'I, Claudius' Trivia Quiz

Answer: The anniversary of the Battle of Actium

The series opens with the aged Claudius, who begins to describe the gathering to commemorate the battle. Many of the main characters are pointed out to us, and the rivalry between Marcellus and Agrippa is brought to the fore.

Answer: Lentulus

He obviously believed that the Emperor was dying, and that he wouldn't need to act on his promise. Unfortunately for him (and for everyone else) Caligula recovered. Although Lentulus thought that his pledge would be forgotten, Caligula made a point of remarking that he was there, and Lentulus was there, and they couldn't both be there....

Answer: Once

Tiberius was happily married to Vipsania, but his mother had other plans. She wanted to enhance his standing by marrying him to Augustus' only child, Julia. Livia brought about the death of Julia's first husband, Marcellus, when it looked likely that he would become Augustus' successor. She also did away with Julia's second husband, Agrippa, for the same reason. As we all know, the marriage of Julia and Tiberius was not spectacularly successful, particularly as Tiberius was still in love with Vipsania.

Tiberius is unable to stay away from Vipsania, and goes to see her. It's a touching scene, especially when Tiberius says: 'I'm afraid of what I will become without you.'

Answer: Weighted dice

Claudius had a great fondness for dice, and so was very happy to receive this gift from his great friend. The dice were weighted so that whoever threw them would throw 'Venus', the highest combination, all the time. Claudius lends the dice to Caligula when the emperor was getting stroppy about being on a losing streak - and probably saved a few lives by doing so.

Answer: The noble Senator Incitatus

Yes, it's Caligula's horse that comes in next. Wearing the imperial purple, no less.

Answer: Drusus (to Livia)

Livia had a powerful ambition: that her son Tiberius should become emperor. She never considered Drusus for that role as he believed that Rome should become a republic once more. You get the feeling that Drusus had much more in the way of moral fibre and ethics than Tiberius, who went off the rails quite quickly after he lost the good influences in his life. Drusus probably wouldn't have made such an easy channel for Livia's dreams.

Therefore, Livia didn't have much love for Drusus, and he knew it. When he mentions her 'children', he was most likely referring to himself, Tiberius and to Rome. On his deathbed he remarked to Tiberius that 'Rome has a brutal mother'.

Claudius didn't have a very good relationship with his mother, although he clearly loved her. She probably loved him too, but couldn't get past his physical infirmities. As Roman matrons were expected to produce strong, healthy sons, she might have felt that she had failed in her duty as a wife and mother when she produced such a sickly child.

Tiberius resented his mother for her plotting and her ambition, and Caligula didn't really seem to show any great love for his mother either.

Answer: The Lady Livia

It's the height of irony that Livia, the great poisoner, died in her bed of old age.

Antonia killed herself, unable to live with the guilt of having to punish her daughter Livilla, who was locked in a room and starved to death following the discovery of her plans to steal the throne with Aelius Sejanus.

Messalina was executed for her numerous adulteries, which had been common knowledge to all of Rome but her husband. When he eventually found out, her days were numbered. Claudius presumably wouldn't have ordered the execution of the mother of his children, but his advisors tricked him into signing her death warrant. When delivering the warrant to the guards, Pallas tells them to offer her the dagger first. When asked why, he answers that if she kills herself they won't have to explain her execution to the emperor in the morning.

Messalina couldn't bring herself to take her own life, despite the entreaties of her mother.

Answer: Three

Silanus didn't quite react in the way Messalina anticipated: he rejected her advances, and she slaps him three times to display her displeasure. Basically, she didn't get her own way, so she had a tantrum.

Messalina's plans blew up in her face, as Silanus later tried to assassinate Claudius. He did this as Messalina had told him that her husband knew all about her love for him, and condoned it as he wanted to sleep with the wives of many senators and didn't want her to get bored in the meantime. Believing Claudius to be dissolute and depraved, Silanus resolved to kill him. He failed, and despite Messalina's pleas, he was executed. Messalina had brought about the death of her great love.

Answer: The Lady Antonia

Tiberius resented his mother Livia's machinations and ambition on his behalf, and positively despised Julia, whom he was forced to marry. He also harboured a great hatred for Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, and often accused her of twisted ambition and haughtiness. Agrippina seems to have been the model Roman matron, who took great pride in her lineage, her husband and her sons - the more Tiberius persecuted her, the more verbal she was in her condemnation of him. He later had her exiled to the island of Pandataria, where her own mother, Julia, hated wife of Tiberius, was sent by Augustus.

Tiberius' attitude to Antonia, the mother of Claudius, was entirely different. When she exposed her daughter Livilla's treason, Tiberius looked kindly on her, and described her as a noble and good woman.

Answer: Because without an Emperor, there is no Praetorian Guard

They took the pragmatic line, saying that Claudius would do nicely for Emperor, as he was harmless enough. Despite his frantic protests, they took him hostage until he agreed to take the crown.

And that is how Clau-Clau-Claudius, the great survivor, came to be Emperor of Rome...I hope you enjoyed my quiz about this wonderful series!