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Trivia
Trivia, title by title: 22 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesTen years of research
McCullough published the book in 1990 after a decade of researching ancient Rome. She trained as a neurophysiologist and already had the hit The Thorn Birds behind her.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesDrawn by the author
Every book in the series comes with a long glossary, author's notes explaining her choices, and hand-drawn portraits of the main characters by McCullough herself.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAn invented wife
History doesn't say which branch of the Julii Sulla's first wife came from. McCullough made her Julilla, the younger daughter of Old Caesar and sister of Marius's wife.
source ↗ - SetupWatch Old Caesar
Old Caesar, Marius's father-in-law, is Julius Caesar's grandfather. His family looks like a side note here, but it's the thread that ties all seven books together.
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- Behind the scenesWhat the grass crown is
The corona graminea was Rome's rarest military honor, woven from plants picked on the battlefield. It was given by the soldiers who had been saved, not by generals. Sulla wrote in his memoirs that he won one near Nola.
source ↗ - SetupTwo boys on stage
Between battles, the book shows the childhoods of Julius Caesar and Cato the Younger. Keep an eye on both of them from the start.
source ↗ - ReferenceRutilius Rufus returns
Publius Rutilius Rufus, who tells part of the first book through his letters, faces an unjust trial here that sends him into exile.
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- Behind the scenesA book club pick
It came out in the US in October 1993 and was a Literary Guild dual selection, picked by the subscription book club alongside another title.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesToo much history?
A Chicago Tribune critic complained that McCullough was so set on including every bit of Roman history that major events got a single paragraph. He still praised it as artful fiction.
source ↗ - SetupRemember this line
Pompey insists on being called Magnus, the Great. Caesar dismisses him as someone who could never be a danger to the Republic. Remember that call.
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- Behind the scenesWho the women are
The title covers his mother Aurelia, his daughter Julia, his wives Pompeia and Calpurnia, and his lover Servilia. John Rush's cover shows Caesar with Servilia.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesCicero off the pedestal
Publishers Weekly noted that the book paints Cicero as an indecisive social climber, far from the marble orator.
source ↗ - SetupJulia's engagement
Caesar betroths his daughter Julia to Pompey to seal his pact with him and Crassus. That marriage carries a lot of political weight from here on.
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- Behind the scenesLet the dice fly
The first US edition came out as Caesar: Let the Dice Fly, after the Greek line Caesar is said to have quoted as he crossed the Rubicon.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFor armchair generals
Kirkus found it too dense for the average reader but a treat for the armchair general who loves military strategy.
source ↗ - ReferenceCaesar's grief
Publishers Weekly praised the book's private side, like Caesar's grief over the death of Julia, the daughter who married Pompey in the previous book.
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- Behind the scenesThe October Horse
The title comes from a chariot race on the Ides of October. The right-hand horse of the winning team was sacrificed to the gods. In the book, Caesar is that horse: the best in Rome.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesMeant to be the end
McCullough planned this as the final book. She argued the Republic truly fell after Philippi. Most historians point to Actium, in 31 BC, instead.
source ↗ - SetupThe boy from Apollonia
Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew, shows up as a promising young man with firm values. Watch closely how he changes over the course of the book.
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- Behind the scenesA former premier asked for more
Bob Carr, former premier of New South Wales, publicly campaigned for more Roman novels, which led to Antony and Cleopatra. He even suggested jumping ahead to the Five Good Emperors.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe final word
There was no eighth book. McCullough's eyesight failed from macular degeneration, and she died in early 2015.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe legacy she wanted
McCullough spoke of 13 years of work to get the history right and said the Roman books were the legacy she wanted to leave. Fans of the series included Henry Kissinger and Newt Gingrich.
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