But this isn't science fiction! I hear you cry. It's a novel from the '30s (and more recently, a PBS series starring Derek Jacobi). Well I claim it can be considered a form of science fiction: an alternate history story, kind of. Harry Turtledove does a lot of those. Graves, however, doesn't change any events. He just works with the behind-the-scenes aspects of the history.

Graves' thesis goes like this. Historically, Claudius was the grandson of Augustus Caesar and eventually succeeded his insane nephew Caligula as Emperor of Rome. Also historically, Claudius was a drooling idiot. In fact, a drooling, stammering, clubfooted idiot. He succeeded to the throne by accident, was manipulated by anyone within reach, and was poisoned by his third wife so that her son, the loathsome Nero, could become emperor.

Graves' twist on the story is that Claudius was not an idiot. He had the above-mentioned physical properties, which led one to believe he was. But in fact he was quite intelligent and feigned idiocy in order to survive. At that point in time, Roman aristocrats at his level were dropping like flies. Somewhat under Augustus, but even more under Tiberius and Caligula, if you looked like a contender for Emperor, your life was in constant jeopardy. So by playing the idiot, Claudius preserved his life. He wasn't worth the effort of killing!

Graves is an excellent historian. He makes sure the facts in the novel match the historical events. He even explains a few historically mystifying events, based on Claudius's cleverness. You see, despite being an apparent idiot, many worthwhile civic improvements were done under him, and Britain was effectively conquered. History puts these down to good advisers and generals, which may in fact be true. But Graves gives Claudius a lot of credit for these things. Graves even explains Claudius' death, and his agreement to let Nero succeed him, rather than his own son, Britannicus.

The novel gives a lot of insight into the intrigue and action surrounding the first few years of the Roman Empire. Livia, Augustus's wife, plays a dominant, if not THE dominant role in this regard. She maneuvers tirelessly to get her only son, Tiberius, to succeed Augustus, despite many heirs with closer claims to the throne (who are removed, one by one).

I, Claudius has a companion sequel, Claudius the God. The first book ends with Claudius's ascension to the throne, and the second continues the story almost to the end (it can't go to the very end, since it's written in first person). Claudius the God is flatter and less interesting than I, Claudius, but it is worthwhile just to find out the rest of the story.