Chapter 1 Summary

Claudius is born into the Imperial family as a crippled child who is thought to be an idiot by his family because of his severe stutter. As he grows up, various political intrigues and assassinations sweep through his grandfather's generation, then his father's generation, and finally his own generation. Throughout it all, he is not targeted because he is considered an incompetent idiot—thus he ironically survives to become virtually the only male heir in the entire Imperial family. He watches dispassionately as Augustus dies and Tiberius, his uncle, claims the title of Caesar, and then as Tiberius dies and Caligula, his nephew, claims the title of Caesar. Claudius finds Tiberius' rule dangerous and Caligula's rule both dangerous and disgusting. When Caligula is assassinated, Claudius fears briefly for his life but is soon flabbergasted to be selected as the fourth emperor of...