Ave Caesare!

squeals like the fangirl I am

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:41:55 GMT

Oh. My. God. I cannot believe that there's an I, Claudius community! I first watched it when I was ten - wait, no, my mother made me watch it when I was like, seven, but I didn't like it until I rewatched it when I was ten. There.

Anyway, I love most of the characters and all the drama and everything else that comes along with it. Claudius is probably my favorite character, but I like Caligula and Augustus and Julia, and Livia. How I admire Livia.

But, I digress. What prompted this entire post was something that my mother said in passing today:

We were watching some program thingy on Caligula, and it was talking about how he had had affairs with his sisters and his brother-in-law, and I said that I was surprised poor Uncle Claudius didn't *get it*, and my mother was like, in real life he probably did. *faints from shock*

Now, I am a rabid fanfiction reader/writer, of the slash m/m variety. And, as creepy as the thought of incestuous Claudius/Caligula is, I was just wondering: Does I, Caludius fanfiction exist??

Anna

Pic -- Emperor Claudius Cameo In British Royals Art Collection

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 19:11:51 GMT

I've seen I, Claudius enough times to repeat the dialogue. Livia's speech to the gladiators is one of my favorite moments. Sian Phillips had some of the best dialogue throughout. I've also read the books. One of my favorite details -- The mare that Claudius rode in Britain is the sister of the horse Caligula made a senator.

I found a treat. The British royals have amassed an impressive art collection, which can be viewed on-line. Among the pieces is an ancient Roman cameo of Claudius, circa 43-45 AD:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page613.asp

Here's a direct link:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/files/images/roman.jpg

Charles Laughton's Claudius

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 03:32:55 GMT

I was wondering what folks think of Charles Laughton's Claudius compared to the miniseries. Although unfinished, the existing 1937 footage was included as part of the I, Claudius video release. Personally, I'm sorry it wasn't completed. From what little can be seen, I think Laughton would have made a wonderful Claudius (although I'll always be biased toward Sir Derek Jacobi's portrayal).

I'd also like to mention jacobian_bard, a community for fans of Sir Derek. (If mentioning this isn't allowed, please feel free to remove this post.)

Four I, CLAUDIUS icons, three animated.

Sat, 20 Aug 2005 19:54:32 GMT

Like most of my icons, want, take, have. I've been on a spree lately, in anticipation of getting extra icon space.

I'm curious...

Sat, 09 Jul 2005 00:15:53 GMT

Is the link (I, Claudius Project) sponsored/made by anyone in this group?

Here's another good link that gives you a good outline (although can't duplicate the experience of watching the miniseries!) http://www.historyinfilm.com/claudius/

And more: (Derek Jacobi centered, as its from a website about him)- http://www.linsdomain.com/Derek/mainpages/jacobi-I,claudis.htm

Mood theme: I, Claudius

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 19:59:23 GMT

Samples:


depressed	confused	cranky	cheerful	bored	amused

More info & Download from this post at Pixelbee.

Sun, 26 Jun 2005 22:25:10 GMT

Hello all! Thought I'd introduce myself. I just discovered that this community exists-- and I adore both the book and the series. Probably much too much, actually. ;)
Livia's my favorite, but I love Augustus, Claudius, Germanicus, and all the rest as well. Except for Nero... never cared for him much.

Someone told me that Robert Graves wrote a sequel called Claudius the God. Can anyone tell me if it's as good as the first?
thanks!

I've known about 'I, Claudius' for a while...

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 19:00:21 GMT

But am glad I FINALLY have had time to watch it! Sometimes I approach older, 70's made things with wariness, unsure how cheesy it may be. (Yeah, yeah, I know the BBC made this.)

I've seen all of the episodes except the last one. Wheeeee, it's heading towards the end. I suppose it's a little premature to write this list, but it's just a fantastic series-

-I totally love Derek Jacobi's "I know" to Caligula's "I *love* my sister" line.
-Livia and Augustus. Even if you take out the fact that they were *Livia* and *Augustus*, their portrayal of a married couple is hysterical.
-Especially when Augustus asks Livia regarding Claudius' first marriage: "Does she know what she's getting?" Livia: "Do any of us?" :D
-Augustus on Tiberius following Vispania around like a "moonstruck calf, for *everyone* *to* *see*"
-Tiberius on Caligula: "Rome *deserves* you"

Yay Claudius!

