History Literature / IClaudius

[[folder:Tropes D to H]]
* DaddysGirl: Augustus dotes on his only legitimate daughter, Julia.
* DeadGuyJunior:
** When Claudius' son with Messalina is born, he's named [[spoiler:Germanicus, in honour of Claudius' deceased brother]]. Later he's known as Britannicus.
** Caligula's daughter is named [[spoiler:Drusilla, in honour of his sister]]. Their personalities are very different.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler:Postumus]] is claimed to be doing this when he tries to organize an uprising against Tiberius.
* DecadentCourt: Rome becomes this during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. Claudius tries in vain to stop the decadence.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Claudius has slaves, enjoys gladiator fights and approves of Germanicus slaughtering civilians during the war in Germania. Also, as an emperor, he has a ''lot'' of people executed.
* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Many people imprisoned by Tiberius are slowly starved to death, such as [[spoiler:Julia, Gallus, Drusus and Livilla]].
* DepravedBisexual:
** Tiberius rapes and molests both boys and girls.
** During his trial for treason, the prosecutor claims Valerius Asiaticus is this, accusing him of both molesting a couple of young soldiers, and committing adultery with a married woman, Poppaea.
* DeathOfAChild: Many, many times. [[spoiler:Drusillus, Sejanus' children, Gemellus, Caligula's daughter]] and several other children are murdered.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Claudius greatly admires his father, who died when he was very young.
* DefiledForever: The wife of a senator who was submitted to a ScarpiaUltimatum by Tiberius sees herself as this after giving in, and takes her own life.
* DestroyTheAbusiveHome: Caligula had the house on the island of Pandataria where [[spoiler:his mother Agrippina was imprisoned and eventually died]] destroyed when he became emperor, which Claudius notes resulted in a bit of the StreisandEffect since prior to this no one had paid the house any attention, but after seeing the ruins people naturally became curious as to what had occurred there.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Caligula falls ill, many citizens and senators pray for his recovery. One, Lentulus, tells Macro that he's offered his own life to the gods if they'll spare Caligula's, either out of honest devotion or (more likely) trying to outdo the others in sycophancy. When Caligula recovers, he thanks Lentulus for going the extra mile for him... then cheerfully reminds him that he should not wait much longer before killing himself, since ''"we can't both be here"'', and the last thing Lentulus wants to do is go back on a deal he made with the gods. Caligula breezes off to take a walk with Drusilla, leaving Lentulus frozen in place with a MyGodWhatHaveIDone expression.
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: Claudius, after becoming emperor, says this '''to the entire Senate''', reminding them of how many times they followed Caligula's lead in mocking him.
* DirectLineToTheAuthor: Robert Graves' premise was that he had really discovered the memoirs of the historical Emperor Claudius, "nineteen hundred years or near" later i.e. in the present.
* DirtyOldMan: Tiberius. His perversions are not detailed in the book; if Graves had repeated what Suetonius said about him, it probably would've been banned.
* DisposableSexWorker: Subverted. [[spoiler:Calpurnia]]'s death is probably the saddest in the whole story.
* DivideAndConquer: Claudius states this is Rome's policy towards German tribes and Eastern kingdoms. The more they fight each other, the more Rome profits.
* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: Herod Agrippa repeatedly advises Claudius to never trust ''anybody'', and he's absolutely right. Claudius once writes him a letter saying that he has taken Herod's advice and trusts no one -- with the exception of several people whose names he lists, Herod among them. [[spoiler:All of them, Herod included, prove to be untrustworthy]].
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Cassius Chaerea]] is a frequent victim of [[spoiler:Caligula]]'s jokes and taunting. In the end, he's the head of the conspiracy to assassinate him.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Claudius at the end knows that Agrippina will soon kill him, and he'll be succeeded by Nero, who will be a horrible ruler. He allowed all of this to happen because he believed that after Nero's tyranny, people will abolish monarchy and restore the republic. People familiar with Roman history know how that turned out, but Graves also tells the reader in an afterword; after Nero's death, a civil war broke out, eventually Vespasian became the emperor and the republic was never restored.]]
