| Title | : | Fortunes Favorites (Masters of Rome, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0380710838 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780380710836 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 1072 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1993 |
Fortunes Favorites (Masters of Rome, #3) Reviews
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At more than 800 pages (not counting the 200 in the glossary), Fortune's Favorites is another massive and thorough volume in McCullough's recreation of the dissolution of the Roman Republic. Unlike the first two volumes, FF opens with action and moves more quickly. Sulla, away in Asia Minor challenging King Mithridates, has to cut short his efforts to subdue the ambitious eastern potentate (I apologize, but I had to use that word at least once in my life). Leaving Mithridates far from finished, Sulla rushes home to take care of Marius' supporters.
McCullough had a tough job with Sulla. Complex and in many ways not admirable, he returns to Italy disfigured by a horrible skin condition and the effects of diabetes mellitus (those wily Greek physicians knew enough to ban honey, ripe fruit, bread, and sweet wine to save his life). He's lost all his hair and teeth. Still, Sulla is driven by his Roman pride in his dignitas, his belief in his favor by the goddess Fortuna, and his determination to right everything that's gone wrong in the Republic.
One of the main reasons FF is so much more compelling, although not a page-turner, is that now across Rome's political stage waltz, swagger, smirk, and command, a whole host of Fortuna's favorites: Pompey, self-identified as 'Magnus' (Great); Cicero; Crassus, and, most importantly, Julius Caesar.
Unlike Sulla, whom McCullough went to some effort to paint sympathetically rather than as the psychopath that he must have been, Caesar comes across as someone to admire. Perhaps McCullough liked Caesar better or perhaps the fact that more is written about this time than the period covered in the first two books. Either way, the reader comes away wanting to know about Caesar, admiring his intellect and confidence, his sense of himself and his role, and his moral rectitude. Unlike his rivals for this age, Caesar's ambition isn't narcissistic and self-serving. That's not to say he doesn't think highly of himself, only that his self appraisal is honest and more deserving.
There are also a few villains, including Antoninus Hybrida and Gaius Verres. The first finds pleasure in mutilating people, Greeks and slaves. He believes his skills are artistic and perfects them to the degree that his victims live. Verres steals art from temples and private homes, not to destroy for its precious materials but because he loves it. (Cicero successfully prosecutes him.) -
Fortune's Favorites (Masters of Rome #3), Colleen McCullough
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Picking this up for my June read in my year-long Tome Topple challenge.
***
Like the first two installments in her Masters of Rome series, McCullough's writing and research is impeccable, but sadly, fortune didn't totally favour me on this one. I felt a little bit bogged down by everything, a little bit removed and disinterested from the plot, and, if I'm honest, a little bit bored at various times throughout the novel.
I struggled right from the start - 200 odd pages of military manoeuvres and battles and tactics just didn't excite me, and I found myself itching to get back into the politics of the Roman Senate. Even then though, it took a while to bring myself to care about new-ish characters like Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, etc, because despite they're being featured in the previous instalment (
The Grass Crown), this is the first time that they take centre stage. Even Young Caesar had moments (eg. the episodes with the old king, Nicomedes) where his story failed to incite my interest. I have to admit to quite a bit of skim reading at times like this.
And Sulla! *deep sigh* Sulla was one of the reasons why I was looking forward to reading this novel, but unfortunately, even he was a bit of a let down. There's a lapse of time between the end of The Grass Crown and Fortune's Favourites to allow for his return from the Middle East to Italy, but McCullough also used it to bring on the onset of the illness that eventually ends his life. It's odd, because from memory, Sulla is fit and fine at the end of Grass Crown, yet when we meet him in Fortune's Favourites, not only is he physically changed, but he feels like a completely different character. I found it hard to recognise a lot of the qualities that I had enjoyed reading about in him in the first two novels - his complexity and moral greyness, for instance - and while this may be an affect of his horrible illness, Sulla felt like a complete stranger, and I didn't enjoy it at all.
Overall, though, it wasn't technically a bad book. It did have its redeeming moments, and as always, McCullough's level of detail is incredible. But perhaps it was because I read this after recently covering this period in my history class at uni (and therefore any element of surprised that I'd had from lack of knowledge in the first two books was removed entirely) that added to the problems I had with this giant novel. Either way, 900 pages can be a slog when you're not wholeheartedly invested in a novel, and Fortune's Favourites had the misfortune of being unable to live up to the brilliance that was delivered in The Grass Crown. -
Well, by virtue of the "I abandoned plans and other things I was supposed to be doing to curl up with this book instead" test, I grant you five stars.
