I, Claudius (TV Mini Series)

Reign of Terror (1976)

Margaret Tyzack: Antonia

Quotes 

• [Antonia is sitting outside Livilla's locked door] 

  Livilla : [screaming and pounding from the inside]  Mother! Let me out! Let me out!

  Claudius : How long are you going to sit here?

  Antonia : Until she dies.

  Claudius : Dies? Dies? Have you gone mad? She is your daughter.

  [no answer] 

  Claudius : How can you leave her to die?

  Antonia : That's her punishment.

  Claudius : How can you sit out here and listen to her?

  Antonia : And that's mine.

• Antonia : What is that thing you're writing?

  Claudius : Thing? You mean my history of Carthage?

  Antonia : Yes. Is it finished?

  Claudius : Well, yes. I'm having it copied. I brought one copy home. Would you like to read it?

  Antonia : No. I will tell you what you must do. You must take it to Sejanus and ask for permission to visit Tiberius at Capri. Tell him you want to ask for Tiberius' consent to dedicate the work to him. Sejanus will allow it, I'm sure, he has nothing but contempt for you. He'll suspect nothing.

  Claudius : Thank you.

  Antonia : Those pieces of paper must be pasted into the scroll together with a letter of mine and you will tell him to open it first.

  Claudius : I didn't want to give him. It has elephants drawn all over it.

  Antonia : You are the biggest fool any mother has ever punished. Who cares about your stupid history? Nobody's going to read it anyway and certainly not Tiberius. The only way you would get him to read is to drawn naked women all over it and then he would only look at the pictures!