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Masters of Rome #4

Caesar's Women

colleen mccullough

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New York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough re-creates an extraordinary epoch before the mighty Republic belonged to Julius Caesar—when Rome's noblewomen were his greatest conquest.

His victories were legend—in battle and bedchamber alike. Love was a political weapon he wielded cunningly and ruthlessly in his private war against enemies in the forum. Genius, general, patrician, Gaius Julius Caesar was history. His wives bought him influence. He sacrificed his beloved daughter on the altar of ambition. He burned for the cold-hearted mistress he could never dare trust. Caesar's women all knew—and feared—his power. He adored them, used them, destroyed them on his irresistible rise to prominence. And one of them would seal his fate.

943 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1,1996
Series
Masters of Rome
Places
rome, 

This edition

Format
943 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
February 1, 1997 by Avon Books
ISBN
9780380710843
ASIN
0380710846
Language
English
Characters More characters
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    Gaius Cassius Longinus

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  • Marcus Licinius Crassus

    Marcus Licinius Crassus

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  • Marcus Tullius Cicero

    Marcus Tullius Cicero

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  • Julius Caesar (Roman emperor)

    Julius Caesar (roman Emperor)

    Gaius Julius Caesar (/ˈsiːzər/, SEE-zər; Latin: [ˈɡaːiʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar]; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his politic...

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About the author

Profile Image for colleen mccullough

colleen mccullough

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Colleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and Tim.

Raised by her mother in Wellington and then Sydney, McCullough began writing stories at age 5. She flourished at Catholic schools and earned a physiology degree from the University of New South Wales in 1963. Planning become a doctor, she found that she had a violent allergy to hospital soap and turned instead to neurophysiology – the study of the nervous system's functions. She found jobs first in London and then at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

After her beloved younger brother Carl died in 1965 at age 25 while rescuing two drowning women in the waters off Crete, a shattered McCullough quit writing. She finally returned to her craft in 1974 with Tim, a critically acclaimed novel about the romance between a female executive and a younger, mentally disabled gardener. As always, the author proved her toughest critic: "Actually," she said, "it was an icky book, saccharine sweet."

A year later, while on a paltry $10,000 annual salary as a Yale researcher, McCullough – just "Col" to her friends – began work on the sprawling The Thorn Birds, about the lives and loves of three generations of an Australian family. Many of its details were drawn from her mother's family's experience as migrant workers, and one character, Dane, was based on brother Carl.

Though some reviews were scathing, millions of readers worldwide got caught up in her tales of doomed love and other natural calamities. The paperback rights sold for an astonishing $1.9 million.

In all, McCullough wrote 11 novels.

Source: http://www.people.com/article/colleen...

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
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99 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
mc_anime_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A rather difficult book to get through since it is dealing mostly with the ins and outs of politics in the late Roman Republic. Still, it is interesting reading from the vantage point of the 21st century as it points out to us that politics have not really changed that much in the last 2,000 years. A great and powerful republic, a world power, can be controlled and subverted by a small group of individuals interested only in power for its own sake. The "popular" will and their votes can be manipulated to the point where their votes are essentially meaningless. A small, reactionary, conservative clique can, with supposedly good intentions of "making Rome great again", disrupt government to the point that it cannot act and is susceptible to an authoritarian figure who knows how to work the system to his/her own advantage. Does any of this sound familiar in the 21st century? As usual, I admire the way in which Colleen McCullough takes us into the life of the individuals involved and, even though we have the advantage of knowing what is going to happen, allows us to live in their time and experience events through their eyes.
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Soul_Chaser
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Aunque un poco más lento en cuanto a acción (batallas, viajes, etc) ya que se centra en la época de César con una estadía algo prolongada en Roma, haciéndose nombre como político y líder. Sigue siendo una obra que nos da un recorrido sino real por lo menos bastante cercano a la realidad que nos sumerge en sus callejones, templetes y limes originales.
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ReinKitamura
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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In Caesar's Women, McCullough finally hits her storytelling stride. Caesar really comes to life, and what a life that is. McCullough is a sympathetic biographer who persuasively fills in the historical outline for Caesar's political career in the fourth novel in her Masters of Rome series, covering roughly ten years. The novel reflects the important women in his life, his mother Aurelia, his daughter Julia, and his mistress Servilia, with minor roles played by his last two wives Pomponia and Calpurnia. The title also alludes to Caesar's prolific female conquests, which McCullough imagines came about due to a marriage between Caesar's strong sexual appeal to women of all classes and his political need to take his rivals down a notch (as well as to prove that he wasn't gay, which was whispered by his envious rivals to a homophobic Roman society).

McCullough admits in her author's note that this novel has the richest historical source material, thereby being much covered by modern writers but also allowing her to detail the patrician Roman woman's life better. It's rather telling that McCullough has convinced this modern woman, who disdains powerful philanderers and suspects sexual psychopathy in individuals who hurt others through repeated casual use, that Caesar not only cared for the women in his life, but that they fully accepted who and what he was. Roman wives of the pre-Christian era expected their husbands to be incontinent; sex was a male bodily hunger that had little to do with marriage. Moreover, marriage was a legal relationship that didn't require fidelity on the man's part.

