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Product Description
Product Description
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 fictionalized autobiography, Claudius - wry, rueful, always inquisitive - brings to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history.
About the Author
Robert Ranke Graves (1895-1985) was a British poet, novelist, and critic. He is best known for the historical novel I, Claudius and the critical study of myth and poetry The White Goddess. He wrote his autobiography, Goodbye to All That, in 1929, and it was soon established as a modern classic. He also translated Apuleius, Lucan and Suetonius for the Penguin Classics, and compiled the first modern dictionary of Greek Mythology, The Greek Myths. His translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (with Omar Ali-Shah) is also published in Penguin.
Barry Unsworth is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds an honorary doctorate from Manchester University. He is the author of 15 novels, among them 'Sacred Hunger', which won the 1992 Booker Prize. 'Pascali's Island' (1980) and 'Morality Play' (1995) were shortlisted for the same prize. His most recent novel 'The Ruby in Her Navel' is due for publication in 2006. He lives in Italy.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Two years have gone by since I finished writing the long story of how I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, the cripple, the stammerer, the fool of the family, whom none of his ambitious and bloody-minded relatives considered worth the trouble of executing, poisoning, forcing to suicide, banishing to a desert island or starving to death - which was how they one by one got rid of each other - how I survived them all, even my insane nephew Gaius Caligula, and was one day unexpectedly acclaimed Emperor by the corporals and sergeants of the Palace Guard. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Two years have gone by since I finished writing the long story of how I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, the cripple, the stammerer, the fool of the family, whom none of his ambitious and bloody-minded relatives considered worth the trouble of executing, poisoning, forcing to suicide, banishing to a desert island or starving to death - which was how they one by one got rid of each other - how I survived them all, even my insane nephew Gaius Caligula, and was one day unexpectedly acclaimed Emperor by the corporals and sergeants of the Palace Guard. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this directly after reading I, Claudius.
It is longer and more sedate perhaps and lacks the screw-tightening tension of the earlier book but is no less fascinating.
The various little stories Claudius tells are fantastic, like the Roman knight who woos his lover by pretending to be a God, or the sea battle Claudius sets up to celebrate his draining of the Fucine lake (and his ensuing tantrum); these stories seem to encapsulate the marvellous and terrifying glory of ancient Rome - it occurs to me that Graves is in no small part responsible for the image we carry of the Roman emperors. Graves has imagined and described events so well through Claudius that you remember them almost as if you were there - without the danger of summary execution hanging over your head...
Recommended reading.
It is longer and more sedate perhaps and lacks the screw-tightening tension of the earlier book but is no less fascinating.
The various little stories Claudius tells are fantastic, like the Roman knight who woos his lover by pretending to be a God, or the sea battle Claudius sets up to celebrate his draining of the Fucine lake (and his ensuing tantrum); these stories seem to encapsulate the marvellous and terrifying glory of ancient Rome - it occurs to me that Graves is in no small part responsible for the image we carry of the Roman emperors. Graves has imagined and described events so well through Claudius that you remember them almost as if you were there - without the danger of summary execution hanging over your head...
Recommended reading.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Why bother going to the trouble of inventing a decent plot and characters when history has already done it for you? The reigns of the Caesars in ancient Rome were full of memorable people and weird and wonderful occurrences driven by the power lust, greed and pure madness of the ruling family.
Telling the tale from an insider's perspective, this book tells the story of Claudius' reign as Caesar, his attempts to conquer Britain, his tragic marriage to the perfidious Messalina and his eventual death. In order to survive he plays up his image of the amiable idiot, never quite dangerous enough to be worth killing. But behind the mask was a quick and observant man, fascinated with establishing the truth for his history books.
Robert Graves provides Claudius with a compassionate personality, ill suited to his times. But this makes the narrating voice one with which we have much sympathy, especially when the cruel deceptions practiced by Messalina are revealed. The story is put forward in a clear and compelling fashion. Covering almost 20 years, and with a host of characters, it is epic in scale, yet centres around a very human story of just one man. Graves draws each character well, and provides them with distinctive mannerisms and voices, making each stand out clearly.
