I, Claudius Villain #2: Tiberius

[cathschaffstump]

Bryon and I are reading I, Claudius on the commute to work. At first we wondered if the book would offer up anything new. It seemed like a summary of the BBC series. However, there have been some scenes that were cut from the television production, and there have been some embellishments.

Tiberius, for example, is portrayed in some ways much more favorably in the book. Easily the most conflicted of Graves' Roman villains, Tiberius is sometimes villain against his better nature. He is quick to anger, manipulable, and tortured. He can be handled with the right influences, but once he loses the influence of his grandfather and his brother, the chief influence in his life is his mother Livia. Livia sees Tiberius as a total tool, and he becomes one. After he becomes Emperor, he tries to strike against her independently, but he is always drawn back to her political savvy and ability to manipulate him. Often, the results when he chooses not to follow her advice, show him the folly of ignoring it.

Tiberius, perhaps in frustration, gives into his baser natures. Tiberius' main motivation as a villain is that he is misunderstood, and others drive him to these bad behaviors because he cannot control them himself. He is caught in a stage 2 rebellion all his life, even when he is calling the shots.

The actor who plays Tiberius, George Baker, unsettles me. Tiberius has none of the charisma of all the other Claudius villains. He halts and jerks through lives and is painful to watch. His acts against people stem from paranoia and brutality. Baker represents the character as he should, but it's hard to watch.

Next I'll discuss Sejanus, as played by Patrick Stewart. With hair.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.