Rating: 
Summary: Not for the faint hearted!
Review: 'Caesar's Women', for those with knowledge of the Republic around this time will prove on one hand, a disappointment, the other, a pleasant surprise. A disappointment becasue some wonderful moments from this time are merely skimmed over. Though attention is given to Clodius the man, little is devoted to the street gangs and riots of around this period. The same with the Caitline conspiracy - both these seem to have been mentioned merely becasue Caesar is shifted into a starring role in both. He 'manages' Clodius, he rules the day pleading for the conspiritors. Though these are indeed facts handed down, they do seem to be exaggerated at the very least. The conspiracy was Cicero's starring moment, the street gangs Clodius', and it seems a pity to 'steal' them from these at times comic, at times tragic, yet unforgettable historical figures. Yet the novel is also a pleasure, becasue of the great time and care lavished onto it. Many historical novels seem to enjoy focusing upon characters and love affairs yet skirt over actual details such as the politics of the times, wars fought and won. McCullough manages both. Anything that has been researched so thoughtfully beforehand suggets true devotion to the work, and this is certainly the case here.To move on, however, to elements of the novel which puzzled me (and those who are non-experts on ancient history must forgive me here!) but, as said previously, McCullough has obviously studied and studied carefully hundreds of volumes of both ancient and modern work. As far as facts are concerned, no mistakes or blunders are made, but some of the characters portryed confused me to say the least. Pompeia, second wife of Caesar, was one of these. She is presented here very harshly as ignorant, stupid, empty headed (to quote McCullough mildly!) and is practically kept prisoner by Caesar in order to prevent her escaping and running away with another man? Do we honestly blame her? Yet there is no historical evience to back this up (in which cases I realise history must be open to interpretation, but what an interpretation!) Perhaps I am being over sensitive, but I cannot see Julia being so utterly perfect had she been, say, Crassus' daughter. But she belongs to Caesar, and since Caesar himself is perfect, all that belongs to him is also. Amongst the more minor characters, Plutarch and Cicero describe Julia (mother of Marcus Antonius) as being one of the most virtuous women of her time, yet she is shown here to be frivolous, stupid and vacant. Is McCullough backing up Rome's 'Man's world' or is there another reason for these 'slips'? The men, too, are dealt with harshly. Brutus the mother's boy I can just swallow, but Cato completly insane? Bibulus hating Caesar because he (Bibulus) is far shorter than he? Somewhat difficult to justify I think! This character treatment comes about because we can see from almost the first page of the novel where McCullough's prejudices lie. We can see clearly who the good and bad are. Caesar, of course, is perfect, but others are treated mildly, it seems, for no apparent reason, and others harshly. If antony were the least intelligent of the young men (Clodius, Curio, Antony) I question how he nearly rules the worls wheras the others do not make it to praetor. However, this book must be read, if only to 'debate' with McCullough's portrayal. An enjoying, carefully researched, read.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally!
Review: A fine historian said about Caesar that "It seemed so easy to describe this man which in fact is almost impossible to do!" Caesar was NOT a mad, blood-thirsty tyrant, nor was he just a warrior. Even his WORST enemies (Such as Cato) admitted that this luminous, remarkable genius was Rome's most prominent, gifted and fascinating son. Adored by women (If you don't believe McCullough consult historians such as Plutarch, Brandes, Suetonius, Grant etc.), cherished and beloved by his soldiers, revered by the people and respected, feared and never equalled by his enemies. This isn't just a slurpy love-novel, it's history coming to life, to this day the best description of Caesar's complex character in a novel. This is an INCREDIBLE book, NOT a romance-novel but a dead world resurfacing! FASCINATING!
Rating: 
Summary: Masters of Rome series is losing steam
Review: After reading through the life and times of Gaius Marius and Sulla, I expected to get just as scintillating a read out of Caesar's Women. Unfortunately, Gaius Julius Caesar doesn't interest me as much as the other two. Despite his flaws (he is extraordinarily manipulative and has a callous disregard for women), he's still somehow too perfect--something of a Superman. I don't get a lot of enjoyment in reading about someone who appears to lack any sort of weakness. Perhaps I preferred reading about Gaius Marius and Sulla because their flaws are somehow more tangible and humanizing. While reading this book, I couldn't help but wish the focus had been placed on such characters as Pompey, Cato, and Cicero. The real star of this story, I think, is Pompey. After all, it is he who subjugates Roman enemies during this time frame. Besides, battles are inevitably more exciting to read about than a few hundred pages of political allocution. Unfortunately, I think Colleen McCullough missed a prime opportunity for some much-needed exposition. I felt let down at the demise of Mithridates. He'd been plaguing Rome for the last 3,000 pages of her books or so, and is dispatched second-hand in a letter. How disappointing! In earlier books, he is given a voice. Why is he mute in this book? Nevertheless, it is good to read about Caesar's growing fame through the eyes of women. The cat-and-mouse games the cold-hearted and vicious Servilia tries to play with Caesar are sardonically amusing. I also enjoyed the look at women's sacred religion we are offered. The sacrilege against this worship committed by Clodius reads like a foreshadowing of nasty events to come. I hope I am not let down when I read Colleen McCullough's last installment in the Masters of Rome series.
