This series seems pretty unique in its interpretation of old Tiberius. He's vilified a LOT, so it's rare to see him presented in quite a sympathetic light.
Agreed, his presentation here reminds me of Henry the 2nd in the Devil's Crown who while a polar opposite in personality, is similar in that he was a historical ruler I did not know too much or cared about that was a very flawed person but through great writing and acting by brain Cox made me feel for him and what he went through. Andre Morell does the same for Tiberius and I really understand how much his character continues to lose his cool and stoic demeanor to the point by the end of this episode it all breaks down as he takes in just what happened and how much he is responsible for it. Really hope the uploader gets the 5th episode out so I can see that and then the final so I can finish this series proper instead of leaving it incomplete.
I couldn’t agree more. Tacitus and Dio have a lot to answer for in my opinion. As Edward Salmon pointed out in one of his works, in the whole of Tiberius’ reign (22 years) a maximum of 52 people were put on trial for treason. About half were found not guilty and for the other half it seems it was the Senate who were the ones pushing the trials through rather than Tiberius himself. 2,000 years later, no one can say for sure. Imagine, for example, that in 2,000 years time the internet has been destroyed and the only surviving account of Margaret Thatcher is from the memories of Jeremy Corbyn or something. You’re going to get a pretty one sided perspective.
The primary way that this TV Tiberius differs from the classic Tiberius is that the latter was understood as retiring to the Island of Caprae to indulge his sexual lusts in private, out of sight of the Romans. This Granada BBC Tiberius is not presented as having any of this character at all, and as simply retiring from Rome only for his sanity and political safety. I can imagine that, back in the 1960's, a TV series would have to make that adjustment to the story. But that doesn't mean I don't enormously admire this production, and in particular the performance of the Tiberius character. Shakespearean in quality.
11:19 up to 12:27 Oh my. This series is a masterpiece. Here you have an accurate, non-impressionistic explanation of how Roman legal system, lex maiestatis and informers worked. This is just gold.
55:34 The granite boulder finally cracks. Feel horrible for the father to learn that his son's death was due to his misjudgment of and underestimation of the man he thought was his partner.
I am Surprised to find this series of I, Claudius made by Canadian production Company in 1960's. lt not a Soap Opera as BBC series of 1970s yet the performances are fairly good.
according to me this series misinterpret the history again and again to make tiberius look better.they depict agripina in worst way possible altough we know almost nothing negative about her (no murders ,plots etc in contrast with others)and as guilty(altough it is a consensus that she was not ),they depict germanicus as an ambitious fool (altough if he was ambitious he could overthrow tiberius -he had a chance and he stayed loyal),they ignore majority of the trials ...no source ever recorded tiberius regreting the death of sejanus children(if it was so why he didnt order prosecution of those who didi it ?).and if the purges were only the idea od sejanus then why tiberius didnt stop them after his death?why purges stopped when tiberius died? Still it was interesting to see another interpretation and version.but while some demonize tiberius too much this series are very biased and manipulative too-only in his favor.
Agrippina was known for her ambition even Tacitus says that. Sejanus gave Tiberius a false reason to have her exiled but she was already promoting her son and this was seen as a threat to Tiberius. The series makes her too ambitious though but historically she wasn’t the smartest since he accused the emperor of murdering her husband when most likely Tiberius was not involved in it.
I’m going to add my two cents worth and say that Agrippina and Germanicus were absolutely ambitious - and she played a lot of political games, including trying to put together a party on behalf of her son. Her siblings were ambitious as well, Gaius and Lucius being the heirs-apparent, Lucius dying in Gaul, possibly murdered, and Gaius dying in the East after taking an arrow to the chest, and afterwards going insane and begging Augustus to recall him from service and let him retire. But Julilla and Postumus were both exiled by their own grandfather. Agrippina not only used her youngest son as a means of endearing the German legions to her and Germanicus, by dressing him as a little soldier, but she went by the name Agrippina, even though her name was Vipsania Julia - like her sister….specifically identifying herself with her father’s name instead of her grandfather’s - her father having the more glorious reputation with the legions. After Germanicus died, she stripped his corpse bare and laid him out in Antioch, and then she burnt his body, even though it was against the law to cremate a body within the city walls - but she wanted to associate Germanicus with Julius Caesar, the only other person to be cremated within the city limits. Then she purposefully landed at Corfu, across from Brundisium, which was the absolute furthest port from Rome, so she could wait 2 or 3 days for Brundisium to get packed full of people. Then she walked all the way across Italy, taking approximately 2 months to stop in almost every town with her dead husband and hold funeral rites. These are all the actions of a person who is trying to be a political pain in the ass to whomever is in power - even if the historians never credited her with any plots or murders. Also, she and Germanicus entered Egypt, even though it was absolutely illegal for them to do so without Tiberius’ permission, as they potentially could have stopped the grain shipments, which would bring Rome to her knees. And when Augustus died, Germanicus wasn’t in a position to just take Tiberius out. He had the loyalty of only the German legions - that was it. But the Empire had legions stationed all over the place, and the Senate supported Tiberius - who also had the Praetorians. That’s why they played that little cat and mouse game - each testing out the limits of their support. In the end Germanicus paid the legions from his own pockets - which can also be viewed as bribery, and buying legion support. And Piso and Plancina, who were blamed for his death, shamed Germanicus and Agrippina publicly at a banquet given by the Nabatean King, when they witnessed how the Emperor of Rome’s “son” was letting everyone fawn over them like they were royalty. So if you’re Tiberius, sitting in Rome…I would think this all looks very suspicious. Ok….maybe it was a little more than two cents LOL 😝
