Kasper Ksawery’s Reviews > I, Claudius > Status Update

„Germanicus’s love for you falls only a little short of outright worship,’ I said. ‘He has often told me so.’
His face brightened.”

I volunteered to act as Tiberius’s Quartermaster-General […]. Augustus seemed pleased that I had come forward so willingly and said that he would speak to Tiberius about my offer. But nothing came of it. Perhaps Tiberius believed me incapable of any useful service; perhaps he was merely annoyed at my coming forward with this request

He said that the Germans were a very stupid race and incapable either of thinking out any such plan or of executing it without giving the secret away long before the time was ripe. Their docility was mere cowardice; the harder you hit a German the more he respected you: he was arrogant in prosperity and independence, but once defeated came crawling to your feet like a dog and kept to heel ever afterwards.

Ever since Pollio had told me about the poisoning of my father and grandfather I had been greatly perplexed. […] Who but Augustus himself was sufficiently interested in the monarchy to have poisoned a nobleman merely because he believed in republican government? Yet I could not believe Augustus the murderer: poison was a mean way of killing, a slave’s way, and Augustus would never have stooped to it.

The exception was Augustus himself, who was sitting on the other side of Germanicus. He felt extremes of heat and cold severely and in the winter wore no less than four coats besides a very thick gown and a long waistcoat.

I fear that tutoring young Tiberius Claudius must be rather a weary task. He seems to me to grow daily more miserable-looking and nervous and incapable.’ […] ‘Don’t judge the boy too harshly. He feels most keenly the family’s disappointment in him and the slights that he everywhere meets. But he’s very far from incapable […]. You never heard him declaim, did you!’

But I think you are the first youthful historian I have ever met. History is an old man’s game.

To be always under the necessity of taking vengeance and inflicting punishments is a very painful position for any honourable man to be in, my dearest wife.

The betrothal ceremony, Livia insisted, was to be as private as possible, because she could not trust me not to make a fool of myself if there was a crowd. I preferred it that way: I hated ceremonies.

Then she said: ‘You must be very wise by now, Claudius.’‘I am supposed to be an utter fool and the more I read the more of a fool they think me.’‘I think you’re very sensible. You tell things so nicely.’‘But I stammer. My tongue’s a Claudian too.