Caesar is ... as Caesar is, and I think Mme. McCullough perhaps subscribes to the "Great Man of History" school of thought a little much, but I LOVED her portrait of Pompey here. It felt very realistic and explained a lot of how he behaved throughout history to say that he's essentially an outsider desperately craving the approval of people who he also doesn't actually understand or care about that much, except as suppliers of that approval. And then he's like a thwarted child when he doesn't get his way, very thin-skinned, and apt to misread all kinds of things (positive and negative).
I also found myself liking Crassus more than I thought I would. I mean, he's still a jerk, but an understandable one.
Spartacus...I don't know where to go with that. There are obviously gaps in the historical record, and I can appreciate the author filling in those gaps with a plausible story. Certainly Spartacus' meanderings all the way up and then all the way back down the Italian peninsula do not make much sense without information which is now lost, and I suppose trying to link up with Sertorius and then changing his mind once he learned Sertorius was dead makes that somewhat more cohesive. I definitely felt a bit manipulated though, like we had this big arc with Sertorius and we have to keep it all connected somehow so uh...Spartacus wants to join Sertorius! And further, he receives this key bit of information because he...captured Gaius Cassius Longinus? I have a real problem with that because THAT is something that I would expect to be in the historical record if it had actually happened, and it isn't. Longinus wasn't some no-nothing praetor like Glabrio (or whatever his name is. I can't be bothered to remember it or look it up and that's exactly my point). He's a fairly important historical figure, and I call shenanigans on this meeting ever happening. With respect to the author who specifically mentioned in her afterward that she recognizes her Spartacus obviously differs from Kirk Douglas, I think that one's a bridge too far.
Still very good though! -
The Third volume in Colleen McCullough's magisterial magnum opus about the Fall of the Roman Republic continues with a bang.
Book One and Two covered the rise of Gaius Marius and his campaigns against the Germans and how he became Consul seven times. This third book starts in 83 BC. It brings to a climax the story of Sulla and how he returned from the Campaign against Mithradates and became Dictator of Rome. But, this is also a story of the "next generation" from Young Pompey, son of Pompey Strabo, aka Pompieus Magnus and Julius Caesar.
The conflict between Sertorius, who fled to Spain to fight a guerrilla war, and Pompey and Metellus Pius (the Piglet) is covered here, as well as how Caesar is able to get Sulla to release him from his priestly duties so that he can now serve in the Legions-this will eventually lead him to fulfill the prophecy that said he would become the greatest Roman of all time, eclipsing Marius.
We are also introduced to the legal scholar Cicero. The second part of the book details Ceasar's early years in representing Rome as he deals with the Kingdom of Bithynia and deals with some pirates. All the while we are treated to the brilliance of Caesar and a sure sign that he will be a tremendously influential person in the future.
The last part of the book covers Crassus and his campaign against the Spartacus slave rebellion.
Superbly researched and well written this is a series that should appeal to anyone who wishes to learn about the Fall of the Republic. Full of information and a great glossary it will give even a novice in the Roman history a wonderful background and look at this critical time.
I can not recommend this series highly enough. Vastly informative and stupendously entertaining this is some of the best historical fiction out there. -
The third book in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome Series that began with The First Man in Rome, Fortune's Favorites covers the period from 83-69 B.C. It picks up shortly after The Grass Crown left off. Lucius Cornelius Sulla has defeated King Mithridates of Pontus and expelled him from the Asia Province, and is headed home with the intention of becoming Dictator of Rome. While Sulla's career has reached its peak, Gaius Julius Caesar has just come of age. Caesar's adventures are mythic: from military glory to being kidnapped by pirates; from battling a slave rebellion led by the ex-gladiator Spartacus, to political intrigue in the Roman Senate. Caesar is the Ancient World's version of James Bond -- he is a handsome, brilliant, fearless, womanizing rake who is also hard-working, loyal and ambitious. McCullough brings history to life in such a way that in spite of a basic familiarity with the events to come, I can't wait to see what happens next.
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Since the moment I finished Fortune’s Favorites, it has been somehow complex to know what opinion I have of it. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Do I believe that the book structure is excellent taking into account the great number of characters, locations and simultaneous events? Yes. Do I think that McCullough made a great job with the characterization of Sulla (tough job)? Yes. Do I believe that the book many times becomes over-descriptive and the narrative rhythm is completely lost? Sadly, also yes and this is not a small mistake.
Furthermore, I do not particularly like the fact that Caesar seemed to have an extreme confidence in himself since the day he was born, instead of gaining it through the years and subsequently becoming the Great Man. Hence, his character does not show any evolution, which is what you want to see in inspiring men like him. Some other authors have characterized him as an especially gifted and intelligent human being but also as an empathetic person with his loved ones and with some flashes of insecurity about the future, making him more real, more human.
All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot and I will recommend it, despite around 200 pages that could be left over if the descriptions of literally everything were less intense
4 stars -
Third in the “Masters of Rome” series. Contains an excellent and very detailed summary of the plot of the first two novels in the series and of events in an interim period between the books.
