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kangeikoI appear to be working my arse off, which makes lj-life um, difficult. It does, however, mean that I'm romping through a great many fabulous books. They make my train journey bearable. Yes.
Today's brilliance is I, Claudius.
Title: I, Claudius
by: Robert Graves
page count: 395 pages.
I am in the land of Rome at the moment, due to the only TV I've been watching being, well, ROME, and my latest book being I, Claudius. I felt like I was getting both sets of history, with a biiiig gap in the middle. (Presumably, that's where the second half of S2 of Rome comes in.)
Anyway, I, Claudius is the story of the Emperor Claudius... except, it's not, because Claudius isn't emperor until the very, very very end (like, the penultimate page). Instead, we have the story of Everything After Augustus Became Emperor (tm), and it's nowhere near as rosy and fab as the history books would have us believe. OK, Augustus being ruled by a strong and charismatic woman I totally buy, and it's making me wonder if anyone has written the obvious crossover of doom, whereby Atia meets daughter-in-law-to-be Livia. Again, I haven't seen the second half of the season so I don't know if Atia survives (but, oh, I hope she does!!), but her and Livia in the same book/page/idea thing would be fabulous.
I'm going to stop raving about Livia shortly. But, first - poisons!! Many poisons!! I love that she's strong and terrifying and deadly from the get-go, and doesn't spent her youthful years being sweet and happy and fluffy. Because that would be crap. BUT! This is Claudius's story, after all, and he's not precisely Mr Reliable. Not that he comes across as NOT reliable, if you see, but any narrator with such a focus on being truthful and reliable and generally v. committed to the truth rather than his own interests immediately makes me suspicious. I liked the uncertainty, though, especially when, later on, it is revealed that much of his information comes from Livia herself.
I'm getting ahead of myself. When Augustus Caesar married Livia, they didn't produce any children. Stupid! Bad Emperor! If he'd managed to actually sleep with her, I imagine that the entirety of Roman nobility would have had a much quieter life. As it is, Livia sets on a quest to engineer the succession. There's plenty of time, you understand, what with Augustus living to a ripe old age. The likely candidates are swiftly dispatched, because they have the bad luck to not be directly related to Livia. Some other candidates are also dispatched, because they were too smart, or not smart enough, or looked funny. I forget. Anyway. The important thing is, everyone is killing off everyone else, until, eventually, Augustus ends up poisoned too, and Tiberius succeeds him.
We know that Tiberius is a Very Bad Man, mainly because Claudius tells us. He commits such Horrible Acts (tm), that Claudius won't tell us what they are, merely that they were very horrible indeed. I was suitably cowed. Except I wasn't, because Livia had Tiberius in hand. It wasn't until she died that I started to worry.
One amusing thing - through a series of coincidences, Livia thinks that she's going to be the ultimate Deity, which, in mortal form, dies on such-and-such a year... unfortunately for her, a carpenter in Jerusalem was busy being crucified then, so things didn't go to plan.
Anyway, then Caligula inherits. Woe to the nation! Caligula is a loony. I totally see the Cartagia parallels, btw, although was there a lack of a Tiberius in play, if Turhan was supposed to be Augustus. And no Livia-figure, too, shame on them. Poison is a time-honoured Centauri tradition, too. But I digress.
Caligula! Looniness! Yes, indeed. His poor sister Drusilla ends up in his bed at a tender age - one assumes that she loved him, at least to begin with - and there are certain parallels with Octavia and Octavian, I suppose, what with Drusilla being older and thus bearing the responsibility of said incest. Also, there's something... not quite... right... with Octavian. But he turns out all right, I suppose, once he ends up emperor, so I can't complain. Neither can Drusilla, as it turns out, as she ends up predictably dead.
Other people follow. How much do I love that all these horrible children were the product of two wonderful, caring parents (Germanicus and Aggrippina)? That said, Claudius's lack of regard for his own offspring leaves me a little cold. If he doesn't love his own son, can he be that surprised that the boy doesn't love him either?
Much love for the religion and the politics and the everyday Roman gentry life. I am such a history wh0re.
Wait! Caligula gets killed! I am shocked. No, truly. V. shocked. OK, not shocked at all, I was anticipating his murder with eeeeevil glee. And then Claudius is emperor.
Where's Claudius the God already??
