“One of the really remarkable books of our day”—the story of the Roman emperor on which the award-winning BBC TV series was based (The New York Times). Once a rather bookish young man with a limp and a stammer, a man who spent most of his time trying to stay away from the danger and risk of the line of ascension, Claudius seemed an unlikely candidate for emperor. Yet, on the death of Caligula, Claudius finds himself next in line for the throne, and must stay alive as well as keep control. Drawing on the histories of Plutarch, Suetonius, and Tacitus, noted historian and classicist Robert Graves tells the story of the much-maligned Emperor Claudius with both skill and compassion. Weaving important themes throughout about the nature of freedom and safety possible in a monarchy, Graves’s Claudius is both more effective and more tragic than history typically remembers him. A bestselling novel and one of Graves’ most successful, I, Claudius has been adapted to television, film, theatre, and audio. “[A] legendary tale of Claudius . . . [A] gem of modern literature.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Despised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the intrigues, bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman dynasties. In I, Claudius he watches from the sidelines to record the reigns of its emperors: from the wise Augustus and his villainous wife Livia to the sadistic Tiberius and the insane excesses of Caligula. Written in the form of Claudius’ autobiography, this is the first part of Robert Graves’s brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome, and stands as one of the most celebrated, gripping historical novels ever written.

'Still an acknowledged masterpiece and a model for historical fiction ... sympathetic and intensely involving: a great feat of imagination' Hilary Mantel Bringing to life the intrigue of ancient Rome, Robert Graves's I, Claudius is one of the most celebrated, gripping historical novels ever written Despised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman dynasties. In I, Claudius he watches from the sidelines to record the reigns of its emperors: from the wise Augustus and his villainous wife Livia to the sadistic Tiberius and the insane excesses of Caligula. Written in the form of Claudius' autobiography, this is the first part of Robert Graves's brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome. With an introduction by Barry Unsworth 'An imaginative and hugely readable account of the early decades of the Roman Empire ... racy, inventive, often comic' Daily Telegraph

A stunning elegy to a vanished time, Caroline Heller’s memoir traces the lives of her parents, her uncle, and their circle of intellectuals and dreamers from Central Europe on the eve of World War II to present-day America. In this unforgettable dual memoir of her parents’ lives and her own, Caroline Heller brings to life the lost world of European café culture, and reminds us of the sustaining power of literature in the most challenging of times. Heller vividly evokes prewar Prague, where her parents lived, loved, and studied. Her mother, Liese Florsheim, was a young German refugee initially drawn to Erich Heller, a bright but detached intellectual, rather than to his brother, Paul. As Hitler’s power spreads and World War II becomes inevitable, their world is destroyed and they must flee the country and continent. Paul, who will eventually become the author’s father, is trapped and sent to Buchenwald, where he survives under hellish conditions. Though Paul’s life nearly ends in Europe, he reunites with Liese in the United States, where they marry. Their daughter Caroline, restless and insecure, carries the trauma of her parents’ story with her, but her quest to make peace with her heritage is eased by her love of books and writers, part of her family legacy. Through the darkest years of Hitler’s rule, Caroline’s parents and uncle had turned time and time again to literature to help them survive—and so she does as well. Written with sensitivity and grace, Reading Claudius is a profound meditation on the ways we strive to solve the mysteries of our pasts, and a window into understanding the ones we love. Praise for Reading Claudius “This fine book contains moments of emotion so pure that in the end, we too fall in love with the writer’s past.”—The New York Times Book Review “Heller plunges us lovingly and convincingly into [a] lost world.”—The Boston Globe “Caroline Heller writes with both honesty and delicacy. I was particularly enthralled by her finely drawn portrait of prewar Central Europe: a lost world whose memories are inestimably valuable and fiercely beautiful but which, without accounts like this, would fade forever.”—Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down “Reading Claudius is much more than a work of riveting personal history. It is a feat of passionate, radical integrity. Caroline Heller has wedded the greatest level of care in her scholarship to an even deeper form of search: that in which imagination becomes not only an act of love but an instrument of truth.”—Leah Hager Cohen, author of No Book but the World and The Grief of Others “A deeply felt and deeply thought memoir, it manages to unearth a whole lost world with aching tenderness and regret.”—Phillip Lopate, author of Portrait Inside My Head From the Hardcover edition.

Claudius the stammerer was known as a buffoon and a fool. but despite his reputation he was destined to become Emperor - and shrewd enough to record some of the most scandalous, debauched times in history. Here, in this magnificent fictionalized autobiography, Claudius chronicles the shocking intrigues, lusts, perversions and bloodshed of the Imperial Roman households, from the great days of Augustus and the cruelty of Tiberius, to the insane excesses of Caligula. As Claudius reveals his innermost thoughts throughout his own surprisingly successful reign and his tempestuous marriage to the depraved Messalina, his voice is humorous, sometimes fearful, always inquisitive, bringing the past to brilliant life in two of the most celebrated and compelling historical novels ever written.

A historical tradition of Roman origin represents Livia Drusilla, the third and much beloved wife of Caesar Augustus, as a conniving, Borgia-like criminal. This view of Livia maintains, that to promote the political career of her son by her former husband, Livia killed or incapacitated Augustus' descendants through his previous wife. Author Robert Graves, in his famous novel, I, Claudius, based his fictitious rendering of Livia upon this malevolent representation of her. The conceit is patently wrong, and essentially all modern scholars of Roman history reject it. But thanks to Graves' immensely entertaining book, and the British Broadcasting Corporation adaptation of it for television, the image of Livia as a devious dynastic murderess prevails in the popular mind. I, Livia: The Counterfeit Criminal aspires to correct the misconception, and present an accurate assessment of this much-maligned woman. The study's comfortably readable style is intended for general audiences. The first three chapters present a biographical sketch, which focuses on Livia's public life. Livia was accepted as an extraordinarily visible, dynamic and influential political personage, by a society and culture that maintained that women must confine their activities childrearing and other domestic pursuits. The following two chapters demonstrate the absurdity of Livia's criminal reputation, and offer explanation for its development. Three subsequent chapters seek Livia's private side - her habits, tastes, and interpersonal relationships. Livia (who suffered from colds and chronic arthritis) was an amiable soul, with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She was a loving, supportive forbearant wife and mother, an intellectual with profound political insights, an enthusiastic traveller, a connoisseur of art. Although generally patient and demure, she could also be impulsive, assertive, opinionated and, especially in later life, petulant. The final chapter examines how Livia became, and remained, a symbol of Roman imperial power. The brief epilogue describes the physical appearances of Livia and the members of her family. Also included are relevant appendices, a comprehensive bibliography, and color images of surviving wall paintings from her homes.