The Bigger World

I remember the first time I came into contact with the Bigger World.

I don't remember the specifics, but I must have been in my room with its tiny black and white television when I was in seventh or eighth grade or so. This much have been some time after January 1978, which was a red letter month in the CINCGREEN household because it was the month we got cable television. Undoubtedly, I was flipping through the channels (twisting the dial, not pushing the buttons) to see what was on television and the dial came to rest on a bunch of guys wearing robes. I knew they weren't Klansmen because they spoke with British accents.

The robes were not from some sort of backwoods social club, but were Roman garb. Our state's education television network was showing I, Claudius on Masterpiece Theatre. I have to say that State Educational Television was a godsend. I saw both The Prisoner and Monty Python back-to-back on Saturday nights, and as it turned out Monty Python ended exactly when Saturday Night Live began...but back to I, Claudius. I ended up starting with Episode Three or Four just when the really good stuff was happening and I made sure never to miss an episode after that. As far as I knew, I, Claudius was an independently-realized television drama springing from no source other than the mind of some British scriptwriter.

In junior high school, our math class took a field trip to the fine establishment of learning known as Eastern Kentucky University. (I suspect we were there to watch a basketball game, the particulars were extremely hazy.) Part of the field trip involved visiting the college bookstore. Most of the kids picked up a banner or a sports T-shirt or something, but I enjoyed looking at the books - even in Richmond (*), the selection at the college bookstore beat the sorry-ass offering of books in my hometown.

And then, I saw it. I, Claudius. It was a book! I didn't even know that! Having been given a few bucks to buy lunch or something, I spent all of my cash on buying that book, and I didn't even wait to get home to start reading it. I tore into Robert Graves's period piece like a starving man at a Chinese buffet. I was so eager to consume the book that I skimmed over a lot of it, the equivalent of gorging. As I got to the end of the book, I realized, "hey, the writer's never going to get to the stuff about Messalina by this point." I would learn sometime thereafter that the miniseries covered not just I, Claudius but its sequel Claudius the God. I only owned half the story.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with I, Claudius, let me explain it. It was written by Robert Graves, a British writer and poet well-versed in the classics. It purports to be the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, the step-grandchild of the wife of the Emperor Augustus through a previous marriage. Unfortunately for young Claudius, he suffers two maladies from birth - a horrible stammer and a limp from a weakened leg. The result is that he's considered an idiot and a cripple by the rest of his family, and is either ignored, insulted or outright abused by most of them.

My understanding is that there were two overlapping entries into the Roman political world of the optimates era: one could be a patrician and pursue a career as an Equestrian and then a Senator, or one could serve in a level of political offices with progressively increasing responsibility supplemented by a successful career as a military officer. Due to his infirmities, both of these avenues were closed to Claudius. With scholarship as his only comfort, Claudius retreats into a world of books and resolves to be a historian.

This gives him a great advantage, for as a member of the Imperial family he has a front row seat to Roman power politics. Furthermore, his stammer and limp prove useful in a perverse sort of way. The rest of the family concludes that Claudius will never amount to anything and in their world of power plays and political murders Claudius is always overlooked for the simple reason that he's not worth killing. He survives the reign of his step-grandfather Augustus, his uncle Tiberius, and even his insane and murderous nephew Caligula. After Caligula is killed by his own bodyguards the Imperial genetic timber has been whittled down to firewood during the reigns of the previous three emperors with few surviving contenders for the throne. After Caligula's death the Imperial Guard run riotand decide that if there's going to be another emperor, they'd better be the ones choosing him. They find Claudius hiding in the palace to avoid the killing and looting, and decide that Claudius has the pedigree if nothing else. (**) Therefore, Claudius is implausibly installed as the next emperor. (That's Book One.)

In Claudius the God, Claudius attempts to be what he considers a "good emperor". Years of experiencing the a Rome where the Republic exists in name only convince Claudius that only the true restoration of the Roman Republic can save Rome - he shall turn over power to the Senate, and then retire. However, the problem of power-hungry senators and surviving relatives is a serious one - they believe that due to Claudius's reputation of being an utter imbecile that he can easily be removed in a coup. Claudus knows they'd never let him survive if he turned over power, as the potential would always exist that some faction could yank him out of retirement and force him to become their figurehead. Therefore, Claudius has to hang on to the throne to save his own life....and then, since he has to repair the damage of the previous emperors to strengthen Rome, the restoration of the Republic is moved further and further down on the agenda. Claudius always promises himself that he'll get around to it when the conditions are right.

But the greatest danger to Claudius is...at his side in the form of his teenage wife Messalina (whom he was forced to marry by his crazy nephew Caligula). Messalina is sweetness and charm, and Claudius is enthralled with her - but Messalina has designs on the throne herself. Eventually, Messalina's plot is discovered at the last second before the coup and Claudius is forced to have Messalina executed. A bitter Claudius concludes that people would never accept the Republic even if he did bring it back - things have to be very, very bad for a revolution, so Claudius will speed one along. He decides to marry his niece Agrippinilla who already has a child from a previous marriage - Nero. He knows that they should never be entrusted with power, but that's exactly who he intends to trust it to. Agrippinilla can never rule as a woman, and she'll have to run the Empire through Nero, and Nero will then rebel against Agrippinilla because he's a douchebag and will assume absolute power and then Nero will ruin the Empire, and after that, people will be clamoring for the Republic...won't they?

Luckily, Claudius has a Plan B that will ensure that the next form of government shall be a restoration of the Republic. Shame that Plan B falls apart, and Claudius knows in the end that he - and the Republic - are screwed. The End.

If any of the above sounds interesting, wait until you see the BBC version.

Derek Jacobi as Claudius.

Brian Blessed as Augustus.

Sian Phillips as Livia.

George Baker as Tiberius.

Patrick Stewart (yes, Captain Picard, when he still had hair, or at least a good toupee) as Sejanus.

Patricia Quinn (yes, Magenta) as Livilla.

John Hurt (yes, that John Hurt) as Caligula.


It's absoutely kick-ass. I'd recommend it to anyone.

So why do I call this post "The Bigger World"? I think that my introduction to I, Claudius was my first inkling that there was a bigger world out there beyond the television shows of the 1970s and the required reading from middle school. It was the first notion that serious books - and serious television - could and should be fun. For better or for worse, what I am today is because of I, Claudius - so if you ever get to Robert Graves's grave, you know where to spit.

"Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud - hatch out!"

_____

(*) - An amusing side-note is that as Kentucky became populated in the 19th century town founders looked to European cities as town names. Therefore, there is a London in Kentucky, as well as a Paris and a Richmond and a Madrid. However, just because you name a town something doesn't mean that the common people can pronounce the spelling. Therefore, you get Athens, whose "a" is pronounced just like in the word "day", and Versailles, which is pronounced to rhyme with the word "sails". This never fails to astonish both visitors and Kentuckians, amused that someone would ask where Ver-SIGH is.

(**) - It helped that Claudius's brother was Germanicus, a much-admired Roman general and potential ruler until he succumbed to not having his food tasted.