the world from a completely different viewpoint. We see Britain as a backward place, where at a push some of the best men might make good coachmen. And we see early Christianity as a confused mass of Life of Brian events, different people claiming to be messiahs, unexpected births in a down-at-heel Bethlehem inn, an earthquake moving a rock covering the entrance to a tomb, all somehow becoming the familiar story of Christianity we know today.The story Claudius tells us is over two thousand years old, but we see our own world in it. We see where our present situation evolved from, and realise that the dilemmas we face in selecting leaders remain strangely familiar.

I don't pretend to know much about Imperial Rome under the Caesars. I know that as historical fiction, one should tend to take the facts presented with a grain of salt until one has a chance to check them oneself (I have Suetonius's 12 Caesars queued up to read at some point in the near future.)I do know I enjoyed reading this book a lot. But it was not as focused in its narrative as I, Claudius was. This, however, does not detract from the fact that it is an entertaining read.As other reviewers have noted, the first few chapters are given over to an entertaining biography of the roguish Herod Agrippa, and that is followed pretty much by loads of vignettes from the life of Claudius, interspersed with more about Herod. The book reads as a novella about Herod followed by a series of short stories about Claudius. But it is written so well, and the prose is generally a pleasure to read (except when one has to try to wend one's way through all the names that get dropped and then has to recall the relationships involved), that one can overlook the fact that it really isn't a single, focused piece of literature.Additionally, the Kindle edition had several typographical errors, which, when considering the purchase price, was disappointing. It appears that Penguin put a paper version of the novel through a scanner with some half-decent OCR, but didn't go back to check to see if it was 100% successful: there was a typo every four or five pages it seemed, and it tended to break the spell when one was reading. Hence, it gets 4 stars from me.

An insight into Roman times reflecting the whims of an emperor and, in the sidelines, we read of the incredible achievements of the Roman Empire. While its rulers bent every possible rule to meet their whims the world moved forward at a pace incredible to percieve in our world of instant communications.A thoroughly good read.

The book is good to be perfectly honest BUT I do question was Claudius as GOOD as he makes out or as the TV series makes out or was as some say a tyrant in disguise....read it and make your own mind up, one thing for sure Claudius was far from being Rome's worst Emperor he was certainly one of the better ones though I suspect not the greatest that title must surely go to Augustus or Trajan as Mike Duncan suggests in his podcast The History of Rome, Claudius comes in about number 8 in the list of the top ten,all that being said the book itself is a good read but would suggest that the reading of I Claudius should come first and it will be seen that Rome was NOT any more decadent or corrupt as the upper echelons of our own society is today.