Written by: toria90210
The Claudian Era, a record of the most scandalous time in history, took place during the 13-year rein of Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus as Emperor of the Roman Empire. During this time of ambition and deception, there was a blatant lack of value for love. However, Romans did possess an obvious commitment to their spiritual beliefs. This aspect of the Roman culture is just one of the many that are portrayed in two novels set during this era, I, Claudius and Claudius the God, both by Robert Graves, The combination of both works tells a magnificent auto-biography. I, Claudius explores the life of Claudius before he became emperor and describes the development of his character as he overcame the scandals and murders of his family. Claudius the God depicts the life of Claudius as emperor and narrates his transformation from a fool to a “god”. Both of these novels touch on the themes of ambition, deception, love, and spiritual beliefs. Both I, Claudius and Claudius the God depict the Roman times as an era of intrigue, lust, perversion and bloodshed. One aspect of the Roman culture that depicted the Roman times as an era of intrigue, lust, perversion and bloodshed was the Roman peoples’ ambition. This aspect of ambition is one of the themes portrayed in both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. This theme can be observed through Livia and Claudius, the main characters of I, Claudius and Claudius the God respectively. Livia and Claudius both set particular goals for themselves. In I, Claudius, Livia aspired to become the First Lady of the Roman Empire. She was, at first, married to Drusus Nero. When Nero refused to take part in Livia’s schemes to make him emperor (which would make Livia the First Lady), Livia divorced him. She then married Augustus, a man who was far more ambitious that Drusus, to increase her chances of a position in power as the Emperor’s wife. In Claudius the God, Claudius also set certain goals, one of which was to construct Ostia. During Ostia’s construction, Claudius perversely refused to listen to advice from engineers about the immense cost and time it would take to build Ostia. Claudius even tricked the Corn Ring into lending him a large sum of money to build Ostia. However, Ostia was merely one of Claudius’ aspirations; Claudius followed several other ambitions. To pursue his ambitions, Claudius studied and read to craft solutions and strategies. For example, during Rome’s war with Britain, Claudius led the Roman armies to a remarkable victory by studying old strategies, most by Julius Caesar. He learned from mistakes of old battles and imitated good strategies. In I, Claudius, Livia also followed several ambitions. And to follow these several ambitions, Livia assassinated several people. For example, when she learned that Augustus was planning to proclaim Marcellus as his heir, she poisoned Marcellus and killed him. Livia poisoned him because she wanted her son, Tiberius, to become the next emperor. Livia intended, in the event of Augustus’ death, to continue ruling through her son. Livia’s ambition led her to plot against whom she saw as her enemies. For example, Livia was jealous of Julia so she gave Julia a potion that stimulated Julia’s sexual appetite. This potion turned Julia into an adulterous monster. Livia did this so that when all of Rome soon came to know of her infidelities, she would be banished for life. However, in Claudius the God, Claudius’ ambition merely led him to make numerous death threats. For example, when Claudius wanted Posides to help him win the war against Britain, he threatened Posides with death if Posides would not fulfill his expectations and wants. Claudius threatened that if Posides disappointed him, Posides would be thrown to the panthers in the amphitheatre. Hence, the theme of “ambition” is evidently present in I, Claudius and Claudius the God through the actions of Livia and Claudius, which also depict the Roman times as an era of intrigue and bloodshed. In addition to the theme of “ambition”, the theme of “deception” was also present in I, Claudius and Claudius the God. During the Roman times, the true natures of people were not always palpable. One would primarily have to discover one’s true nature to get a clear perception of them. For example, in I, Claudius, Livia’s true nature was discovered when she divorced Drusus Nero and remarried Augustus. It was clear that her main intension was solely to ensure for herself a position in power (as the emperor’s wife). Also, in Claudius the God, Herod Agrippa’s true nature was discovered when he betrayed Claudius. Herod, who Claudius had trusted entirely, was scheming something behind Claudius’ back before Claudius left for Britain. But because Claudius had a suspicion of this, Herod did not follow through with his scheme. The Roman times were so full of deception that one could not even trust their loved-ones, and Claudius was an example of this case. For instance, in I, Claudius, all of Rome saw Claudius’ mother as a very beautiful and respectable lady. People felt sorry for her because she had a responsibility to take care of Claudius, who was a cripple and was often sick. People perceived her as respectable and a loving mother, meanwhile, she loathed Claudius. She made it clear to Claudius that she hated him. She did not even feel sympathy for Claudius being a cripple. The only sympathy she felt was for herself, for having to put up with Claudius. She was disgusted by her own son. Also, in Claudius the God, Messalina, Claudius’ third and most loved wife, was also seen as very beautiful. Her beauty was very deceiving. She tricked Claudius by lying to him that Barbillus the astrologer told her that her husband would die a violent death. She did this because she wanted to divorce Claudius, and it worked. Claudius quickly came up with a plan to cheat death. Claudius divorced Messalina and allowed her to remarry someone else so that Claudius would not die because he would not be Messalina’s husband. Those close to Claudius were not the only deceiving ones. Claudius himself was also deceiving. In I, Claudius, Claudius was considered a fool and kept out of public life due to his appearance. Only Augustus thought Claudius as not stupid and granted Claudius a non-governmental priesthood position. When Calligula became emperor, he appointed Claudius as consul, alongside Calligula's horse, as a joke. In actuality, Claudius was trained as a scholar, by the historian Livy and wrote several histories and literary works in Latin and Greek. Claudius studied a lot and was truly a lot smarter than he appeared. In Claudius the God, the Romans still did not perceive Claudius’ intelligence and capabilities. After the assassination of Calligula, Claudius was found hiding in the palace, scared for his own life. The Praetorian Guards, interested in keeping their job as the Emperor's bodyguard, declared Claudius as emperor and