I, Claudius

By: Robert Graves

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is one of the best historical novels ever written. Lame, stammering Claudius, once a major embarrassment to the imperial family and now emperor of Rome, writes an eyewitness account of the reign of the first four Caesars: the noble Augustus and his cunning wife, Livia; the reptilian Tiberius; the monstrous Caligula; and finally old Claudius himself and his wife, Messalina. Filled with poisonings, betrayal, and shocking excesses, I Claudius is history that rivals the most exciting contemporary fiction.

©1934, 1961 Robert Graves (P)1987 Recorded Books

A Work of Genius

As a fan of both Robert Graves, author of “Greek Myths”, and of Roman history, I delayed reading this acclaimed work due to its being an historical fiction. The combined mastery of both Graves as an author and Nelson Runger, the narrator, compels me to rate this among my most favorite literary works.

Great story, impressive

Highly recommend for anyone enjoying Rome history. Great learning experience as well as story line. Impressive presentation.

A Classic Read Gets a Visit from the Fail Fairy

First let me say this is narrated brilliantly. Unfortunately the story itself, while engaging and amusing at times is also homophobic, misogynistic, and defends an astonishingly milquetoast view of slavery, torture, sexual misconduct, murder, violence, and countless other atrocities. Instead of calling these things out for what they were, Graves makes sorry excuses for them. It grates upon the conscience.

Fantastic audible book

Excellent writing and narration. I had seen I Claudius on PBS so wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a different medium to repeat the experience. What a treat! Highly recommend it if you like Roman history.

Wonderful!

At first I thought this was going to be a boring history book, but I was very wrong! Full of humor and intrigue this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The performance was also outstanding!

Power and greed in ancient times

Mostly overlooked by his powerful and corrupt family, the deformed and stuttering Claudius manages to avoid the pitfalls and poisonings to be come emperor of Rome. A very interesting tale, although the names can get a bit confusing.

Unsurpassed, addictive brilliance

Put aside all thought of stuffy classics. Think well-spun tale, full of twists and turns, subterfuges and bloody tyranny. Bear in mind that the BBC at the peak of its tour de force of TV drama production in the '70s and '80s made these two books into a masterpiece surpassed only (perhaps) by Brideshead Revisited. You can't do that with dull material.
As the title siggests, the books are written in the first person, as the autobiography of the partly disabled, sickly survivor of the Claudian wing of the Roman aristocracy who became emperor by flying below the radar and outliving all the other candidates. The choice of reader is critical, as we are listening to an elderly man tell his long and convoluted life story. Nelson Runger's voice rumbles along with just the right timbre and clarity for the character of the wily and learned Claudius. More importantly he has such a fine actor's grasp of text and meaning that we never, for one moment, feel that we are being read to. We are simply being told the bloody, scheming, erotic and shocking tale of Rome's ruling dynasty at the peak of its imperial power, spun out as an captivating yarn.
While never claiming officially to be an historian Graves was a close descendant of German historian Leopold von Ranke and prized historical accuracy. So much, if not all of the two books is historically accurate, a perspective which serves as the binding sauce to Graves' words and Runger's delivery.
One of my very best Audible purchases, which I will listen to again and again.

Superb

I highly recommend this audio book. The book itself, by Robert Graves is a classic. Its an in depth , richly painted portrait of the Julio-Claudian dynasty as seen through the eyes of its most unlikely members. However, the performance of Nelson Runger as narrator makes this a particularly good listen. He did a great job of becoming Claudius. When a narrator can disappear into the part, and really become the part, thats pure joy!

Racy story tamed down.

What did you like best about I, Claudius? What did you like least?

I enjoyed the intimate details about the various Ceasars. I got bored with the one person narrative after awhile. For so many salacious details it got pretty boring. I thought the PBS show was much better than the book it was based on.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Less description and more action.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed Claudius and Calpurnia's interactions, especially when she lent him all the money he had paid her over the years.

Did I, Claudius inspire you to do anything?

Look into Bernard Cornwall's Roman books. I bet he will do much better.

clearly the precursor to Game of Thrones.

what an incredible story. It is fictional of course, but based on real events and makes me very thankful we live in a Republic, for as nuts as our government sometimes seems, it's certainly much more organized and predictable than having a Roman dictator running the show.

this book was quite a wonderful surprise. I love historical fiction, and had been intending to read it for a while, but somehow got the impression it would be rather dull. Quite the opposite! Though narration was fantastic, and the only irritant is that the beginnings of chapters sometimes chopped off a few seconds of narration, I don't know if this is because of the app or something in the audible book. But this small issue did not to detract from The fantastic and incredible storytelling.