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Book Review: I, Claudius and Claudius the God
by William Spencer
16 December 2003
These novels were written in the early 1930s by the Englishman Robert
Graves. They were made into a BBC miniseries in the 1970s. So the books
were and still are very popular. I'll try to keep this review somewhat brief and to the VNN point since nearly all the reviews end up with something
roughly like "you can't go wrong with these books." Amazon.com has over 100
reviews, with only a few negative ones in the bunch.
The story is told in the first person by Claudius Germanicus, the man who,
to his own great surprise, becomes Emperor of Rome in 41 AD and rules successfully for 14 years. The story opens in 24 BC when Augustus Caesar is ruling as the first Emperor of Rome. It ends with Nero taking the throne upon the murder of Claudius. In between it tells the tale of Rome's many aspects and of the Imperial dynasties of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and finally Claudius
himself, the bewildered voice of the book. It is humorous, shocking, amazing, tragic, bizarre, and epic.
It's a long read. And the way in which Mr. Graves writes is sometimes
difficult to plow through. There are instances of dated and odd grammar and you might want to keep a dictionary nearby if you're into beefing up your vocabulary. There are also numerous and confusing genealogical references. The books would have benefitted from a glossary of characters, since they are strictly historical and there are dozens of major and minor players, with none
invented. I also would have liked some good maps. But hey, enriching one's knowledge shouldn't come too easily. Besides, a great work like this you experience rather than merely read.
Now to the VNN points, since that's where the fun is. The Jews are brought
up many times in the story. It seems this relatively tiny group of people had quite a disproportionate presence even back in ancient Rome. Imagine that. Mr. Graves seems to be a man well acquainted with this particular tribe. In fact in the second book there is a long side story about the King of the Jews and a very important figure in Jewish history, Herod the Great, as he was known to them. Herod was the original con-artist. He was a contemporary of Claudius's and a lifelong associate of his, that is until he attempts to betray Rome and steal the eastern empire with subterfuge and secrecy. Without going into too much detail, Herod's tale of cash-strapped woe and then of his fortuitous rise to kingly power is really quite remarkable. During one memorable scene, a
world-wise and drunken Herod tells the naive and benevolent Claudius his
greatest piece of advice: "trust no one, not even me -- especially not me".
Early on, Herod falls out of favor due to some rude words with his ruler
uncle and is forced to go on the run rather than face life in a cell. So off he goes, using his princely connections to beg for money from wealthy acquaintances and family friends. They predictably give him the loan because he is supposedly well-connected. Then he moves on to a neighboring Jew-friendly kingdom and puts on a show of having great wealth so he can get yet another loan he'll never repay. He keeps this up as long as it keeps him in the money. Eventually this game of his forces him
to flee to Rome for protection, as his creditors become fed up with his
lies. Claudius mentions the common Jewish practice of not charging interest
to other Jews, but charging exhorbitantly high rates of interest to
Gentiles. Imagine that. Odd, itz. Again and again Herod weasels his way into
a position of trust only to break that trust when he can't or won't deal
honestly with those who have helped him with his money problems. Herod also
makes good use of his linguistic skills. Apparently he had a gift for
languages, and used this to his great advantage by being able to speak in
many tongues.
He also transforms himself into a devout Jew and comes to lead a very kosher
existence. I believe
Mr. Graves tells us that Herod is a half-Jew. Eventually however, this
Hebrew half of him enlarges
to become the whole. While a youth, Herod says that religion is nonsense and
drivel for the hordes,
sounding very much the priviliged aristocrat. He never observes the proper
rituals, only goes to
synagogue when absolutely necessary, that sort of thing. At one point he
finds himself in a sticky
situation when he admits to enjoying a good dish of suckling pig to someone
who cares. Of course he immediately then makes up some excuse or claims he
was misheard. In those days the rituals and activities of the devout were very much orthodox -- religion in general played a much more important role in daily life. Claudius seems often bewildered at all the rituals they performed and their general behavior. Claudius seems to kind of just wonder at what he sees as merely bizarre eccentricities.
As Herod's star begins to rise, thanks to his connections in Rome, he
suddenly turns from a sometime, casual Jew to a most pious and devoted one. He does this because he knows that he must appear to be a very good Jew so that his Jewish subjects will think he's worthy of their adoration and respect. Who says you can't yid a yidder? Though he tells Claudius that he does so because he has mended his ways and has returned to his ancestral roots. My how he's always changing suits to suit the situation. You'll definitely be shaking your head as Mr. Graves tells the tale of Herod. Towards the end of Herod's tale he
conspires to fortify Jerusalem and form alliances with other kings hostile
to Roman rule. But one king wise to Herod's deception and loyal to Rome
writes and lets Claudius know about Herod's treasonous activities.
There are also references to deep-seated Greek hostility towards Jews. I
wasn't aware that the
Greeks had any particular historical animosity towards the Jews, but
apparently cities like
Alexandria and Antioch were hotbeds of racial strife. There are depictions
of Greeks going out of
their way to make trouble with the Jews, all of it very satisfying stuff for
any self-respecting Jew-aware white person.
Towards the end of Herod's tale he even comes to the secret belief that he
himself is the
prophesied Messiah, rather than the rumored Jesus of Nazareth. It turns out
that Herod apparently
possesses all the personal characteristics that the ancient prophesy
mentioned. It's just too bad
for the world that Herod doesn't get a chance to steal the eastern empire or
play the son of
Yahweh, for he suddenly croaks (a foretold omen signifies his demise -- an owl
appears above him in
the daytime) and all the Jews enter a long period of mourning. The Greeks,
however, begin a long
period of riotous celebration. You may remember the other Herod (his Uncle I
believe) as quite a
murderous tyrant responsible for the great Jewish holiday known as Passover,
among other things.
Any human life around this guy was hanging by a thread, and even his good
friend Augustus was
forced to remark "I'd rather be Herod's pig than his son." Should you have
any interest in reading
more on the first Herod, you can do so at this link:
http//www.billpetro.com/HolidayHistory/hol/xmas/herod12.html
As for the darkies, this book has some references to those denizens of the
dark continent. One
pretty good one is of Claudius's historic foray into Britain. He uses a
regiment of black-skinned
Nubians never seen before by the indigenous people of Britain. Needless to
say, they are taken for
evil spirits and seen as an extremely bad omen for the forces opposing the
Roman army. They chuck
their spears quite skillfully.
After reading this tale one gets the distinct feeling that Mr. Graves had a
firm grasp of Jewish
mentality and behavior patterns. But, one can never be sure. His negative
portrayal of Herod as a
scheming and traitorous grifter could be mere coincidence I suppose. If
you're only going to read
two books about Ancient Rome, it should be these. The story is truly an
astounding and engrossing
one. Not for the casual reader however. Altogether it's a long tale (over
1,000 pages) and quite
detailed. People talk about reading as a life-enriching activity. Well this
is that kind of book.
Run, don't walk, to your local library and check out a copy today. Or if you
want to improve your
collection, buy it. I believe it ranks 17th on a Best Books of the 20th
Century list somewhere.
Also, while it is remotely possible that Mr. Graves is Jewish, I highly
doubt it. The work is
simply too creative, original, and intelligent to be anything created by
someone other than a white
man.
WILLIAM SPENCER
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