i first read the novel i and claudius and claudius the god when i be a sophomore in college . i instantly fell in love with them and it spark my interest in roman history . naturally and i jump at the chance to watch this mini series base on the book shortly thereafter . eventually and i decide to buy it and and it still remain one of my favorite dvd box set . in the mini series there be some minor anachronism and some event be out of sequence and but it still capture the political intrigue of the imperial family in ancient rome . i be not go to go into the story more than this because it get very complicate and it be very long . what really make this series stick out be the cast . sir derek jacobi lead the cast a claudius . most of the story be tell through his eye a he write a history of his experience with the imperial family and some incident that happen prior to claudius birth . some other cast member include brian bless a augustus and sian phillips a livia ( augustus wife and and claudius grandmother ) and george baker a tiberius and john hurt a caligula and and patrick stewart a sejanus to name a few . fan of british cinema will be able to pick out even more familiar face ( i can not really go into all of the cast because there be so many excellent actor and actress in this ) . what really make the story work be the interplay between the character and the almost constant intrigue that go on around the roman political scene . the best part of it be that what happen be for the most part true or at least base on the writing of historian of the time . i recommend this highly to anyone who be interested in learn about roman history and want to get their foot wet . on a somewhat amusing side note and patrick stewart ( with hair ) make out with magenta from the rocky horror picture show .