I, Claudius/YMMV

• Alas, Poor Villain: The show has this in spades. Livia, who's destroyed countless lives to ascend to godhood, is reduced to a pitiable old woman on her death bed whom the main character (whose father, brother and friend she's killed) can't help but feel sorry for. Sejanus has slandered and murdered decent people in his quest for power, but after seeing what happened to his kids, you can't help but feel bad for him. Caligula richly deserved his death, but it's hard not to feel a twinge of sadness when you consider that he was (probably) suffering from a mental illness that clouded his thinking. Also, his wife and kid get brutally slaughtered.
• Complete Monster: Caligula and Nero. Caligula even gets this as his nickname from Livia, his great-grandmother, who repeatedly refers to him as "Monster." In a sort of weird, affectionate way.
• Crowning Music of Awesome / Ear Worm: The main theme.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: While Claudius wasn't quite the idiotic Jerkass that contemporary historians portrayed him as, he probably wasn't quite as cuddly as Derek Jacobi's portrayal either.
  • Of course, the books' (and show's) conceit is that it's Claudius's secret memoir. Not surprising he comes off well. Read between the lines, and basically his story is: He let his wives and freedmen manipulate him, he judicially murdered lots of people (including some close relatives) on the flimsiest of evidence, he handed Rome over to a psychotic--but he meant well!
  • Also Augustus. He's a borderline Bumbling Dad, which is very much at odds with his generally agreed status as a cold Magnificent Bastard. There's a bit of justification in that the series is showing him in private life, but it's noticeable that he's completely taken advantage of by Livia, not in Unholy Matrimony with her, which would be much more in line with his reputation.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Somewhat justified, as the author was using contemporary accounts that were all slanted to gain favor with various Emperors.
• Jerkass Woobie: Livia, in her final moments.
  • And Tiberius, as much as an asshole as he is, it's kind of hard not to pity him when he learns that his son had been murdered by his allegedly "trustworthy" advisor. Also he never really wanted to be emperor in the first place and was pushed into it by his mother...whose plans necessitated forcing him to divorce the woman he was deeply in love with.
• Magnificent Bitch: Livia. Four words: "Don't touch the figs."
• Moral Event Horizon: Messalina crosses this when her schemes drive Appius Silanus to his death.
• Older Than They Think: The cruel use of Exact Words on the family of the protagonist of Gladiator to allow for his son to be murdered and daughter raped is what happens to Sejanus here and in history prior to his execution.
• Special Effect Failure: The assassination of Caligula shows how theatre actors stab someone and make it look real. Unfortunately, this is television.
  • For that matter, it applies to most of the murders.
• Squick: Caligula... Just Caligula. Incest. Eating babies. Groping his great-grandmother. As she herself puts it: "Little Monster."
• Values Dissonance: Antonia, although her actress stated that her behavior is largely due to the time period in which she was raised.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The makeup used to age Derek Jacobi, which is even more impressive now that we know he aged to look exactly like it.
• The Woobie: Derek Jacobi's portrayal of Claudius clinches it.