The initial part of the book concentrates on Sulla’s return from the East – raddled by skin disease and ill-health, finding consolation in alcohol but still formidable: his campaign in Italy and defeat of Young Marius; Sertorius’s escape to Spain; Pompey’s raising of an army to join Sulla; the Saminite uprising and Sulla’s defeat and massacre of them at the gates of Rome; his demanding of the position of Dictator; the initial violence of his reign in reprisals, murders and disappearances and then the institutionalisation of his reprisals on the Marians and on the Knights more generally in the list of Prescribed individuals; his methodical series of laws to restore the ascendancy of the Patricians over the Knights, the Senate over the Tribunes of the Plebs, as well as effectively aiming to prevent another Marius (or Sulla) marching his troops on Rome; and then his retirement after a year as Consul, his coming out and his last degenerate months finally living true to his real nature.
The remainder of the book concentrates on three men of the next generation: Caesar, Crassus and Pompey. Caesar defies Sulla by refusing to divorce his child bride and demanding to resign his religious post. He flees but is taken ill and captured; Sulla is however swayed to release him both by dramatic pleas from Aurelia (Caesar’s mother and long time Sulla friend) and by being told about Marius’s plot to ruin Caesar’s future. Caesar is sent to Asia – there he exceeds all expectations in befriending King Nicodemes of Bithynia and securing a huge fleet in quick time (leading to rumours thereafter that he had an affair with the King) – he then joins a siege and despite being given a deliberately front line position saves his cohort and wins the Civic Crown (making him automatically a Senator). Returning to Rome he pursues a legal path becoming famous for his oratory. Kidnapped by pirates en route to an oratory teacher (who Cicero had already visited) he memorises their hidden location and returns with a fleet to see through his promise to have them crucified. During his various Asian adventures (including raising and training his own army from the locals to defeat a Pontian army) he routinely exceeds his authority and upsets the local governors.
Pompey - childish and full of his own importance aids Sulla, on his behalf conducts brilliant campaigns in Sicily and Africa and then argues with Sulla demanding a triumph (and threatening to march his troops on Rome), Sulla gives in but manages to make Pompey look a fool. Pompey then uses his wealth to build a faction in the Senate (which he refuses to join despite his military heroics entitling him to junior membership which he considers beneath him) and that faction has him appointed even though not a Senator let alone an ex-Consul to run a Pro-Consular campaign in Spain where he eventually leads a defeat of the Marian and Spanish armies under Sertorius.
Crassus (known more for his ability to make money – e.g. by taking advantage of Sulla’s prescriptions - and then lend it to gain influence- but also a great general) leads the defeat of the slave rebellion of Spartacus and shows his determination firstly by decimating a legion of inexperienced conscripts that fled a battle and then by crucifying the 6000 captured rebels for the length of the road to Rome.
Both Crassus and Pompey (who renters Italy in time to wipe out the remnants of Spartacus) are fierce rivals, but find themselves in dispute with the Senate (Crassus wanting a proper Triumph and a reward of land for his troops and Pompey to be able to stand as Consul despite not being a Senator) and both have standing armies outside Rome. Caesar brilliantly constructs an expedient alliance between them – convincing them that if they are to get what they want and get to avoid prosecution for treason they need to stand on a joint Consul ticket (which they do unopposed) but then restore the Tribunes Plebian rights and get the Tribunes to declare their immunity. He similarly engineers a popular public reconciliation between the two after their rivalry in the consular year to provide the most popular entertainment for the masses.
Cicero is featured during the book particularly his brilliant prosecution of Verres in Pompey/Crassus’s consular year. We also meet a teenage runaway – Mark Antony.
Large passages of the book are effectively no more than a non-fiction book with some (normally the minor but crucial events/marriages/elections described in (often too much) detail but what makes the series is the detailed narrative and dialogue passages around the major events (not just battles but also the large set piece debates and the behind the scenes political manipulations) and characters. The portrayal of the major characters is excellent – with by far the best characterisation of the first three books being that of the terrible and terrifying Sulla, but also an excellent picture of the developing Caesar and his political and legal career (in stark contrast to the “Emperor” series) and the spoilt child self-styled Pompey the Great. -
I am always in awe of Ms. McCullough in how she brings history alive and how extensive is her research and how accurate she records historical events for a work of fiction. Fortunes Favorite begins with the death of Gaius Marius 7 times Consular and third man of Rome. Sulla is marching on Rome and installs himself as Dictator. We see a rise in power of Pompey Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus. after Pompey finally defeats Quintus Sertorius after suffering a humiliating defeat in Spain and Crassus after defeating the Gladiator Spartacus after other roman Generals suffered a series of Humiliating defeats. after Sulla retires from public life these two become embattled in a power struggle and become consular's. As Gaius Julius Caesar is starting to rise in popularity and recognition.
