User:Mr. Absurd/I, Claudius

I, Claudius is a novel by Robert Graves, first published in 1934, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41.

Chapter 1
A hundred years of the Punic Curse And Rome will be slave to a hairy man, A hairy man that is scant of hair, Every man's woman and each woman's man. The steed that he rides shall have toes for hooves. He shall die at the hand of his son, no son, And not on the field of war. The hairy one next to enslave the State Shall be son, no son, of his hairy last. He shall have hair in a generous mop. He shall give Rome marble in place of clay And fetter her fast with unseen chains, And shall die at the hand of his wife, no wife To the gain of his son, no son. The hairy third to enslave the State Shall be son, no son, of his hairy last. He shall be mud well mixed with blood, A hairy man that is scant of hair. He shall give Rome victories and defeat And die to the gain of his son, no son&mdash; A pillow shall be his sword. The hairy fourth to enslave the State Shall be son, no son, of the hairy last. A hairy man that is scant of hair, He shall give Rome poisons and blasphemies And die from a kick of his aged horse That carried him as a child. The hairy fifth to enslave the State, To enslave the State, though against his will, Shall be that idiot whom all despised. He shall have hair in a generous mop. He shall give Rome water and winter bread And die at the hand of his wife, no wife, To the gain of his son, no son.