I, Claudius

Robert Graves's magnificent reconstruction of the grandeur and folly and vileness of Imperial Rome.
Into the racy 'autobiography' of the Clau-Clau-Claudius, the pitiful stammerer who was destined to become Emperor in spite of himself, Graves packs the everlasting intrigues, the depravity, the bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, soon to culminate in the deified insanity of Caligula.
I, Claudius ranks among the best historical novels of the century.