I, Claudius - An Analysis of Nero

Of course; Caligula would always rewrite the past, and edit out anyone but himself...

 

Just like those statues he beheaded later on and replaced the heads with his.

What about Livia and Martina, how martina thought Livia had poisoned her and Livia said it was "only wind"?

IIRC, Claudius is made a member of the Senatorial order during the reign of Tiberius, though Tiberius never takes him seriously. Also, the interaction between haterius and Gallus during Tiberius reigns is one of the most amusing parts of Graves' novels which I wish we could have seen.

 

Some Justice

Tiberius has settled into his reign. It's a subtle display of continuity that we've already seen: he does perform a certain amount of work, but you can tell that he's more than happy to let somebody else do the "real" legwork and therefore he can just coast and earn the rewards. He did it before when Livia plotted, schemed, and poisoned a path for his succession, and all the while Tiberius himself seemed to spend more time bitching about the lack of respect he got from Augustus (and even Livia herself). And so he's now doing it again with Sejanus working overtime with treason trials and arrests of powerful figures, carefully weeding out his Sejanus's own enemies, and Tiberius merely rubber-stamps every one of Sejanus's actions.

It seems like there's a brief moment when Tiberius scoffs at the general who was overheard to be paying too many accolades (sp?) to Germanicus's refusal to challenge for the throne. He knows what it means to be a retired Military Man, so you sorta get the vibe that he doesn't want to deal with any more punitive actions over something so trivial, even if it's a jab at himself. But all it takes is Sejanus mentioning that Agrippina was at that party, and Tiberius's button gets pushed yet again (it's brilliant that Sejanus is able to redirect Tiberius's hate for her into the general's arrest).

Piso & Plancina are only in this one ep, but it's a big story that sets the tone for how we view Tiberius for the rest of the series. He still seems to be a lot like a bull being steered through the chute by Livia/Sejanus, but he'll step up and wield his power when he needs to, whether squaring off with Piso or finally putting Livia in her place. The man's easily led, but he's just as corrupt and ruthless as the next guy (well, the next guy was Caligula, after all, so maybe that comparison should be taken with a grain of salt. )

Livia's meal with Martina is pure win. I love it that for once Livia drops the aristocratic attitude and just talks shop as a fellow poisoner. And I do love that she just blows off Martina's worried look that she's just eaten more of Livia's trade. And I also love what this scene means: that even though she's old and frail, she's still sharp as a tack and succeeds in making an end run around Tiberius by plucking Martina away.

My favorite episode is coming up next...

 

One thing we haven't commented on: the sheer brilliance of Patrick Stewart as Sejanus. It's wonderful how he "manages" Tiberius.

 

Agreed. Any time I watch this show, I don't see ANY hints of Jean-Luc Picard or Professor X or Ebeneezer Scrooge. (Which is how it should be when watching a performer with so many famous roles to his/her name.) The dude's just that good.

 

I actually had no idea it was Patrick Stewart until afterwards, and then I just happened to notice the slight resemblance.

Castor calls Sejanus a corrupt small-town policeman and I must agree. And Graves' novel has a wonderful metaphor assigned to Sejanus. Apparently Sejanus was such a good general of lies that he could marshall them in a displined fashion so as to survive any skurmish with the truth. He's such an out-and-out baddie that you want to cheer for him.

 

Stewart shows why he became a great big success later on.

 

The casting director of this mini-series had a sharp eye for talent.

Parlour game: how would you recast it today?

Angelina Jolie as Livia? Or maybe Kristin Scott Thomas? Charlotte Rampling?

 

He starts to bald during the series, Jello. And trust you to come into an ancient Rome thread with a comment about Patrick Stewart's hair rather than something actually intelligent.

Oh, and Zaz, they're re-doing the series from what I hear. And I doubt Jolie would have the necessary gravitas to play Livia.

