01E01 - A Touch of Murder

In 54 AD, elderly and lame from birth Emperor Claudius is writing his biography and the history of his family. He recalls an encounter with the Sibyl, who recognizes him from his stutter and tells him that his account will be famous in 1900 years time. Back in Rome in 24 BC, Emperor Augustus is celebrating the anniversary of the battle of Actium, when he and his friend Agrippa defeated Antony and Cleopatra. However, now Augustus is tipping his young nephew Marcellus as his heir. This displeases the emperor's wife, the formidable Livia, who wants the succession to pass to her son from her first marriage, Tiberius, even though Tiberius believes that Augustus dislikes him. Agrippa is also annoyed and leaves Rome. When Marcellus falls ill Livia insists on nursing him and he dies soon after, as she has clearly poisoned him. This provokes a riot among the citizens but it is quelled by the return of Agrippa, who calms the crowd down. A grateful Augustus gives Julia, Marcellus's widow to Agrippa as his wife, which once more angers Livia, seeing the union as yet another obstacle to her ambitions as there was once a time when Julia and Tiberias seemed destined to be married.