Claudius /

An Oxford don and author of Tiberius the Politician (CH, Apr'78), Levick offers an up-to-date, scholarly, but also heterodox interpretation of Emperor Claudius. Normally (i.e., outside Robert Graves's well-known novels), Claudius is regarded as an indifferent politician but an outstanding administrator. As becomes clear in her epilogue, Levick aims to turn this view upside down. In six chapters she argues that Claudius showed consummate skill in gaining and holding onto the throne; in eight more, Levick asserts that his administrative measures were not parts of larger schemes but, usually, ad hoc responses to immediate stimuli. Her political interpretations, however, are invariably speculative and sometimes obviously erroneous. The main value of this work lies in the discussion of Claudius' policies: domestic and foreign (the eight maps included are helpful but not always distinct enough), legal, financial, and religious. Best suited to graduate students and faculty, and to be used with caution by them. -M. G. Morgan, University of Texas at Austin

The first major biography of Claudius in English in half a century. Levick (Ancient History/Oxford) veers far from the image made popular by Robert Graves in I, Claudius, depicting the Roman emperor not as a reluctant ascender to the throne but as a crafty politician who--having only limited support from friends and the Praetorian Guard at the time--used ""bread and circuses"" aimed at placating the plebians, and the military conquests of Mauritania, Lycia, Thrace, and Britain to bolster his position. Political motives were also, according to Levick, behind Claudius' granting Roman citizenship and opening the Senate to provincials; in addition, she finds his allegiance to republicanism suspect, believing him dedicated to monarchy. Though written in a somewhat murky and academic style, this biography, then, should appeal mostly to those with a serious interest in classical Rome. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.