Sat, 11 Jun 2005 15:18:40 GMT

Just dropping by to introduce myself. I'm a Classics/Ancient History douible major in my second year at a university in Australia. I met I, Claudius when my year 12 teacher showed us a little to illustrate what tradition says about Agrippinilla. I promptly borrowed the videos and watched them as "study" for Julio-Claudian history. I plan to read the books as soon as I have time.

I'm a Germanicus fangirl. Because. He's just ... Germanicus.

Oh, and I recently redid my lj in an I, Claudius theme after terrathree's lovely icons reminded me how much I love I, Claudius. :-)

Yours,

JK Ashavah

I, Claudius icons

Sat, 11 Jun 2005 04:04:24 GMT

Here's more icons from I, Claudius!

Samples:

See all 36 in this post!

More icons!

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 15:17:38 GMT

Back with more icons from I, Claudius! And yes, this time there are Claudius and Augustus ones. :-)

Samples:

All 28 icons are in this post!

Some reasons I love I CLAVDIVS

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:11:43 GMT

1. Brian Blessed is *hot*.
2. Ditto Patrick Stewart, even in that rug.
3. And they can act.
4. Ditto everybody else in the whole series--they're *actors*, not pretty faces.
5. The scene where Livia coolly explains why she killed so many people and why she has now poisoned Augustus, while the camera focuses on Augustus's terrified face as he dies.
6. I secretly want to *be* Livia.
7. Derek Jacobi, actually, is hot, minus the drooling.

(I am really not as shallow as this sounds. Really.)

8. Scanty costumes for men.
9. The scene where Augustus and Livia are arguing in the garden, and he's wearing this cute straw hat, and he starts whistling tunelessly (ie, "La la la, I'm not listening to you!"). Theirloveissomarried.
10. Herod, Herod, Herod. The biggest hottie of 'em all.
11. Tiberius looking more and more like Nixon with age, as his shoulders creep up toward his ears.
12. Claudius's mother. She's a fine example of a Roman matron, isn't she?
13. The scene where Augustus weeps soundlessly outside the room where he has locked the screaming, pleading Julia.
14. Thrasyllus the astrologer. Yoda has nothing on him. *g*
15. The sex stuff between Sejanus and Livilla. *rrowr*
16. The books are also excellent reads.
17. When I saw Gladiator, I kept thinking, Everything looks wrong... it's too big.... Then I realized that I think ancient Rome looked like the sets of I CLAVDIVS.
18. Did I mention Herod Agrippa? *rrowr*
19. Just the episode titles are worth it: "Zeus, by Jove!" "Poison Is Queen".
20. You get to see Caractacus looking all hairy and Celtic. I dig Celtic. *g*

I, Claudius icons

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 18:54:54 GMT

I've posted 21 icons from I Claudius to my icon journal, pixelbee!

Samples:

The rest of the icons are in this post. Please comment - I welcome your feedback!

I have no witty title for this entry, alas.

Sat, 28 May 2005 15:35:41 GMT

I can't believe I've been on Livejournal for three years and have only just discovered this community! I became a fan of I, CLAVDIVS when it was re-broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre in the early '90s as part of their 25th (?) anniversary celebration. My husband urged me to watch it with him, saying he thought I would really like it. I was pretty dubious at first.

But I sat in front of a small black-and-white tv in the bedroom for how many weeks, watching the saga unfold. I knew something about Roman history, enough to recognize many of the names and be somewhat familiar with the culture, but it had never been portrayed to me like this! The performances held me rapt. I already knew Jacobi was a good actor, but I was amazed at what he did with Claudius. I was awed by Brian Blessed, Sian Phillips, George Baker. After seeing the series I read and enjoyed the novels, and when I started working for the city's Central Library, I borrowed the videotapes and we watched it again. And again. I thrilled to the sight of Patrick Stewart in a curly wig and John Hurt in women's clothes. It had everything--sex, politics, intrigue, romance, tough women, hot guys, pagan gods, and scanty costumes.

