I, Claudius (opera)

[4][5] Augustus, first emperor and head of the Julio-Claudian family, has led Rome to an era of wide expansion and social and economic growth.

His brother Germanicus and his friend Postumus, who are both candidates to succeed Augustus as the leaders of Rome, are the only ones who love him.

His death has left a power vacuum in Rome that the Senate, devoid of any ability to govern on its own after decades of humiliations and the submission, tries to fill by naming Claudius as emperor.

Leading an army on the battlefield for the first time in his life, Claudius manages to annex and pacify Britain, making it a new Roman province.

And at home, Claudius doesn't realise that the person he trusts the most is the one who most likely will betray him: his own wife Messalina.