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Rome, AD 40–41. Claudius is living with the ex-prostitute Calpurnia in meagre circumstances. Caligula has turned the palace into a brothel where he sells the wives of high-ranking Senate members to the highest bidder during sexual orgies and forces Claudius to take money at the door. As a joke, he arranges for Claudius to marry the much younger, extremely beautiful Messalina. Totally insane, Caligula makes his horse Incitatus a senator, and takes his legions on a campaign to Germany to put down an alleged rebellion and then to the English Channel where he attempts to do battle with Neptune, bringing back seashells as booty. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Dec 8, 2017 - 4 comments

Rome, AD 23/29. Claudius is invited to a dinner where the hostess, Lollia, unexpectedly relates how she was forced to prostitute herself to Tiberius, and then stabs herself. Tiberius now only lives for his perversions, in which Caligula is only too happy to join. Sejanus effectively rules the empire, overseeing continual treason trials of notable citizens and seizing their property for the crown. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Sep 21, 2017 - 6 comments

Rome, AD 19–20. Tiberius, with Sejanus' help, is ruling with an iron fist. Only Germanicus is preventing total tyranny, but when he dies in Syria under mysterious circumstances, it is widely rumored that Tiberius is behind it. Germanicus' wife Agrippina accuses Piso, the governor of Syria, and his wife Plancina of murder and treason. At Claudius' suggestion, they are tried in the Senate, so as to avoid any backroom subversion of the courts by Tiberius' agents. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Sep 12, 2017 - 4 comments

Rome, AD 13–14. Germanicus has defeated the Germans and returns to Rome in triumph. Claudius tells him of Postumus' suspicions and Germanicus passes this information on to Augustus. On a trip to Corsica, Augustus stops to see Postumus and, now aware of Postumus' innocence, promises to pardon him. Augustus privately thanks Claudius for his role in opening his eyes, and informs him that he has already changed his will to favor Postumus. Livia, ever suspicious, tricks a Vestal Virgin into letting her inspect the revised will. Soon afterward Augustus falls ill. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Sep 2, 2017 - 6 comments

Rome, AD 9. Three Roman legions have been massacred in Germania at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Tiberius and Germanicus are dispatched to exact revenge. While Claudius is in the library researching his family's history he is advised by the historian Pollio to play up his infirmities to enhance his place in his family as a harmless fool, and thus no threat to anyone. Augustus has determined that Postumus will succeed him as Emperor, but Livia overhears this. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Aug 22, 2017 - 4 comments

Rome, AD 3–5. Gaius has died and Tiberius has been banished to Rhodes for his mistreatment of Julia, who has used his absence to have a series of hedonistic affairs and orgies. One day in the garden, the young Claudius catches a wolf cub dropped from an eagle's claws, leading a seer to predict that he will protect Rome in an hour of need. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Aug 14, 2017 - 5 comments

Rome, AD 54. Knowing that he will soon be assassinated, the Roman Emperor Claudius begins a secret history of his family, planning for it to emerge long after he is dead. He begins his tale seventy years earlier, in 24 BC, as the newly-cemented Emperor Augustus begins to favour his son-in-law Marcellus over his old friend and ally Agrippa. [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Aug 8, 2017 - 31 comments