I, Claudius: List of May 2004 Tornado Outbreak Sequence Tornadoes

by Books LLC (Creator)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934, that deals with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. Graves's interpretation of the story owes much to the histories of Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Plutarch, and (especially) Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars). Graves translated Suetonius before writing the novel. Graves continued his tale (from Claudius's accession after Caligula's death to his death in 54, as well as a sequel involving the early life of Herod Agrippa) in Claudius the God (1935). Both books were adapted by the BBC into an award-winning television serial, I, Claudius. In 2005, the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present. Graves wrote I, Claudius and Claudius the God as if they were the secret autobiography of the Emperor Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome (r. 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 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. Robert Graves claimed 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 ab... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=167245

38 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2010

About the author

Books LLC is a reprint publisher of nonfiction and fiction which is out of copyright. Books LLC is not a licensed reseller or editor of modern, in-copyright novels.

Books LLC also publishes compilations of Wikipedia articles (e.g., Wikipedia articles about books, rather than the books themselves).