Claudius the God

By: Robert Graves

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert Graves continues Claudius' story with the epic adulteries of Messalina, King Herod Agrippa's betrayal of his old friend, and the final arrival of that bloodthirsty teenager, Nero.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend us your ears: don't miss the first book, I, Claudius.

©1962 Robert Graves (P)1987 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"This book, with or without its predecessor, is amusing and illuminating to a high degree." ( The New York Times)

The story of Claudius

Just finished both books, I, Claudius & Claudius the god, both are highly entertaining. Though these ‘autobiographies’ are not actually from Claudius, they are well done and contain many accurate facts.

The Reign and Death of Claudius

In this follow up to the masterpiece I, Claudius, we go through the subsequent history of Claudius as he was essentially appointed Emperor of Rome by the Praetorian Guards. Claudius is apparently the one person in Rome who didn't want to become Emperor. However, the political class in Rome had already been yoked to the loss of the Republic and no one actually had the guts to stand up and say no. The only message from the Senate was one asking him not to take the title until they had voted to give it to him.

Claudius had survived his murderous kin by always staying in the background and acting the idiot. However, he turned out to be a very conscientious and capable ruler. He completed two new aqueducts into the city of Rome and under his personal command the Island of Britain was actually brought into the Roman Empire. Although Julius Caesar had visited the place, Claudius conquered it and began the Romanization process which lasted for almost 400 years.

A lot of the story is how his wife Messalina plotted behind his back, slept with practically everyone in Rome, and eventually launched a comically absurd coup against him. Claudius eventually realized that if the Romans were to have their Republic back, they would need to be ruled by the completely incompetent. Thus he appointed his grand nephew Nero to be his successor, and once this was done his niece (who he had married) had him assassinated.

Robert Graves continues his masterful storytelling with this historical novel. Of course, this one seems a little smaller than I, Claudius because it focuses on the one person and his actions, but this is certainly a great addition to anyone's library.

A classic story impeccably read

Where does Claudius the God rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is among my top ten

Who was your favorite character and why?

The eponymous Claudius who as the narrator takes us into the privileged but often fatal household of the Julio-Claudian Imperial family.

Which scene was your favorite?

Claudius' dunking in the Rhone during the reign of Caligula

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I really couldn't manage it

Very strong presentation

I had to work a bit to get into this one but I don't know much about Roman history. This was a great intro. Runger did a stand up job, very solid. On to the sequel.

Engrossing

The story sucks you in.
Plot as random as Sopranos.
The narrator has a positive historical voice.

It's a time machine

I read a review that said listening to this narrator made one believe that you were listening to Claudius himself , to me that is the best description I could make , and is high praise I couldn't recommend this book more
Also I loved the little digs in these books that basically say Homer wasn't the end all be all

fantastic, but lacks in the original charm

The first book, "I, Claudius" has far more charm, and the ending of this story is lacking. It feels like Robert Graves gave up on the last 5 years of Claudius' life making for an empty conclusion where the political discourse of the time is lost.

Claudius The God

Claudius The God is good, but not quite up there with it's predecessor. It's written in the same style, but the subject matter is somewhat duller, and more depressing. Poor Claudius, like so many before and after him, learns that being absolute ruler isn't as fun as you'd think. Nelson Runger turns in the same excellent performance that he gave for the first book.

Graves is sometimes accused of over-sympathizing with Claudius, but I think this exaggerated. His Claudius is toned-down from Suetonius, to be sure, but if you read between the lines you get a similar picture: a very poor judge, a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease, mostly ruled by his wives and freedmen, and so forth. Seneca's Pumpkinification was rather mean-spirited, but not wholly wrong.

Doesn't meet up to 'I, Claudius'

ENjoyed the book but definitely not as engaging as the first book 'I, Claudius'. I was a little disappointed but worth the listen!

The story continues.

A consistent continuation of the story. Great detail and excellent characterization. A fitting second volume.