Recently we came into possession of the complete series on VHS. A member of our parish died, and once his family had settled his estate, there were still a lot of possessions left over. Other folks from the parish have taken what they wanted, and we've got I, CLAVDIVS, a lot of operas on video, cookbooks, and a Cuisinart. *g* I find myself having a hard time here expressing why I adore this series so much, but I'll probably be watching it again in the near future now that I own it. Salvete!

Here, have some fanart.

Fri, 27 May 2005 16:32:03 GMT

I forgot if I posted this, but... http://www.deviantart.com/view/11572655/

Derek Jacobi is my star crush. It doesn't matter that he could be my grandfather... he's still the one I love. I think I did his neck too thin, though...

~McCleverly

Salvete!

Fri, 27 May 2005 03:15:37 GMT

How nifty to find an I Claudius community here! I'm a Latin teacher, have read the books and am in the middle of watching the miniseries the second time through, and have been lately trying to convince my students to read the books, too...

I've made an icon - Agrippina and Tiberius always reminds me of Leia and Tarkin, so:

And, if you like the iClaudius icon I'm using, it's from this post. :-)

Quick Link

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:10:50 GMT

Claudius is today's "away team" on HP Crossover Deathmatch.

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 01:51:23 GMT

From razorjak

I don't know what your political orientations are in this group, but apprently there was recently an artcile posted on some website (http://www.idrewthis.org/) comparing current US politics with those form I, Claudius. I shall post the full article here (just a warning, it's anti-Bush, but I figured anything mentioning Claudius would be welcomed here):

In Robert Graves's Claudius the God (and in the Derek Jacobi TV miniseries "I, Claudius," and probably in actual Roman history), Claudius, who became emperor by an accident of history, never stopped believing that Rome should return to being a republic.

During the early years of his rule, he governed as well as he could, and Rome did pretty well. But Claudius came to realize that if things went all right under an imperial government, the people were never going to rise up and demand the return of the republic.

Reasoning that things had to get worse before they got better, Claudius chose as his successor his stupid, fat, lazy, egotistical nephew Nero.

Graves has Claudius say (or maybe he actually said) "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out." Claudius reasoned that if things were good in the short term, they would never get better in the long run.

True to form, as emperor, Nero would be most famous for fiddling while Rome burned.

I've been struck by the parallels, lately. I think it's about time for those poisons to make an appearance.

A lot of Democrats have been going around saying that now that the election's over, it's time for us all to support Bush, wish him well, help make sure his term goes well, etc.

I am not one of those Democrats.

It's clear to anyone who's been paying even a little bit of attention that Bush's plans include rolling back environmental protections, rolling back regulations on big business, further severing international ties, further eroding the wall between church and state, further eroding the protections of the fourth amendment, shifting the tax burden from the rich to the middle (and from wealth to wages), and basically dismantling the New Deal.

It's equally clear that Bush's plans don't include doing anything at all about the health care crisis that's left millions of children uninsured, the escalating bloodbath he's created in Iraq, or the budget deficits that are spiraling out of control.

Actually, I think that last one is part of a Republican strategy. I think the idea is to run up huge deficits, then claim the only solution is to slash popular social programs, because that's the only way the public would ever stand for it.

In short, they plan to remake the government in some sweeping, and rather unpopular, ways. Because these ideas are unpopular, they intend to implement them gradually; if they did it all at once, people would raise hell. But if they do it gradually, we'll get used to it. A frog dumped into boiling water will hop out, but a frog placed in cool water that's gradually brought to a boil will acclimate, stay there, and die.

So I confess, I'm rooting for the next four years to be a disaster. I won't enjoy seeing it, but...it's better than living in the country this will become if everything Bush has in store goes smoothly. We're talking four bad years instead of two bad generations.

