I, Claudius

The inside story of the lives and deaths of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, from the reign of the first Emperor Augustus to the fifth, Nero, told through the secret memoirs of their obscure relation, Claudius. Born a drooling, stammering weakling, Claudius' early reputation as an idiot keeps him safe from office and assassination, until a puzzling prophecy about him begins to come shockingly true.

Robert Graves' 1934 classic brings first-century Rome alive, complete with murder, passion, blackmail, debauchery, conspiracy, torture and magic, as well as love, heroism, sacrifice and a generous dose of comedy. Claudius's exotically detailed and witty tale is told to us from the dusty peace of his private rooms, where his only permitted occupation is to write the history of his age. But the information he gathers, clues from the past, and the stories his family confide in him, will allow him to secretly play a pivotal part in their fates. Meanwhile the public consequences of this violent family saga are played out in the glaring sun of Imperial Rome; in the Senate, the great battles of the Imperial Armies, or before the crowds at the Games, where because of his nerves - and for his own safety - Claudius will appear to the rest of the world only as a gibbering fool.