Rating:
Summary: Caesar's Rise
Review: Another fine offering from McCullough, with a misleading title. This book is about Caesar and the Republic, not about "his women" who play a relatively marginal role at best. Oh, sure, we see a lot of Caesar's lover (and Brutus' mother) Servilia, mommy dearest Aurelia, and a near invisible wife or two, but none of them really factor into the novel, which focuses on Caesar's rise in the Republican heiarchy. Apart from Caesar, only Cicero receives extensive treatment, and McCullough's Cicero is an extremely well-rounded sort - all too human at times, both brilliant and insecure. The entire decade of the 60s BC is covered to fine effect, and if the ending (with "Caesar's women" finding out that Caesar has left to fight the Helvetii) is a tad (no, a lot) contrived, the novel remains well worth the time of anyone with an interest in Roman history.
Rating:
Summary: Caesar's Rise
Review: Another fine offering from McCullough, with a misleading title. This book is about Caesar and the Republic, not about "his women" who play a relatively marginal role at best. Oh, sure, we see a lot of Caesar's lover (and Brutus' mother) Servilia, mommy dearest Aurelia, and a near invisible wife or two, but none of them really factor into the novel, which focuses on Caesar's rise in the Republican heiarchy. Apart from Caesar, only Cicero receives extensive treatment, and McCullough's Cicero is an extremely well-rounded sort - all too human at times, both brilliant and insecure. The entire decade of the 60s BC is covered to fine effect, and if the ending (with "Caesar's women" finding out that Caesar has left to fight the Helvetii) is a tad (no, a lot) contrived, the novel remains well worth the time of anyone with an interest in Roman history.
Rating:
Summary: Caesar's Rise
Review: Another fine offering from McCullough, with a misleading title. This book is about Caesar and the Republic, not about "his women" who play a relatively marginal role at best. Oh, sure, we see a lot of Caesar's lover (and Brutus' mother) Servilia, mommy dearest Aurelia, and a near invisible wife or two, but none of them really factor into the novel, which focuses on Caesar's rise in the Republican heiarchy. Apart from Caesar, only Cicero receives extensive treatment, and McCullough's Cicero is an extremely well-rounded sort - all too human at times, both brilliant and insecure. The entire decade of the 60s BC is covered to fine effect, and if the ending (with "Caesar's women" finding out that Caesar has left to fight the Helvetii) is a tad (no, a lot) contrived, the novel remains well worth the time of anyone with an interest in Roman history.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking in its Erudition
Review: As Regis Professor of Classics at Christ Church College, Oxford with special interst in the late republican period of Rome, I found this book, which may appear at first to be simply the ramblings of a lady novelist, to be a marvellous tome which demonstrates the author's great breath of knowledge about the period while infusing it with the passion and excitment which must have coursed through those tumultuous times. This book is quite simply breathtaking, and my colleges and I at Oxford look forward to her next edition. Floreat - May she Flouish.
Rating:
Summary: All Roads Lead to Julius
Review: As strong as the first books were (First Man in Rome, the Grass Crown, Fortune's Favorites) this one is even stronger. The Original Caesar himself has always been a major figure in Western Civilization, so it's no wonder he dominates every book in the series after he becomes a major character. Part superhuman, part schemer, part bon vivant, and all Roman God, Julius Caesar is the culmination of the political processes of the late Republic. Don't let the title fool you. Caesar's Women play a big part in the story, but the novel is about Julius. --------------
Well, reading it again (as I have all the books) I have to say that I like this Caesar a lot more here than the dour dictator of the later books. I don't blame McCullough for that portrayal--that's very likely what he became. But here, there's still a sense of fun: picking Marcus Crassus' locks, drinking vinegar in hot water, tweaking Cicero, dodging his numerous creditors; Caesar is one of the gang at this point--just another Roman working his way up the cursus but not losing his sense of humor about it. And there's great drama as well--of all the depictions of the Cataline Conspiracy, this one is the most crackling. Mostly because McCullough dares to take the glowing figure of Cicero down a few pegs, beyond making fun of his ancestry, wife, and physical awkwardness. I get the sense she enjoyed writing this book, a sense that's missing from Caesar and The October Horse. There's been a tendency to criticize her for focusing too much on J. Caesar in this series, but really, how many Romans are truly remembered the same way he is? Ask anyone to name a famous Roman. What name will be at the top of their list? Anyway, don't start with this one. Read the first three, then flow into this one. It's a great book, and more and more often when I find myself wanting to read a bit of McCullough's Ancient Rome to escape for a bit, I find myself pulling this one off the shelf, opening it up, and reading for hours....
Rating:
Summary: Strange title for a book that was more so about Caesar's men
Review: As the title implies, Caesar's various female relationships, while quite intriguing, seemed to take a back seat to his political relationships with his male foes and colleagues. The political breakdown is intense and quite thorough, unfortunately to the point of boredom. I'm very interested in Roman politics, but Colleen gives the reader so many minute aspects of the Roman government, the book begins to drag. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable and I look forward to reading the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: CEASAR'S WOMEN......MONUMENTAL,SWEEPING......A GREAT STORY
Review: AVE HISTORY LOVERS!!!!! ...... This is another great book by Ms Cullough on her Fictional encounters with Roman History,I have studied Roman History for a very long time and never have I read such a wounderful fictional account of late repulican Roman history. The caharcters in this book are wounderful, you literaly feel as if you are there in the Fourm with Caesar as he takes on the likes of Bibulus and the ever determanied Cato. You feel the magnificence of Caesar, the Power of the Triumutive (Caesar, Pompey The Great, Marcus Crassus) and of course the the women in Caesars life who helped shape the man behind the ambition and power. Ms Cullough has done a wonderful job in recreating the passion, ambition, and Triumph of the man who is considered the greatest Roman to ever live... Julius Caesar HAIL CAESAR!!!
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