* TheDragon: Sejanus during most of Tiberius' reign, Macro during the latter part of that reign and the early part of Caligula's.
* DragonInChief: Sejanus seems to become this after [[spoiler:Agrippina's downfall]]. It doesn't last long.
* DreamCrushingHandicap: Claudius craves to serve his country, specially during the German war, but his disabilities cause Augustus and Tiberius to dismiss his requests out of hand.
* DrinkingContest: Flaccus, the Roman governor of Syria, is about to beat Tiberius in a drinking contest, but lets him win.
* DrivenToSuicide: Probably the main cause of death in the series. Many characters choose to kill themselves when they are accused of treason, knowing full well they'll be convicted and their properties will be seized by the State. By commiting suicide, they make sure their families are spared. There are also some cases when characters kill themselves out of genuine grief and deseparation, such as [[spoiler:Antonia's]] death in the first book and [[spoiler:Cypros']] in the second.
* DrowningMySorrows: After [[spoiler:Messalina]]'s downfall, Claudius begins drinking heavily. His freedmen take advantage of it, having [[spoiler:Messalina]] killed when he falls asleep.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:Herod Agrippa]]'s last letter to [[spoiler:Claudius]], written while he is in his deathbed, asures him that, in spite of having conspired against him, he still loved him dearly. ItMakesSenseInContext.
* EmasculatedCuckold: Caligula has a fetish for boning other men's wives, both to satiate his own lusts and to humiliate the husbands.
* EmergencyAuthority: [[spoiler:How Claudius becomes emperor: Caligula is murdered, and there is no other male adult member of the imperial family in Rome, so they proclaim him emperor]].
* TheEmpire: The Roman Empire itself. The Partian Empire also plays a minor role in the story.
* EmptyNest: Antonia asks Claudius to let her raise his daughter, also named Antonia, probably because all of her other grandchildren were already grown up.
* EnfantTerrible:
** Caligula's daughter, Julia Drusilla, is a savage little monster who kicks and tears at people with her nails and wishes she could kill her mother. She's also barely two years old.
** Caligula himself, when he was a child.
* EtTuBrute: Mentioned by Claudius when he's remembering Julius Caesar's murder.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Averted. Tiberius loathes his mother Livia, and the only reason he probably doesn't have her killed is because he also fears her, since she still has a lot of spies and political influence. Caligula [[spoiler:befriends Tiberius after he has sentenced his mother Agrippina to prison, and never attemps to persuade him to release her or to improve the conditions of her imprisonment]]. But [[spoiler:Nero]] goes even farther, ordering the death of his mother [[spoiler:Agrippinilla]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Several villains have at least one person they care about.
** Tiberius loves his brother Drusus, his first wife Vispania, and is fond of his friends Thrasyllus and Nerva. He also had a genuinely cordial relationship with Augustus, until he forced him to divorce Vipsania.
** Caligula loves his wife Caesonia, his daughter, and his sister Drusilla ([[spoiler:although he's heavily implied to have killed her in a fit of rage]]).
** [[spoiler:Messalina]] and her mother [[spoiler:Domitia Lepida]] become estranged, but when [[spoiler:Messalina]]'s crimes are discovered and she's arrested, her mother is the only one who comes to see her and is at her side until the end.
** Livia implies she was truly fond of [[spoiler:her father. The fact that he was executed by Augustus is the main reason she doesn't feel guilty for having murdered him and several of his descendants]]. There's also her friendship with Urgulania.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Tiberius is convinced that Germanicus is planning to overthrow him, and just cannot fathom the idea that he's just as honest and loyal as he appears.
* EvilChancellor: Sejanus and Macro during Tiberius and Caligula's reigns. To a lesser extent, Pallas during Claudius'.
* EvilIsPetty:
