Claudius
by Douglas Jackson

Release Date: 16th Jul 2009
Publisher: Corgi
ISBN:
RRP: £12.99

Good writer, wrong "song" choice...

Final instalment of this two-part series set in the turbulent era of the Romans. After the assassination of Caligula, Claudius was pronounced the new Emperor of Rome, however, his enemies were not convinced of his right to rule and in the inimitable wisdom of his freeman servant, Narcissus; Claudius sets out to conquer Britain – a feat no other Emperor has achieved. The question asked on the front cover is: “can one man stand against the might of Rome?” even at the end, this remained ambiguous.

Rufus, of course, is again central to events as he and his elephant are summoned to Britain as part of the invasion troops, although he is far from supportive. Then, there is the daunting figure of Caratacus, a king of Britain who would unite the Britons against the attacking Roman army. As ever, Narcissus is stalking around the background, playing his infernal political games; but we don’t see much of Claudius. His character is relegated to background noise on the scale of a mouse squeaking. Disappointing if you were expecting something more, but understandable if he really was an non-descript in life as his is depicted in Jackson’s Claudius.

Claudius lacked the shock factor that wowed us in Caligula – it could be that Jackson lost his taste for the pornographic violence that was strewn through the first in this series, or perhaps it was deliberately toned down. Whatever the reason, the battle scenes and odd moment of human sacrifice lacked any real imagination; there are only so many times one can hear the phrase “through blood and bone” before it gets old. Narcissus’ political intrigues were not as intriguing, Caratacus failed to live up to our expectations after Cupido and Rufus not only got too lucky but also managed to slay crucial players.

Jackson then, delivers a decent enough romp if not quite up the standard we anticipated after Caligula. It may have been as well to skip Claudius’ dull triumph over Britain and go straight for jugular, allowing us to embrace the madness of Nero who follows in his wake.