forced the Senate to do the same. The soldiers, courtiers, freedman and foreigners were his main followers. Nevertheless, they did not dream that Claudius would be known as one who would contribute much greatness to the Roman Empire. Thus, the Roman era was clearly a time of deception. This is clear in the theme of “deception” that was evidently portrayed in I, Claudius and Claudius the God, and also portrayed the Roman era as a time of intrigue. Romans were also very deceiving because they did not always accentuate their intentions, including their intentions for marriage. Romans had such a lack of value for love, and this aspect was another theme that was portrayed in I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Their idea of the word “marriage” was different from society’s understanding today. In fact, Roman weddings took place often for financial or political reasons (Simon James, page22). For example, in I, Claudius, Claudius was betrothed three times and he met each of the ladies for the first time during the betrothal ceremony. He was betrothed to each of them for political reasons (to bring specific chosen families closer to the imperial family). Also, in Claudius the God, Messalina took advantage of her marriage to Claudius when Claudius became Emperor. She often acted sweetly and used her charms and beauty to persuade Claudius into seeing things her way or doing things she wanted. Being Claudius’ wife meant she had a large influence on Claudius’ decisions. Livia even managed to convince Claudius to have Lesbia executed by using her charms and beauty and by acting scared of Lesbia. In addition to marriages not taking place for the right reasons, they also weren’t honest. In fact, most marriages had one or both spouses commit adultery. In I, Claudius, Jullila, Julia’s daughter with Agrippa, committed adultery against her husband, Aemilius, several times with several other men. Her adulterous acts resulted in a pregnancy. Also, in Claudius the God, Poppaea wanted to divorce her husband because she was in love with Asiaticus. Because she could not divorce her husband, Poppaea committed adultery with Asiaticus every time he came to visit from the South of France. Romans clearly lacked a value for love. Some Romans even used lust to entertain themselves. In I, Claudius, Agrippinilla and Lesbia often played “games of lust” with Caligula, even though they were both married, and Caligula was married at the time to Aemilia. Agrppinilla and Lesbia’s husbands didn’t even seem to mind. Claudius the God also portrayed how Romans used lust to entertain themselves when Messalina challenged courtesans to “stud contests”, where the object of the game was to see who could wear out the most gallants in the night. When dawn came, a prostitute she had challenged went up to Messalina to admit defeat, but Messalina continued out of bravado. Worst of all, most of the nobility in Rome were invited to attend the contest. Many women had also taken part in this contest. Thus, the theme of “love” that was portrayed in both I, Claudius and Claudius the God, also portrayed the Roman era as an era of lust and perversion. Romans clearly had different values during their time, including their value for love (or lack there of). Though Romans lacked value for love, they did value religion. This is evident through the portrayal of the theme of “spiritual beliefs” that was depicted in both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Romans had different values. They followed a different set of rules for conduct, and some aspects of their conduct would be seen as “barbaric” in today’s society. For example, I, Claudius showed how Romans enjoyed watching people slaughter each other. While watching gladiators fight in the amphitheatre, Augustus and Livia (along with 50,000 other people) yelled out statements to encourage or discourage favourite/hated gladiators. Romans were very thrilled and excited during these gory games. In Claudius the God, Claudius promoted and hosted numerous of these gory games in the amphitheatre to please his people after he became emperor, though he was one of the very few who did not enjoy watching gladiator games much. Both I, Claudius and Claudius the God portrayed how Romans also had unique beliefs in the super-natural. I Claudius showed how Romans believed in numerous gods and spirits. It portrayed how Romans also believed in sibyls, witches and omens when Claudius mentioned different gods that were responsible for different tasks. For example, Apollo was the God of the Sun who, each day, rode a chariot across the sky to give light to the world. Also, Romans prayed to a different god depending on what they were praying for. In Claudius the God, Romans showed much commitment and devotion to their spiritual beliefs. Claudius told the Romans to build a temple to the god Augustus. The Romans confused what Claudius had meant in “the god Augustus” for “Augustus” in Claudius’ full name, and built a temple to honour the god Claudius instead. Though it was a mistake, this depicts the Romans’ commitment to their gods. Both I, Claudius and Claudius the God also depict how the Romans’ belief in the super-natural had a great deal of influence on them. In I, Claudius, Claudius described how important people would pay a large sum of money to hear a sibyl’s prophecy (Graves, 10). Clearly, these prophecies had a large influence in peoples’ lives; otherwise, no one would pay attention to them, let alone a large sum of money. Claudius the God rendered the Roman belief in astrology and how it influenced even people as great as Emperors. The astronomer Barbellus made mathematical calculations that informed Claudius there would be an eclipse of the sun (which was a most unlucky omen) on his birthday. This caused Claudius much alarm because it would give anyone who planned to assassinate him much confidence of success. This prediction caused Claudius to take drastic actions. Thus, the Roman value for religion was portrayed in the theme “spiritual beliefs” which was depicted in both I, Claudius and Claudius the God, and depicted the Roman era as a time of bloodshed and intrigue. All in consideration, both I, Claudius and Claudius the God depict the Roman times as an era of intrigue, lust, perversion and bloodshed by touching on the themes of ambition, deception, love and spiritual beliefs. Both I, Claudius and Claudius the God contain ambitious characters that went as far as assassination to follow their aspirations. Both novels also included deceiving characters and spoke of events of perversion. Moreover, both novels portrayed how Romans played with love and lust, and enjoyed in watching people slaughter one another. Though the city of Rome truly was one of the best run in the world, the Ancient Roman era was truly a time of intrigue, lust, perversion and bloodshed. Perhaps these aspects of the Roman era were what caused the downfall of the mightiest empire this world has ever seen.