Queen of Heaven

Characters: Lollia, Agrippina, Antonia, Livilla, Caligula, Sejanus, Castor, Herod Agrippa, Claudius, Helen, Silius, Livia, Thrasyllus, Varro
Titus Camilla (?)
Summary:

At a dinner party, Lollia treats her distinguished guests to a performance by the most bellyrific dancer in all of Syria. Claudius, enthralled by heaving bosom, enthusiatically applauds. After extolling the dancer's talents, Lollia launches into a lurid tale of sex, lies and Tiberius. When her mortified husband Titus tries to dissuade her from speaking about this in front of their friends, she insists that her guests- being important Romans- are the very people who should hear it. Rising from her couch, she narrates a disturbing account of a palace summons. Tiberius, enamored of her daughter Camilla, invited the young girl to the palace. Lollia accompanied her- unbeknownst to Titus. The emperor met them in a special reception room embellished with erotic motif. The decor and Tiberius' penchant for slave-stroking proved too much for Camilla's virginal eyes. When she burst into tears and asked to leave, Tiberius berated her for being a tease. Lollia struck a deal with Tiberius: if he were to allow Camilla to leave unharmed, she would offer herself to Tiberius in place of her daughter. Tiberius accepted. Lollia was subsequently "subjected to acts of such filth, abominable filth; to bestial obscenities with him and his slaves of both sexes" that she can no longer live with herself.
So, in front of her distressed husband and friends, she determinedly stabs herself to death.

Cut to the crowded streets of Rome, where Tiberius' conveyance runs into difficulty. While the mob makes way for the emperor, Livia's litter practically broadsides Tiberius creating a traffic jam. Livia seizes the opportunity to needle her son.

A frustrated Tiberius enters his office demanding that Thrasyllus chart a horoscope for Livia. He wants to know how much longer he has to put up with her. Sejanus smoothly suggests that the horoscope would make the perfect birthday present. Thrasyllus retreats to interview Livia. Sejanus, being a narc, presents Tiberius with a portfolio containing verbatim conversations of potential conspirators. When Tiberius displays a lack of enthusiasm for additional treason trials, Sejanus selects Silius Sisinna's scathing sentiments. Tiberius makes excuses for the old general, maybe he was a little drunk replaying his war days. Sejanus now plays his ace: the remarks were spoken in the presence of Agrippina. Tiberius goes Agri-spastic. Caligula relieves the tension of moment, by bestowing upon his great uncle a rare illuminated manuscript of the finest porn. As Tiberius and Caligula lose themselves to the erotica, Sejanus looks on in disgusted dissapointment. The royals don't even notice his departure. On his way out Sejanus strong-arms a senator to subpoena Silius on a charge of treason. As the senator uses the "no precedent" excuse to avoid the unpleasantness of prosecuting a war hero, Castor comes along. He insults the sycophantic Sejanus who takes out his repressed rage on the senator, who can no longer refuse the case.

Castor feuds with his father over Tiberius' scunner of Germanicus and Agrippina, as well as the growing dependence on Sejanus. Tiberius plays patriarch, castigating Castor's carefree cavorting while presenting Sejanus as the paradigm of proactivity. Castor admits that Sejanus is a hard worker, but that if Tiberius thinks that Sejanus is working for anyone other than himself, he's mistaken. Statues of Sejanus are appearing all over the city, miniatures of the one in Pompey's theater. Castor worries that when Tiberius is gone, all of Rome will be subject to Sejanus. Demanding Cas

 

"At a dinner party, Lollia treats her distinguished guests to a performance by the most bellyrific dancer in all of Syria. Claudius, enthralled by heaving bosom, enthusiatically applauds. After extolling the dancer's talents, Lollia launches into a lurid tale of sex, lies and Tiberius....So, in front of her distressed husband and friends, she determinedly stabs herself to death."

One of the times where the mini-series improves upon the book.


"A frustrated Tiberius enters his office demanding that Thrasyllus chart a horoscope for Livia. He wants to know how much longer he has to put up with her. Sejanus smoothly suggests that the horoscope would make the perfect birthday present. Thrasyllus retreats to interview Livia. Sejanus, being a narc, presents Tiberius with a portfolio containing verbatim conversations of potential conspirators. When Tiberius displays a lack of enthusiasm for additional treason trials, Sejanus selects Silius Sisinna's scathing sentiments."

Good scene showing how Sejanus is subverting the system for his own ends.

"He says he loves her too much to risk a charge of adultery, hint hint. Livilla, desperate to keep her regular bedtime snack, pledges to kill Castor if Sejanus will supply the poison. Sejanus suggests slowly increasing the doses of the potionand promises to divorce his wife and marry Livilla."

The scope of Sejanus' ambition becomes apparent.

