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*Thread* Remember how in Rosemary Sutcliff& #39;s The Eagle of the Ninth, Claudius Hieronimianus, the kindly yet authoritative legate (high-ranking general & senator) of the Sixth Victrix is Egyptian? Not if you only know the subsequent radio, film and TV adaptions...
Firstly, the character is based on a real person, the legate Claudius Hieronymianus of the Sixth Legion Victrix, who paid for the construction of a temple to Serapis at York in c. 190-212 (RIB 658)
In the 1977 BBC series, Claudius is played by Martin Heller. His second name isn& #39;t given, no mention of his origin is made, and, well, he& #39;s white...
Notably, his arrogant tribune, Placidus, who is of Greek origin in the book, is played by British-Indian actor Darien Angadi, who portrayed Egyptian characters (usually bad guys) in other TV series. It& #39;s almost as if the characters& #39; origins have been intentionally reversed...
In The Eagle (2011), Claudius is played by Dakin Matthews, and there& #39;s nothing suggestive of Egyptian origins here. His name has also been changed to Claudius Marcellus...
There have been two BBC radio adaptions of the book. Can& #39;t find a copy of the 1957 one, where Claudius is played by Ralph Truman, but I& #39;m expecting the aristocratic tones of a mid-20th c British army officer, which is the sort of role Truman often played...
The 1996 adaption had David McHale as Claudius ( https://archive.org/details/THEEAGLEOFTHENINTH),">https://archive.org/details/T... and here we do get the traditional, aristocratic voice of a British army officer for Claudius, with no reference to his Egyptian origins...
In short, in the original novel, one of the highest-ranking members of the administration in Roman Britain is Egyptian. Moreover, Claudius is portrayed in a positive light, esp in contrast to the haughty Placidus, and goes before the Senate on Marcus and Esca& #39;s behalf...
Yet in every subsequent adaption the character has been whitewashed, suggesting the makers of these adaptions did not feel a character of Egyptian origin could be presented in such a role...
If people had never read the original book, but had seen/listened to these adaptations, they would prob would be confused if a new version presented the character as Egyptian. The backlash over the BBC video about a black Roman soldier in Britain would suggest so...
