My thoughts on The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough

A year ago, I read the Masters of Rome historical fiction series, written by Colleen McCullough. Before reading this series I only vaguely knew about Julius Caesar (thanks to Shakespeare) and had no idea about Roman history. These books introduced me to characters that felt like real flesh and blood people I know so well, involved in delightfully intricate political manoeuvres. There are also described several military campaigns; some books being heavy on politics and some on military campaigns. Rome, as described in these books, feels like a real place that I wish I could visit, especially the Forum Romanum, the senate house, or the Subura (where Caesar grew up). (I know I can’t do this since unfortunately I don’t own a time machine!). This book series has made me fall in love with history, especially ancient history. I even went on to read a series set in ancient Greece after this, and enjoyed it.

The first two books, The First Man in Rome and The Grass Crown introduce us to two important characters : Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. These books talk about their rise to prominence and their interesting relationship with each other. The third book, Fortune’s Favorites, tells the story of the early careers of Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (or Pompey) and Marcus Licinius Crassus who later go on to form the First Triumvirate. In these books I found the descriptions of military campaigns to be a little boring and preferred it when the action shifted to Rome, and its politics.

It was when I started the next book, "Caesar’s Women’', that I really fell in love with the series. Uptil now, the books were interesting, but this book and the next two, during the course of which Caesar’s story is told, are especially engaging. The plot of this book is more streamlined and well paced, the focus being more on political intrigue. Caesar comes across as ferociously intelligent, highly capable, self - centred, manipulative, unscrupulous, ruthless, but makes for interesting reading, nevertheless. In the first half Cicero’s busy trying to root out the Catilina conspiracy. The eccentric, relentless Cato, totally immune to corruption, coercion or intimidation was entertaining to read about. The constant boni (i.e., the conservative faction) assault over the course of the book, also changes Caesar, making him less easygoing, intolerant and more autocratic.

The next book in the series, “Caesar”, covers events leading to and after Caesar’s historic and momentous crossing of the Rubicon. Throughout the book, the narrative switches between events back in Rome and Caesar on campaign. The accounts of Caesar’s campaigns are brilliantly written and even more riveting than the usual fun Roman politicking. Besides Cato (the leader of the boni), Bibulus, Ahenobarbus, Pompey and Brutus from the boni camp, Labienus and Mark Antony play secondary roles. We are also introduced to Cleopatra. The pacing never flags even for a bit and this book is my favourite in the series.

Narratively, the next book, “The October Horse” is a continuation of “Caesar”. It marks an end of the Roman Republican era, the Republic entering its death throes as Caesar lay in the Curia of Pompey, stabbed twenty three times. Several other personages, including Cicero, Cato, Brutus, also meet their ends in this book. Just as this book signals the end of the Republic, it also heralds the beginning of the Empire, in the person of Caesar’s heir: Octavian. Enter Octavian, master manipulator extraordinaire, onto the stage of Roman politics. His rise from a mere teenager to a member of the second Triumvirate is very engagingly depicted. The next and final instalment in the series is “Antony and Cleopatra”. It covers events from the Battle of Philippi to the downfall of the Second Triumvirate and the renaming of Octavian to Augustus; the first Roman Emperor, in everything but name. It focuses on the love story of Antonius (Antony) and Cleopatra, right up to its tragic end.

Even though I have loved and enjoyed this series, I would like to make note of one con: at various points of the books, the author goes into a lot of historical detail making me feel that I was reading a history textbook. The books are factually dense and feature a huge cast of characters with a very confusing naming system. I used to think that it’s just Russian characters in the books I read that have confusing names. Turns out, ancient Romans also had quite a confusing naming system. Nevertheless, I really liked this book series.