Some works of art invite reappraisal over time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve re-read (and re-purchased) Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or listened to the Sondheim shows of the 1970s and 1980s, or watched Auntie Mame, The Women, and Sunset Blvd..

Two weeks ago I ordered the new BBC radio adaptation of I, Claudius off of Amazon.co.uk (the US version isn’t due out until April). It stars Tom Goodman-Hill as Claudius,

Harriet Walter (from Law & Order UK) as Livia,

Tim McInnerny as Tiberius,

Samuel Barnett as Caligula,

and (in a casting coup) Derek Jacobi as Augustus.

I’ve only listened to the first two episodes (out of six), but it is fantastic. My favorite moment so far is the death of Claudius’s brother Germanicus by witchcraft.

Let’s set the scene: Livia, of course, always wants to clear the decks so no one can stand in the way of her son Tiberius. Augustus, who had been making noises about “restoring the republic”, has died at age 75 (just don’t touch the figs). Germanicus and Claudius are the children of Livia’s other son Drusus from his marriage to Antonia (the daughter of Mark Antony). The highly popular Germanicus has been recalled from his legions in Germania, and has been sent to Syria. The governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, is corrupt, and Germanicus is about to clean house, but suddenly and mysteriously falls ill.

Germanicus is convinced that it is witchcraft, so he orders the sacrifice of nine puppies to Hecate. The household slaves find incredibly gruesome items hidden in the house: a baby with horns tied to its head; a dead cat with wings growing out of its back; and a black man’s head with a child’s hand in its mouth. “And with every one, a lead tablet with Germanicus’s name written on it. His name began to appear on walls, scrawled upside down; and every day, shortened by one letter.” As Claudius relates this, you can hear in the background the disturbing voice of a small boy, spelling out G-E-R-M-A-N-I-C-U, and so on.

PS: Germanicus’s seven-year-old son Caligula announces that he is not afraid of witches. Hmmm.