** At one point, Caligula orders [[spoiler:Claudius]] to be beheaded because he has a head full of hair and the Emperor is going bald. [[spoiler:Luckily, Claudius manages to talk himself out of it by pretending Caligula ordered to cut his '''hair''' instead of his head.]]
** [[spoiler:Agrippinilla]] orders the death of [[spoiler:Lollia]], partly for political reasons, but it's implied that she's also jealous of her beauty. She orders [[spoiler:Lollia]]'s severed head to be brought before her, and criticizes her hair and teeth before disposing of it.
* EvilMatriarch: Livia [[spoiler:murders no less than 6 family members (including her husband, Emperor Augustus) in her scheme to set up her son as the next Emperor of Rome.]]
* EvilNephew: Caligula is this towards Claudius. His sisters Lesbia and Agrippinilla also treat him with contempt.
* EvilUncle: Tiberius is this towards practically all of his brother's descendants. [[spoiler:He has a hand in the deaths of his nephew Germanicus, his niece Livilla, his niece-in-law Agrippina, and his great-nephews Nero and Drusus]]; he's also quite malevolent towards Claudius, although he never threatens his life. Fittingly, he's [[spoiler:killed by his surviving great-nephew, Caligula]].
* ExcessiveMourning: After [[spoiler:Germanicus]]' death, the Roman people grieve for months. Tiberius issues a proclaim in which he (diplomatically) tells them to move on with their lives; however, it has little effect.
* TheExile: Several characters are sentenced to exile. Some of them get to come back to Rome, like Seneca and Agrippinilla, but most of them die abroad, due to the poor living conditions of the places they are sentenced to inhabit.
* ExternallyValidatedProphecy: While conversing with Vitellius, Claudius is unsettled when an owl lands on a nearby temple; that particular species of owl is known as an "incendiary", because its appearance is an omen that whatever building it lands on will be [[WhileRomeBurns destroyed by fire]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: When Claudius's freedman tricks him into signing [[spoiler:Messalina's death-warrant, they make sure to offer Messalina a dagger--to take the honourable way out--in the hopes that they won't have to show the warrant to Claudius. Messalina, however, is too much of a coward to kill herself, so she ends up executed. Similarly, when Augustus banishes his daughter Julia for adultery, Julia accepts exile but her maid Phoebe hangs herself in disgrace; Augustus bitterly comments, "I wish to God I had been Phoebe's father."]]
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Both Caligula and Nero are described as quite handsome (although Caligula goes bald when he becomes emperor). They are also complete monsters.
* FakingTheDead: Claudius wants to [[spoiler:fake Britannicus' death, in order to send him to exile in Britain during Nero's reign and have him return to Rome when the emperor is overthrown. Unfortunately, Britannicus stubbornly refuses]].
* FalseRapeAccusation: [[spoiler:Posthumus]] is exiled after he is accused of trying to rape [[spoiler:Livilla]], who was working with Livia to get rid of him.
* AFatherToHisMen: Drusus and Germanicus treat their troops like this.
* FamousAncestor: Claudius despises his first tutor, Cato, a descendant of Cato the Censor (who instigated the Third Punic War), reflecting that every man who boasts about his ancestors is obviously trying to cover up his own lack of distinction.
* ForegoneConclusion: We are told at the start that Claudius is going to become Emperor. Nonetheless, the description of 60 years of Roman politics and intrigue leading up to this event manages to remain amazing and entertaining.
* FramingDevice: The book is presented as Claudius' own account of his life. The real Claudius really did write an autobiography, although it is now lost to history.
* FullNameUltimatum: Athenodorus, Claudus's tutor only used the latter's full name when he wanted to shame him; then he would say "Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, remember who you are and what you are doing."
* TheGambler: Claudius gambles frequently, both at playing dice and in the horsetracks. He never seems to win or loose much, but on one occasion he has to send Germanicus a large sum of money and, since he has to keep it a secret, pretends to have lost it gambling.
* GeniusCripple: While not exactly brilliant, Claudius is a lot smarter than most people give him credit for.
* GodEmperor: Caligula claims to be a god after he goes mad.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: A belief held in-universe by Romans, including Claudius himself, who discusses it in ''Claudius the God''. He explicitly states that if a god ceases to be worshipped, he is nothing; he also states that, conversely, being worshipped is what makes one a god. This means that, according to Claudius, if a mortal can make others worship him or her and is worshipped genuinely, then he or she is a god and must be accepted as such.