I cant wait to read the next book in this series "Caesars Women". I highly recommend this to people that are historical fanatics like I am -
Read it at the same time with Caesar Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworty. Incredible how accurate Masters of Rome series is and how much work Colleen McCullough has put in it.
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CAESAR! SULLA! SPARTACUS! POMPEY! THINGS HAPPENING!
Seriously, SO MUCH happens in these books that, when I got near the end, I went back to see exactly where it had started. Because there are enough storylines to write 5 individual books, easily, except they're all so interwoven it's better this way.
Also, it took me a whole month to read this, partially because I was put off for a few days by a rather explicit description of a whipping and crucifixion. Nothing more than a few sentences but "gobbets of flesh" and "back turned to jelly" and "head lolling" were enough to put me off my lunch for a while. Especially when it was for a non-offense and meted out by a character I hope dies in a fire. (This is the second book where she makes an appearance and... not yet. Sigh.) (Who is married to a Brutus, who named her son after his father. So at least she has that in store. Bitch.)
I can't help comparing these to Mary Renault since it's all classical history. Greeks =/= Romans, obviously, and the writing styles seem to match their respective subjects. Mary Renault's books feel more whimsical, more about the feel of the place and how things smelled and felt. McCullough writes about things that happened in a much more austere, Roman way. She's obviously done mountains of research whereas Renault always said she wasn't a scholar. McCullough is writing dramatized history and Renault writes historical fiction.
The introductions are always the most amusing to me when I'm reading these long histories. Renault always takes a kind of cinematic, dramatic reveal to her characters that aren't important yet but will be soon. For instance, a character shows up and chats for a while and then, behind the curtain someone yells "HEPHAESTION! COME BACK HERE!" or "oh, I hear that one is called Achilles" and you chuckle to yourself as dramatic music plays in your head. McCullough just name drops. When Caesar is the victim of some playful roughhousing by the "oldest son of Marcus Antonius" it's up to us to say "that sounds famil-- OH HEY!" Oh hai there Marc Antony. You'll be important soon. They're different but both effective.
In conclusion, my poor darling Sulla. You will be missed but you got the ending you deserved. I mean that in all sincerity, I'm actually really happy for his black little heart. Never a better friend, never a worse enemy. -
This book, which covers from Sulla's return to Italy, march on Rome, and establishment of himself as Dictator-for-life through to retirement and death... and then keeps going for another 200-300 pages (ending with a mildly-entertaining, if aseptic summary of Spartacus' uprising -- insufficient willingness to fantasize in the absence of primary source material? -- and Pompey's reduction of Mithridates). What a slog. I lost momentum when I failed to take it with me on vacation and now am having difficulty motivating myself to return to it. McCullough's view of historical fiction seems to be to elaborate everything she could possibly research as it happened, as opposed to condensing material to bring out specific themes or concentrating on a specific narrative. The narrative itself is readable enough, it's just that I can no longer bring myself to care for this series when I know:
(1) Julius Caesar's fame appears to derive more from his succession by his nephew Augustus than any of his own accomplishments or reforms (all of which had multiple precedents); and
(2) McCullough is carrying the series through a 7th book, Antony and Cleopatra, and PAST the battles of Actium and Phillippi. What's next? A recap of I Claudius?
I feel as though I'd be more thoroughly and entertainingly served by William Gibbon, whom McCullough makes look a master of concision. -
one more Masters of Rome reread completing the trilogy about Marius and Sulla and my favorite 3 novels of the series; the second part here after Sulla's retirement is about the new generation, Caesar, Pompey and Crassus and it begins a new chapter in the series in so many ways which as mentioned before is still quite good but lacks the ambiguity of the earlier volumes as everything Caesar does is perfect and to the best, while his enemies are generally incompetent and/or stupid and that starts grating sooner rather than later
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Solid writing, and no regrets on reading it, but I can't claim that this book was able to hold my entire attention for all 1000 pages, since between the time I started this one and finished it, I managed to read upwards of 20 other books. I blame it on all those campaigns people go marching off on, I just tend to lose interest when they go marching off, however delightfully drawn the characters of Pompey and Caesar are.
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Un libro intermedio - come spesso accade ai terzi libri delle serie - una sorta di testimone che passa da Caio Mario, protagonista dei primi due romanzi della serie, a Caio Giulio Cesare, che sarà il protagonista dei prossimi tre volumi. Naturalmente mantenendo il carattere di romanzo corale, in cui osserviamo le vicende raccontate da un narratore onnisciente, con moltissimi altri protagonisti, in questo caso, appunto, i Favoriti della fortuna, anche se per un breve periodo di tempo: Lucio Cornelio Silla, Gneo Pompeo Magno, Quinto Sertorio, Spartaco, Marco Tullio Cicerone.
