Derek Jacobi
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 7
Language
English
Description
Rome, 30-31 CE. The ambitious Sejanus, commander of the guard, has destroyed nearly all of his enemies. Even Tiberius, now living on Capri, is in danger. When he receives a smuggled warning letter, he wonders how to stop Sejanus, who has the guard's loyalty. Caligula makes a suggestion, and the streets of Rome run red with blood.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 8
Language
English
Description
Rome, 37-38 CE. On his deathbed, Tiberius names Caligula heir to the Roman throne. Caligula promises the people bread and circuses, and a new age of prosperity seems about to begin. Then Caligula falls into a coma, awakens, and proclaims himself a god. He fears just one thing: his unborn son by his own sister..
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 10
Language
English
Description
Rome, 41-43 CE. Under Claudius's rule, the empire's finances are improving. His beautiful wife, Messalina-a marriage arranged by Caligula-bears him two children and urges him to make an alliance with Silanus, governor of Spain. A valued old friend warns Claudius to trust no one.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 12
Language
English
Description
Rome, 54 CE. Claudius marries Agrippinilla, mother of Nero and the deadliest woman in Rome. A prophecy has told him that Nero will be Rome's next ruler. Claudius knowingly seals his fate and that of his own son by naming Nero his heir. He finishes his book and buries a copy to be found centuries later.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 3
Language
English
Description
Rome, 9 CE. When Livia hears that Tiberius has a new rival, Julia's son Postumus, she quickly moves against him. Before he is banished, Postumus tells Claudius all he knows about Livia. Claudius is advised to keep playing the fool to ensure his safety; he weds in a marriage arranged by Livia.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 9
Language
English
Description
Rome, 40-41 CE. Now totally mad, Caligula has turned the palace into a brothel, complete with gambling and orgies. His lame old uncle Claudius serves as doorkeeper. With the empire in financial ruin, conspirators plot an assassination. Later, as soldiers loot the palace, Claudius hides behind a curtain.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 1
Language
English
Description
Rome, 24-9 BCE. Nearing the end of his life and surrounded by spies, Claudius, emperor of Rome, writes his family history. His tale begins during the reign of Augustus, with his treacherous grandmother, Livia, scheming to advance the career of her son, Tiberius. Her machinations prove deadly for many family members, but Tiberius's brother, Drusus, threatens her plans.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 6
Language
English
Description
Rome, 23-29 CE. Tiberius lives only for his perverted pleasures, encouraged by the monstrous young Caligula. Sejanus forces Claudius to marry his sister, solidifying his alliance with the imperial family. Livia, knowing that death is near, confesses her crimes to Claudius and reveals a prophecy claiming that he will be emperor one day.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 2
Language
English
Description
Rome, 3-5 CE. With Tiberius in exile, it seems that Livia has lost-but everyone Augustus chooses to succeed him dies inexplicably. Livia forces the emperor to face the truth about his wanton daughter. An omen hints that Claudius-a dull, awkward child with a stutter and a limp-might be more than he appears to be.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 5
Language
English
Description
Rome, 19-20 CE. Tiberius rules Rome with help from Sejanus. When Claudius's popular brother, Germanicus, dies under mysterious circumstances, the Roman people protest. A trial in the Senate is rigged to clear the emperor's name. Witnesses disappear, and Caligula, son of Germanicus, sets fire to the family villa.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 4
Language
English
Description
Rome, 13-14 CE. After decades of deception, Augustus learns of Livia's plots and writes a new will naming Postumus his heir. Soon after Livia visits the temple of the Vestal Virgins, keepers of the emperor's will, Augustus suffers severe stomach pains. With Livia's hopes finally realized, she sends Sejanus to tie up loose ends.
Author
Series
I Claudius bk. 11
Language
English
Description
Rome, 47-48 CE. While Claudius is away invading Britain, Messalina challenges a leading prostitute to a tournament of sex. She wins, scandalizing Rome, but Claudius remains in the dark. He is compelled to act when a final humiliation endangers his life. Soon after, Claudius learns that the British have made him a god.
14) Jail Caesar
Author
Language
English
Description
Jail Caesar (aka String Caesar) is a feature film that tells the timeless story of an adolescence shaped by social and political events. It charts a young man's impassioned quest for power, for the meaning of freedom and to know himself, to live his dreams, and achieve his ambitions. The film explores his struggle to survive by becoming a power broker, a manipulator and then a dictator - the genesis of a powerful man, with roots in politics, violence,...
Author
Series
The chronicles of Narnia bk. 5
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 5.9 - AR Pts: 9
Language
English
Description
The things in the picture were moving. It didn't look at all like a cinema either; the colors were too real and clean and out-of-doors for that. Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray. Through this enchanted painting, Edmund and Lucy, accompanied by their unwilling and unpleasant cousin Eustace, once again enter the magical world of Narnia. Once aboard the magnificent ship Dawn Treader, Edmund and Lucy are...
17) The Iliad
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
The centuries old epic about the wrath of Achilles is rendered into modern English verse by a renowned translator and accompanied by an introduction that reassesses the identity of Homer. In Robert Fagles' beautifully rendered text, the Iliad overwhelms us afresh. The huge themes godlike, yet utterly human of savagery and calculation, of destiny defied, of triumph and grief compel our own humanity. Time after time, one pauses and re-reads before continuing....
Publisher
Hallmark Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
2002, c1987
Language
English
Description
After the sudden death of her parents, Mary Lennox is sent from their home in India to the English estate of a distant family friend. Sad and lonely, her only interest lies in a secret garden, abandoned after a tragic accident occurred there. With the help of a local boy and Colin, her guardian's invalid son, Mary's spirit is reawakened as they bring the garden back to life.
19) The Civil War
Publisher
PBS Home Video
Pub. Date
[2002]
Language
English
Description
An epic documentary bringing life to America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. Here is the saga of celebrated generals and the ordinary soldiers. A heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one again.