-->''While Caligula was worshipped and believed in as a god he was indeed a supernatural being. Cassius Chaerea found it almost impossible [[spoiler:to kill him, because there was a certain divine awe about him, the result of the worship offered him from simple hearts, and the conspirators felt it themselves and hung back]]. Perhaps he would never have succeeded if [[spoiler:Caligula had not cursed himself with a divine premonition of assassination]].''
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen:
** Livia is an interesting example. She uses the vilest means to obtain power, but she's also described as a very able and just ruler. Claudius loathes her because many of her victims, such as [[spoiler:Postumus]] and [[spoiler:Germanicus]], are his dearest friends, but admits her government was much better than Tiberius' and Caligula's.
** [[spoiler:Messalina]] and [[spoiler:Agrippinilla]], on the other hand, are straight examples of this.
* GoingNative: The Germans in the emperor's guard marry and have children with Roman women and, while claiming to feel nostalgia for their homeland, don't really want to leave Italy.
* GoodBadGirl: Julia, while being quite promiscuous, is portrayed sympathetically by Claudius. Firstly, [[spoiler:because she begins having affairs as a result of her husband Tiberius' coolness towards her and his own infidelities]]. Secondly, [[spoiler:because her enhanced sex-drive seems to have been caused by Livia, who tricks her into using Spanish fly, a potent aphrodisiac]]. Thirdly, because she has a good heart and is the only adult member of Claudius' family who treats him with affection.
* TheGoodChancellor: Agrippa and Maecenas during Augustus' reign, Narcissus and —for a few months— Herod Agrippa during Claudius'.
* GoodOldWays: Claudius can't read about a quaint old tradition without wanting to revive it. Though he claims he wasn't responsible for the one where a forger was punished by having his hands cut off.
* GrandeDame: Antonia and several other Roman ladies.
* HairTriggerTemper: Caligula's mood swings make people around him constantly in fear for their lives.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Claudius at one point discusses his distaste for how other men of the noble class take young men as lovers who are blatantly {{Gold Digger}}s. While this may come off as an WriterOnBoard by Graves, this is actually based on fact, as Claudius was one of the few Emperors who never had any male lovers, which was considered odd at the time and remarked upon by contemporaries.
* HeelFaceTurn:
** The legions under Scribonianus' command decide not to rebel against Claudius.
** Castor undergoes a minor HFT after [[spoiler:Germanicus]]' death. While he wasn't entirely evil before, afterwards he becomes loyal to Agrippina and her children.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Martina]] is murdered so that she cannot testify against [[spoiler:Piso and Plancina]] in the trial for [[spoiler:Germanicus]]' murder.
* HeroicBSOD:
** After Augustus finds out about [[spoiler:Julia's debauchery]], he locks himself in his bedroom and remains there for four days without eating, drinking or talking to anyone.
** Claudius has a very similar reaction when they tell him the truth about [[spoiler:Messalina]]. However, he's not allowed to lock himself up and suffer alone, since he has to act immediately [[spoiler:to prevent her coup attempt]].
* HiddenBackupPrince: [[spoiler:That's what Claudius plans to do with Britannicus during Nero's reign]].
* HighPriest: All emperors are this, since they also hold the office of Pontifex Maximus. Claudius takes advantage of it to introduce some changes in Roman religion.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Tiberius, Claudius,...
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Calpurnia, who was Claudius' partner for a while, and his friend for the rest of her life. Claudius expressed this in [[spoiler:the epitaph]] he wrote for her:
-->''"A harlot's love; a harlot's lie,"'' -
-->''Cast that ancient proverb by''.
-->''Calpurnia's heart was cleaner far,''
-->''Roman matrons, than yours are.''
* HolyCity: The Jews believe the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. It becomes an important plot point because it leads [[spoiler:Herod Agrippa, who was born there, to believe '''he''' is the Messiah]].
