In Egypt, Ptolemy’s eunuchs present Caesar with the head of Pompey; he is outraged. The high priest of Ptah in Memphis sends Caesar a dingy old mat. Unrolled, it reveals you-know-who.
The Nile has failed two years running; to bring the floods, Pharaoh Cleopatra must conceive a child, and she puts the proposition straight to Caesar. Caesar, vastly undermanned, wins a war with the anti-Cleopatra cabal in Alexandria. Six months pregnant Cleopatra takes Caesar on a cruise down the Nile, and he is taken into the Treasury vaults.
The civil war between Caesar and Pompey works its way across the empire, the gradually victorious Caesar impressing his enemies with his clemency. Cilicia, Asia Province, Bithynia, Pontus, Galatia, Cimmeria and Cappadocia are pacified, and Caesar puts an end to tax farming.
Cleopatra bears a son. Cato and Bibulus are proscribed, and their furniture is being seized. Brutus and his daughter Porcia fall into each other’s arms, and he promises to buy up Cato’s property to return to her.
Caesar fights Labienus, Metellus Scipio, the Republicans and King Juba at Thapsus. It is an absolute rout. Cato falls on his sword, not very successfully and so very gory, with all his intestines out. Miraculously, surgeons manage to stitch him up, but, in a frenzy, he tears out his stitches to yank out his own intestines. Juba falls on his sword, and Caesar auctions off all his land.
Caesar appoints 300 new senators, some Gauls. Caesar slaughters Labienus and young Gnaeus Pompey’s forces. Brutus divorces Claudia and marries Porcia. The 22 men now in the Kill Caesar Club recruit Brutus. On the Ides of March, his is the final blow, in the groin. But Rome does not laud them as liberators.
The rest follows, in great detail, Caesar’s funeral and its aftermath, the war between the Liberators and the Triumvirate, culminating in the Battle of Philippi.
The plot follows a mere six years of Roman history, October 48 BCE to December 42 BCE and seems to cover absolutely everything that happened during those years. Authorial imagination is marvelous, and the fictional elements are woven into historical facts so deftly that you feel like you’re right there. The detail is absolutely incredible—the daily routines of a Roman patrician and his clients, the precise logistics and costs of feeding a legion, family life.

This sixth book in the Masters of Rome series covers the period from just after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus and death in Egypt, through the end of the civil war, Caesar's assassination, Octavian's adoption as Caesar's son, the formation of the Second Triumvirate, and ending with the defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. The section on Cato's trek along the North African coast was especially interesting, although I was disappointed at the lack of a map to accompany the text. The demise of Cato, Caesar and Cicero removes some of the most interesting characters of this era, and the focus on Mark Antony, Octavian and Agrippa don't quite make up for their loss.

The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra (Masters of Rome, #6), Colleen McCullough
The October Horse is the sixth novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series.
The book begins with Gaius Julius Caesar's Egyptian campaign in Alexandria, his final battles with the Republicans led by Metellus Scipio, Cato the Younger, Titus Labienus and the brothers Pompeius in Africa and Spain, and ultimately Caesar's assassination on the Ides of March by Marcus Brutus, Gaius Cassius and the Liberators. The latter stages of The October Horse chronicle the death of Cicero, the emergence of Octavian and his battles with Mark Antony, and conclude with the Battle of Philippi.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: بیست و دوم ماه سپتامبر سال 2013 میلادی
عنوان: کلئوپاترا و سزار؛ اثر: کالین مک کلو؛ مترجم: هادی عادلپور؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، سمیر، 1392، شابک دوره: 9789642201921؛ شابک جلد نخست: 9789642201907؛ شابک جلد دوم: 9789642201914؛ موضوع: داستانهای تاریخی از نویسندگان استرالیایی، قرن 20 م
ا. شربیانی

Story: 10 (Every important event in a focused narrative)
Characters: 9 (Hail Caesars. Nay Antony)
Accuracy: 10 (Basically perfect even if I sometimes disagree)

The book starts with an awkward “Previously on Masters of Rome...” moment when Caesar, exhausted on the road from Tarsus to Alexandria, decides to go through all the events of the previous book to remind us all of what happened and where everyone is. It’s a poor start to a book that, unlike the previous volumes, picks up right where the last one ended. It would have been better if this had been relegated to an optional prologue. Fortunately, things do quickly pick up. It’s even a bit rushed at times. The book frequently gets ahead of itself and begins to feature characters responding to facts that aren’t detailed until future chapters. The divide between East and West is strong.

