Rating: 
Summary: Invitation to a Travel into the Past.
Review: THE OCTOBER HORSE is definitely not up to the standard of the enjoyable earlier books in McCullough's Roman series. In all her Roman novels McCullough has had a crush on Caesar. I can understand that. Students of history do fall in love with people who've been dead for hundreds of years. I've heard that even biographers of Hitler feel some empathy. Surely Caesar was a Hitler prototype if ever there was, but McCullough can find no fault with him. He is a far-seeing "god," his edicts entirely benign. (Oh sure! Just like Mao Tse-Tung's.) Even in the novel, we can smell "tyrant" between the lines in nearly every public act of Caesar's after he became Dictator for Life, and certain of the Liberators must have had genuine patriotic grievances beyond petty jealousy.Her portrayals of Sulla, Crassus and Pompey in the earlier novels contained some wit, irony and sympathy, and I felt sad when Pompey was murdered. Not here. When the conspirators finally got Caesar three-fifths of the way through it lacked all emotional impact, since in the early pages he had seemed no more alive than a noble statue. Octavian then carries on humorlessly as yet another "noble" tyrant. Much more believable and ironic is Robert Graves' portrayal of Octavian as old emperor Augustus who nostalgically recalls the long-gone Republic. THE OCTOBER HORSE should be roundly criticized by classical scholars, if any bother to read it. McCullough has done much reading on the Late Republic, but she is prone to spin myths out of imagination. Despite the number of documents from the period, several plot elements rely on guesswork. I know she's a physician, but what made her decide that Octavian suffered from asthma while Cicero, who as a youth also avoided battle, was a coward? McCullough makes Cicero into the eternal nerd. (Maybe, like me, she came to loathe him after wallowing through DE SENECTUTE -- "CONCERNING OLD AGE" -- at the age of 18.) McCullough may not be too far off the mark with Cleopatra, and her Porcia, Cato's crazy daughter, was actually more interesting than Shakespeare's sweet, wifely Portia. Unfortunately her other portrayals, of Antony, Servilia, and several well-known historical situations, lack dimension and plausibility. Her Antony is a thick-headed brute without any political skills except, she admits, oratory. When she tries to rehabilitate him at the end it doesn't work. She makes some attempt to humanize Brutus, Porcia, Cleopatra and Cato, exploring Cato's repellant character and Brutus's melancholy with dispassionate criticism and a touch of sympathy, although we come away with no real understanding of Brutus or his motivations beyond his fanatic wife's influence on his actions.
McCullough shows an understanding of warfare, politics and mob manipulation, but the novel needs to be more. Because of her uncritical adulation for Caesar, her style, especially in this book, is uneven and awkward. Quite inexcusable is her failure to warn us of the similarities between Rome and our own government's imperialist policies. The best she does is having Octavian inform us that "a world empire...means a new form of government... Caesar saw what had to be done." (Page 853) How nauseating! Where's the irony here, so badly needed? It's time to end this tired series before it goes on to celebrate the violent, debased and corrupt Roman Empire. Read Robert Graves and Lindsey Davis instead. You'll get the picture.
Rating: 
Summary: Was Caesar Really This Boring?
