Claudius
by Douglas Jackson
Reviewed by Coral
After rising to the Imperial Throne after the assassination of Caligula, Claudius now looks for military glory to bolster his image. Using a flimsy excuse of helping a defeated tribal leader reclaim his title Claudius sends troops to Britain.
Among the imperial troops is Rufus, still a slave and keeper of the Emperor’s elephant. Both Claudius and his spy Narcissus believe the elephant will be the perfect weapon to terrorize the British tribes. The enemy they face is Caratacus, who seeks to unite as many of the fractured British tribes as he can to defeat the Romans. Against this unprecedented resistance, will Claudius find the victory he seeks? There are some books where it is hard to cheer for the Roman protagonists, usually the ones like this book where it focuses on them expanding their empire through conquest. This isn’t helped in this book by the fact that I have read a book focusing on these events from Caratacus’ point of view and liked that book better. I also think the book was trying to do too much in too short a book. We had brief glimpses of Claudius’ wife Messalina and hints at the scandal that would engulf her, but it wasn’t enough. For a book titled Claudius, I felt there wasn’t enough time spent with him. As I am also reading Simon Scarrow’s books set during Claudius’ British conquest, it is hard not to compare the too. I found this book easier to read, I like the author’s style of writing a little bit better. Grade: B
