Written in 1934, 'I, Claudius' is a historical novel by Robert Graves that follows the life of Roman Emperor Claudius. The narrative is presented as Claudius' autobiography, detailing the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. The book includes the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, and is known for its historical accuracy and fictionalized accounts drawn from Roman historians like Suetonius and Tacitus. Claudius, portrayed as a historian and scholar, documents the intrigues, betrayals, and violence within the imperial family, while also reflecting on his own survival and eventual rise to the throne.
This magisterial history, written by Edward Gibbon, covers the peak of the Roman Empire, the history of early Christianity, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the rise and fall of various other empires and civilizations up to the fall of Byzantium in 1453. Gibbon's work is renowned for its thorough scholarship, diverse sources, and engaging prose. He argues that the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions partly due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens and critiques the role of Christianity in the empire's decline. The work was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789 and has remained a seminal work in historical literature despite some criticisms from modern scholars[2][4][5].
The Political Scene will be back next week. In the meantime, enjoy a recent episode from The New Yorker’s Critics at Large podcast. Artists owe a great debt to ancient Rome. Over the years, it’s provided a backdrop for countless films and novels, each of which has put forward its own vision of the Empire and what it stood for. The hosts Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the latest entry in that canon, Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” which has drawn massive audiences and made hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. The hosts also consider other texts that use the same setting, from the religious epic “Ben-Hur” to Sondheim’s farcical swords-and-sandals parody, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Recently, figures from across the political spectrum have leapt to lay claim to antiquity, even as new translations have underscored how little we really understand about these civilizations. “Make ancient Rome strange again. Take away the analogies,” Schwartz says. “Maybe that’s the appeal of the classics: to try to keep returning and understanding, even as we can’t help holding them up as a mirror.”
Read, watch, and listen with the critics:
“Gladiator II” (2024)
“I, Claudius” (1976)
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (1966)
“The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988)
“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” (1979)
“Cleopatra” (1963)
“Spartacus” (1960)
“Ben-Hur” (1959)
“Gladiator” (2000)
“The End of History and the Last Man,” by Francis Fukuyama
“I, Claudius,” by Robert Graves
“I Hate to Say This, But Men Deserve Better Than Gladiator II,” by Alison Willmore (Vulture)
“On Creating a Usable Past,” by Van Wyck Brook (The Dial)
Emily Wilson’s translations of the Odyssey and the Iliad
New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.
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The Political Scene | The New Yorker 