"Claudius encounters Castor & Herod in the forum. For the first time in seven years (at Caligula's pyrotechnics when she told Claudius that if he did'nt have a bucket he should piss on it.) he has heard from his grandmother. Livia has sent Claudius an invitation to her b-day bash. He is decidedly nervous and must now find a suitable present. Castor snidely recommends a bust in a nearby stall- it's the Pompey theater Sejanus. When Herod offers to buy one for Claudius, he declines and chides him for being so obvious. Some friendly banter ensues. Herod agrees with Claudius that Castor is not looking well. As Castor shrugs it off, they encounter Silius Sissena surrounded by armed guards. Varro, explaining that he is prosecuting C. Silius in the senate for treasonous remarks, gruffly orders Castor to stand aside. "I'm on state business and may not be interefered with even by the emperor's son." Forward march."

The scene starts out funny, and becomes serious.

"After she dissmisses the astrologer, she turns her acid charm on Caligula. "What are you grinning about, Monster?" She continues to taunt Caligula, sprinkling little droplets of Caligula's secret past in Claudius' clueless presence. When Caligula questions the wisdom of revealing his deep dark secret to Uncle Claudius, Livia reasures him by insulting both of her guests. Claudius, is such an old fashioned phenom- he will keep his oath to protect his brother's children, even if one of them is a parricide. It has been prophesied that Claudius will one day avenge Caligula's death, so even if Caligula finds him completely useless he can not do away with him. Caligula, not finding that prophecy much to his liking, takes his leave. But not before he locks lips with Livia and gives her the great-granny-grope."

A shocking scene even today.

"Agrippina acts rather like the angry fishwife in this episode, standing up to Tiberius for the sole reason she has the protection of Livia. One thing that they left out in the scene with her and Tiberius is how she wants to get married to Gallus, who Tiberius hated because he married his former wife Vipsania. It's also interesting to note how Tiberius was convinced by Sejanus that Agrippina was the head of the Leek Green party who were intent on destroying Tiberius, it had something to do with the chariot races as Leek Green was Germanicus' colours."

Agrippina is fairly clueless; she won't (and doesn't) survive without Livia.


"The other is Claudius' marriage to Sejanus' sister, Aelia. I did mention before that Sejanus tried to get his daughter married to Claudius son Drusillus before Livia murdered him by choking him and stuffing a pear down his throat, so it

 

She almost tries to kill Claudius though, she has her hands around his throat and he says "that tickles". And I am aware of the whole Numatina thing, but you did a good job of explaining it.

Agrippina knows she is under Livia's protection though as Claudius told her to go to Livia.

One thing I haven't mentioned is about Thrasyllus' prophecy, need I say who it is really about? IIRC this is set 33 CE.

 

Queen of Heaven

And thus Livia meets her end, not with a bang but with a wheeze.

The BBC's makeup dept did a pretty good job, IMO, on the old-age makeup that Sian Philips wears as an ancient Livia. She really does look like an elderly woman.

The dinner scene between Livia and Claudius is just spectacular. I'd like to add a few more lines:

Claudius: ...He's certainly no fool.
Livia: He's the biggest fool in my family. I had always thought that that was you... but I think now that I was wrong.
Claudius: Grandmother, after all these years, you didn't invite me here just to tell me this.
Livia: [grins] Wine has made you bold, hasn't it?
Claudius: You said you kept in with Caligula because he was to be the next emperor...
Livia: [grinning wider] Lost your stutter too, I see.
Claudius: ... but if by then you're dead, what difference could it make to you??

This scene is my fave for one reason: at this moment Claudius and Livia are finally speaking to each other as equals. And far from being angry or intimidated, Livia is amused, possibly even relieved. For the first time, Livia's found her true equal, and she knows it. Again, she knows about the Sybilline scrolls, so she does in fact know that Claudius will someday gain the throne, but perhaps this is the moment where she realizes that he really IS smarter than she believed and wily enough to survive. Wily enough to become emperor and thus prove the Scrolls right yet again. (Of course, her relief could simply be explained that she's simply glad that she made the choice to have him at dinner in order to extract his promise, but I'm sticking to my earlier statement .) One other thing that the book mentions was her bequeathing him thousands of gold pieces in her will, presumably after they've had the dinner and she changes her opinion of him. Tiberius dosn't pay it, of course.

