History Series / IClaudius

This British series is probably one of the best dramas ever produced for television, with an AllStarCast of British television actors, and including appearances by [[RetroactiveRecognition some who would go on to be famous,]] among them Creator/PatrickStewart in an early major TV role as the shifty Roman general Sejanus, and Creator/JohnHurt in his StarMakingRole[[note]]Well, one of two, along with his turn in ''Series/TheNakedCivilServant'' the previous year[[/note]] as the giggly, insane UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}. Creator/BrianBlessed plays a rather tragically naive ([[LargeHam but still hammy]]) Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, but it is Creator/SianPhillips who steals the show as the scheming Livia, a character who is [[MagnificentBastard as deft at cutting people down with her dry wit as she is at poisoning them]]. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg George Baker's in it too.]] And let's not forget Creator/DerekJacobi's breakout performance as the poignant Claudius, a man who-- even after he gets the reins of power firmly in his hands-- finds he can do very little to stop the whirlwind of death and corruption which threatens to destroy those he loves. Par for the course of a BBC series, it's done entirely without music except for its opening and ending score, relying on the actors' performances to convey mood.

This renowned 1976 mini-series (based on the books ''Literature/IClaudius'' and ''Claudius the God'' by Robert Graves) follows the history of the Roman Empire, from the latter reign of Augustus (starting around 24/23 B.C.) to the death of the eponymous character, Claudius, through whose eyes all of the action in the series is seen. The series opens with an elderly Claudius penning his memoirs, which tell of the history of his family, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio-Claudian_dynasty Julio-Claudian dynasty.]]

{{Creator/HBO}} and Creator/TheBBC announced a new miniseries adaptation in 2011 but it has yet to be produced.

This British series is probably one of the best dramas ever produced for television, with an AllStarCast of British television actors, and including appearances by [[RetroactiveRecognition some who would go on to be famous,]] among them Creator/PatrickStewart in an early major TV role as the shifty Roman general Sejanus, and Creator/JohnHurt in his StarMakingRole[[note]]Well, one of two, along with his turn in ''Series/TheNakedCivilServant'' the previous year[[/note]] as the giggly, insane UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}. Creator/BrianBlessed plays a rather tragically naive ([[LargeHam but still hammy]]) Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, but it is Siân Phillips who steals the show as the scheming Livia, a character who is [[MagnificentBastard as deft at cutting people down with her dry wit as she is at poisoning them]]. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg George Baker's in it too.]] And let's not forget Creator/DerekJacobi's breakout performance as the poignant Claudius, a man who-- even after he gets the reins of power firmly in his hands-- finds he can do very little to stop the whirlwind of death and corruption which threatens to destroy those he loves. Par for the course of a BBC series, it's done entirely without music except for its opening and ending score, relying on the actors' performances to convey mood.

* UnfortunateName: Postumus, whose name is phonetically identical to "posthumous" aka "after-death". Intentional, historically, the character was born after his father had died and hence was a "posthumous" son. [[spoiler: Also fitting, considering his eventual fate.]]

* LadyMacbeth: Livia spurs the ambitions of her son Tiberius to be emperor, even though he'd rather be left alone.

* LoopholeAbuse: When Sejanus and his supporters are being eliminated, guards are sent to kill his children. They're understandably iffy about doing so, and one of them even protests that the daughter is a virgin; executing a virgin is unprecedented and could bring bad luck on the city. Macro's solution? [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Ensure that she is no longer a virgin]], ''then'' kill her. Her brother is also underage, but they dress him up in his coming of age robes so he's legally a man - then they kill him too.

** The last we see of Agrippina is Tiberius exiling her to an island. It's only later that it's mentioned that she died in exile. The same goes for Julia, whose final appearance has her pleading in vain with her father not to be exiled, and lashing out at Livia. [[note]]Historically she died the same year as Augustus, but it's unclear what the exact cause was -- although most historians agree that Tiberius had something to do with it. In the book, Claudius flat out says that Tiberius deliberately starved Julia to death.[[/note]]

** The last we see of Agrippina is Tiberius exiling her to an island. It's only later that it's mentioned that she died in exile. The same goes for Julia, whose final appearance has her pleading in vain with her father not to be exiled, and lashing out at Livia. [[note]]Historically she died the same year as Augustus, but it's unclear what the exact cause was -- although most historians agree that Tiberius had something to do with it. In the book, Robert Graves flat out says that Tiberius deliberately starved Julia to death.[[/note]]

* AbilityOverAppearance: Augustus Caesar was slender and sickly throughout his life on the shorter side, while Brian Blessed is a large, burly man with a booming voice, though his performance is widely praised.

