I Claudius: Encyclopedia II - I Claudius - Content

I Claudius - Content

The message of the story appears to concern the relationship between liberty (as demonstrated by the Roman Republic, and the dedication to its ideals shown by Augustus and young Claudius) and stability (as demonstrated by Empress Livia, Herod Agrippa, and the elder Claudius). The Republic provided for freedom, but was inherently unstable and threw the doors open for endless civil wars, of which the last was ended by Augustus after twenty years of fighting. While Augustus harbors Republican sentiments, his wife Livia manages to convince him that to lay down his Imperial powers would be to destroy the peaceful society they have made. Likewise, when the similarly-minded Claudius becomes emperor, he is convinced by Empress Messalina and Herod to preserve his powers, for much the same reason. However, Graves acknowledges that there must be a delicate balance between Republican liberty and Imperial stability; whereas too much of the former led to civil war, too much of the latter led to the corruption of Tiberius, Caligula, Messalina, Sejanus, Herod Agrippa, Nero, Agrippinilla, and countless others - as well as, to a lesser extent, Livia and Claudius himself.

Near the end of Claudius the God, Graves introduces another idea: that when a formerly-free nation has lived under a dictatorship for too long, it is incapable of returning to free rule. This is highlighted by Claudius' failed attempts to revive the Republic; by the attempts of various characters to 'restore' the Republic but with themselves as the true rulers; and by Claudius noting that 'by dulling the blade of tyranny, I reconciled Rome to the monarchy' - i.e., in his attempts to rule autocratically but along more Republican lines, he has only made the Roman people more complacent about their dictatorship.

There also seems to be a subtle feminist message, in line with other works of Graves's: Julia, Livia, Drusilla, Messalina, and Agripinilla are quite obviously the powers behind their husbands, fathers, brothers, and/or sons; a good example being: whereas Augustus would have inadvertently caused civil war, Livia managed, via quiet manipulation, to preserve the peace.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Content", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki