Drusus Nero

The death of Livilla at the hands of her mother in the series "I, Claudius" seems pretty believable to me. All her adult life Antonia (Livilla's mother) had tried to live as a proper Roman matron should. And I think when such a serious situation as this cropped up (Sejanus attempting to take over the state) she didn't want her family's good name to be open to scorn and abuse by the public. I think she was also ashamed to think of what Drusus might have thought his daughter's actions?.

Of course it can't be proved "beyond reasonable doubt", as the lawyers say, but my money's on Livia. Now obviously she couldn't have murdered him herself, but, it is/was possible for her to have had someone on the inside . Maybe working as one of Germanicus' household staff?, it's something we can never be 100% sure about, but it's one method worth considering.

Yes, I must say, Barbara Young was never a conventionally beautiful woman . Although, in my opinion at least, Sheila White was quite attractive .

Yes, Patricia was very good as Livilla, she really brought the charcter to life .

I must admit, I haven't watched that bit of the series in a while, but it's all good . There's something that has puzzled me about Caligula's early years . Do you think he was a degenerate right from the start or was it the influence of Tiberius after he went to stay with him at Capri that finally corrupted him?. He was a strange child if his portrayal in the series is any to go by .

Let's see if my memory serves me right . Wasn't one of the objects a tankard?, of course, I could be wrong .

Yes, I remember, didn't he play Livia's private secretary?.

I heard he (Castor) bore a very strong likeness to a famous gladiator of the time .

Salve, DN! I guess it was Tiberius. Yes, you're right, it was Tiberius .

"You know, that family is begining to resemble a Greek tragedy" Who spoke this quote that summed things up perfectly about Julia's family?.

Wow, you're all so good!. As Livia might say "You have made a study of it".

Here's a good one, mind you, it might be a bit vague. Pallas once gave someone this advice "What can a dead man do?. Go and get buried", but who was he talking to?.

I don't know if anybody else notices little mistakes in a film or T.V. programme that, for one reason or another, were left in the final edit?. For example there's a bit in "I, Claudius" that I don't think was meant to be seen. After Sejanus has come back from visiting Tiberius at Capri, he is talking to Livilla about marrying her daughter Helen, and Livilla has a goblet of wine in her hand. Anyway, she goes to put it down on the table but misses at first, then tries again. There's another bit when Sejanus is talking to a senator, and just a split second before Castor enters the room, you can see the actor giving Patrick Stewart his cue to turn around.

I think both Herod and Postumous offered him a handkerchief?.

I seem to recall Augustus wasn't so much pruning the roses as slaughtering them .

The reason I choose my name is because Drusus Nero was a very talented commander in the field, as well as being the father of two of the most famous men in Roman history. I mean of course Germanicus and Claudius. Not forgetting to mention, being the son of Livia, mother of the country. If his life hadn't been cut short , who knows what glorious victories he might have brought back to Rome?.

It's straying off the subject a bit, I heard once about a character called Falco in a series of books set in ancient Rome, but done in a sort of Philip Marlowe style private detective novel. That idea sounds quite amusing!.

What about a biography of Sejanus?, that might be an interesting read .

I think "I, Claudius" is the best Roman drama I've seen on Televison, every episode is a gem . And you just gotta love the title theme music .

I don't know if anybody else used to watch the T.V. programme "Xena: Warrior Princess"?, but I'm amazed at all the great moments in history the writers of the show had her involved in . I've just bought series one on DVD, and in one of the episodes she helps out the Trojans against the Greeks ( aren't they her own people? ) during the siege of Troy, needless to say in the end she comes out triumphant. And in one of the later series, if my memory serves me right, she is crucified on Caesar's orders because she was one of the pirates who kidnapped him as a young man. I really enjoy watching the episodes and wondered if anyone else liked it too? . The writers put Xena (and Gabrielle) at the heart of some of the major historical events of the ancient world and made it into good entertainment, which is not an easy thing to do. Incidently, what does everyone think of the rumoured lesbian subtext between Xena and Gabrielle in the episodes, were they or weren't they?.....

This was a great series, Drusus - I remember quite a few of the plays. However, they didn't follow in a sequence, week by week, but were put on quite at random over a period of about three years, I think. There were many enjoyable ones, but my own particular favourite was the Antony and Cleopatra with Colin Blakey and Jane Lapotaire, and the late Ian Charleston as Octavian. Yes, Augusta, I liked that one as well .

Does anyone else remember the Shakespeare plays the BBC put on in the late 70's and early 80's ?. Needless to say, my favorites are the Roman ones , with Julius Ceasar being the one I liked the most. Although I wasn't old enough to watch them at the time, as I was born in 1975, my local library still have copies of them for hire. The whole series of plays were quite enjoyable to watch, but, like me , I'm sure everyone has their own particular favorites. I'd love to know if the plays were ever shown over in the U.S.?, because I believe there's a channel called BBC America in the states which is where they show British programmes?.

I loved that bit in the film when Nero started to read Petronius' last letter to him . It was amazing how fast his attitude changed towards his late friend.

Oh my, * mops fevered brow* I never thought of our distant ancesters doing "the wild thing" before . I might have to go and lay down in a darkened room .

I think Tiberius was pretty bad in his later years. But I wonder how much of his behaviar can be blamed on Sejanus influencing his decisions?.