This page is for tropes that have appeared in I, Claudius (the series, not the novels).
For the rest:
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Claudius does it to himself when he realizes his benevolent, peaceful reign as emperor has gotten people thinking that maybe having emperors wouldn't be so bad. He promptly sets to work finding the worst successor he can to return them to wanting the Republic.
- Nobody Poops: Averted - Claudius jerks out of a dream that he fell into whilst pooping.
- Nothing Left to Do but Die: After Caligula comes to power and proclaims himself and his sister to be gods (and married), Antonia makes up her mind to commit suicide as she has nothing but contempt for the state Rome has sunk to.
- Not So Above It All: A darker version of this trope: Claudius thinks he can remain separate from the murderous schemes absorbing his family. Unfortunately, when Claudius himself comes to power, he finds he must get his own hands dirty in order to survive.
- Obfuscating Disability: Claudius exaggerated his stutter, limp and general clumsiness. This barely kept him alive when he had to work for The Caligula.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Claudius found playing the fool to be a necessary survival tactic in a family where anyone with even an ounce of ambition would wind up brutally slaughtered. He was good enough at this that arch-schemer Livia only picked up on this being obfuscation quite late in life.Tiberius: (to Livia) That grandson of yours could wreck the empire just by strolling through it.
- Offing the Offspring: Livia's exploits in this trope are well-known, but her granddaughter Livilla also tried killing her daughter Helen (when she perceived the child as a threat to her marriage plans.) Once the plot to kill Helen and overthrow the emperor was discovered, Livilla was then forcibly starved to death by her mother, Antonia.
- Off with His Head!:
- Messalina is executed this way, after refusing to kill herself.
- Caligula's cure for Gemellus' cough.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Extra points to Sejanus' look when Tiberius denounces him in the Senate; he assumes that Macro has delivered a proclamation naming him to a position of even more responsibility, and his proud expression gradually gives way to absolute terror as Tiberius' message shifts to observing how terrible it is to have deep trust betrayed.
- At the celebration of Messalina's bigamous marriage to Silius, Mnester is busy joking about seeing a cloud in the shape of Claudius rising over Ostia, until it farts and blows itself out to sea - but his demeanour changes from playful to alarmed in a heartbeat as he announces that he can see a troop of guards marching up the hill toward the villa. Silius bids him welcome them and give them wine, but Mnester says their swords are drawn. A Mass "Oh, Crap!" follows soon after when one of the guests runs in, screaming that Claudius has returned to Rome and the guards have come to arrest them all.
- Messalina's reaction to being told she can't see Claudius. Her slow, eye-bulging, 360 look at the soldiers surrounding her is rather expressive. She gets a second one shortly afterward when Praetorian guardsman Geta shows up with a warrant for her execution with Claudius' signature on it.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: Later in the series, a fifty-plus Claudius marries Messalina, a young teenager. Significant age gaps between bride and groom weren't uncommon in Ancient Rome, but that particular discrepancy was a little much even by their standards. Of course, neither Claudius nor Messalina have much say in the matter; the whole thing is arranged by Caligula for his own perverse reasons.
- The Oner: The series used a number of long shots, as was the style of the time and in particular of director Herbert Wise, but the scene where Augustus confronts Julia's lovers is a standout. Over the space of more than 3 minutes the camera tracks back from the letter in Augustus' hands, behind the row of cowering men, follows Augustus all the way down to the far end and back again and closes in on him once more as he resolves to banish her before breaking down in tears.
- One-Steve Limit: Many of the historical figures featured in the show shared names that were common in the Julio-Claudian dynasty due to Roman naming customs. The show gives each character a single unique name even when the historical figure would be commonly known as something else. For example, Agrippa Postumus is referred to simply as Postumus to avoid confusing him with his namesake father. Roman nobility often named successive generations after one another to demonstrate the continuity of their power and prestige. Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero's names were all legally "Tiberius Claudius Nero"; Claudius was named for his great-uncle and Nero took his stepfather's name after his childhood adoption. Although his real name has been lost to history, Germanicus was probably also named Tiberius Claudius Nero, after his uncle. There are also multiple Gaiuses who are referred to not by that name, but the one they are remembered by historically (such as Augustus and Caligula). It was also common for Romans to change their names as a sign of respect for their new family if they were adopted (e.g. Tiberius' son, who went from Nero claudius Drusus to Drusus Julius Caesar after his father was adopted into the Julian family).
- Only Known by Their Nickname:
- Augustus was born Gaius Octavius. "Augustus" was the title that he himself established for his position.
- Caligula, whose actual name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Caligula means "little [soldier's] boot" and he was given the nickname as a child by his father's soldiers. (Reportedly, he grew to dislike the nickname intensely.)
- Tiberius' son Drusus is mainly referred to as Castor to avoid confusion with his uncle, also named Drusus (see One-Steve Limit above).
- On Second Thought: The Praetorians are upset because Caligula's death means they're out of a job. Then one of them suggests making Claudius emperor. Their sergeant scoffs because Claudius is a well-known simpleton, then he changes his mind because hey, it's better than nothing!
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping / What the Hell Is That Accent?: Martina the poisoner has a rather odd accent. One assumes it's supposed to be Greek, but occasionally it seems to slip into Welsh.
- Opinion Flip-Flop: Most everyone behaves like this with Caligula, desperately trying to humor him so he doesn't kill them next.
- Parental Favoritism: All over the place.
