Editing I, Claudius (section)

==Literary significance==
The ''I, Claudius'' novels became massively popular when published, both in 1934.<ref>{{Cite web |title=I, Claudius : from the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, born B.C. 10, murdered and deified A.D. 54 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/6722568 |website=Worldcat entry for 1st edition of I, Claudius}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Claudius, the god and his wife Messalina; the troublesome reign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, emperor of the Romans (born B.C. 10, died A.D. 54) |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/307244 |website=Worldcat entry for 1st edition of Claudius the God}}</ref> In addition to instant popularity and enormous sales the books soon gained literary recognition; they were collectively awarded the 1934 [[James Tait Black Prize]] for fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 July 2023 |title=Fiction winners |url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/events/james-tait-black/winners/fiction |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=The University of Edinburgh}}</ref> Along with his autobiography, ''[[Good-Bye to All That]]'', they remain Graves' best known work.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 November 2021 |title=10 of the Best Robert Graves Poems Everyone Should Read |url=https://interestingliterature.com/2021/11/best-robert-graves-poems/ |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=Interesting Literature}}</ref> Graves later claimed that the novels were written [[Potboiler|only from financial need]] on a strict deadline.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Graves Interviewed By Malcom Muggeridge 1965 | date=31 March 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLuG3tM84I |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/qzLuG3tM84I |archive-date=11 December 2021 |access-date=9 December 2020 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Nonetheless, they are today regarded as pioneering masterpieces of historical fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Book Review of I, Claudius by Robert Graves {{!}} UNRV Roman History |url=https://www.unrv.com/book-review/i-claudius-book.php#:~:text=Graves'%20masterpiece. |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=unrv.com}}</ref>

At the time of its original publication, Peter Monro Jack of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote: "Mr. Graves has made a fascinating novel out of [Claudius], and of the Rome of his times a piece of first-rate historical writing."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jack |first1=Peter Monro |title=Robert Graves's Story of a Flagrant Age in Rome: 'I, Claudius' Is a Brilliant Picture of Rome During the Reigns of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula |url=https://proquest.com/docview/100916416 |access-date=30 May 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 June 1934 |page=BR4 |url-access=registration |via=[[ProQuest]]}}</ref>