Was just reading a thread about Caligula, which of course drifted off into a discussion about porno, and it got me wondering about something I didn’t jump up and research myself. I was hoping somebody else already had, to save me the time !
How closely is the novel, “I, Claudius” and it’s sequel “Claudius the God” based on fact ? I’m assuming that the conversations are fiction, but the actual sequence of events (including some of the crazy things done by Caligula, i.e voting his horse to become a Consul) is based on facts. Is this true, or has the author been a little too liberal with history ?
[sub] Please no comments about “Caligula” the movie. From what I’ve heard, I’ll never go and see it ! [/sub]
It’s a long time since my school days but I recall that Graves’ book was very faithful to Tacitus’ “Annals of Imperial Rome”. It is a great book and was recently selected as one of the 100 best books of the 20th Century.
Robert Graves had an impressive knowledge of ancient myth and history, although a lot of his interpretations are his alone.
That said, his Claudius books are based pretty closely on ancient sources, chiefly Suetonius’ book The Twelve Caesars, supplemented by a lot of other sources. (Graves brided at the suggestion that all he did was rewrite Suetonius. He didn’t, of course.)But his interpretation of vents was definitely his own. Was Claudius a rational person hiding as an idiot out of a sense of self-preservation? Who knows? But Claudius did hold on for a long time, so perhaps Graves was onto somethng. See Michael Grant’s book, also called The Twelve Caesars.
Oh, goody. A thread about two of my favorite books, and of course lets throw in the TV mini-series with Derek Jacobi. How certain can we be of events that took place 100 years ago, let alone two thousand years ago? I think that Robert Graves was attemping to make history accesible in the form of Claudius “writing” his autobiography. To go point-by-point of what is scholarly fact vs. literary embellishment would really take a long time, I think. Try “The Twelve Caesars” by Suetonius. As Derek Jacobi said as Claudius at the begining of episode 10 or so, "If what I am about to say seems incredible…believe it…BELIEVE IT. (Example: Caligula slicing open his pregnant-by-him sister’s womb so he could eat the fetus, and therefore duplicate a Greek legend about Zeus or some other God doing the same thing, fearing that the child would become greater than him. http://www.roman-britain.org/people/claudius.htm
There are interesting encyclopedia entries on the various players besides the emperors–Sejanus, Livia, Germanicus, Messalina, etc.
My understanding is that Graves studied Claudius very closely, and virtually everything could have been true. Obviously Claudius’ reliance on the sybil prophecies is an embellishment, as well as this all supposedly being Claudius’ diary. I’ve heard complaints that there is no way that Livia poisoned Augustus (brilliantly played by Brian Blessed).
This was, as I’ve said elsewhere, one of the best things ever to appear on television.
This only appears in the TV series, it’s not in Graves’ book (that just says that Drusilla died in mysterious circumstances), and I don’t know where it came from. (Some “disgusted-of-Tunbridge-Wells” type actually wrote to the Radio Times at the time the series was first broadcast, complaining that this scene was unhistorical and gratuitous. On the other hand, my next-door neighbour at the time complained that they cut to the closing credits before the door swung all the way open, so he didn’t get to see the mangled corpse… lots of room for diversity of opinion, isn’t there?)
You may have time to finish the book before watching the entire 12 hours of the mini-series. Where I am it’s horrendously difficult to find it available for rent. I’ve recently only seen it available online and in a DVD boxset (which I couldn’t help but buy).
I have read the book **I, Claudius **at least 6 or 7 times, and Claudius The God 2 or 3 times, so I can afford to wait while I search for the video, but thanks for the warning about it being difficult to find, Crunchy Frog. Are you in the U.S.A ? Or Britain ? From memory the BBC produced these films, so if you are in Britain, and have found it difficult, I’m going to have some fun trying to find it Down Under. At least it’s probably not a high demand video, like Titanic :rolleyes:
The BBC UK website offers a boxed video set of I Claudius for £35 plus postage & packing. Scroll down to BBC Shop for details of the full product range.
This site will only accept orders from the UK and other EU countries. There is a link to http://www.bbcproducts.com from which site the BBC states that it is possible for US customers to buy BBC products. There is currently a problem accessing this site.
There seems to be no direct way for Australians, or indeed anyone from another continent, to buy from the BBC at the moment.
I did not seen a DVD boxed set, as bought by Crunchy Frog, advertised on the BBC UK website.
You should be aware that alot of this stuff, especially about Caligula, is gossip.
It’s authentic gossip from the time period, mind you, but there’s very little supporting evidence for some of it.
But the thing with the horse (he was a Senator, not Consul, Claudius ros eto power and removed him powerful it was his turn for the position) is true, at least. I’ve heard at least one hostorian suggest that the equine appointee was a barbed expression of Caligula’s opinion of the senate (like writing Mickey Mouse on a ballot), and not out-and-out insanity.
I’m in the USA to answer Goo’s question. I found the box set at Best Buy. I dn’t know what’s available on the site that Nostradamus posted. I only knew it was available on that site because I once asked (on these very boards) where I could get a copy of the mini-series.
I’ve never seen the TV series (which everyone assures me is excellent), but man what a powerful book. The description of Caligula as a child is one of those things that will always stay with me. And that Livia, I think I know her…
There are a couple of translations of Suetonius’ “The Tweleve Caesars”, but the best is by (surprise!) Robert Graves. I don’t know if he did the translation before or after I,C.
As to historical accuracy, I remember Asimov pointing out in his “Chronological History of the World” that a lot of the facts in the 12C were probably just gossip being passed off as facts. For example, I am unaware of any historical evidence as to whether Tiberius really liked to have naked boys swim around him and nibble at his legs.
I just read a book called “Sexual Variance in Society and Culture” by Vern L. Bullough. Bullough points on in the section about Ancient Rome that Nero may or may not have been depraved by we certainly had a laundry list of what Suetonius CONSIDERED DEPRAVED behavior.