Abbiamo lasciato Roma in piena guerra civile, con Mario che è morto facendo un terribile scherzetto a Caio Giulio Cesare, nominandolo cioè Flamen Dialis, sacerdote di Giove Ottimo Massimo, una carica che costringe chi la porta a non poter vedere un uomo morire, non poter toccare metalli e varie altre cose che impedirebbero a un patrizio romano come è Cesare di fare carriera seguendo il naturale cursus honorum. Cesare si è piegato al suo destino alla ricerca di una scappatoia per sfuggire al limitante sacerdozio, finora senza successo. Ma è ancora molto giovane.
Intanto Silla è rientrato a Roma vittorioso dalle campagne a est contro Mitridate, e non è disposto a sottostare a coloro che ancora rimpiangono Caio Mario, tanto da aver nominato console il figlio Caio il Giovane. Dopo essersi fatto nominare dictator dal senato per un periodo indefinito, comincia a seminare il terrore tra tutti i senatori che lo contrastano, con le sue liste di proscrizione.
Silla è la parodia dell'uomo che era: ha perso i capelli e indossa un posticcio, ha perso anche tutti i denti e ha una malattia che gli fa venire crisi terribili che lo mettono spesso di pessimo umore (sicuramente è diabetico).
Ed è proprio Silla che fornisce a Cesare un espediente per sfuggire al sacerdozio: gli impone cioè di divorziare dalla moglie, la giovane Cinnilla - il matrimonio non è stato ancora consumato, perché la bambina ha soli tredici anni - in quanto suo padre sosteneva Caio Mario e quindi lei non è considerata adatta a essere una flaminica. Cesare rifiuta non solo perché è affezionato alla bambina (ma avrebbe divorziato se gli fosse convenuto), ma soprattutto perché, restando con Cinnilla, si libererà del flaminato.
“Come posso spiegare a Silla – pensò Aurelia – che Cesare significa cose diverse per gente diversa? Che in lui alberga un fortissimo senso della romanità, insieme però a uno spirito internazionale? Non è tanto la faccenda del suo sacerdozio quella che più m’interessa, ma ciò che rappresenta per le persone che conosce. Cesare appartiene a Roma, ma non alla Roma del Palatino. Cesare appartiene alla Roma della Suburra e dell’Esquilino, e quando sarà un grand’uomo conferirà alla sua carica una dimensione che nessun altro potrà conferirle, grazie soltanto all’ampiezza della sua esperienza, della sua vita. Giove soltanto sa con quante ragazze, e donne della mia età, è andato a letto; quante scorribande ha compiuto con Lucio Decumio e quei furfanti della Confraternita del Crocevia, con quante persone ha avuto contatti, perché non sta mai fermo, non è mai troppo occupato per ascoltare, non è mai indifferente.
Mio figlio ha solo diciott’anni. Ma anch’io credo alla profezia, Caio Mario! A quarant’anni mio figlio sarà famoso. E in quest’istante giuro a ogni dio esistente che, se per far sopravvivere mio figlio dovrò scendere nell’Oltretomba e riportarne il tricipite cane dell’Ade, lo farò!”
Comincia così la carriera militare di Cesare e le sue numerosissime avventure: dalla richiesta delle navi dall'effemminato re Nicomede di Bitinia, che gli frutta una nomea a lui poco gradita, su cui Cesare - comunque affezionatissimo al re, alla sua regina e al suo cane Silla - passerà sopra con i fatti; alla prima battaglia nell'avanguardia, che gli farà conquistare una corona civica; al rapimento da parte dei pirati, ecc. ecc. Per arrivare alla guerra civile contro gli schiavi ribelli capitanati da Spartaco, durante la quale dovrà assistere alla decimazione da parte di Lucio Licinio Crasso del proprio esercito, reo di aver abbandonato l'accampamento con tutte le armi al nemico.
E già si profila il triumvirato di Cesare, Pompeo e Crasso, sebbene la figura di Pompeo sia descritta in modo davvero poco lusinghiero, da bambino viziato che fa i capricci quando non ottiene ciò che vuole... -
Fortune’s Favorites is an apt title. The entire book is about the shifting of power and fortune. With Marius dead at the end of the last book Rome is now in the hands of Carbo. And Sulla is on his way home to claim his rightful place by force. Sulla is the first of the favorites clearly, but he’s an old man; decayed, drunken, and often malicious, yet still as cunning as ever. And with no peers left to rival him only youths are left to grasp at the pieces of Fortune left over in his wake. This is, in many respects, the disordered mess I thought the last book would be. It’s basically two books in one: the first half is about Sulla and his dictatorship while the second is about Rome working out how to continue now that Sulla’s gone. Which means that while both parts work well on their own they don’t really work well together. And in what I suspect will be a running theme for the rest of the series, there is no real ending. It’s going to be harder to find those now that we’re onto our core set of characters since their lives do not easily divide into climaxes.
