Claudius the God

De: Robert Graves

Narrado por: Nelson Runger

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

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

Chapters?

Great story and recitation. Wonderful continuation of the previous work. However, The chapters and recitation are out of sync.

Fabulous sequel to I, Claudius

I enjoyed "I, Claudius" so much I bought and started this book immediately on finishing it. I'm very glad I did. I enjoyed "Claudius the God" even more.

"Claudius the God", like "I, Claudius" is top-shelf historical fiction, beautifully written, with perfect narration. What's better in this second book is that Claudius really comes into his own, grows as a character, and fulfills his potential.

I felt immense relief when Claudius gained control of his fate and really enjoyed where the author took the story from that point on. The new-ish (no pun intended) character of Herod is a great addition. The ending is brilliant (SPOILER ALERT:) though by the time Claudius dies, I found myself wishing it could have ended more better for him, his loved ones, and those loyal to poor old “King Log”.

I highly, highly recommend this book.

As good as the first...

The books makes a fine sequel to "I, Claudius," which I've already reviewed as being excellent. If you enjoyed that book, then you will obviously enjoy this fine piece of historical fiction.

This is a fictional autobiography of Claudius, fourth emperor of the Roman Empire. It is a narration of those events which transpired after Claudius became emperor. He has survived the reigns of the expedient Augustus, the perverse Tiberius, and the insane Caligula, where few others in his line have. But how long can he survive his wives?

Claudius is a sympathetic emperor and the narrator is entirely believable as Claudius himself. Attached to the end of this audiobook are readings from translations of Suetonius, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio regarding the death of Claudius as well as all that remains of Seneca's Apocolocyntosis. The translations are somewhat stilted but provide an interesting contrast between Graves' depiction of Claudius and those of the Roman Senators.

great

This and the first book are some of the best i have ever read. A must for people interested in Roman history.

splendidly crafted

Even better than the first one, i wonder what Claudius would have felt of his existence being remembered so far into the future and so well regarded.

A favorite book

Engrossing and highly detailed story full of historical facts, creativity, and drama. This and I, Claudius, are a must read!

A necessary sequel

I suppose there was no way Graves could have not written this given the success of the first book and the sense of having broken off in the middle. From the great BBC miniseries, this was the part I best remembered and looked forward to. Somehow the magic wasn't there for me. No longer the observant outsider, Claudius seems reduced to a more pedantic reciting of events. Most of the colorful characters from the first book are dead by now. There's still plenty of intrigue, but Claudius is now the victim of a good deal of it and unable to relate it with the same perspective as when he was just passing on gossip. The naive wonder and delight of the first book is replaced by a kind of gloomy poignancy. Still, I wouldn't have skipped this for the world; not after having read the first one.

Must read after I Claudius

What did you like best about this story?
This is the sequel to Robert Graves's well-known I Claudius. Listen to I Claudius first (I prefer the Nelson Runger performance -- he captures well Graves's portrayal of Claudius as a reluctant and ill-prepared emperor). After listening to I Claudius, you will want to know what happened next -- or at least how Graves portrays it. And yes, it is largely fictional, though based on period sources. Even what we call "history" is, at it's best, a kind of fiction in that it is only as good as the sources and only as reliable as the conjectures we make to stitch the "facts" together.

I gave this four stars instead of five for story -- it is not quite as compelling as I Claudius, but still quite worthwhile.

Intrigue, human perspective, a sense of a man for the time in time

Listened on a recommendation from another book about space economy. Fascinating perspective on culture, attitudes and importance of recognizing world around you presented.

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.