* {{Hypocrite}}: The attentive reader will note that Claudius ends up making many of the same mistakes as Emperor he criticized others for making, including holding on to absolute power despite professing to want to restore the old Roman Republic. Of course, since he's the viewpoint character, [[UnreliableNarrator he has perfectly good and justifiable reasons]]. At the end of ''Claudius the God'', Claudius also realizes this.
* HumanSacrifice: The Druids sacrifice young men to their gods, something Claudius considers barbaric (although, as a result of DeliberateValuesDissonance, he has no qualms abouth sacrificing animals to the Roman gods).
[[/folder]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes 0 to C]]
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Claudius, despite being a benign ruler, becomes unpopular during a food shortage in Rome.
%%** Sejanus, Tiberius, and Caligula after he shows his true colors.
%%Explain how they're examples.
* AbusiveParents:
** Claudius' mother Antonia was disgusted by him because of his disabilities, and always considered him to be an idiot. [[spoiler:Even when she decides to kill herself and says goodbye to Claudius, she still doesn't have a kind word for him.]]
** Livia is very abusive towards her stepdaughter Julia.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Livia, Julia, Agrippina and several other women from the imperial family. This is due to the fact that Roman noble women were married at a very young age.
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Livia]] acts like this towards Claudius when she invites him to have dinner. They have a polite and friendly conversation during which she confesses all of her crimes, knowing full well Claudius can't and won't seek vengeance.
* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Averted, since the story takes place some decades before the First Jewish–Roman War and the Diaspora.
* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate: Tiberius is cold and bitter due to his mother's machinations to make him Emperor. When he does become Emperor, he spends much of his time at the pleasure island of Capri as opposed to ruling in Rome. His nephew and heir Germanicus is much more friendly and approachable. When some Roman legions start to mutiny, Germanicus takes care of the situation by talking to them and winning them over. He's so popular with the troops that Tiberius starts to worry he might pose a threat to his rule.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in-universe by Claudius himself. As he states at the beginning of ''Claudius the God'', he is worried that he might be "branded by posterity as a clever opportunist who pretended to be a fool, lying low and biding his time until he got wind of a Palace intrigue against his Emperor, and then came boldly forward as a candidate for the succession"; among other reasons, he wrote the history of his life to assure the readers that this was not the case.
* AmbiguouslyBi:
** Urgulanilla, Claudius' first wife, appears to have been infatuated with her sister-in-law Numantina, and is greatly upset when her brother divorces her. [[spoiler:She takes as a lover a male slave named Boter, who is said to look very much like Numantina]].
** Claudius suspects Caligula has a male lover, his cousin, known as Ganymede, but never confirms it.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Many, many characters aim for the imperial throne, and end up getting killed. Unfortunately, many others who have no such ambitions also lose their lives in the endless struggle for power.
* AmicablyDivorced: Played with. Claudius' grandfather isn't angry when he finds out his wife Livia and his friend Augustus have fallen in love, and not only he divorces her, but also attends their wedding ceremony; and while their sons are raised in his house, he allows them to visit their mother every day. Livia, however, is still resentful of her ex-husband, [[spoiler:and when she finds out he's trying to give their sons a republican education, she poisons him]].
* AmoralAttorney: Several Roman lawyers are portrayed like this. Claudius greatly dislikes them, and when he becomes Emperor he tries to favor those few honest lawyers that work in the Forum.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Tiberius' death is not mourned but celebrated in Rome, where he was very unpopular.
* AntagonisticOffspring: Tiberius comes to see his son Castor as this, due to Sejanus' manipulation and Castor's own rash behaviour. Because of that, Tiberius [[spoiler:shows no grief when Castor dies]].
* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: Claudius.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Played with. Claudius himself and many other characters belong to the Roman nobility and are very decent people. On the other hand we have Macro, who is a man of very humble birth (the son of a slave) and is completely ruthless and amoral. Many other noble character play it straight.
* AssholeVictim:
** It's hard to feel sorry when characters like [[spoiler:Piso, Plancina, Sejanus, Livilla, Tiberius, Macro or Caligula]] end up getting killed.
** Most of the victims of Herod Agrippa's scams are described as this.
* AwfulWeddedLife: All of [[spoiler:Claudius]]' marriages end up like this, one way or another.
** So much so for Claudius' daughter Antonia that he assassinates her husband.
* BandOfBrothels: The Roman prostitutes have their own union, and during Claudius' reign they sue one of their clients for mistreating some of the working girls.
* BasedOnATrueStory: Yes and no. Most everything in the books, including the really outrageous stuff like [[spoiler:Livia poisoning half her family or Messalina having a sexathon]], comes from ancient sources. However, modern scholars consider much of that to be ancient rumormongering and/or propaganda. Graves also wasn't above using fiction as a platform for historical theories he thought were likely but was unable to prove.
* BathSuicide: Several characters choose to die this way.
* TheBeard: Claudius' daughter Antonia is implied to be this to her first husband, Pompey, who has male lovers. [[spoiler:When Claudius finds out of his son-in-law's sexual orientation, he has him killed and finds Antonia a new husband]].
* BeardOfSorrow: [[spoiler:After Julia's exile]], Augustus refuses to shave for four days as a sign of grief.
* BedTrick: During Tiberius' reign, a rich man falls in love with a married woman who rejects his advances. Knowing she's a devoted worshiper of the goddess Isis, he manages to bed her by pretending to be the god Anubis. This scandal ends up leading to the banishment of the cult from Rome.
* BetrayalByInaction: Several people find out about [[spoiler:Cassius Chaerea]]'s plot to murder [[spoiler:Caligula]], but choose not to do anything about it.
* BigBad: Arguably, Livia is this during the first half of ''I, Claudius''. Later it becomes clear that there are '''way''' worst people than her in power and that evil is InherentInTheSystem.
* BigBrotherWorship: Claudius adores his older brother Germanicus (as does almost everyone else).
* BilingualBackfire: The young Claudius overhears Augustus and Athenodorus talking about him in Greek. When Athenodorus jokingly asks his opinion, Claudius replies in Greek: "My mother Antonia does not pamper me, but she has let me learn Greek from someone who learned it directly from Apollo."
* BitchInSheepsClothing:
** Livia pretends to be a traditional, virtuous Roman matron, who merely manages her household, takes care of her husband and stays out of politics. In reality, she's a power-hungry Evil Matriarch.
** [[spoiler:Messalina]] pretends to be a loving wife to [[spoiler:Claudius]], while being a murderer and an adulteress.
* BodyDouble: [[spoiler:While exiled on an island, Postumus is switched with a similar looking slave named Clement when his grandfather Augustus decides to have him covertly removed under Livia's nose from the island upon receiving evidence that he was falsely accused, and it's the slave who dies when the island is attacked under Livia's orders shortly after Augustus dies. This results in Postumus spending some time disguised as Clement]][[note]]In real life, it was the other way around: Clement was an impostor who claimed to be Postumus but was actually a fake[[/note]].
* BodyguardBetrayal:
** [[spoiler:Macro]], who is the commander of the Praetorian Guard and whose job is to protect [[spoiler:Tiberius]], ends up smothering him with a pillow.
** Later, several other praetorians conspire [[spoiler:succesfully]] to assassinate [[spoiler:Caligula]].
** During Claudius' reign, many officers in the Guard are involved in plots against the emperor's life.
* BoringButPractical: When his friend Vitellius remarks on the grandeur of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, Claudius scoffs that the Pyramid is a crass monument to vanity that does nothing useful (despite its size, it's just a mausoleum for a single man); while the Appian Way (a road) might not be as visually impressive, it will last just as long, if not longer, and benefits millions of people.
* BrainlessBeauty: Lollia Paulina, Caligula's third wife and one of the candidates [[spoiler:to marry Claudius after the death of Messalina]] is described as this.
* BrawnHilda: Claudius describes his first wife, Urgulanilla, as one of these: huge, surly, muscular, and (in his opinion) capable of murder if provoked.