This book, for all its similar length, has a lot more going on than its predecessors. The book is divided into fourteen parts and each part is brimming with significance. We get Caesar in Alexandria, Cato’s march to Utica, Caesar in Pontus (veni vidi vici), Caesar and Antony in Rome, the African War, Caesar back in Rome, the Spanish War, the assassination, Octavian’s inheritance, Antony’s civil war, the formation of the second triumvirate, the Liberators acquiring provinces, the Liberators raising an army, and the battle of Philippi. As you can see, there’s enough here to fill two books easy. In fact, given that this book is half again as long as some of the other ones, I don’t quite see why she didn’t. Having the death of Caesar happen a little more than halfway through the novel and then handing the story over to a cast of new and minor characters seems an odd way of doing it. It’s rather like she did with Sulla in Fortune’s Favorites, only here Caesar dominates the whole first half and by his death we’ve seen the climax of every other plot.

To be honest, I was glad when Caesar died. I’ve gotten more than a little tired of her awestruck worship of him, or at least his abilities. Not a chapter can go by in the lives of his enemies without an authorial reminder that they just aren’t as good as he is. Or they can’t see as well as he does. At least with young Octavian such hero worship makes sense. To see it in Cicero and Cato is frustrating.

And his death means the rise of wunderkid Octavian, which is always fascinating. I think he was Caesar’s better honestly, though McCullough keeps reminding us of his limitations compared to the great man. And if we’re talking versatility sure, Caesar was skilled in a much wider range of areas (Octavian was no general for a start), but if you look at what Octavian could do well there’s no comparison. He was a political and administrative genius. He started off with a weak hand (just a name in a will) and managed to play it so craftily that he was co-ruling Rome within two years and sole ruler a decade later. I can’t see Caesar pulling that off, and even if he could have he lacked Octavian’s ability to be all things to all people. Caesar made enemies though his highhandedness, while Octavian managed to rule as an even more uncontested autocrat while still seeming humble and acceptable. And better still he was able to surround himself with loyal and capable subordinates who both complemented and enhanced his considerable abilities.

I’m less fond of Antony. After what I thought was a good piece of development in the last book which saw him move from hopeless hedonist to hopeless hedonist who could turn off his hedonism when he needed to, this book saw him go back a step. Antony’s lost favor with Caesar and only his close familial ties with Caesar have kept him in his inner circle. But the part I really object to is that Antony is depicted attempting to murder Caesar and is aware of the successful conspiracy. This seems to be doing an injustice to the sources. While I find the idea that Antony’s amnesty was sincere and he wasn’t secretly plotting the destruction of the conspirators (which all the sources claim, potentially in hindsight) interesting, I have a hard time believing that he was actively involved in assassinations himself. That seems like a line that Caesar would not have tolerated him crossing. Similarly, the idea that Antony wanted some sort of restoration of the Republic (albeit with him in Caesar’s place as its head citizen) but was forced by Octavian’s intense desire for revenge into a civil war that destroyed all possibility of future democratic competition seems a bit much. It seems all too close to the useless drunken wretch of the Philippics and doesn’t leave him much room for any type of forethought.

I’m rather fond of Cato. He’s an easy man to admire and a hard man to love, but McCullough has found a way into his miserable, tormented soul. I’ve felt before that she can be too harsh on him (of which Cato would approve), particularly in her comments on his inadequacies and failings compared to Caesar. But here he finally gets a chance to shine as only Cato can. Not the suicide bit, but the intense dedication to duty and Republican values. Organizing a march of 10,000 men across the African desert is not something to be taken lightly, and as Cato never takes anything lightly he’s the perfect man for the job. It helps that he’s paired up with Sextus Pompeius, who should have a much bigger part to play in Antony and Cleopatra, but is currently just a cheerful sprog following adoringly alongside the man who holds the fate of the Republic.

Honestly, all Caesar’s opponents are a pretty ineffectual bunch. The “Liberators” are even less impressive than the Republicans. There’s very little noble about Brutus. He acts through no selfish motive, aye, but assassinating Caesar is more an intellectual exercise for him than any sort of grand quest. What does one do to tyrants? Kills them. Caesar is a tyrant. Therefore Caesar must die. QED. While it was nice to see him come into himself a bit more in Macedonia, he still remains that hopelessly unrealistic man. Cassius is even more odd. He has no reason to oppose Caesar beyond the desire to achieve success on his own abilities rather than being granted it through an autocrat. Yet while this motive was treated as noble when it was Caesar, it’s ignoble when coming from Cassius. Because he’s not good enough I suppose. I don’t entirely disagree of course, though I suspect she’s overstating Brutus’ moneylending ties and understating his determination, but it seems to tie in again to the worship of genius over mediocrity that irritated me in the last books.

A better aspect is the way she shows the unsustainability of civil war and reminds us of the failings of the Republic. Both sides have severe cashflow problems since their armies are absurdly expensive and everyone’s bidding against everyone else. The triumvirate solve this the Sullan way: through proscriptions of everyone who opposes them and a few who just have too much money to live. The Republicans solve this the even more traditional way: by raping and pillaging their own provinces. It was sickening to see Cassius and Brutus going from town to town and slaughtering people for nothing but their wealth. A pleasant reminder that for all the talk of liberties within Rome itself, Republican governors are nothing more than bloodsucking leaches. This has been commented on before, but we’ve rarely seen it done so ruthlessly. It’s not a surprise that most people outside Rome rejoiced at the creation of the Empire since this meant better treatment for their cities under closely monitored imperially-appointed governors. And with both sides now so radicalized and cruel the days of Caesar start to look positively idyllic. The constant round of civil wars need to end. At any cost.

