The four volumes that have appeared so far take the story from 110 BC down to the formation of the first triumvirate and Caesar's departure for Gaul. In the earlier volumes McCullough seemed determined to use every last scrap of historical evidence, which sometimes gave her account an unbalanced feel. This ceases to be a problem as the sources become more extensive and her choice of material broadens. McCullough lacks the visceral bite of a Renault or a Graves, but she produces convincing dialogue and characterisations. The blurb on Caesar's Women says that she "holds her own beside such other masters of the form as Jean Auel and Tom Clancy", but I think she deserves less damning praise than that.
The Masters of Rome books are being marketed as blockbusters, but I suspect there is just too much in them for readers who don't already have an interest in Roman history (though each volume is provided with an extensive glossary and maps to help the newcomer). One exception to this may be those who enjoy novels of political intrigue: the politics of the late Roman Republic — with its balance between Senate, curule magistrates, tribunes of the plebs, courts, assemblies, and extra-legal financial and military power — has a complexity unsurpassed by any other period of history, and McCullough does a grand job of dramatising it.
August 1996
- External links:
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The First Man in Rome
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The Grass Crown
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Fortune's Favourites
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Caesar's Women
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