In a way, it might have been interesting if Pulman had filmed a scene of Claudius reading over the scrolls in private. He never mentions the scrolls again until ep 13, so you are left with the impression that he's blindsided by the things that come. But perhaps this wouldn't have worked if the viewing audience was contstantly reminded of future events. It probably would have defeated the great shock value that comes upon future plots and character development, so I guess it's just as well that the scrolls go unmentioned again until the very end.

Castor meets his own end, but I don't feel much sympathy for him. Spoiled Rich Kid gets offed by Even More Spoiled Rich Girl and her Ruthlessly Ambitious Lover. And Sejanus inches that much closer...

Scott Thomas is a little too old, but she'd make a good older Livia. I think a good younger Livia would be Keira Knightley. She looks like she could pull off the subtle, angry face/evil eye look. My problem is that anybody cast in the roles of Livia & Claudius would have to equal Philips & Jacobi in the b-day dinner. As it stands, I just can't imagine anybody who could. So I vote 'no' to a remake.

BTW, count me in as one who considered John Hurt to be a little too old for the role, although his spectacularly over the top performance is enough to make me overlook his age.

 

I suppose this will be a good time as any to quote the books.

A hundred years of the Punic Curse

And Rome will be slave to a hairy man,

A hairy man that is scant of hair,

Every man's woman and each woman's man.

The steed that he rides shall have toes for hooves.

He shall die at the hand of his son, no son,*

And not on the field of war.


The hairy one next to enslave the State

Shall be son, no son, of this hairy last.

He shall have hair in a generous mop.

He shall give Rome marble in place of clay

And fetter her fast with unseen chains,

And shall die at the hand of his wife, DO wife,

To the gain of his son, no son.



The hairy third to enslave the State

Shall be son, no son, of his hairy last.

He shall be mud well mixed with blood

A hairy man that is scant of hair.

He shall give Rome victories and defeat

And die to the gain of his son, no son-

A pillow shall be his sword.


The hairy fourth to enslave the State

Shall be son, no son, of his hairy last-

A hairy man that is scant of hair,

He shall give Rome poisons and blasphemies

And die from a kick of his aged horse

That carried him as a child.



The hairy fifth to enslave the State,

To enslave the State, though against his will,

Shall be that idiot whom all despised.

He shall have hair in a generous mop.

He shall give Rome water and winter bread,

And die at the hand of his wife, no wife,

To the gain of his son, no son.



The hairy sixth to enslave the State

Shall be son, no son, of this hairy last.

He shall give Rome fiddlers and fear and fire.

His hand shall be red with a parent's blood.

No hairy seventh to him succeeds

And blood shall gush from his tomb.

Taken from here, which has the WHOLE book

*Brutus was rumoured to have been Caesar's natural son, this was in tacitus account and Graves' uses it but this has been proven not true as Julius was about 15 when Brutus was born.

It would have been interesting to see this somewhere in the series.

 

I remember it from the book.

I don't know if Livia thinks Claudius is an equal, exactly; but when she realizes that he's a lot smarter than she imagined, and not even interested in vengeance, because he's more interested in the truth, she's amused and interested. Undoubtedly, most of her other descendants have been disappointments, most notably Tiberius. And she realizes that because Claudius is not personally vindictive and is the old-fashioned sort, he will keep his promise to her.

 

I agree, Claudius is not Livia's equal but people do underestimate him as he intended them to do. If he was her equal, he never would have fallen head over heels in love with Messalina and allowed her to manipulate him.

 

Curiously, I was pretty certain Livia loved Augustus; which didn't stop her in the slightest.

 

I personally think that Livia didn't love anyone, Claudius describes her as completely heartless in the novel. If Livia loved Augustus, why did she poison him? And Augustus had the right idea of her in the end which is why he was poisoned. Remember the conversation he had wiuth Claudius about how you could be "wrong about people"?

 

Reign of Terror

Characters

Aelia, Junilla, Apicata, Antonia, Helen, Livilla, Tiberius, Claudius, Agrippina, Caligula, Macro, Atticus, Capito Aelianus, Asinius Gallus

Summary

This episode opens with Claudius in his study writing in his journal. He begins to tell us how the running of the empire has fallen into the hands of Sejanus, while Tiberius is at Capri. The first scene begins with Apicata paying a visit to Antonia. She is trying to convince Antonia to persuade Livilla to tell Sejanus to allow Apicata custody of their children. She tells Antonia that Sejanus and Livilla are lovers. She also claims that Livilla and Sejanus are responsible for the death of Castor, for Sejanus provided the poison and Livilla gave it to him. She claims that if she does not get her children back she will reveal this to Tiberius.
Livilla and her daughter Helen are talking in their room about the fact that Helen can no longer marry Nero because he is being banished by Tiberius. Antonia enters and Helen is told to leave. Antonia asks Livilla if it is true that she plans to marry Sejanus. Livilla admits. Antonia tells her it will never happen because they will never get the permission from Tiberius.

