A review by rebeccatc
Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough

4.0

This 4th book in the Masters of Rome series covers the period from June of 68 BC to March of 58 BC. The Women of the title include Caesar's mother, Aurelia; his daughter, Julia; his mistress, Servilia, and his wives, Pompeia and Calpurnia. While Caesar's personal relationship to these women is part of the story, the focus is on how they impacted his political career and how he used them to further his success. Aurelia is his advisor; he uses Julia to form alliances, first when he betrothes her to Servilia's son Brutus, and then when he marries her to Pompey Magnus. During the course of the book, Caesar is elected Pontifex Maximus, praetor, and Consul, and forms the Triumverate with Crassus and Pompey the Great. McCullough skips over his time as propraetor of Further Spain, excluding the military victories to focus on his political battles with the conservative members of the boni, including Cato and Bibulus and to a lesser extent Cicero. As usual, the research that went into this and the attention to detail is staggering. Caesar himself is somewhat less dashing than he appeared in earlier books, and is so determined and indomitable that he begins to be a bit frightening. This was a heavy read for someone with little knowledge of ancient history but definitely worth the time.