Books : Claudius the God: And His Wife Messalina
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by: Robert Graves
List Price: $15.95Amazon.com's Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780679725732
ISBN: 0679725733
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 544
Publication Date: October 23, 1989
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: October 23, 1989
Sales Rank: 47969
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Robert Graves begins anew the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emporer in spite of himself. Captures the vitality, splendor, and decadence of the Roman world at the point of its decline.
Amazon.com Review:
Picking up where the extraordinarily interesting I, Claudius ends, Claudius the God tells the tale of Claudius' 13-year reign as Emperor of Rome. Naturally, it ends when Claudius is murdered--believe me, it's not giving anything away to say this; the surprise is when someone doesn't get poisoned. While Claudius spends most of his time before becoming emperor tending to his books and his writings and trying to stay out of the general line of corruption and killings, his life on the throne puts him into the center of the political maelstrom.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Not was good as "I, Claudius!"
I was very excited to pick up the conclusion of the story of Claudius told so brilliantly in the first book, I, Claudius. The second book in the series fell short. For me, far short. It simply spent too much time on various campaigns, foreign lands and peoples. I was much more enthalled by the Rome-centric approach of the first book and quite often became board by the second. In fact, once I hit about page 400, I had to start skimming paragraphs and I only chose to read the parts that directly ... Read More
Rating:  - An Enduring & Engaging Historical Yarn
Being neither particularly well read nor well versed in history, I came to this work after listening to an audio tape of "I, Claudius." I had never heard of Robert Graves before, but found both books well-written and entertaining. Not wishing to repeat what has already been noted in the longer reviews posted here, I offer a few observations that may be of interest to those considering reading Claudius The God:
First, Graves is an exceptionally good story teller. Speaking through the ... Read More
Rating:  - Good Follow-up to My Favorite All-time Book
This book is the sequel to "I Claudius" which is my all-time favorite book. Though not quite up to that first book in intrigue and overall flow, it is still a great book in its own right.
There is a lot of rich descriptions of battles undertaken by the now Emperor Claudius that stretch for many pages. Also, Claudius has to deal with the betrayal of his friend Herod as well as his scheming wife Messalina (along with her debaucheries) while Claudius' advisor Pallus is also trying to usurp ... Read More
Rating: - At least as great as "I, Claudius"
I wouldn't recommend reading this work without its predecessor, which also deserves (and has duly received) many five-star reviews. If you loved "I, Claudius," you should definitely read this second part, which also abounds with larger-than-life characters, endless webs of plotting and scheming, and Robert Graves' narrative brilliance. But I wouldn't think of the two works as forming one big novel in two parts. "Claudius the God" is a very different work, and maybe even a better novel than "I, Claudius." ... Read More
Rating: - Absolutely brilliant!
I Claudius and its sequel Claudius the God are I think some of the most brilliant historical novels that I've read: informative, gripping, done with just the right flavour of setting and intentionality thrown in.
I also think they've been a bit underrated - I would say Claudius the God is at least as good as I Claudius. However the two books serve different purposes. Whilst the first describes the machinations and cruelties of the Caesars from the outside, this book does it brilliantly from within. ... Read More
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