Sejanus goes to visit Tiberius to ask his permission to marry Livilla. Tiberius will not allow this because of Livilla's high rank, and therefore Sejanus' rank would be raised too high. He does however offer him Helen's hand in marriage.
Sejanus leaves and Agrippina enters. She discusses with Tiberius the banishment of herself and her son Nero. She taunts him, claiming that Sejanus is the real ruler not him. He proceeds to tell her that she will finally be queen, of the island Pandataria, the same island her mother Julia was once banished to. Nero will be banished to the very small island of Pontia. She spits in his face in appreciation.

Sejanus enters his home and is greeted by his children who are happy to see him, but miss their mother. Livilla soon enters and the children are asked to leave. Sejanus tells her about what Tiberius said when he had seen him. Livilla is very upset by this news, she can not believe that he would marry her daughter when he was her lover. However, he claims that their plan can still work and eventually convinces her.
The matter of the arrest of Drusus Caesar is discussed by the senate. One senator, Asinius Gallus refuses to give his permission for this act and leaves. However, the rest of the senators agree and Drusus is arrested and put in a cell in the lower palace.

Claudius runs into Gaius Caligula in the streets and tries to warn him to be on his guard. His mother and two of his brothers have been arrested, how can he not be worried? But Caligula tells Claudius he is not worried, in fact he has not been upset in the slightest about this news.
Claudius' wife Aelius visits his home to see Livilla, but stops in to see Claudius also. In her visit to Livilla, Livilla gives her a letter for Sejanus, the brother of Aelia, and tells her that no one is to read the letter except for Sejanus. They also discuss Helen, her marriage to Sejanus, and her impending health.
Claudius visits the print shop of Atticus. He is very upset because the copy of his "History of Carthage" contains elephants. He orders Atticus to redo the prints without elephants, but takes one copy for himself. Asinius Gallus enters and he and Claudius leave, discussing some of Cicero's speeches. They are stopped on their way and Asinius Gallus is arrested by the praetorian guards.
He is brought to see Sejanus, who insists that he sign a confession that he and Drusus had a conspiracy to subvert the armies of the Rhine. He refuses to sign and is beat up drastically by the praetorian guards present.
Antonia discovers drafts of Livilla's letter to Sejanus. They tell of Livilla and Sejanus' guilt in the poisoning of Castor and of their plan to assassinate Tiberius and take over the State. Antonia puts a letter explaining all this to Tiberius in Claudius' "History of Carthag

 

Ummm, I think you mean AD 31.

Antonia's decision to starve Livilla is pretty hardcore for her.

Tiberius' reasoning on making Caligula his heir just show how nuts he's gone.

Macro's "make sure she's not a virgin" comment - woah.

And Claudius gets no love as usual.

PS. I love Patrick Stewart 's facial expressions as the 'promotion letter' is read out to the Senate - slowly change from pride and smugness to complete shock.

 

Tiberius, having attained power, loses interest in it. The result, since he is estranged from Livia, is Sejanus, the sort of grubby fixer that rises high in totalitarian regimes. Sejanus obviously wants to succeed Tiberius, but Tiberius comes to believe that he wants to usurp the throne (probably impossible, due to his unpopularity). The fate of Sejanus and Livilla is a instance of getting what they deserved; but Sejanus' children don't deserve what they get, and the increasing violence and evil of the body politic is thus illustrated (Mark Antony's children all survived him, for instance).

Antonia is an innocent, but she is not a lightweight, and she proves it here.

 

Yes, I meant CE not BC. Can you change that Zaz?

The scene were Junilla is particularly horrific as we don't see it and the suggestion of it is far more powerful than the actual seeing. This is something that we come back to in the next episode with Drusilla's death.

 

Done.

 

Zeus, by Jove!

