Book Reviews

It’s highly rated, so I bought it as an audiobook, not knowing what to expect. The reader is led along by Claudius narrating his life from childhood and adulthood, dealing with Augustus and his Machiavellian wife, then ruthless Tiberius, and finally, the tyrannical Caligula. Claudius is ostracized from his family’s dynasty because of handicaps and a speech impediment, although such conditions may have saved his life to due the powers that be assassinating anyone deemed a threat.

It’s a fantastic read and probably best described as historical fiction, though it gives a great insight to the power madness of the times, growing worse during each ruler’s reign. It’s a story one can easily hope to see portrayed in a television series once again.