Perhaps we should change places? Only the Romans can afford ushers with a voice like that. Give me your peace Caesar, and I shall gladly give you mine. I hope we haven't kept you waiting too long. If they're so clever, why are they a province of ours instead of vice versa. What can that mean? It's a form that I've never heard of. You know Marcus, they say that he writes a sort of prose hymn. Why don't you bring in the Greek? If you keep him waiting much longer, he'll need a shave.Īs a matter of fact, he's bearded. What do you mean wonderful? Don't you like it? Oh, don't you think we're taking ourselves a little seriously tonight. Now Marcellus please, now these things mean something to us. Yes, it's the one that you made your headquarters.Īh, that must be you Marcus, the candied cherry in the prow. Let's hear what the young genius has to say. Now, now, now, Marcellus let's not argue. I just think we exaggerate its significance, that's all. I don't think it's right to make light of it. You see how the young mock the battle scars of their elders.Ī lot of good men died in that battle. "Seven years today, sank Antony and all his hopes in the harbor of Actium". That was last year and anyway the speaker was very dull. What's a matter, is it too boring for you? They say that he's the greatest orator of our time and I've asked him to prepare an oration to mark the seventh anniversary of the Battle of Actium. I want the family to see it.ĭo you know what else I've got? Aristarchus of Athens is in Rome. But this one day I think is very special.
There's too much gluttony in Rome especially at festivals. You know Marcus, I like to eat sparingly. They'll eat better even than the kitchen staff, Caesar. Don't give them the scraps and the leftovers. See they're well taken care of, they were splendid, really.Īnd see they're properly fed. I, Claudius am now about to begin this strange history of my life, of my family, of Livia my grandmother, of Augustus Caesar, of Marcus Agrippa, yes, and his hatred for Marcellus.Įxcellent! Excellent! Thallus. But for them, out there, in remote posterity. My voice, as the Sybil said, as she prophesied. And when I've finished, I'll seal it up and bury it where no one will find it. In nineteen hundred years from now they'll hear me. But when he's done, and no more here, nineteen hundred year or near, Cla-Cla-Claudius shall speak clear.
Ten years, fifty days and three, Cla-Cla-Claudius shall be given thee a gift that all desire but he. What groans beneath the Punic curse and strangles in the strings of purse before she mends must sicken worse. "Hear me Cla-Cla-Claudius", she answered, mocking my stammer. "Oh Sybil", I said, "I've co-co-come to question you about Rome's fate and mine". Her prophecies had achieved worldwide renown and she did not consent to see everyone. I went to Cumae many years ago to consult her.
I knew you would come the moment I began to write. Am now about to write this strange history of my life. who was once, and not so long ago, better known to my friends and relatives as Claudius the Idiot, or that Fool Claudius, or Claudius the Stammerer. I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, oh, this-that-and-the-other.
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