This content is from Wikipedia. We do not consider this content professional or citable. Please use your discretion when relying on it. GradeSaver also offers a professionally written study guide by one of our staff editors.

Introduction

I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41. Graves's interpretation of the story owes much to the histories of Tacitus, Plutarch, and (especially) Suetonius. Graves translated Suetonius before writing the novel. Graves continued his tale (from Claudius's accession after Caligula's death to his death in 54, as well as a sequel involving the early life of Herod Agrippa) in Claudius the God (1935). Both books were adapted by the BBC into an award-winning television serial, I, Claudius.

Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.^[1]