# I, Clavdivs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665 "2006-12-18T18:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/21 "2006-12-18T22:22:08Z")
vVNCONCEIVABLE! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/22 "2006-12-18T22:26:18Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] Actually, try McCullogh’s (sp?) (terribly titled) Master of Rome ™ series. As I understand it, she went to all the source material and while she’s taken liberties with the narrative, I think all the facts are right. It’s a fun read anyway. [/QUOTE] Agreed – but don’t look there for Livia, Caligula or Claudius. The [Masters of Rome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Rome) series starts begins about 110 BC, with the marriage of Gaius Marius to Julia (aunt of Gaius Julius Caesar the Dictator) and ends with the defeat of Brutus and Cassius by Antony and Octavian at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC – before Octavian was emperor, or married even to his first wife Scribonia. McCullough is planning another volume, mainly about Antony and Cleopatra, but what would only take it up to the battle of Actium in 31 BC – still several years before _I, Claudius_ picks up the story. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/23 "2006-12-18T22:29:02Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] vVNCONCEIVABLE! [/QUOTE] I do not think that word is spelled the way you think it is spelled. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/24 "2006-12-19T01:08:49Z")
This is so funny…My late dad always referred to this collection as **I, Clavdivs** too. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/25 "2006-12-19T02:17:37Z")
“I, Clavdivs” was what just about everybody nicknamed it in Britain at the time. It was quite a big hit, in no small part because it was about the raunchiest thing to be seen on British telly back then. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/26 "2006-12-19T08:10:27Z")
Weird. I just finished watching this too. Odd. Hooray for Netflix! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/27 "2006-12-19T15:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] Weird. I just finished watching this too. Odd. Hooray for Netflix! [/QUOTE] I borrowed the DVD from a fellow at work (I’d seen it when it first aired, but not since). Wasn’t Sian Phillips _fabulous?_ And I loved John Hurt’s oh-so-innocent “people really can be _despicible_.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/28 "2006-12-19T18:26:48Z")
Whenever I see Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies, Derek Jacobi, John Hurt…I always remember them in their Clavdivs roles. This series must’ve made a great impression on me. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/29 "2006-12-19T18:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] . . . But I’ll bet I’m the only one who called it “I, Clamdip” [/QUOTE] Actually, my first thought on seeing the OP was that you must have been hanging out with my ex-wife. We called it both “Clavdivs” and “Clamdip” in our household. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/30 "2006-12-20T00:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] Whenever I see Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies, Derek Jacobi, John Hurt…I always remember them in their Clavdivs roles. This series must’ve made a great impression on me. [/QUOTE] If you’re a lover of big costume epics, you’ll find a number of familiar faces in _I, Claudius_, even among the supporting roles. For example: [ul] [li]Gratus, the praetorian soldier who discovers Claudius cowering behind a curtain and later stands guard over him: played by Bernard Hill, better known as King Theodin in _The Lord of the Rings_.[/li][li]Tiberias’ son Castor: played by Kevin McNally – Mr. Gibbs in _Pirates of the Caribbean I-III_ (“'tis bad luck having a woman on board, even a miniature one.”)[/li][li]Gallus, the senator who dared speak out against Tiberias and subsequently put to death by Sejanus: played by Charles Kay, best known as Count Orsini-Rosenberg in _Amadeus_ (“Too much spice…too many notes.”)[/li][li]Quintus Iustus, a soldier whose attempts to do “the right thing” are thwarted by Claudius’ scheming freedmen: played by George Innes, who appeared in _Master and Commander_ as Old Joe, the sailor whose fractured skull is surgically repaired by Dr. Maturin.[/li][/ul] Oh yes. One last item not to be forgotten, though the film involved doesn’t exactly fall into the category of Big Costume Epics. [ul] [li]Livilla, Claudius’ scheming sister: played by Patricia Quinn, best known as Magenta in _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/31 "2006-12-20T03:25:42Z")
[QUOTE=Kizarvexius] Gratus, the praetorian soldier who discovers Claudius cowering behind a curtain and later stands guard over him: played by Bernard Hill . . . [/QUOTE] I love the scene where the praetorian soldiers chase Claudius around the palace to the tune of “Yakety Sax.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/32 "2006-12-20T05:32:41Z")
Recommending Tacitus pretty much goes without saying… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/33 "2006-12-20T06:17:04Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] Hmmm, Grant seems a little above my heard, from what the reviews say. I wonder if there are any good individual bios of Claudius, Livia, etc., rather than overall histories? [/QUOTE] Grant is good, but if you want individual biographies… I haven’t read any devoted to Livia or Claudius, but I have read two of Barrett’s biographies of other I Claudius characters: [Caligula](http://www.amazon.com/Caligula-Corruption-Power-Anthony-Barrett/dp/0300074298/sr=1-2/qid=1166594858/ref=sr_1_2/002-8697637-7304044?ie=UTF8&s=books) (mentioned above) and [Agrippina](http://www.amazon.com/Agrippina-Power-Politics-Early-Empire/dp/0300078560/ref=ed_oe_p/002-8697637-7304044). They’re thorough and objective, if not exactly page-turners. I see he also has a [bio of Livia](http://www.amazon.com/Livia-First-Lady-Imperial-Rome/dp/0300102984/sr=1-3/qid=1166594858/ref=sr_1_3/002-8697637-7304044?ie=UTF8&s=books) but I haven’t read it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/34 "2006-12-20T15:21:13Z")
[QUOTE=bibliophage] I see he also has a [bio of Livia](http://www.amazon.com/Livia-First-Lady-Imperial-Rome/dp/0300102984/sr=1-3/qid=1166594858/ref=sr_1_3/002-8697637-7304044?ie=UTF8&s=books) but I haven’t read it yet. [/QUOTE] Ooooh, I _must_ read that!! Thank you! I’ll e my library right now to see if they can get it in. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665/35 "2006-12-20T15:24:27Z")
While we were watching HBO’s \*Rome \*I kept pointing out to my husband who the people were in relation to _I, Claudius_, as in: “That kid grows up to be Augustus” and “She eventually marries Mark Antony and they’re Claudius’s grandparents.” I haven’t watched _I, Claudius_ in years, because I own the VHS set and my VCR doesn’t work any more. I need to buy the DVDs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-clavdivs/384665.md?page=1)