This book represents the true end of the Republic. We saw a similar circumstances in Fortune’s Favorites, but Sulla at least left behind a functional (if shrunken) Senate and a coherent faction in charge. After Caesar where are people supposed to turn? The Liberators? Not really a faction, just assassins. Caesar’s men? Does that mean the potentially disloyal Antony, the unknown and inexperienced Octavian, Plancus, Lepidus, Dolabella, or the host of other minor generals pulling in every direction? The Senate? With what army? There’s nobody of sufficient clout to keep the whole thing running. And who’s going to keep the armies under control? With the ultraconservatives dead and all sides fighting for superiority using unconstitutional means, there’s nobody left to stand up for the Republic.

“The October Horse” is an engaging read filled with Roman politics, warfare, treason and plotting (against Julius Caesar). Though it’s part of a series, I highly enjoyed it as it was and it’s remarkable how Collen McCullough made Ancient Rome and the famous city of Alexandria come back to life.
If you love Ancient history, give this book or the entire series a try. I will definitely read more of it.

Fantastic book. I learned so much about Julius Caesar - his military brilliance, what he wanted to do to help Rome, the jealously he created which lead to his murder, and what happened to those who killed him - including Brutus and Cassius. I have now read 6 of the 7 books in the series and will begin on Anthony and Cleopatra tomorrow.

La transición de la Republica al Imperio

Interesante novela histórica que nos ubica en el período que va del asesinato de Julio Cesar en los idus de marzo y fin de la República a la conformación de un nuevo régimen bajo el liderazgo de Augusto, sobrino nieto de Julio César. Ofrece perfiles bastante creíbles de personajes fascinantes de la Antigüedad en el marco de un relato entretenido de los acontecimientos principales militares y políticos.

VENI, VIDI, VICI
“O resto de nós não tem os pés tão firmemente ancorados no passado, por isso tendemos a viver no presente em vez de pensar no futuro.”

“um homem racional aproveita sempre as oportunidades”

[César para Cleópatra]
“Manda vir companhias de actores gregos para representar Aristófanes, Menandro, as peças de teatro mais alegres. A gente vulgar não aprecia as tragédias porque vive muitas vezes verdadeiras tragédias.”

“nenhuma mulher substituiria Roma no coração de César”

“- Somos todos aquilo que a nossa educação fez de nós, César. Como é que escapaste a essa mácula?
- Tive uma mãe suficientemente forte para me resistir sem me esmagar. Uma em milhões, suspeito.”

“A guerra civil não traz consigo nenhum saque, e a guerra só é lucrativa quando existe saque.”

“- Não é gratidão o que eu procuro – disse César – O que eu quero é algo de mais precioso… lealdade!”

“Ele [César] conhece o seu próprio poder, no entanto não se embebeda com ele, nem se apaixona por ele, nem tem a tentação de ver até que ponto ele o pode levar.”

[Marco António sobre Júlio César]
“- Até mesmo os gatos acabam por esgotar as vidas, mais cedo ou mais tarde – disse. Complacente. – Aos cinquente e três anos, já não lhe resta nenhum.”

“África, tenho-te na mão” [Júlio César]

“um general que dizima as tropas é um idiota”

“César está morto! O mundo acabou.”

“Sê leal a Roma e a César e Roma e César cuidarão sempre de ti”

“Como era extraordinário testemunhar grandes acontecimento quando se é um historiador!”

“[…] com o monstruoso Octaviano a controlar Roma, mudara tudo. Fora oferecido a uma criança destrutiva o maior e mais complexo brinquedo do mundo para que se divertisse.”

“A peste chegou em Dezembro a Alexandria e reduziu a população da cidade em setenta por cento. […] – Deus não descrimina.”

“O apetite do mundo por escravos era insaciável pois, como dizia o ditado, ou se tinha escravos ou se era escravo.”

“- A morte encolhe-nos a todos, Octaviano.
- A César não. A morte aumentou-o.” [Diálogo entre Octaviano e Bruto]

Love this series, as always. Looking forward to starting the next one, which I have yet to read. Everything else I read years ago.

作者还是不那么喜欢共和派吧，把他们都写得挺怂的。波齐娅这本基本是个疯子，作者大概也懒得像写加图那样细致铺垫了，直接给她可怕的死法找了个理由。克娄写成个聪明而不够智慧的人还挺合理的。

Boy, did I pick a dense book to start during the pandemic. I haven't been able to concentrate that well of late, so it took me months to get through this...but it was worth it. So many epic moments in this book.

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