* BreadAndCircuses: Subverted. While the emperors frequently offer lavish public entertainments and free food to keep the people quiet, we see several politically motivated riots (for instance, [[spoiler:when it seems Piso will not be punished for Germanicus' death, when Agrippina and her children are forced into exile, and when the vastly unpopular Tiberius' body is brought to Rome to receive a public funeral]]).
* ButtMonkey: Invoked; after Caligula comes to power and his lackeys start playing mean pranks on Claudius for their own amusement, his prostitute / mistress / confidante Calpurnia advises him to play up his "pathetic old fool" persona to avoid being seen as a potential obstacle.
* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Drusus (Germanicus' second son)]] betrays his elder brother [[spoiler:Nero (not to be confused with the future Emperor)]] to Sejanus, leading to his imprisonment and murder. In a more straight example, [[spoiler:Caligula]] orders the death of [[spoiler:Gemellus]], his first cousin and adoptive brother, and is heavily implied to have murdered his sister [[spoiler:Drusilla]].
* TheCaligula: Features the original UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} himself in all his violent and depraved "glory," and this is the work that most likely crystallized both his public image and [[TropeCodifier the current pattern of the trope]] in the minds of modern-day audiences. Notably, while he's certainly cruel, the real feature that stands out about him is that he's capricious about his cruelty; he's just as likely to spare your life but publicly humiliate you as he is to have you simply tortured or executed out of hand if you run afoul of him.
* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: Claudius witnesses practically every member of his family being murdered due to political intrigues and infighting.
* ChubbyChaser: Claudius describes Vinicianus as "one of those little rat-like men who have the same love for women of abundant charms as rats have for large pumpkins".
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Claudius, although it's mostly an act. {{Lampshad|eHanging}}ed by Herod Agrippa.
* CluelessBoss: Augustus is almost completely blind to Livia's manipulation. Claudius has shades of this, until [[spoiler:Messalina]]'s downfall.
* ConMan: Herod Agrippa manages to scam several people during his youth.
* ConspiracyKitchenSink: A hodgepodge of pretty much every half-baked conspiracy theory about the time of the Julio-Claudian Emperors, both then and since.
* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: Played straight with Piso and his wife Plancina, who are (correctly) blamed by the Roman people for [[spoiler:Germanicus' death]]. Inverted with [[spoiler:Agrippina and her children]], who are condemned for treason in spite of the people's support.
* CoolTeacher: Athenodorus, Claudius and Herod Agrippa's tutor.
* CoolUncle: Averted with Claudius. Although some are nice to him, none of his nieces and nephews take him seriously.
* ComfortingTheWidow:
** After [[spoiler:Castor]]'s death, Sejanus plans to marry his widow [[spoiler:Livilla]]. Tiberius won't allow it.
** After her husband's death, Antonia received a marriage proposal from her friend Flaccus, but turned it down.
* CreepyCrossdresser: Caligula often assumes the identity of different goddesses, and thus wears female dresses.
* CreepyUncle:
** Averted with [[spoiler:Claudius]] (although ancient historians portrayed him this way) with regards to his marriage to [[spoiler:Agrippinilla]], his own niece. While some historians claim [[spoiler:Agripinilla]] seduced her uncle in order to convince him to marry her, in the book it is portrayed as only a political alliance, with no sexual element involved.
** Played straight with Herod Antipas, who marries his niece Herodias out of love and attraction. It should be noted, however, that in the Eastern monarchies of the time, marriages between uncles and nieces were considered normal. Furthermore, Herodias' first husband, whom she divorces to marry Antipas, was '''also''' her uncle. John the Baptist preaches against Antipas and Herodias' marriage not because it is incestuous but because he's against her divorce.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: One of Caligula's courtiers is flogged to death because he refuses to acknowledge him as a greater god than Zeus.
* CunningLikeAFox: Several characters display this, since cunning is indispensable to survive in the imperial court, but Herod Agrippa is the most notorious.
[[/folder]]

