I, Claudius

“The gods always let the one who wants it least win...” Even though he is related by blood to the murdered Julius Caesar, he was born a weakling, limps and stutters. Fortunately, he still has enough sense to play the fool in an atmosphere filled with ancient prejudices. He observes the events in the proud heart of the Roman Empire at the dawn of the Christian era from a distance, because his most treacherous relatives would not even sit down to eat with him. All the more faithfully, however, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, nicknamed Clau-Clau-Claudius the Idiot, an sidelined member of the dynasty of Rome's first emperors, is a penetrating chronicler of ruin. He wanted to be a historian from an early age, is now a secret republican, and secretly cherishes the hope that in two thousand years' time, people will find his fascinating scrolls far easier to understand. In them, he describes the brutal games of thrones in a state that asserts its alleged civilisation not through far-sighted administration of public affairs, only occasionally strengthened with blood and iron, but through intrigue, cronyism and poisoning. Even back then, the mentality of his family is accompanied by a morbid ambition, anxious pedantry and the belief that the autocrat is right even when they are not. Claudius's spicily grim account of the decline of the ancient colossus during the reigns of the insecure Augustus, the paranoid Tiberius and the perverse Caligula raises a logical question: who has actually degenerated here? And the irony of fate never ends. The drunk gods love to play dice, and one reform movement is already preaching the idea that the last shall be first! This fictional autobiography of a member of Rome's Julio-Claudian dynasty from the 1st century AD ranks among the hundred most esteemed English novels. The fame of the story of how easily rulers degenerated into a parody of themselves at the very dawn of Europe was elevated to the skies by the BBC series (1976) starring Derek Jacobi in his life-defining role. Available in complete audio format in Czech for the very first time! “[Without the appropriate knowledge] we probably can no longer fully appreciate all his merits as a chronicler or the refinement of his presentation today. Let us keep in mind, however, that it was the author who gave Claudius a voice, and whose voice it is – an eloquent voice, seduced by countless digressions, egged on by gossip and scandal, and yet calmly objective and sober. (...) This is how a historian should be, because even history is nothing more than a narrative.” – novelist Barry Unsworth, winner of the Heinemann Prize “[Graves] has given us a great feast of the imagination. And so it remains widely accepted that he set the model for how to write a historical novel: with the help of a sympathetic hero who speaks so penetratingly into events.” – writer Hilary Mantel, two-time winner of the Booker Prize “Not just reams, but barns of paper have been written about the majesty of the so-called ‘unreliable’ narrator, which was invented as a modern literary trick somewhere around 1915. But the stuttering Claudius is by far the most impressive spokesperson among them.” – The Independent “Without these eccentric annals, without this unique blend of ancient comedy and horror (...) The Sopranos would never have been made, let alone Martin's Game of Thrones...” – thebubble.org.uk The old man then took me by the shoulders. “I'll tell you something, Claudius. I am very old, and although I still look fresh, my end is within reach. I shall die within three days. I know it. Just before a man dies, he suddenly has a strangely clear head. He sees into the future. Listen: do you want to live a long, useful life and receive honours in the end? (...) Then exaggerate your limp, stutter on purpose, pretend to be ill often, act as if your mind is leaving you, twitch your head and play with your hands on public or semi-public occasions. If you could see as far as I do, you would understand that this is your only hope of staying safe and ultimately achieving glory.” – extract from the text