Review: THE OCTOBER HORSE is definitely not up to the standard of the enjoyable earlier books in McCullough's Roman series. In all her Roman novels McCullough has had a crush on Caesar. I can understand that. Students of history do fall in love with people who've been dead for hundreds of years. I've heard that even biographers of Hitler feel some empathy. Surely Caesar was a Hitler prototype if ever there was, but McCullough can find no fault with him. He is a far-seeing "god," his edicts entirely benign. (Oh sure! Just like Mao Tse-Tung's.) Even in the novel, we can smell "tyrant" between the lines in nearly every public act of Caesar's after he became Dictator for Life, and certain of the Liberators must have had genuine patriotic grievances beyond petty jealousy. Her portrayals of Sulla, Crassus and Pompey in the earlier novels contained some wit, irony and sympathy, and I felt sad when Pompey was murdered. Not here. When the conspirators finally got Caesar three-fifths of the way through it lacked all emotional impact, since in the early pages he had seemed no more alive than a noble statue. Octavian then carries on humorlessly as yet another "noble" tyrant. Much more believable and ironic is Robert Graves' portrayal of Octavian as old emperor Augustus who nostalgically recalls the long-gone Republic. THE OCTOBER HORSE should be roundly criticized by classical scholars, if any bother to read it. McCullough has done much reading on the Late Republic, but she is prone to spin myths out of imagination. Despite the number of documents from the period, several plot elements rely on guesswork. I know she's a physician, but what made her decide that Octavian suffered from asthma while Cicero, who as a youth also avoided battle, was a coward? McCullough makes Cicero into the eternal nerd. (Maybe, like me, she came to loathe him after wallowing through DE SENECTUTE -- "CONCERNING OLD AGE" -- at the age of 18.) McCullough may not be too far off the mark with Cleopatra, and her Porcia, Cato's crazy daughter, was actually more interesting than Shakespeare's sweet, wifely Portia. Unfortunately her other portrayals, of Antony, Servilia, and several well-known historical situations, lack dimension and plausibility. Her Antony is a thick-headed brute without any political skills except, she admits, oratory. When she tries to rehabilitate him at the end it doesn't work. She makes some attempt to humanize Brutus, Porcia, Cleopatra and Cato, exploring Cato's repellant character and Brutus's melancholy with dispassionate criticism and a touch of sympathy, although we come away with no real understanding of Brutus or his motivations beyond his fanatic wife's influence on his actions.
McCullough shows an understanding of warfare, politics and mob manipulation, but the novel needs to be more. Because of her uncritical adulation for Caesar, her style, especially in this book, is uneven and awkward. Quite inexcusable is her failure to warn us of the similarities between Rome and our own government's imperialist policies. The best she does is having Octavian inform us that "a world empire...means a new form of government... Caesar saw what had to be done." (Page 853) How nauseating! Where's the irony here, so badly needed? It's time to end this tired series before it goes on to celebrate the violent, debased and corrupt Roman Empire. Read Robert Graves and Lindsey Davis instead. You'll get the picture.
Rating: 
Summary: The last days of the republic and the dawn of the empire
Review: The Roman republic was an entity ahead of its time, by about 1900 years. Nothing similar was to appear in human history until the Declaration of Independence. It is no coincidence that the Republic, and the way it worked reads like a Washington DC primer.
This whole series provides a well researched, and mostly historically accurate chronicle of the Roman republic, since the times of Gaius Marius, through Sulla, Pompeii, Caesar, up to the end of the civil war that followed Caesar's murder. Some liberties are taken with historical fact, to flesh out the characters, but the story follows very closely the available historical texts.
This, the last volume of the epic, follows Caesar's dictatorship, from the final struggle with Cato's republicans, through Caesar's murder, and the civil war that followed.
Masterfully written, it enthralls and captivates.
My first Roman historical novel was, as is for many, Robert Grave's I Claudius/Claudius the God series. I found it fascinating to meet Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, seen in I Claudius as an older man, past his prime, but a loyal Octavian ally, as a young officer in Caesar's army, helping Octavius in his struggle for power. Asinus Pollio, also of Claudian fame, appears in this story as a historian allied to Brutus.
A treat to any admirer of Rome.
Only one thing would make it better. A follow up through Actium and the earlier years of Octavius' reign as Caesar imperator.
Pretty please?
Rating:
Summary: A warning
Review: The subtitle of this book, "A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra," is really misleading. This book has little to do with their relationship, and Cleopatra only appears on perhaps a tenth of the pages. Heck, even Caesar (and I don't think I am giving much away here) is killed half way through the book. After his death, I found myself struggling to finish the book. A fact made harder because I had just finished a course on Ancient Rome so I basically knew how it ended.
This book is dominated by men, with strong and fascinating female characters that, sadly, pop up rarely. The focus of the book is men, wars and money.
Don't get me wrong this is an amazing book that is superbly written and research. I have read most of the books in this series and they are all equally good. I just wanted to warn people that if they were really looking for "A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra" this probably isn't the book for them.