- Including both biological and adopted children, Augustus's favorite was pretty much whoever wasn't Tiberius. In succession, this was Julia, Gaius, Lucius, and Postumus.
- Germanicus is Antonia's favorite. She is disgusted with Claudius for his handicaps and with Livilla for... well, being Livilla, it seems.
- Agrippina was invested in the welfare of all her children, but Caligula was clearly her pet amongst her sons.
- Parental Incest: In a scene deleted from the American version of the series, Agrippinilla - another of Caligula's sisters - uses sex to keep her son Nero in line. It doesn't work. It's revealed (through prophecy) that he eventually had her murdered.
- Parental Neglect: Livilla really should never have had children, as she seems to have ignored them both.
- Parental Substitute:
- Julia was the closest thing Claudius had to a mother. His own mother ignored him at best, while Julia was patient and loving.
- Antonia became something of a mother to Herod over the years. Indeed, she liked him better than two of her own three children.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Drusus and Antonia. Germanicus and Agrippina.
- The Performer King: Caligula wakes up the title character and several others extremely early in the morning and leaves them waiting for hours, assuming the emperor has decided to have them killed. Then he comes out and performs a dance, with himself in the role of the goddess of the dawn. John Hurt did his own makeup.
- The Plan:
- Livia puts her son Tiberius on the throne using some truly devious political maneuvering, along with generous amounts of poison.
- Claudius reveals that his final acts were all a plan to topple the Empire and have Britannicus restore the Republic. Britannicus rejects the plan the moment he first hears of it, making all of Claudius's efforts a waste.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!:
- Claudius and Caesonia manage to talk Caligula out of murdering the Senate by appealing to his ego.
- After Messalina's lies and manipulations turn Silanius into a failed assassin, she begs Claudius to spare his life. It's unclear if it's just an act to continue her innocent charade or if she's just that obsessed with the man.
- P.O.V. Cam: Several instances, usually for a character's final moments.
- After Sejanus is arrested, Macro entering his cell and ordering his execution is seen from Sejanus' POV.
- When Cassius prepares to finish off Caligula, shouting, "This from our wives, Jove!", he is seen from Caligula's POV.
- For Messalina's execution, the camera cuts to her POV as soon as her head is severed, the room spinning past her eyes.
- During Claudius's final address to the senate, he starts hallucinating all the people from his past, who speak to him directly into the camera.
- Praetorian Guard: The original one plays a major role, putting Claudius on the imperial throne.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Claudius is convinced his (last) wife Agrippinilla is trying to poison him. Oh, wait. She is.
- Caligula surrounds himself with German bodyguards as he fears assassination. With good reason, as it turns out.
- Prophecies Are Always Right: Three prophecies are mentioned during the series: that Rome would be placed in Claudius' hands in the hour of need, that Claudius' memoirs would be discovered after nineteen hundred years, and that the Messiah would be born on Livia's birthday. The first two come true, and it's heavily implied that so did the third.
- Public Bathhouse Scene: Tiberius and Drusus have a conversation in one.
- Puppet King:
- On hearing that Caligula thinks he's a god, the senators gladly play along thinking a looney emperor will be off in Cloudcuckooland allowing them to run the empire. When Caligula starts executing senators on a whim, they realise they Did Not Think This Through.
- When Caligula is assassinated the Praetorians realise they'll be out of a job, so they proclaim Claudius to the position because even a half-witted emperor is better than none from their point-of-view.
- The Purge: During the reign of Tiberius, Sejanus embarks upon a carefully planned campaign to imprison and destroy Agrippina, her children and supporters in order to pave his way to the Imperial throne. Once his plan is discovered by the Emperor, Sejanus himself becomes the victim of a purge, which consumes his family and supporters.(Tiberius, who has just been given proof of Sejanus's betrayal, clutches Caligula by the shoulder, half-giggling with excitement)
Tiberius: You and I will draw up a list during dinner. A long list. The city will be purged! As surely as if she had gorged herself on figs for a year! I will open Rome's bowels! The streets will run like a sewer! - Pyrrhic Victory: A few-
- Livia schemes for years and kills over half-a-dozen people to put Tiberius on the throne, but he never wanted it in the first place and quickly goes into self-imposed exile on Capri just so he doesn't have to handle any responsibility. Despite being Empress, Livia finds herself at the mercy of her deranged great-grandson Caligula, who tells her that all of her plotting was for nothing.
- Claudius embarks on an anti-PR campaign, marrying Agrippina the Younger to ruin the reputation of the monarchy and install Nero as his heir, successfully setting up the circumstances for Britannicus to restore the Republic. At the last minute, Britannicus balks at the idea, meaning Claudius' plans were all for nought.
- Agrippina the Younger succeeds in killing Claudius and installing her son Nero as emperor, but as the Sibyl tells a dying Claudius, Nero will murder Agrippina and eventually committ suicide, ending the family line.
- By the time Claudius becomes emperor, there are practically no villains of the piece left. All their plots and schemes have achieved nothing in the end, and, in most cases, resulted in their own deaths.
- The Queen's Latin: As Romans, everyone is supposed to be speaking Latin, but given that it's a BBC production, it's no surprise that everyone has a British accent. Different British accents are used to convey character and class. Patricians speak classic RP English. Working-class tradesmen and soldiers tend to speak with Cockney accents. A Jewish innkeeper speaks with a Yiddish accent. A Celtic king speaks with a Northern English accent.
