Quote of the Day: I, Claudius

Richard Easton
Richard Easton
3320
 

“I, Claudius” was a wonderful BBC series based on Robert Graves’s book series. In one scene, the Emperor Tiberius finds out the head of the Praetorian Guard Sejanus has been plotting against him. His dissolute successor Caligula, wonderfully played by John Hurt, has the best lines:

Tiberius: She poisoned him with the help of Sejanus. And now they plot to assassinate me.

Caligula: People really are despicable.

Tiberius: The point is, how to arrest him. He controls the Guard. Four thousand of them. All loyal to him … not to me. His loyal servants, not mine. Castor warned me. I wouldn’t listen to him.

Claudius: Well, is there n-n-no one among them you can trust? No m-man of integrity?

Tiberius: Not that I know of.

Caligula: Isn’t that a terrible comment on our times, Uncle? On the other hand, if you can’t find a man of integrity, I always say look for a man of ambition. Find a dog who’ll eat a dog.

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  1. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo
    8:41 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 16, 2018

    Skyler (View Comment):

     

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    I loved that show, and back in the days before VCRs we declined social invitations to stay home and watch it.

    There was a dancing girls scene with bare breasts. In 1977 or thereabouts, this brief sequence was the first topless one on American broadcast TV. They got away with it because it was PBS.

    Ah, that’s why my parents wouldn’t let us watch it. I remember it being described as a dirty show back in the day.

    Stop.  Two knives in your avatar pic.  Both Bowies.  5w’s on each, please.

    • #31
  2. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo
    8:43 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 16, 2018

    James Lileks (View Comment):
    When the series hit the states I was working down South as a seed salesman for Northrup King, and manipulated my routes so I could land in a city with public TV on the weekends, just to watch “I, Claudius.”

    Geek.

    • #32
  3. aardo vozz Member
    aardo vozz
    @aardovozz
    4:46 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 17, 2018

    Amy Schley (View Comment):

    I love how TV Tropes describes the historical accuracy of the books/show: “Most of what happens is recorded in … sources. This is not the same thing as saying it actually happened.”

    Sounds a lot like a contemporary disclaimer for today’s mainstream media.😛

    <sarcasm off >

    <cynicism always on >

    • #33
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