The Assassination of Caligula

For history buffs here, today is an important date: it is the anniversary of the assassination of Caligula. It also thus the day when Claudius became emperor. A page in history that has been fictionalised and immortalised in I, Claudius by Robert Graves,and its TV series adaptation. I know it is not how it happened, yet for me, this is how I always imagined it happening. Since I first saw it some more than 25 years ago. I was completely blown away. Anyway, here is events unfolding, with Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as the mad Caligula. British acting at its finest.

About Caligula

I am reading I, Claudius by Robert Graves, which first book I should expect to finish soon. Then on to a different kind of read, then I will go back to more of Graves story with the second book. But I digress. You can read more about what I think of it so far in this post. Among the many fascinating characters of the novel is Emperor Caligula, the first mad emperor. I found one quote about him by his uncle Claudius (who narrates the novel) particularly interesting: "He was beginning to be unpopular. That the crowds always likes a holiday is a common saying, but when the whole year becomes one long holiday, and nobody has time for attending to his business, and pleasure becomes compulsory, then it is a different matter."

Pretty contemporary, isn't it? There are some of our rulers who fit this bill perfectly. And to think this is meant to be about Ancient Rome.

I, Claudius...

It is going to be Easter in a week now, so I thought I would recommend something fitting and what it more fitting than a good old historical novel set in Ancient Rome? It's my kind of pre-Easter read anyway. So I am reading at the moment (and at last) I, Claudius by Robert Graves.The novel is one epic tragicomedy with a very human feel. Despised by the imperial family as its lesser member, stammering Claudius survives wars, schemes, conspiracies of Rome to accidentally and unwillingly become emperor, even though he wants nothing more than the restoration of the republic. Also the source material of one of the greatest British TV drama ever produced, where I first discovered it.

Preparing for Easter

It is Jaz from October Farm that got me thinking, in one of her recent posts, that I should start thinking about and preparing myself for Easter. I know, it is early and Lent has not even started, but it will come soon enough and preparing for Easter will make me cope with the grey weeks and days ahead. Some of this preparation will be reading about Roman history and watching I, Claudius, which I bought on DVDs recenly, because I associate Easter with Rome. Easter time is when movies about the birth of Christianity are shown on TB, but also a good deal of peplums set in the Roman Empire. It is a reason like another to rediscover this great British series. I might also buy and read the original novel, or at least put it on my reading list, as I have been wanting to read it for a while.

And this picture was taken in front of York Minster. It is a statue of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor. He was proclaimed emperor in York and I thought it fitted the topic of this blog post. And it is an excuse like another to share another picture of York.

Fighting Sunday melancholia

My readers know that I find Sundays boring sometimes. I mean they often make me feel melancholic, moreso at the the last Sunday of a month like this one and when on top of that the day is rainy. But today so far I managed to fight the feeling pretty good, via various means:

-I read a fair deal, mainly Cut Short by Leigh Russell (who has been reading this blog for quite a while now, it was about time I start reading her). Nothing like crime fiction to forget about boredom, especially on a rainy Sunday. It is also good to have time to read (I will go back to it straight after I blog this).  I don't read nearly enough these days.
-I watched a bit of I Claudius on Youtube, which is nice to rediscover. I love British soaps when they are set in Ancient Rome and are murderous enough.
-Have a big hearty breakfast with peanut butter (Skippy as I cannot find Kraft here). Food melancholia is often the worst kind of melancholia, so it is nice to have something that is akin to what I find at home.

It appears that I blog lists these days. And that my posts are a bit trivial.