Characters Claudius, Caligula, Macro, Tiberius, Gemellus, Drusilla, Antonia, Briseis, Herod Agrippa, Lentullius, Calpurinia

Summary

Tiberius dies and Caligula proclaims himself emperor. Oops! He wasn't really dead but Macro took care of that little problem. Long live Caligula (for now)!!! .

At Antonia's villa Herod Agrippa comes for a visit. Gemellus stuffs his face.

Meanwhile back at Rome, Caligula makes some strange pronouncements. His head hurts.

Caligula is at death's door and one of the senators in a major kiss up move offers up his life in Caligula's place. Well Caligula lives so that means someone must go!! Oh and also Caligula had a slight change, he became a god. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened.

A formal announcement is made concerning Caligula's new divine status. So as not to outshine everyone- he's appearing in mortal form.

Oh, and Lentulus, now that he's alive and divine, well it's time to keep your promise- buh-bye!

Caligula has taken to hanging out in the Capitoline temple. He- Zeus, Drusilla- Hera.

Being the nice guy that he is, has his co-heir to the throne killed so that Gemellus won't have to trouble himself with the stress of ruling the empire

During this time Claudius' mother Antonia has decided to commit suicide. She's had enough. She tells Claudius to perform certain duties, but then makes sure her maid does them instead since he is such an idiot. Such a loving mom.

Drusilla, Caligula's sister slash wife is all doped up and wandering the halls looking for "Zeusie" her lover. Unfortunately for her she finds him and he decides to slice and dice her wide open because he was hungry and her baby would just hit the spot. YUK.

Analysis

If last episode was the most brutal, I'd say this was the most bloodthirsty. We have the death of Tiberius less than ten minutes into the episode, then there's that senator, Gemellus, Antonia, Drusilla and the countless others he executes. And we see their deaths in rather different lights, Tiberius' death is almost funny, Gemellus' is shocking, Antonia's is tragic in the fact she chooses it herself and Drusilla's is nothing short of horrible.

Because this is the 70's, Pullman and Wise can get away with a little more than nowadays, like Antonia's suicide, as well as not showing things that would be more gory these days, such as Drusilla's death. Drusilla's death is one of the higlights of the series, and the moment belongs not to Caligula or Drusilla but to Claudius. The look on his face is classic and kudos must go to Derek for getting it right. The suggestion of something is infititely more powerful than the actual event, due to people's imagination.

About Drusilla's death, she doesn't die this way in history. The TV series Caligula is more accurate in the way it depicts her of dying of plague, which is a sort of explaination to Caligula's sickness. And I love how this episode shows Calpunia, the prostitute and Claudius' life-long friend. Too bad he could not marry her as she was loyal to him when many othersd were not.

Memorable Quotes
Caligula: [to Claudius] Go in peace. I was thinking about killing you, but I've changed my mind.

Marcus: To tell the truth, lord, nature calls. It must have been something I ate last night...
Caligula: Don't look at me. If I decide to doctor your food, you won't have to wait until morning to find out.

Caligula: [to an unruly crowd] If you only had one neck, I'd hack it through!

Caligula: Don't go in there!

 

Zeus, by Jove!

Probably the most notorious episode of the lot. I remember reading a review of it in one of Clive James' collections of TV criticism, called--tastefully--"Caligula Eats Dusilla's Baby." Caligula thinks the child will be a threat to him, and that he can absorb its power by consuming it. Clive James comments that Caligula presented the same problem as Idi Amin--"how to knock the mad ******* off."

Caligula's grandiosity suggests bi-power disorder, complicated by being looney-tunes.

Tiberius death is a sort of black farce, and because we don't like him--he's still the Nixon of the Empire--we are not shocked. Rather the reverse.

Some historians say Caligula was a pillar of virtue until this illness, which turned his brain. I've stated my opinion on this previously; I don't buy it.

Antonia's death is rather shocking, despite the fact she is a murderess herself (of Livilla). Even so, we consider her a symbol of the old virtues. Typically, she is critical of Claudius to the end.

The death of Drusilla *is* a shock. In the book, Graves merely says she died, and he suspected Caligula of killing her; he doesn't go into details. Pullman does wonderfully with this scene.

In the book Claudius says Calpurnia the prostitute was more loyal, moral and sensible than the four noblewomen he married. She was a daughter of a prostitute as well, which Claudius dowered for her services.