Autor: Robert Graves
Year: 1934,
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I am thinking about Roman Empire very often now.
Started reading the book having no prior knowledge or interest in Roman history whatsoever, but very quickly started making and taking notes on my own Julio-Claudian family tree. I am amazed at how such dry and boring, at first glance, prose can become so addictive. While it's not an accurate depiction of history, it does depict actual facts and, more importantly, made me interested in reading Wikipedia articles.
The second book wasn't as heavy on names, or perhaps I got so used to them that I didn't have to check the tree anymore.
spoilers!
Reading the second part, at first I got quite confused at how sudden the change in Claudius occurred. I didn't understand how such an organized, competent person who often had the best interests of the empire in mind could stop caring about everything in a span of just a few chapters.
At first, it seemed like an obvious flaw to me, but after some afterthought, it started making sense.
In the first book, though Claudius seems to the reader to be a rather positive character (without any violent inclinations, distant from the manipulations of his family, interested in history and knowledge), I can already see the seed of his character's moral flaw nested in him. He remembers every cruel word, every wrongdoing he receives.
In book two, he not only remembers, but allows himself revenge. Considering all the good he is doing, he sees those little revenges on some people as something he deserved. So, while for now it may not be a huge flaw, it still shows he is capable of something like that.
He rules surrounded by power-hungry people, finding comfort only with his wife, Marcelina, whom he loves dearly. After knowing what she did, and remembering the context of his flaw, it now seemed logical to me.
No matter how "good" and moral he initially had been, the environment of power eventually allowed the seed to germinate, and in the end took over him, resulting in a man who, having the power to change lives, decided to do nothing as an act of revenge.