The first of Fortune’s favorites is Sulla, the main holdover from the first two novels. He’s a ruin of a man; older and more bitter. The handsome rogue has been replaced by a half-decayed wreck, toothless and shrunken and barely having survived some sort of mysterious skin disease. And yet somehow, even with his face melting and body decaying, more than half-drunk to fight the pain, Sulla’s still more than a match for anyone in the field. He’s not as proactive as he used to be. He’s the dirty old man now, hiding away in his tent and directing everyone else with a knowing smirk on his face. And he has stopped giving a shiiiit. His reign of terror reads like a horror story, all the better because it lines up so well with the tale told in the history books. More impressively, the sketch she provides for Sulla matches him perfectly.It has the good-humored and cunning indifference peeking maliciously out from under his eyes. Marius saw directly. Sulla saw far. Marius never attempted to reorder the state beyond what was necessary for immediate survival. Sulla was willing to do any action which he saw was necessary, albeit with little concern for what damage his precedents would do for the stability of the state. He’s rather an absurd figure, and it’s to McCullough’s great credit that this doesn’t distract from the horror or seriousness of his rule.
Even before he’s dead, Sulla has to contend with others seeking even a portion of his glory. With all his rivals dead, that leaves only the youth. Pompey seems very childish, even for his (initially) 23 years. While Marius and especially Sulla had to fight tooth and nail to rise to the top, Pompey is convinced he’ll simply be given the top spot by right. And frustratingly it seems like he has the ability to manage it. He dreams of his great glory and the easiest way to devastate him (perhaps the only way) is to undercut one of his dreams. Pompey knows absolutely nothing of pity, but is otherwise a likeable young man. He’s of good cheer and friendly to all around him and knows the names of his soldiers and demonstrates genuine interest in them. He recognizes people of value and instinctively cultivates them with a friendliness that’s genuine if self-interested. Pompey is basically the exact opposite of Sulla in every way. Pompey’s instinctive while Sulla’s calculating. Pompey’s chipper while Sulla’s sullen. And what should be most infuriating of all, Pompey‘s entitled and expects what he wants most to come easy while Sulla is proud to have reached the top through virtue of his own labor. Yet somehow they get along well. Sulla’s clever enough to recognize Pompey’s value and Pompey’s narcissistic enough to mistake this recognition for respect and assume that he’s the one using the old man instead of the other way round. I’d place all my money on Sulla in a fight, but people underestimate Pompey at their peril. He daydreams big, but his dreams have teeth.
Caesar’s obviously another man on the rise, although he’s not as well-positioned to capitalize on Sulla’s return as Pompey is. He’s also absurdly likeable. His ambition aside, he’s friendly with all his neighbors and is already building powerful connections. He’s also an utter momma’s boy. Not that he’s under Aurelia’s thumb. No, she’s his competition and his challenge. McCullough’s basic view of Caesar is that he was the ultimate victor because of his mixed past. He was a patrician who grew up in the Subura and was close to the common people of Rome. The authority of the Republic was defined by the term SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and People of Rome. Whereas Marius (a plebeian) was one of the People but could never win the full trust of the Senate, and Sulla (a patrician) had the support of the Senate but was loathed by the People, Caesar had the right blood to appeal to conservative Senators and an understanding of and genuine affection for the People. It’s a… nice explanation for it. I don’t trust nice explanations myself. And I can’t help but notice cynically that with so many aristocratic rivals out to block you a man seeking absolute power had to go through the masses. Sulla managed to succeed through sheer audacity, but now that the Senate was watching for that it would be enormously hard to do that again.
Rather more curious in depiction are the minor characters. Spartacus is the obvious example. He’s treated very differently from his usual depiction in fiction (and most history books). Instead of being a Thracian auxiliary (or ala Howard Fast’s ridiculous Socialist panegyric, a Thracian slave from birth) he’s actually a Campagnan and a Roman citizen who elected to become a gladiator over being sent into exile. He doesn’t come off really well here. While I find Spartacus’ success astounding for a man leading a self-made army composed of slaves and deserters (or as she would have it Samnites and other discontented Italians) here he comes across as a bungler of limited imagination who only wins his battles through grossly outnumbering the Romans. Which is a bit like she treats every barbarian battle really. Massive forces unfocused and aggressive yet easily destroyed by Roman discipline even at odds of four or five to one. It’s probably the least credible element of her depiction. I find it disappointing, even though the Third Servile War really is a bit of a sideshow to the story of the fall of the Republic.
