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lein80's review against another edition
4.0
I did it! I read the first 3 books of this series in Dutch and never knew there was more... until I discovered that this summer and decided to continue in English (because I couldn't find translations). It scared me a bit, so big, and it's not that easy to read, but I did it and I really enjoyed it. Maybe there are a bit too many details from time to time, and there are some parts of the story that did not interest me too much (mainly when we are away from our main characters for a long time), but in general I really enjoyed it, found it really interesting to read more about a time period I know some things about, but not in too much details, and I'm really looking forward to the next book (which I still have to buy), because I have the feeling the story of Caesar is only just beginning and I want to know what happens next.
masterofdoom's review against another edition
5.0
So much more interesting than the latest European and American elections. You see very clearly in this novel how our justice and political institutions, made by white men for white men in the 18th and 19th centuries, were based on the Greek and Roman justice and political systems, also made by white men for white men.
abisko's review against another edition
5.0
This series is really history at its best. Caesar's Women (Book #4) continues the story and while for me, it was maybe not as exhilarating as the previous books, it was still fascinating. The personal battles, intrigue and revenge, murder and mayhem spliced with the constant and continuous reach for power. Great stuff!! 5 star book.
colinandersbrodd's review against another edition
5.0
Another great installment in McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series, and another must-read for all lovers of ancient Rome. This volume chronicles the rise of Julius Caesar and the First Triumvirate he formed with Crassus and Pompey, as well as his enemies among Rome's aristocrats (the Boni).
oneeasyreader's review against another edition
5.0
"I am going to go as far as I have to go to become the First Man in Rome for as long as I live! And after I die, I will be called the greatest Roman who ever lived!"
I am not sure if I am a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff. I am only vaguely Team Jacob. But I have absolute, utterly unshakeable, faith that you will not read a better series than the Masters of Rome:
Cicero, however, had the last word. "Incest," he said gravely to a large crowd of Forum frequenters, "is a game the whole family can play."
I stand by it.
So what the fourth book in Masters of Rome about? Colleen McCullough’s love for one Gaius Julius Caesar.
"Because he's too tall, too handsome, too successful with the women, and too arrogant by far"
Caesar is going to make it to the top of Roman politics while hiding a pilum under his toga. He needs money, he needs allies, and he needs to humiliate his opposition, whether by insults:
"You wouldn't be able to see over the heads of your military escort, though I suppose you could draft dwarves."
or by sleeping with their wives. Anyway, McCullough makes it very clear that Caesar’s great, finding ways for him to escape opponents, creditors and dead bedrooms:
“I’d rather masturbate!” he said savagely.
…and it drives the book up to the end of Caesar’s first consulship, but Caesar not why I love this book. Instead, what I love are the other characters, each so massively, irremediably, humanly flawed. As the merest, tiniest, piddliest sampling, you have Publius Clodius, the miscreant who’s 50 pages of introductory characterisation is the absolute heart and soul of this book, claiming (among other things) he committed incest with both his sisters in order to own his brother-in-law:
"Clodilla deems you a poor substitute for her little brother."
…only to later lose control of the narrative:
"Clodia? She wouldn't give me an inch!"
Cicero giggled. "Well, why should she give you an inch when I hear that you give her six of your inches regularly?"
Or Cicero, the “New Man” derided as the bumpkin, the mushroom, or the timid soul, completely unlike his contemporary reputation. Known to us for his speeches, instead he will repeatedly giggle or let out an inarticulate bleat. A man of principles to history, here is he an incurable vacillitator. Desperate to do something memorable in his year of consulship, he sniffs out (incites?) a shadowy conspiracy, only to be damned for it and forced into exile by book’s end:
"On the slenderest of pretexts, you have virtually impeached him."
Or Servila. Haughtiest of patricians; lover of Caesar; mother of a future assassin; crucifer of slaves; sampler of her half-brother’s flesh; and, according to Caesar, possessor of a delightfully hairy back.
There are other female characters, and all seem to be in the thrall of Caesar, but Servila is easily the most fully developed. Boredom directs her towards poisoning her full brother to ensure her own son inherits the “Gold of Tolosa”. Impetuosity leads her to writing a love letter that will risk Caesar's career. Domination of her son will doom him to be a “dense sheep” and a “dull dog”. Unsurprisingly, she has her detractors, including Caesar:
Cold and hard as a slab of marble.
Is she portrayed in a cliched and even misogynistic way, overemotional and easily brought back under Caesar’s sway? Perhaps. But she does a lot in the story, and she has her victories of sorts. Existing in a time period not overly ripe for deep female characterisation, she is unlikable, but we know why she does things, and she does things, rather than sit there as an object to conquer or save.
The critical thing is that the above (and more, so many more) drive the plot of Caesar’s Women. It bursts at the seams with payoffs that are inextricably linked to the actions of the characters rather than unknowable and offscreen entities. Grudges revealed in the first 100 pages will drive decisions made 700 later. Witness Clodius’ revenge on Ptolemy the Cyprian by seizing “the Cyprian” part of his title. All over the latter shafting Clodius on a 2 talent ransom. And, Caesar’s most precious woman, his admittedly underwritten daughter Julia, provides the key to ensuring a key alliance:
He ventured a question about what she did with her days (who cared about her days-what did she do with her nights when the moon rode high and her chariot took her to the stars?)
There are no other hills to be conquered, no other ditches to be leapt, no other books to be read. When I die, build a pyre and fuel the flames with the books from this series so that I may ride to literary Valhalla where Colleen McCullough awaits.
I am not sure if I am a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff. I am only vaguely Team Jacob. But I have absolute, utterly unshakeable, faith that you will not read a better series than the Masters of Rome:
Cicero, however, had the last word. "Incest," he said gravely to a large crowd of Forum frequenters, "is a game the whole family can play."
I stand by it.
So what the fourth book in Masters of Rome about? Colleen McCullough’s love for one Gaius Julius Caesar.
"Because he's too tall, too handsome, too successful with the women, and too arrogant by far"
Caesar is going to make it to the top of Roman politics while hiding a pilum under his toga. He needs money, he needs allies, and he needs to humiliate his opposition, whether by insults:
"You wouldn't be able to see over the heads of your military escort, though I suppose you could draft dwarves."
or by sleeping with their wives. Anyway, McCullough makes it very clear that Caesar’s great, finding ways for him to escape opponents, creditors and dead bedrooms:
“I’d rather masturbate!” he said savagely.
…and it drives the book up to the end of Caesar’s first consulship, but Caesar not why I love this book. Instead, what I love are the other characters, each so massively, irremediably, humanly flawed. As the merest, tiniest, piddliest sampling, you have Publius Clodius, the miscreant who’s 50 pages of introductory characterisation is the absolute heart and soul of this book, claiming (among other things) he committed incest with both his sisters in order to own his brother-in-law:
"Clodilla deems you a poor substitute for her little brother."
…only to later lose control of the narrative:
"Clodia? She wouldn't give me an inch!"
Cicero giggled. "Well, why should she give you an inch when I hear that you give her six of your inches regularly?"
Or Cicero, the “New Man” derided as the bumpkin, the mushroom, or the timid soul, completely unlike his contemporary reputation. Known to us for his speeches, instead he will repeatedly giggle or let out an inarticulate bleat. A man of principles to history, here is he an incurable vacillitator. Desperate to do something memorable in his year of consulship, he sniffs out (incites?) a shadowy conspiracy, only to be damned for it and forced into exile by book’s end:
"On the slenderest of pretexts, you have virtually impeached him."
Or Servila. Haughtiest of patricians; lover of Caesar; mother of a future assassin; crucifer of slaves; sampler of her half-brother’s flesh; and, according to Caesar, possessor of a delightfully hairy back.
There are other female characters, and all seem to be in the thrall of Caesar, but Servila is easily the most fully developed. Boredom directs her towards poisoning her full brother to ensure her own son inherits the “Gold of Tolosa”. Impetuosity leads her to writing a love letter that will risk Caesar's career. Domination of her son will doom him to be a “dense sheep” and a “dull dog”. Unsurprisingly, she has her detractors, including Caesar:
Cold and hard as a slab of marble.
Is she portrayed in a cliched and even misogynistic way, overemotional and easily brought back under Caesar’s sway? Perhaps. But she does a lot in the story, and she has her victories of sorts. Existing in a time period not overly ripe for deep female characterisation, she is unlikable, but we know why she does things, and she does things, rather than sit there as an object to conquer or save.
The critical thing is that the above (and more, so many more) drive the plot of Caesar’s Women. It bursts at the seams with payoffs that are inextricably linked to the actions of the characters rather than unknowable and offscreen entities. Grudges revealed in the first 100 pages will drive decisions made 700 later. Witness Clodius’ revenge on Ptolemy the Cyprian by seizing “the Cyprian” part of his title. All over the latter shafting Clodius on a 2 talent ransom. And, Caesar’s most precious woman, his admittedly underwritten daughter Julia, provides the key to ensuring a key alliance:
He ventured a question about what she did with her days (who cared about her days-what did she do with her nights when the moon rode high and her chariot took her to the stars?)
There are no other hills to be conquered, no other ditches to be leapt, no other books to be read. When I die, build a pyre and fuel the flames with the books from this series so that I may ride to literary Valhalla where Colleen McCullough awaits.
lofi_signify's review against another edition
4.0
This one includes elements of daytime soap opera, as well as political intrigue, and less brutality. Thoroughly enjoyable
pearl35's review against another edition
3.0
The epic continues, approximately the period in Caesar's career revolving around Cataline to the marriage of Julia and Pompey.
stargategirl82's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0