I, Claudius and Claudius the God - a comparisson essay
Uploaded by toria90210 on Dec 13, 2003
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...