Servilia’s cartoonishly evil. I’m rather disappointed in that since I like the real Servilia and would prefer a powerful Roman matron beyond Aurelia. The real Servilia was closely involved in her son’s war councils and had the respect of Brutus’ peers. It’s a bit hard to understand how this Servilia could end up as this Caesar’s lover. Or the real Brutus’ mother. Brutus, of course, was not quite the man of absolute principle we’d like to believe him to be. He absolutely screwed people over with illegal loans when he was serving with his uncle in Sicily. But he was a man who believed in ideals. Or as Caesar put it, “When he wants something, he wants it badly.”
This story is really the end of the Republic. Sulla comes in and takes over. He is a king in every sense. An emperor ruling through terror and blood. And then he gives it back. As if that means Rome can go back to normal. That is it right there: the defining moment of the final generations of the Republic. There’s no turning back now. Every ambitious man in Rome now recognizes that there are no limits. He can do as he pleases and custom be damned! It’s called normalization. And for our sake I do hope to God there’s a way to survive it, but the Romans sure didn’t find it. Would Sulla have recognized the danger of the precedents he created? Would he have cared? I don’t know. -
4.25
Highly entertaining as usual. Informative as well. And yet, not The Grass Crown.
Although the ending of this book promises a similar experience in future installments.
Oh, how I miss some of the characters in this story already. :( -
-Continuación de una saga que sigue enfrentando opiniones pero que hizo muchísimo por el género.-
Género. Novela histórica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En la primavera del año 83 A. C., un joven Pompeyo de 22 años es despertado en mitad de la noche con la noticia del desembarco de Sila en Brindisium junto a cinco legiones y un buen número de auxilia y mercenarios, hecho que significa la oportunidad para Pompeyo de ajustar cuentas por mucho que para la mayoría de los romanos signifique otra guerra civil contra las aproximadamente 24 legiones bajo el control de Cinna y Carbón. Tras convencer a Varrón de unírsele, Pompeyo consigue levantar tres legiones de veteranos y trata de unirse a las fuerzas de Sila, aunque cuatro legiones de Carbón tratarán de impedírselo. Tercer libro de la serie Señores de Roma.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/... -
Amazing. So much information in such an interesting story. If I didn't have 3 library books waiting I'd jump right into the next book in the series.
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Another excellent installment in the series.
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I love Sulla! Apparently he was a fantastic man, based on the fictional version of him in this book, based on research. The first half of this book covers his last years and it is so interesting. The last half is about the rise of Pompey and Crassus, with Caesar growing into his role as honored Patrician. Also included in the novel is the brutal story of Spartacus, a wondrous true tale, only vaguely followed by the famous Big Hollywood movie most of us have seen.
History is so complex and weird. The Romans had many fascinating and documented politicians and military battles in the last century of the Republic that make for great soap opera and a military study guide. I'm eager to start the next book in the series. -
“It taught me to be subtle as well as powerful, it taught me to hide my light when showing it might have snuffed it out, it taught me that time is a more valuable ally than money or mentors, it taught me the patience my mother used to think I would never own—and it taught me that nothing is wasted! I am still learning” - A boy they would one day call "Caesar."
Wonderful book, seriously ;)
And now to Caesar's Women (Masters of Rome, #4) :) -
Before it was Caesar's Rome, it was Gaius Marius' Rome and Lucius Sulla's Rome. Before Caesar become the epicentre of Ancient Rome's history, there were other great generals who held the limelight. And to peek into the past, and to learn and live in a Rome just before Caesar, Colleen McCullough wrote two outstanding books The First Man in Rome and The Grass Crown. The third book in the series, Fortune's Favourites, crosses into the period when Caesar's stock in the Senate begins to increase. But it does not completely reach to the point when Caesar becomes the Caesar we now remember him for. Spanning the years from 83 BC to 69 BC, Fortune's Favourites is as much about Sulla as it is about Caesar. This book begins with the journey of Sulla who returns to Rome with an army, desperate to claim what he believes is his rightful position. Sulla is the dominant player for most parts of the book, a charismatic leader and a frightful one too. Rome takes a shape that Sulla defines, which alters the life of a young Caesar too. But in the backdrop are other key characters that make this book such an exciting read. There is young Pompey, eager to shine in battle; there is Sertorious who is creating a much stronger force in Spain that threatens Rome; there is Spartacus, the slave who rose against the Republic; there is Crassus, and Quintus Pius, and Lucullus. But apart from the battles that seem to be the heartthrob of Ancient Rome, there is the never-ending presence of dirty politics, where people are eager to justify the means to achieve their ends. Moves made like chess pieces with an end in sight, a game of patience where years mean nothing to achieve your victory, such is the Rome that Colleen McCullough expertly creates that would make you believe she once lived there.
