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Claudius the God
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I, Claudius: Book 2

Claudius the God (1934) (edit title/settings)

and His Wife Messalina

by Robert Graves (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Robert Graves begins anew the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emporer in spite of himself. Captures the vitality, splendor, and decadence of the Roman world at the point of its decline.

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Summary edit see section history

“Claudius the God” is a sequel to “I Claudius”, and is written as if they were the secret autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, the fourth emperor (41-54 A.D.). Historically, Claudius's family, the Julio-Claudians, kept him out of public life until his sudden coronation at the age of... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

“Claudius the God” is a sequel to “I Claudius”, and is written as if they were the secret autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, the fourth emperor (41-54 A.D.). Historically, Claudius's family, the Julio-Claudians, kept him out of public life until his sudden coronation at the age of 49. This was due to his disabilities, which included a stammer, a limp, and various nervous tics which made him appear mentally deficient to his relatives. This is how he was defined by scholars for most of history, and author Robert Graves uses these peculiarities to develop a sympathetic character whose survival in a murderous dynasty depends upon his family's incorrect assumption that he is a harmless idiot.

Graves claims that after he read Suetonius, Claudius came to him in a dream one night and demanded that his real story be told. The life of Claudius provided Graves with a way to write about the first four Emperors of Rome (Augustus, Tiberious, Caligula, and Claudius) from an intimate point of view. The real Claudius was a trained historian and is known to have written an autobiography (now lost) in eight books that covered the same time period. “I, Claudius” is a first-person narrative of Roman history from the reigns of Augustus to Caligula; “Claudius the God” is written as a later addition documenting Claudius's own reign.

Graves provides a framework for the story by describing Claudius's visit to Cumae, where he receives a prophecy in verse from the Sibyl, and an additional prophecy contained in a book of "Sibylline Curiosities". The latter concerns the fates of the "hairy ones" (i.e. The Caesars - from the Latin word "caesar", meaning "a fine head of hair") who are to rule Rome. The penultimate verse concerns his own reign, and Claudius assumes that he can tell the identity of the last emperor described. From the outset, then, Graves establishes a fatalistic tone that plays out at the end of Claudius the God, as Nero prepares to succeed Claudius.

At Cumae, the Sibyl tells Claudius that he will "speak clear." Claudius believes this means that his secret memoirs will be oneday found, and that he, having therein written the truth, will speak clearly, while his contemporaries, who had to distort their histories in order to appease the ruling family, will seem like stammerers. Since he wishes to record his life for posterity, Claudius chooses to write in Greek, since he believes that it will remain "the chief literary language of the world." This allows Graves to explore the etymology of Latin words (like the origins of the names "Livia" and "Caesar") that would otherwise be obvious to native Latin speakers, who Claudius (correctly) believes will not exist in the future.

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First Sentence edit see section history

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.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 2 in I, Claudius. (standard series)

Preceded by I, Claudius.

This book is in Folio Society. (edition-based publisher list)
This book is in Penguin Modern Classics. (edition-based publisher list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Robert Graves (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Arthur Barker
Country: UK
Publication Date: 1934
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 583

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR6013.R350 1934
  • Dewey: 823.912

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