** During his trial for treason, the prosecutor claims Valerius Asiaticus is this, accusing him of both molesting a couple of young soldiers, and commiting adultery with a married woman, Poppaea.

The novels ''I, Claudius'' and ''Claudius the God'' by Robert Graves, published in 1934 and 1935 follow the history of UsefulNotes/{{the Roman Empire}}, from the latter reign of Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} (starting around 24/23 B.C.) to the death of the eponymous character, UsefulNotes/{{Claudius}}, through whose eyes all of the action is seen.

* MoralEventHorizon: Claudius is devastated when he hears that Sejanus's underage children have been murdered as part of ThePurge, and that in order to avoid sacrilege, the Guards first dressed the boy up in a man's toga, and raped the girl to make them (technically) adults before they were killed. He says that nothing Rome ever does can atone for such a crime.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Germanicus is a very popular general and politician. Also Caligula during the first few months of his reign.

* DotingGrandparent: Augustus has this sort of relationship with his grandsons Gaius and Lucius, leading to a lot of resentment from Tiberius and Livia. He is also very fond of his great-grandchildren, and practically every child in his family, except for Claudius.

* VitriolicBestBuds: The historians Livy and Pollio. For example, when they first meet the young Claudius in a library, Livy asks what is he reading. Pollio comments that it's probably some romantic rubbish, since today's youth reads nothing but trash. Livy makes a bet with him that it isn't. When Claudius reveals that he's reading a historical work by Pollio, Livy insists that Pollio won the bet: today's youth reads nothing but trash.

** At one point, Caligula wants to put [[spoiler:Claudius]] to death because he has a head full of hair and the Emperor is going bald. [[spoiler:Luckily, Claudius manages to talk himself out of it by pretending Caligula ordered to cut his '''hair''' instead of his head.]]

* PyrrhicVillainy: Several cases.

* TheGambler: Claudius gambles frequently, both at playing dice and in the horsetracks. He never seems to win or loose much, but on one occassion he has to send Germanicus a large sum of money and, since he has to keep it a secret, pretends to have lost it gambling.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Lampshaded in ''Claudius The God'' when he does related his battle plan while conquering Britain because that would make his description of the actual battle repetitious.

* UnreliableNarrator: Claudius admits that he's not aiming to write an objective account and is including a good bit of his own personal speculation.

* BaldWomen: Julia loses her hair when she's very young, and has to wear a wig for the rest of her life. However, the hair of the wig is prettier than her own natural hair, so it enhances her beauty.

* MoralityPet: Tiberius is portrayed as a pedophile who murders most of his relatives and a good chunk of the senate but for some reason he insists on having an innocent and virtuous senator Cocceius Nerva live with him in his Evil Playboy Mansion on Capri. It helps that Nerva seems to be the only real friend Tiberius had since the death of his brother Drusus and that he is possibly the only person in the empire who believes Tiberius to be just and moral, as Tiberius can't bring himself to disillusion him. [[spoiler:When the senator decides to commit suicide, Tiberius is distraught, and actually goes so far as to tear up some death warrants in the hope that this will convince the senator to live on.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Claudius' [[spoiler:former lover and longtime friend Calpurnia]], dies, he writes an epigraph for her. This is the only poem he ever wrote in his life, apart from school assigments. He explains that he wanted to do something exceptional to show the depth of his grief.

* RoyallyScrewedUp: The Julio-Claudians.

** Tiberius is well versed in astrology, poetry and mythology, in addition to being a polyglot who speaks Latin, Greek, and German, and is a connoisseur of fine food and wine.

* WickedCultured: Tiberius is well versed in astrology, poetry and mythology. Livia knows enough history to point out an erroneous reference during a conversation with Claudius (who's a professional historian).

* RoyalInbreeding: The Julio-Claudians practice this. Livia and Augustus had no children of their own, but Livia makes sure that every descendant of Augustus's is married to a descendant of hers. It gets even more pronounced as it goes, with Caligula sleeping with his sisters and Claudius marrying his niece (though in Claudius's case, the marriage is not consummated).