Besides showing Caesar's domestic relationships, which underpin his political life, McCullough weaves a story of his increasingly hostile interactions with the boni, a group of ultra-conservative Senators who oppose anything Caesar does out of personal animosity. Caesar intends to be the First Man in Rome, to enlarge his personal dignitas until it is synonymous with Rome's, but he wants to make Rome greater in doing so. The boni, however, are quite determined to prevent any man from being greater than his peers. They simultaneously acknowledge Caesar's greater ability while insisting that he can't be greater than they are. They fear that he will make himself a king.

For modern political junkies, reading the ever-increasing dysfunction of the Roman Republic's last days is quite eye-opening. Roman government grinds to a standstill as powerful Senators maneuver to block one another, or bribe electors and jurists, or interpret law to suit their exigencies, or manipulate legal calendars to take advantage of magistrates' short terms in office. Caesar, while a catalyst for some of the filibustering and gridlock, is also capable of cutting the Gordian knot and ruling with a firm, brilliant hand. Although it takes years, decades even, to bring Caesar to his breaking point, McCullough painstakingly lays the groundwork for his famous ride over the Rubicon and his eventual assassination by his implacable, envious enemies.
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Caninse
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The 4th of McCullough's magisterial 'Master of Rome' series, this for me is the best. She reconstructs Caesar's early career from his return from Spain after the death of his first wife, till he leaves for Gaul.

Because this is an era which is both little known and yet relatively well-documented, McCullough does an excellent job of sticking to the sources without ever sacrificing imagination and drama. Here she gets to grips not just with life in the Senate amongst the men, but also in the houses of Rome amongst the women: Caesar's formidable mother Aurelia, his lovely and adoring daughter Julia and his spiteful mistress Servilia.

Detailed, fascinating, slightly romaticised and yet compelling this is completely unputdownable.
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Hyunhoswife
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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2.5 stars

Let's start with the pros:

This book was very well researched, I can tell how much time the author put in with sources, thinking about the political intrigue of the time, etc. I was very impressed by the sheer amount of history that went into this historical novel. Usually historical fiction is more loosely based on what actually happened, not so with this book.

I really enjoyed the author's portrayals of the Cataline Conspiracy and Bona Dea scandal, they were my favorite parts of the book.

Now for the cons:

Honestly, there was TOO much historical context in this book in my opinion. It made it, well, boring. There were a lot of parts I skimmed because it was page upon page of just pure history. That may be your thing, but I didn't care for it. Don't get me wrong, I love my history, but I'd rather it be in a non-fiction format rather than a novel.

The book is misnamed. Yes, Caesar's women are in this book and yes there are clear spots where they matter. But I would say that only about 40% of the book was actually about women or how they impacted the storyline. Not what I was expecting. I wish the author had focused more on the women rather than on Caesar as that would have been a new take. That being said, doing this would have necessitated the author the take more artistic liberty with the storyline since there aren't as many historical sources regarding women as there are the men who ran Rome.

If you want a faster paced, albeit more fictional (with less historical context), I recommend reading Robert Harris' Cicero series (Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator). It focuses on the same time period from Cicero's slave's perspective. Very enjoyable.
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dazynl8
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The fourth book in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series paints an incredible picture of late republic era Rome. This entry mainly focuses on the events in Rome and dives into the more domestic side of these almost larger than life figures. What stands out to me the most is how personal McCullough makes the characters. They spring to life and I find myself rooting for Caesar and against his enemies. She also makes evident his failings though and at times I wonder how I can even stand him when he literally proclaims himself to be a god.
All in all Colleen brings Roman history to life and draws the reader in. I know there is still a lot to learn about Rome, but fell as if I have learned a lot and enjoyed the process as well.
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Yaoo_Whee
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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-Con todos ustedes…¡el preferido de McCullough!.-

Género. Novela histórica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Pompeyo es el primer hombre de Roma en este momento pero su carácter ha evolucionado y ahora se siente por encima del Senado merced a su gran visión de sí mismo y de su alianza política con el exitoso Craso y el fascinante Cayo Julio César, un joven este último que demuestra toda clase de recursos en su camino, lento pero inexorablemente seguro a pesar de los obstáculos, hacia la cima. Cuarto volumen de la serie Señores de Roma.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers?

Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....
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imffr
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Powered through it solely because I was genuinely curious about Julius Caesar's life. But for a book called 'Caesar's Women' there was not much focus on the women in the book at all; most of these women were, of course, mentioned in relation to how they interacted with Caesar, but I would have liked to see more from the POVs of the women.

There was also too much entirely of political drivel. Definitely not something for a casual fan of Roman history. Strange to have to read through Cicero's and Clodius's POVs as well given that none of these people were Caesar. For some reason I was rooting more for Cicero over Caesar.
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