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I, Claudius

 

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I, Claudius is a thirteen part BBC adaptation of Robert Graves' books I, Claudius and Claudius, the God. The mini-series was presented on American television by Masterpiece Theater on PBS. Historically correct in most aspects, all the major characters are real, who really behaved as Graves presents them.

We're guided through the series by Claudius in old age reminiscing about his life and family. He is writing a secret history, to be hidden when he is finished and, according to the Sibyl in the opening scene, found by us some nineteen hundred years later.

Each episode in the series has corresponding pages in this site, with a plot summary and a scene-by-scene outline, both with pictures. The site is arranged sequentially, so you can go from one episode to the next from either the plot or outline pages. You can go directly to any of the thirteen parts from the homework, timeline or the episode list.

For an overview of how Augustus became the ruler of the Roman world, read John Porter's notes from the University of Saskatchewan Class 111: Octavian and Antony: The Rise of Augustus.   There is also a Julio-Claudian Family Tree and a List of all the Roman Emperors.  For those interested in Graves' source material, there is the English translation of The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, C. Tranquillus Suetonius from Julius through Claudius.

There are a few audio clips on the plot or outline pages here.  They are from Earthstation1, a great collection of Movie Waves and Video, Historical Sounds and Pictures, posters, pictures and more.   Click this link to go to the new "I, Claudius" page with Audio and Video of the series.

This is one of three films that cover the transition of Rome from Republic to Empire. The others ( Spartacus and Cleopatra) are also available here. They are part of the larger History in Film web site that supports teaching history using popular films. It includes films from Rome up to the war in Vietnam.

I'd enjoy hearing your comments on this site. Please sign the Guestbook.   I hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Film Stats
TV mini-series in 13 episodes.

Stars . Sir Derek Jacobi , Brian Blessed , Sian Phillips , George Baker , John Hurt , Patrick Stewart , Sheila White
Director Herbert Wise
Producer British Broadcasting Corporation, London
Year 1976
Released by Shown on American television by Masterpiece Theater, Public Broadcasting System
Based on 'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius the God' by Robert Graves.
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If you're a teacher who is interested in using this series and you would like these pages to edit and print as your own, they are all available here as Rich Text Format files in one relatively small WinZip package. Alternatively, if you only want a few of the files, each page has a download link for that RTF WinZip file alone (usually 3 or 4 K). If you would like the three short answer essay tests that accompany this series, please E-mail me at the mail box below. I'd be glad to send them back to you.

 

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