I Claudius
Robert Graves
395 pages
published in 1934

The lifestory of Roman emperor Claudius, from his birth up to his reluctant proclamation as emperor. This is not as much a historical novel as it is a history of the early Roman Empire in novel form.

The story begins with Augustus as emperor and tells both about the intrigue at the court as much as it does about Claudius' own life. Weak and deformed from birth, he's seen as an idiot, which turns out to be what keeps him alive during the increasingly tyrannical reigns of Augustus' succerors Tiberus and Caligula.

Augustus's family and descendants are not a happy bunch. Anybody who is any good ends up either being poisoned or being executed on various pretexts. You can just see the Empire sliding into decay from the very beginning and especially if you know some Roman history you know even a good emperor won't be able to contain the rot.

This doesn't mean I Claudius is all doom and gloom: the events there in may be horrifying, but Robert Graves writing style is light enough to balance it. I quite liked this novel and recommend it and its sequel to anybody interested in Roman history.