What I'm hoping for is a Watergate-style catastrophe. Something big and showy and messy, traumatic for the country even, but also something that doesn't directly harm most people. Something that will discredit these people and everything they're trying to do to this country.

Rome never got its republic back. But we still could. Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 05:35:15 GMT

Wow... wow... just wow. I am very glad this community exists. I have read Claudius the God but not the first book. I watched the miniseries and started reading the first book only to find it was almost exactly the same. As for the mini series. I've seen it too much, way too much. My favorite characters would be Livia and Augustus.

Mon, 18 Oct 2004 16:11:55 GMT

I was just wondering:

1) How many of us have actually read I, Claudius and/or Claudius the God?

2) For those of us who have, did you like them better/worse than the miniseries?

3) How many of us have read other works of Robert Graves?

Personally, I've read both Claudius books, as well as Count Belisarius, and I liked the book I, Claudius better than the miniseries (although I thought Claudius the God wasn't as good).

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 17:30:02 GMT

Hello everyone, I'm new here. I'm so excited to have found an 'I, CLAVDIVS' community. I fell in love with the series, the books, and Derek Jacobi. I hope I can contribute in some small way to this community. Thank you for making this place.

When bored, I made a playlist with songs that fit the Julio-Claudian empire. Any more suggestions?

1. Falling for the First Time – Barenaked Ladies
2. Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears
3. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
4. Hands Clean – Alanis Morsette
5. Empty Chairs at Empty Tables – Les Miserables
6. Burn Down the Mission – Elton John
7. Poison – Alice Cooper
8. Beds are Burning – Midnight Oil
9. Paperback Writer – The Beatles
10. I Will Remember You – Sarah McLaughlan

Consequently, does anyone know where I could find a 'Cadfael' community, on the same vein? Thanks.

~Mik

Intro! ^_^

Sun, 30 May 2004 07:46:03 GMT

Hello. My name is Michelle and I'm a Claudius fangirl. You may know me as the creator of the Which I, Claudius Character are You? quiz, which is now active again on my new domain. Anyway, I'm really excited to have found a community dedicated to Clau-Clau-Claudius. That is all, really. :)

The Pit of Snarks

Sun, 16 May 2004 00:25:33 GMT

I've started a new community, inspired by comments at classics and elsewhere for all those bitter and enraged classicists out there with no where to rant. it's called pit_of_snarks. The current gripe is Troy but there are already plenty of others (who knew?) And it's always nice to spread the snark around.

I also found this AWESOME website that has a genealogy chart showing how the wife of Henry I of England is a descendant of our beloved Claudius through his daughter. in fact, if it's on the level then Charlemagne is Claudius' great times 26 grandson ;-)

So. cool. I am such a Claudius fangirl. But I don't care, not one bit.

-Sophie

I Claudius website

Sat, 15 May 2004 23:54:49 GMT

I've just found this website about the BBC-series.

Thought I'd post it. It's really very good.

Thu, 06 May 2004 14:55:50 GMT

Hello all! I've just finished copying some pages from the I Claudius novels before I have to give them back to the library (so sad). As I was flipping through I came across some parts that I had forgotten about, that made me smile. I was just wondering if among those who have read the books if there were favourite passages, or bits. I think one of my favourites would have to be the night that Claudius was staying over while Urguanilla- slowly- read Greek poetry. Poor Claudius! That would have been creepy ;-)

Ave Caesare!

*squeals like the fangirl I am*

Pic -- Emperor Claudius Cameo In British Royals Art Collection

Charles Laughton's Claudius

Four I, CLAUDIUS icons, three animated.

I'm curious...

Mood theme: I, Claudius

I've known about 'I, Claudius' for a while...

I, Claudius icons

More icons!

Some reasons I love I CLAVDIVS

I, Claudius icons

I have no witty title for this entry, alas.

Here, have some fanart.

Salvete!

Quick Link

Intro! ^_^

The Pit of Snarks

I Claudius website

squeals like the fangirl I am