History Series / IClaudius

** And then there's the stuff that was just made up for dramatic purposes.

* ReplacementScrappy: An in-universe example: each Emperor names someone worse than themselves so that they wouldn't be remembered so harshly.

Quinctilius Varus, '''WHERE ARE MY EAGLES!?'''
*** The part about Varus is probably TruthInTelevision: according to his biographer Suetonius[[note]] notorious for repeating any good story he heard, however improbable; however, he had access to Augustus's private papers and that particular biography is generally seen as pretty reliable by modern historians[[/note]], Augustus had quite the HeroicBSOD upon hearing that Varus had lost three entire legions, some 15,000 men, and for months afterward would bang his head against the wall and yell "Varus! Give me back my legions!"

---> You are a lesson in history to me, Sejanus. Of how a small mind without scruple, married to limitless ambition, can destroy a nation full of clever men. YOU ARE A REMINDER THAT, ABOVE ALL, '''MANKIND NEEDS A SENSE OF SMMMELLLLLL'''.
*** In a later interview, the actor (Charles Kay) said that this was intentional. He wished to portray Gallus as being utterly overwhelmed by his loathing of Sejanus, whom he saw as the destroyer of all that he believed to be good and noble. Set against that, the mere fact that he would be tortured for as long as it took for him to sign a false confession was small beans.

* OneSteveLimit: 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.
** Had the series referred to the characters by their real names, it may have been nigh impossible to tell people apart, since Roman noble families 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.
*** ''Further'' complicating matters, at least three major characters were known by some combination of "Drusus" and either "Nero" and/or Caesar in their lives: Tiberius' brother, Nero Claudius Drusus; Tiberius' son, who was named Nero Claudius Drusus for his uncle but who later took the name Drusus Julius Caesar following Tiberius' adoption into the Julian family; and Drusus Caesar, brother of Caligula.
*** Then you also have all of the Gaiuses. While most people referred to him by the title Augustus, the man's real name was Gaius, and neither Livia nor Agrippa ever referred to him as anything else. Caligula's real name, too, was Gaius, and "Caligula" was mostly only used to refer to him after his death, and even then only occasionally-- all of the ancient texts written about him refer to him as Gaius, including Philo's "The Embassy to Gaius" and Suetonius' "The Life of Gaius." Then there's Gaius, grandson of Augustus.

** Had the series referred to the characters by their real names, it may have been nigh impossible to keep people apart, since Roman noble families 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.
*** FURTHER complicating matters, at least three major characters were known by some combination of "Drusus" and either "Nero" and/or Caesar in their lives: Tiberius' brother, Nero Claudius Drusus; Tiberius' son, who was named Nero Claudius Drusus for his uncle but who later took the name Drusus Julius Caesar following Tiberius' adoption into the Julian family; and Drusus Caesar, brother of Caligula.

** 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.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: A lot of the details are based on actual historical that are considered heavily biased. Some details are based on what is thought to be defamatory rumors from political rivals. Other details are simply made up for dramatic purposes.

This renowned 1976 mini-series (based on the books ''Literature/IClaudius'' and ''Claudius the God'' by Robert Graves) follows the history of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, from the latter reign of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} (starting around 24/23 B.C.) to the death of the eponymous character, UsefulNotes/{{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.]]

** Had the series referred to the characters by their real names, it may have been nigh impossible to keep people apart, since Roman noble families 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 uncle and Nero took his stepfather's name after his childhood adoption. FURTHER complicating matters, at least three major characters were known by some combination of "Drusus" and either "Nero" and/or Caesar in their lives: Tiberius' brother, Nero Claudius Drusus; Tiberius' son, who was named Nero Claudius Drusus for his uncle but who later took the name Drusus Julius Caesar following Tiberius' adoption into the Julian family; and Drusus Caesar, brother of Caligula.

* PlayingGertrude:
** Siân Phillips (Livia) was two years younger than George Baker, who played her elder son Tiberius, and ten years older than Ian Oglivy, who played her younger son Drusus.
** Margaret Tyzack (Antonia) was only seven years older than Derek Jacobi, who played her son Claudius.
** Creator/BrianBlessed (Augustus) was only two years older than Frances White, who played his daughter Julia.

* HopeSpot: In "Poison Queen," Augustus finally begins to realize Livia's conspiracy and reconciles with Posthumus so they can prevent Tiberius from becoming the new emperor. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Livia poisons Augustus and then has Sejanus assassinate Posthumus, allowing Tiberius to ascend to the throne.]]

* LinearEdit: The series was entirely shot on videotape, using multiple cameras, one scene at a time. This resulted in a very theatrical look to the performances, which suited the story very well.

