vVNCONCEIVABLE!
Agreed – but don’t look there for Livia, Caligula or Claudius. The 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.
I do not think that word is spelled the way you think it is spelled.
This is so funny…My late dad always referred to this collection as I, Clavdivs too.
“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.
Weird. I just finished watching this too. Odd. Hooray for Netflix!
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.”
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.
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.
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]
I love the scene where the praetorian soldiers chase Claudius around the palace to the tune of “Yakety Sax.”
Recommending Tacitus pretty much goes without saying…
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 (mentioned above) and Agrippina. They’re thorough and objective, if not exactly page-turners. I see he also has a bio of Livia but I haven’t read it yet.
Ooooh, I must read that!! Thank you! I’ll e my library right now to see if they can get it in.
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.