** The last we see of Agrippina is Tiberius exiling her to an island. It's only later that it's mentioned that she died in exile. The same goes for Julia, whose final appearance has her pleading in vain with her father not to be exiled, and lashing out at Livia. [[note]]Historically she died the same year as Augustus, but it's unclear what the exact cause was -- although most historians agree that Tiberius had something to do with it. Robert Graves flat out says that Tiberius deliberately starved Julia to death.[[/note]]

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: So much of this, but it's summed up by the fact that the Julio-Claudian dynasty basically violently wipes itself out (and even though historians don't think Livia masterminded the deaths of many of Augustus' relatives, in a case of TruthInTelevision all that was left of the family after Nero's downfall were the children of one granddaughter of Tiberius, who had been executed herself).

* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Played less straight than the viewer might might at first expect. While our hero Claudius is a devout believer in the Republic and DeadlyDecadentCourt is in full swing the actual senators we meet are in many cases corrupt, weak or even outright murderous (Claudius himself even delivers an epic speech trashing them when he becomes Emperor.)

* ReassignedToAntarctica: This happens a lot. Some do it voluntarily to get away from Rome and certain family members, though others have no choice. After her scandal, Julia is sent to the remote Italian island of Pandateria, and is not heard from again.[[note]]She was still alive when Augustus died, and reputedly was left to starve to death by Tiberius.[[/note]]

** The last we see of Agrippina is Tiberius exiling her to an island. It's only later that it's mentioned that she died in exile.

* ScreamDiscretionShot: Done twice. (These were cut for American audiences.)

* TheGhost: Caligula's youngest sister, Julia Livilla, called Lesbia in the book, is mentioned a few time in conjuction with her sisters, (Drusilla and Agrippinilla,who do make appearances), as being involved with degenerate behavior (including incest with Caligula), but never actually appears, except possibly as a background character in the brothel scene. Her husband, however, Marcus Vinicius, does appear several times, and is mentioned as being married to Caligula's sister, though the series never actually mentions the woman's name. The one time Lesbia is mentioned apart from her sisters is when Marcus asks Caligula to spare him for his sister's sake, to which Caligula flies into an ever greater rage and calls to her a whore.

* TheGhost: Caligula's sister, Julia Livilla, called Lesbia in the book, is mentioned a few time in conjuction with her sisters, Drusilla and Agrippinilla who do make appearances, as being involved with degenerate behavior including incest with Caligula, but never actually appears, except possibly as a background character in the brothel scene. Her husband, however, Marcus Vinicius, does appear several times, and is mentioned as being married to Caligula's, though the series never mentions which one officially. The one time Lesbia is mentioned individually is when Marcus asks Caligula to spare him for his sister's sake, to which Caligula flies into an ever greater rage and refers to her as a whore.

** Also, after hearing a prophecy that Claudius will become protector of Rome, young Livilla hopes aloud that she'll be dead by the time it happens. Her mother, in response, angrily sends her to bed without supper. [[spoiler: This not only foreshadows the fact that Livilla will die before Claudius becomes emperor, but also her method of execution-- Her mother locks her up in her room and forcibly starves her to death.]]

** Roman patricians marry and divorce each other for political gain quite lightly. This was even more scandalous in the 1930s when the original book was written, when divorce held a lot more stigma in western society. Even in the 1970s, it wasn't quite as prevalent as it was today.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Tiberius desperately wants approval and love, but his subjects do not like him at all. as a result, he virtually abandons ruling Rome and leaves Sejanus to do all the work. Sejanus is also disliked for being an upjumped tyrant. Tiberius deliberately chooses Caligula to succeed him because he believes he will be remembered more fondly by contrast. This more or less fails in the short term. Caligula is hated by his peers, but the commoners don't seem to know or care about his personal excesses.

* EatsBabies: [[spoiler:Caligula doesn't even have the decency to wait until they're born!]] Thankfully the audience is spared the details, but that blood-curdling screen from offscreen is chilling enough...