This book is a sequel to the equally great `I, Claudius', which details the Claudian family history, and Claudius' life up to being declared emperor.
These are absolute classics of English literature. Erudite, beautifully written, but also enthralling adventure stories that are highly accessible. Highly recommended to all.
Telling the tale from an insider's perspective, this book tells the story of Claudius' reign as Caesar, his attempts to conquer Britain, his tragic marriage to the perfidious Messalina and his eventual death. In order to survive he plays up his image of the amiable idiot, never quite dangerous enough to be worth killing. But behind the mask was a quick and observant man, fascinated with establishing the truth for his history books.
Robert Graves provides Claudius with a compassionate personality, ill suited to his times. But this makes the narrating voice one with which we have much sympathy, especially when the cruel deceptions practiced by Messalina are revealed. The story is put forward in a clear and compelling fashion. Covering almost 20 years, and with a host of characters, it is epic in scale, yet centres around a very human story of just one man. Graves draws each character well, and provides them with distinctive mannerisms and voices, making each stand out clearly.
This book is a sequel to the equally great `I, Claudius', which details the Claudian family history, and Claudius' life up to being declared emperor.
These are absolute classics of English literature. Erudite, beautifully written, but also enthralling adventure stories that are highly accessible. Highly recommended to all.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the second volume of Graves' fictional autobiography of the emperor Claudius, and, in some ways, the more interesting for being far less well-known.
Claudius has become emperor against his will, and now recounts the story of his reign: the roman engagement with the middle east in the figure of Herod Agrippa; the second (and successful) invasion of Britain; the re-establishment of some kind of order after the mad predations of Caligula. But all is not well in Claudius' 'happy' marriage to the depraved and decadent Messalina, and, when Claudius discovers the truth about her, he is so disillusioned that he withdraws from active engagement from life and leaves Rome in the hands of his murderous nephew, Nero.
As with the first volume, Graves has fun here with the historical sources (principally Suetonius and Tacitus) and interprets them fictionally to make a compelling and psychologically astute novel. However, this isn't history but fiction, and paints a very different picture of Claudius from the one more generally accepted now by classicists working in this field.
Claudius has become emperor against his will, and now recounts the story of his reign: the roman engagement with the middle east in the figure of Herod Agrippa; the second (and successful) invasion of Britain; the re-establishment of some kind of order after the mad predations of Caligula. But all is not well in Claudius' 'happy' marriage to the depraved and decadent Messalina, and, when Claudius discovers the truth about her, he is so disillusioned that he withdraws from active engagement from life and leaves Rome in the hands of his murderous nephew, Nero.
As with the first volume, Graves has fun here with the historical sources (principally Suetonius and Tacitus) and interprets them fictionally to make a compelling and psychologically astute novel. However, this isn't history but fiction, and paints a very different picture of Claudius from the one more generally accepted now by classicists working in this field.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Replacement.
I bought this as a replacement as I have misplaced my original Penguin copy. You know what it's like - you lend books and they don't come back or they slip down the back of things.
Published 4 months ago by C. Ashton
Best historical fiction ever
Robert Graves mastered the art of writing historical fiction in a way the reader identified with the main character, Claudius, and grow sympathy for this Roman scholar who became... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by T. R. Caris
Fantastic stuff
Coming after the incredibly good novel "I, Claudius", this second part describes the actual reign of Claudius until his death AD54. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2007 by Didier
My God, nothing at all like the TV Series, and far more boring for it.
I, Claudius was fine. I liked I, Claudius; its mix of soap opera and real history so skillfully ripped from Suetonius's "Life of the Twelve Caesars" makes it a cracking good read. Read more
Published on 7 May 2007 by M. E. Noone
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