I, Hottie

“I, Claudius” is one of my Desert Island DVDs. I’m watching it again for the the umpteenth million time, except that this time I’ve ripped it to my computer. No more scratched discs. Hurray!

So let us celebrate ancient Roman hottie Marcellus, who doesn’t survive even one hour with Livia! I’m always a sucker for a man in a toga.

“Livia, now, was accused of having caused the death of Marcellus, because he had been preferred before her sons; but the justice of this suspicion became a matter of controversy by reason of the character both of that year and of the year following, which proved so unhealthful that great numbers perished during them. And, just as it usually happens that some sign occurs before such events, so on this occasion a wolf was caught in the city, fire and storm damaged many buildings, and the Tiber, rising, carried away the wooden bridge and made the city navigable for boats during three days.” (Dio Cassius)

LIVIA: “I shall move my room next to yours and I shall prepare all your food myself. You’ll see what dainty little things can be served up to to tempt a weak appetite”

MARCELLUS: “That’s very good of you”
LIVIA: “No, no, my dear. Goodness has nothing to do with it.”

I hope Livia at least ravished the boy before she finished him off! Alas, Robert Graves is silent on the subject. Read more about Hunky Marcellus at Wikipedia.