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Tiberius and Caligula. [[spoiler:Claudius tried to achieve this through his reign and Nero's [[ZeroApprovalGambit to renew fervour for the Republic]].]]

* TranslationConvention: Aristocratic Romans, and foreign aristocrats who would speak Latin or Greek fluently, speak with an upper-class BBC accent (most of the cast, naturally). Lower-class Romans--mainly soldiers and the lower kinds of slaves--speak with lower-class English accents (generally Cockney); foreigners sometimes have corresponding accents (as, for example, a Jewish innkeeper with a very modern Yiddish accent).

* BlackWidow: Livia. Bonus points for OffingTheOffspring.

* CallForward: Nero-- "What a pretty thing a fire is."

* DenOfIniquity: Tiberius' mansion.

* DirtyOldMan: Tiberius. Do '''not''' go to his villa in Capri.

** Well, Caligula ''thought'' he was, at least.

** Also Augustus. He's a borderline BumblingDad, which is very much at odds with his generally agreed status as a cold and ruthless MagnificentBastard who emerged as sole ruler of Rome after years of violent power struggles. There's a bit of justification in that the series shows him in private life and in the later years of his reign, having solidified his grip on power, after which his rule did become more benign. Nevertheless, it's noticeable that he's completely taken advantage of by Livia, not in UnholyMatrimony with her, which would be much more in line with his reputation. This could also be a case of UnreliableNarrator. Claudius very obviously admires Augustus very much, and Livia is the source of most of his suffering and humiliation as a child. ''Of course'' he would blame anything bad on Livia.

* HistoricalInJoke: Don't worry about that Jewish messiah, that's going nowhere.

* ICommaNoun

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Gemellus. Only it's not the cough that kills him.

* InfantImmortality: Averted.

** Bye, Messalina.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. Pretty much all men in the series bear one or more of the names Tiberius, Nero, Gaius, Drusus, or Germanicus, and of course Julius, Claudius, or Caesar, with other recurring names such as Marcus, Lucius, and Agrippa thrown in, while many of the women are some variant of Julia, Livia or Agrippina, with a few Octavias and Drusillas as well. It's discussed in the novel, where Claudius muses on how much his own historical research has been hampered by the inability of earlier authors to keep their Steves separated and distinct, and that he'll have to be careful not to fall into the same trap. This is actually TruthInTelevision: in the upper crust of Roman society, the variety of first names for men was quite limited, and for women even more limited; daughters often got given the feminine version of their father's name e.g. Antonia is named after her father, Mark Antony. A given ''gens'' (clan, more or less) would often recycle anywhere from two to six given names and certain variations on them, to the point where a man named Quintus, say, might have three sons named Quintus distinguished by different middle names or epithets like "Elder", "Younger", "the Tall", "The Dark", etc.

* VorpalPillow: Tiberius's fate. Semi-justified in that Tiberius was an old man and slipping in and out of a coma at the time.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Yes and no. Most everything in the series, including the really outrageous stuff like Livia poisoning half her family or Messalina having a sexathon, comes from ancient primary sources. However, modern scholars consider much of that to be ancient rumormongering and/or propaganda.

* ModestyBedsheet: Averted in that nudity on the part of the female actors was allowed-- a shocking thing to see on network TV at this point in time, at least in America.

* ParentalIncest: 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, and in RealLife and he eventually has her murdered.

* ThePlan: Livia puts her son Tiberius on the throne using some truly devious political maneuvering, along with generous amounts of poison.

* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: Too many times to count. Notably, Claudius and Caesonia manage to talk Caligula out of murdering the Senate by appealing to his ego.

* AllJewsAreAshkenazi: Averted with Herod but the innkeeper Gershom, whom Claudius and Herod pay to try and hide Martina the Poisoner, speaks with a heavy Yiddish accent.[[note]]Though this is arguably TranslationConvention--translating the innkeeper's period-Jewish accent (Latin as spoken by a native Aramaic speaker) into a modern equivalent, just as the low-class Roman soldiers are depicted as cockneys. The aristocratic Herod, who grew up in Rome, speaks Latin and Greek like a native.[[/note]]

* TheQueensLatin: As mentioned previously, upper class Romans speak modern BBC English.