** Messalina has Claudius wrapped around her little finger, and uses his adoration of her to pursue a long string of sexual conquests while he suspects nothing. However, her ambition outpaces her ability when she marries Silius with plans to rule Rome with him; Claudius' freedmen Pallas and Narcissus are able to counter-manipulate Claudius into ordering first her arrest, then her execution. When Messalina discovers she cannot manipulate her way out of these predicaments, she suffers a VillainousBreakdown.
** Livia, more than anyone else. She manipulates Augustus into making Tiberius his successor by systematically eliminating the competition, either by poisoning them herself or by having them murdered by hired hands. She also brings Julia's many adulteries to Augustus' attention, resulting in her exile, and is the mastermind behind Postumus being falsely accused of raping Livilla, resulting in ''his'' exile. In contrast to the other manipulative bastards of the series, she is not undone by over-ambition partly because she is ''very'' good at covering her tracks and partly because her ultimate ambition is not to rule Rome herself, but to preserve Rome's greatness by preventing the return to the constant internal strife of the Republic that she believes would result if anyone but Tiberius succeeded Augustus.

* PyrrhicVillainy: 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.

** While Claudius wasn't quite the idiotic JerkAss that contemporary historians portrayed him as, he probably wasn't quite as cuddly as Creator/DerekJacobi's portrayal either. Of course, the books' (and show's) conceit is that it's Claudius's secret memoir. Not surprising he comes off well. Read between the lines, and basically his story is: He let his wives and freedmen manipulate him, he judicially murdered lots of people (including some close relatives) on the flimsiest of evidence, he handed Rome over to a psychotic--but he meant well!
** Frighteningly, the real Claudius had a habit of getting blackout drunk and ordering the deaths of friends who'd done something to get on his nerves. Then he'd sober up, forget he'd done it, and ask to see them.
*** None of the ancient historians had anything good to say about the real Postumus, who was described as brutish, violent and lacking any redeeming features. He ended up being banished from Rome by Augustus for reasons now unknown; whatever it was, Augustus stationed an entire guard on the island with him just to make sure he never escaped, and, nearing the end of his life, ordered him executed. Yet here he is portrayed as an amiable young man and friend of Claudius, and the unfortunate victim of Livia's machinations to ensure Tiberius would succeed Augustus.

* LadyMacbeth: Livia spurs the ambitions of her son Tiberius to be emperor, which he's not opposed to at first--but all the sacrifices Livia arranges to clear his path (his happy marrige, the lives of several family members) means that by the time he does get on the throne, he no longer has any interest in it.

** Caligula is the most obvious example of this. The historical Caligula comes across as a neurotic, insecure and cruel young man who was a product of both his difficult background and mental illness, probably brought on by the considerable pressures of office. The Caligula portrayed in ''I, Claudius'', however, is basically just evil from the word go. Some of the worst things he does in the TV series, such as the horrible murder of his sister and making his horse a senator, are straight-up fiction.

*** None of the ancient historians had anything good to say about the real Postumus, who was described as brutish, violent and lacking any redeeming features. He ended up being banished from Rome by Augustus for reasons now unknown. Yet here he is portrayed as an amiable young man and friend of Claudius, and the unfortunate victim of Livia's machinations to ensure Tiberius would succeed Augustus.

** None of the ancient historians had anything good to say about the real Postumus, who was described as brutish, violent and lacking any redeeming features. He ended up being banished from Rome by Augustus for reasons now unknown. Yet here he is portrayed as an amiable young man and friend of Claudius, and the unfortunate victim of Livia's machinations to ensure Tiberius would succeed Augustus.

* TheQueensLatin: 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 [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Yiddish accent]]. A Celtish king speaks with a Scottish accent.

** 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, angrilysends 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.]]

-->'''Sejanus''' Ah, Castor, how nice to see you.\\
'''Castor''' I'm Castor to my friends, Sejanus.

* 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 her a whore.

** Viewers are supposed to at least recognize that [[spoiler: Thrasyllus' prophecies were pretty much right at least that a man would be killed and become a god that would completely replace all the gods of Rome. Caligula was just wrong in assuming he would be that god.]]

* OldManMarryingAChild: 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 [[ItAmusedMe for his own perverse reasons]].

'''Claudius''': I agree, but nor was [[TheCaligula my nephew]].\\

'''Claudius''': He would not have agreed. And by now your head would be on that floor for saying so.

* PyrrhicVillainy: 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.

** Tiberius' son Drusus is mainly referred to as Castor to avoid confusion with his uncle, also named Drusus (see [[One Steve Limit]] above).

** Tiberius' son Drusus is mainly referred to as Castor.

* RhetoricalQuestionBackfire:

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Julio-Claudian dynasty.