Rating:
Summary: Fitting Closure
Review: This book presents a closure to the author's 'Master of Rome' series - and does it wonderfully. Her Caesar - which some might have felt was idealized in the earlier novels - has matured and aged into a man who now faces a world that cannot understand him. The very elements that have given him his greatness mean that he stands alone, alienated from those who think they should be his equals. The portrait of the emerging Augustus is frightening as we see the contrast in attitude and morality between the two Caesars. I strongly recommend this to all readers. Even those who have not read the previous books in the series will find this worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: End of a great series.
Review: This has been a fantastic series, and while I don't think this final book is the best in the series, it is still very good. It did take me a while to get involved in the book, as in the early chapters I felt rather removed from the action.
The strange thing is though, once things moved off Caesar, I found the story more interesting - Cato's African adventures, the slowly evolving Octavius, and Brutus' troubles.
It is a shame that the author is stopping the series with this book as the brewing power play between Antony and Octavius would have been interesting....suppose I'll have to go read some history books!
Rating:
Summary: I COULD SEE PAST
Review: This is a very good historical novel full of information, history, places and people. Reading it, I could transfer myself to the past and see it, feel it. What is true and what was close... What difference does it make? Everything was close enough to the truth to enjoy it. It was well consived, well written and very well presented. I can highly recommend it to everyone, who wants an interesting adventure while reading a nice book.
Rating:
Summary: I COULD SEE PAST
Review: This is a very good historical novel full of information, history, places and people. Reading it, I could transfer myself to the past and see it, feel it. What is true and what was close... What difference does it make? Everything was close enough to the truth to enjoy it. It was well consived, well written and very well presented. I can highly recommend it to everyone, who wants an interesting adventure while reading a nice book.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Book
Review: This is as close to a perfect book as I have ever read. Colleen McCullough succeeds beautifully in giving us a picture of what life may have been like during the time of Julius Caesar. My one regret is that this is the last book in her "Masters of Rome" series. I heartily reccomend it, along with her other books "First Man of Rome," "The Grass Crown," "Fortune's Favorites," "Caesar's Women," and "Caesar: Let the Dice Fly."
Rating:
Summary: A Masterfully Woven Story
Review: This is the culminating sixth volume of one of the most important historical novels of our generation. Beginning with "The First Man in Rome" and continuing through "The Grass Crown," "Fortune's Favorites," "Caesar's Women," "Caesar: Let The Dice Fly" and finally "The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra", McCullough has carried us from just before Julius Caesar's birth on through the civil war following his death.
In this extraordinary series it is possible to see the crisis a hegemonic power faces whose political system is incapable of coping with the opportunities and threats which unparalleled power have brought to it.
The corruption and decay of the Roman Senate, the rise of outside interests seeking to bribe and corrupt Rome, the growing crisis for Italians as reactionary elements in Rome refuse to extend citizenship and the reversion of violence both in the street and with the Army all serve as sobering examples for modern citizens to contemplate as they watch the kaleidoscopic changes in our world and our times.
McCullough has the natural story teller's ability to surround big ideas with living, breathing, plotting, conniving, loving and hating people who remind us that politics and history are made by humans, not by anonymous trend lines.
In "The October Horse," Caesar is finishing the civil war against Pompey's forces (especially against Cato the Younger), developing a liaison and an alliance with Cleopatra in Egypt and returning to Rome to begin to reform the system until his enemies assassinate him in the Senate. The book ends with his nephew Octavius and Mark Antony taking on the assassins in a victorious second civil war followed by the initial murmurings of competition between Octavius (Caesar Augustus to be) and Antony.
This novel is a rich feast of people, scenes and maneuvering that is well worth reading in its own right.
While I like "The October Horse" very much, I strongly recommend that anyone interested in seeing our own time in the context of historic developments first go back and read "The First Man in Rome" (Caesar's uncle Marius) and work their way through all six volumes.
This is a work of genius and it deserves to be very, very widely read.
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