Talk:Masters of Rome
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[edit] New book?
who told u that there will b a new book? i have hoped there would be, but she said there wouldm]nt be
[edit] Source?
Like my grammer-challenged college, I'm curious - is there a source on her writing another book? I just finished The October Horse again, and I'd be pleased if she put out another one.
- She stated she had changed her mind in recent interviews. The new novel, Queen of the Beast, was announced by Harper-Collins in January 2007, with an expected publication date of September 2007. It is already up for pre-order at amazon.co.uk. 71.244.17.49 16:47, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
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- The new novel has changed its name to Antony and Cleopatra.
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- According to chapters.indigo.ca: Format:Trade Paperback, Published:October 1, 2007, Dimensions:386 Pages, 6 x 9 in, ISBN:1552786714, Published By:McArthur & Company BroMonque 23:29, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Caesar, Nephew of Sulla?
I've only read the first two novels of this series, but unless McCullough has taken liberties rather more serious than I should have thought her capable of, I'm fairly certain that the text in this article that reads "such as Sulla, and his nephew Caesar" must have been written in error. Caesar was the nephew of Marius, not Sulla. Actually, as I'm typing this I'm remembering that the series does actually suggest that Sulla's first wife was the younger sister of the Julia whom history records as both aunt to Caesar and wife to Marius— but, nonetheless, Sulla was hardly a reformer. This ought to be changed.--LordSnow 20:56, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Ok, so you acknowledge that Sulla was Caesar's uncle in the novels. (Yes, McCullough is taking a small liberty with the ancient source in infering that Sulla's first wife was that Julia.) Perhaps we should just rephrase the sentence to read 'such as Sulla and Caesar'. Yes, that's what I'll do.
- Spoiler Warning
- Sulla was very much a reformer. Much more so than Marius. Whereas Marius wanted to lead the state to military victory and tried to do so by dominating politics, Sulla actively reformed the government as well as the state religion. This is very obvious by the end of Fortune's Favourites. Nick 21:28, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
- Sulla reorganized the government to reinforce the rule of the Senatorial class. He did not, as the article suggests, try "to reform the old ways." He rather used his sweeping powers as dictator to return Rome to the old ways. Or at least, I should say, that's what history records. I believe the last novel that I read in the series ended before his return to Rome from fighting Mithridates, so perhaps McCullough decided to cast Sulla as a misunderstood radical—somehow. Or perhaps she cast him in exactly the right light, and the article as it stands reflects a misunderstanding. I suppose that I'm not really in a position to say. But you're right, by a strict definition of the word "reform" he was "very much a reformer"—just not in any sense that the article suggests.--LordSnow 01:39, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
Can anyone recommend historical fiction in a similar style? I loved the Masters of Rome series. I've read other Roman historical fiction but none of it is as realistic and scholarly as McCullough's. I'm wondering if people can recommend other historical fiction, from any period, which is detailed and realistic and which also takes the major historical figures and events as its subject.
- Martha Rofheart: The Alexandrian.ALu06 23:21, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Reviews by historians?
As a big fan of the series, I'm glad it has its own page. Since it is so much praised for its "meticulous research", I would very much like to read what historians have to say about it. I just watched an 8-part documentary (Ancient Rome: Power & Glory, Discovery Channel) that would turn every McCullough-nursed Rome buff into a "lies!!!"-screaming lunatic. This article would also profit from a few links.
I was looking for something really damning (like the best comments on imdb are usually the 'hate it' ones), but so far all I managed to find was an essay by Margaret Malamud (Historian) in "Imperial Projections: Ancient Rome in Modern Popular Culture". I'll have to pay for that one. Here is an except from a review:
"Most interesting here is the observation that these novels are essentially conservative: bloodlines determine social class, and correctly so; women are weak and subordinate; homosexuality is an identity and an indication of moral degeneration; eastern characters are effeminate and luxurious; and so on. [...] McCullough infantilizes her characters, producing upper class Romans who are all Id. Finally, the essay critiques the marketing of the novels themselves, and the ways in which the novels re-make Roman history into a supermarket Romance."[1]
Malamud has a point there. But that's all about characterization and not the intricate backdrop that makes the series such a good and convincing read. ALu06 23:09, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
