Again in his letter to T. E. Lawrence, Graves declares about I, Claudius: "The writing is definitely not high-pitched but the sort of writing to be expected from the man we know Claudius was.

It is a very modest book, and full of anecdotes because people like anecdotes." Graves works at two levels in his novel. One is the popular level; nearly every critic takes pains to point out that Graves has said that 1, Claudius was meant to be a best-seller. Yet, Graves also is a conscientious writer who chose the subject of the novel because it interested him. Thus, I, Claudius is not just a sensational account of Roman depravity but an attempt to be honest with readers and produce a work suited to "the man we know Claudius was." On the second level — "literary" as opposed to "popular" — Graves is a very self-conscious artist...