In conclusion, I need to write Atia meeting Livia. Because that would improve my world SO MUCH.
THE END!
Today's brilliance is I, Claudius.
Title: I, Claudius
by: Robert Graves
page count: 395 pages.
I am in the land of Rome at the moment, due to the only TV I've been watching being, well, ROME, and my latest book being I, Claudius. I felt like I was getting both sets of history, with a biiiig gap in the middle. (Presumably, that's where the second half of S2 of Rome comes in.)
Anyway, I, Claudius is the story of the Emperor Claudius... except, it's not, because Claudius isn't emperor until the very, very very end (like, the penultimate page). Instead, we have the story of Everything After Augustus Became Emperor (tm), and it's nowhere near as rosy and fab as the history books would have us believe. OK, Augustus being ruled by a strong and charismatic woman I totally buy, and it's making me wonder if anyone has written the obvious crossover of doom, whereby Atia meets daughter-in-law-to-be Livia. Again, I haven't seen the second half of the season so I don't know if Atia survives (but, oh, I hope she does!!), but her and Livia in the same book/page/idea thing would be fabulous.
I'm going to stop raving about Livia shortly. But, first - poisons!! Many poisons!! I love that she's strong and terrifying and deadly from the get-go, and doesn't spent her youthful years being sweet and happy and fluffy. Because that would be crap. BUT! This is Claudius's story, after all, and he's not precisely Mr Reliable. Not that he comes across as NOT reliable, if you see, but any narrator with such a focus on being truthful and reliable and generally v. committed to the truth rather than his own interests immediately makes me suspicious. I liked the uncertainty, though, especially when, later on, it is revealed that much of his information comes from Livia herself.
I'm getting ahead of myself. When Augustus Caesar married Livia, they didn't produce any children. Stupid! Bad Emperor! If he'd managed to actually sleep with her, I imagine that the entirety of Roman nobility would have had a much quieter life. As it is, Livia sets on a quest to engineer the succession. There's plenty of time, you understand, what with Augustus living to a ripe old age. The likely candidates are swiftly dispatched, because they have the bad luck to not be directly related to Livia. Some other candidates are also dispatched, because they were too smart, or not smart enough, or looked funny. I forget. Anyway. The important thing is, everyone is killing off everyone else, until, eventually, Augustus ends up poisoned too, and Tiberius succeeds him.
We know that Tiberius is a Very Bad Man, mainly because Claudius tells us. He commits such Horrible Acts (tm), that Claudius won't tell us what they are, merely that they were very horrible indeed. I was suitably cowed. Except I wasn't, because Livia had Tiberius in hand. It wasn't until she died that I started to worry.
One amusing thing - through a series of coincidences, Livia thinks that she's going to be the ultimate Deity, which, in mortal form, dies on such-and-such a year... unfortunately for her, a carpenter in Jerusalem was busy being crucified then, so things didn't go to plan.
Anyway, then Caligula inherits. Woe to the nation! Caligula is a loony. I totally see the Cartagia parallels, btw, although was there a lack of a Tiberius in play, if Turhan was supposed to be Augustus. And no Livia-figure, too, shame on them. Poison is a time-honoured Centauri tradition, too. But I digress.
Caligula! Looniness! Yes, indeed. His poor sister Drusilla ends up in his bed at a tender age - one assumes that she loved him, at least to begin with - and there are certain parallels with Octavia and Octavian, I suppose, what with Drusilla being older and thus bearing the responsibility of said incest. Also, there's something... not quite... right... with Octavian. But he turns out all right, I suppose, once he ends up emperor, so I can't complain. Neither can Drusilla, as it turns out, as she ends up predictably dead.
Other people follow. How much do I love that all these horrible children were the product of two wonderful, caring parents (Germanicus and Aggrippina)? That said, Claudius's lack of regard for his own offspring leaves me a little cold. If he doesn't love his own son, can he be that surprised that the boy doesn't love him either?
Much love for the religion and the politics and the everyday Roman gentry life. I am such a history wh0re.
Wait! Caligula gets killed! I am shocked. No, truly. V. shocked. OK, not shocked at all, I was anticipating his murder with eeeeevil glee. And then Claudius is emperor.
Where's Claudius the God already??
In conclusion, I need to write Atia meeting Livia. Because that would improve my world SO MUCH.
THE END!
no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 07:36 pm (UTC)