In and out of this story flows Caesar. A minor victory here, a major one there, building alliances, creating enemies, becoming more prominent with time. Confident, handsome, intelligent, Caesar's stories and exploits are a delight to read in Fortune's Favourites. Were it any other author, I might have wondered if the charm of the character was written to justify the legacy he left behind; but having read the previous two books, I trust McCullough's painstaking background checks (to the extent possible) and authenticity of her texts. And so I plunge in this Rome without any apprehension, willing and eager to soak in its brightness and its many evils. Fortune's Favourites lays the foundation for the larger-than-life Caesar who would emerge in the next two books, but one cannot jump to those tales without reading this one, for that is how it is meant to be read, that is how you are going to love and learn about Ancient Rome all the more. Eager to start the next one soon... -
I happened to be reading this book whilst on holiday in Sorrento during which we visited Pompeii and Ercolano, an area not unknown to Lucius Cornelius Sulla. A happy coincidence!
As a long time admirer of what Roman organisation and application achieved, of the great legacy they passed on to future generations it is somewhat sobering to read this glorious series of books.
That such achievements should be delivered by a people who lived by the sword, cheerfully enslaved millions, were instintively superstitious and wickedly cruel is staggering.
By modern sensibilities they would be condemned as barbarians, which given how it all ended is a little ironic.
Colleen McCullough is a wonderful story teller with a passion for her chosen subject. To continue to hold her readers' attentions over this vast project is almost as great an achievement as 'what the Romand did for us'.
I am gripped and very much look forward to the glossary at the end of each book to learn a little more about the Roman World during the time of The Republic. -
This was a lot of historic facts in a row, a lot of names and a lot of battles, but it still was very interesting to read, and written in a way that really kept me invested in all the wars, both on the ones on the battlefield as well as the ones on the Senate floor. Crazy dictators, rising stars, megalomane knights, it has it all, and I enjoyed it very much.
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Muy buena continuación de la saga. Un poco de transición, para posicionar al los personajes del triunvirato.
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A bevy of mostly disgusting characters and outcomes march through this 3rd installment of the Rome series of heroic struggles in civil war incidents, in Asia Province and Spain, and other fights with pirates and rebellious slaves, I suppose to contrast with the character of Caesar who begins to fulfill his destiny as the greatest of the Romans. Caesar had an attitude of complete assurance that I found amazing under the circumstances of going on the run, being accused of sexual immorality, being kidnapped by pirates, and dealings with the governors, lawyers, consuls and senators of the Roman system of government, while making a reputation for himself and moving towards the achievement of his 10 military campaigns that will qualify him for the consul in the future. Bidding farewell to the savior and self-imposed dictator of Rome, Sulla, we are introduced to a distinguished trio of successors, Pompei, Lucullus, and Crassus, who rise to public prominence in his place and take Rome to new heights. Anyways, it wasn't a bad read with everything tied up neatly at the end. I'm ready for the next book, which I hope will show a greater degree of stability in the Roman world than in the previous volumes. The cast of characters got a little hard to keep track of in the rapidly shifting circumstances, and paging back to earlier events got a bit frustrating, but this repetitiousness of characters also helped to frame them firmly in your mind. Many of these characters are now passed on to a new and coming generation.
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I was a first a little hesitant about this book knowing the author had written Thorn Birds. Though I did enjoy that book as a teenager, I filed the author away as a romantic fiction novelist.
That was a mistake.
Fortunately my sister's Mother-In-Law is a History teacher and recommended this book to my sister to buy for me otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought it myself. While the third book in a series, Fortune's Favorites stands alone quite well. My only complaint was that the glossary seemed to have none of the words I was looking for. Later in the author's note, Colleen McCullough explains that many of the terms in the book were in the first two books' glossaries and that to combine all the glossaries for the books in her series would be half the book size (which was just over 1,000 pages), so I got over it.
I enjoyed this book immensely, there was no flowery, romantic, overly drawn out descriptions. The characters and their actions spoke for themselves. Julius Caesar was indeed one of Fortune's Favorites and this story revolves around his rise and the rise and fall of very powerful men around him. The book ends with the death of his first wife giving birth to his stillborn son.
I will definitely be reading some of the other books in this series especially those pertaining to Julius Caesar.
Another thing I adored about this author was that in her author's note she snarked about how Hollywood is doing history no favors. Oh how I agree. -
While there were a lot of interesting events in this book, I didn't find it as satisfying as the previous two in the series, I guess because there wasn't an overarching theme.
Colleen McCullough dealt with the rise of Marius and Sulla, and
Colleen McCullough was about the fall of Marius and the further rise of Sulla. Sulla continues to dominate the first part of Fortune's Favorites, but overall the book seemed a little disjointed. Caesar and the pirates, Spartacus, Cicero vs. Verres, Pompey vs. Crassus - all great stories, but again, no theme.
