Description
"Caesar is the third in Allan Massie's quartet of Roman novels, a brilliant and eagerly awaited successor to Tiberius, which was widely acclaimed last year." "In retelling the story of Caesar, from crossing the Rubicon to the Ides of March, Allan Massie writes with wit and intelligence and brings to individual life both Cleopatra and Cicero, Marcus Brutus and Anthony; while political philosophy has never before been clothed in such an atmosphere of highly charged sexuality."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1993
Physical description
228 p.; 24 cm
Publication
New York : Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1994.
Pages
228
ISBN
0786701218 / 9780786701216
User reviews
LibraryThing member john257hopper
The first two thirds of this were a little difficult to get through, perhaps due to a certain lack of narrative drive, though I am a fan of Roman history and have read and loved all of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It picked up in the final third with the run up to the assassination.
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
An intriguing, exhaustively-researched account of the latter years of Julius Caesar's life, steeped in internecine plots and labyrinthine conspiracies. Somehow it all left me rather cold. Although on the face of it Massie's prose is beautifully formed, somehow he seemed incapable of making the
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reader have any feelings at all about the characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member elyreader
The story of Caesar's ascent to glory and his assassination is very well known. Probably the most famous version nowadays is Shakespeare's and Allan Massie's version does echo this a lot at times, even down to reproducing some of the dialogue. The story is told in the first person from the point of
The story of the conspirators, their assemblies and machinations comes in the latter part of the novel. What precedes it is the story of Caesar's military adventures in the civil wars that lead to his eventual ascendency as dictator. There are a number of interesting passages covering the politics of Rome (Cicero is focused on as an ambiguous and not altogether likeable figure) as well as the sexual mores and marital relationships of the key protoagonists.
Some of the dialogue does read a little like a 1950s Holloywood epic - but it is difficult to create a language which is at once realistic enough for modern tastes as well as having the grandeur of the themes and the epoch making events. However, having said that, some of the dialogue does have an unexpected vigour. Here is a drunken Mark Antony with Decimus (nicknamed "Mouse" throughout the novel) and a servant who proves surplus to requirements:
"Cagey bugger, aren't you, always were. Tell me what I've been trying to decide, Am I celebrating or am I not?":
He gulped more wine, steadied himself on his elbow.
"That's better. Send this little brat away. We don't want slaves to hear what we have to say. Bloody gossips every man jack of them. F*** off, do you hear me and leave the sodding wine. That's better." (Chapter 15)
This reminds me of Roland Barthes' comments about how Romans have American haircuts in the films. Here they speak with a very British turn of phrase and rhythm. This is perhaps unavoidable and Massie does use it to create an engaging and provocative range of characters. Decimus may have been a relatively minor figure (but compared to Caesar, Brutus, Antony and Cicero who wouldn't be?), but this is useful in the novel as he mixes with all sides and is not too flamboyantly partizan to lose credibility.
Massie reveals a sense of history which he invigorates with effective plotting - there is genuine tension as the story develops, despite the fact that we know the outcome - and with some strong characterisation. The style, though, does not always fizz as a great novel might.
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view of Decimus Brutus, a loyal and trusted officer who switches sides as the conspiracy gains ground. The novel takes the form of a memoir he is writing whilst incarcerated by a relative of the recently murdered Vercingetorix. The story of the conspirators, their assemblies and machinations comes in the latter part of the novel. What precedes it is the story of Caesar's military adventures in the civil wars that lead to his eventual ascendency as dictator. There are a number of interesting passages covering the politics of Rome (Cicero is focused on as an ambiguous and not altogether likeable figure) as well as the sexual mores and marital relationships of the key protoagonists.
Some of the dialogue does read a little like a 1950s Holloywood epic - but it is difficult to create a language which is at once realistic enough for modern tastes as well as having the grandeur of the themes and the epoch making events. However, having said that, some of the dialogue does have an unexpected vigour. Here is a drunken Mark Antony with Decimus (nicknamed "Mouse" throughout the novel) and a servant who proves surplus to requirements:
"Cagey bugger, aren't you, always were. Tell me what I've been trying to decide, Am I celebrating or am I not?":
He gulped more wine, steadied himself on his elbow.
"That's better. Send this little brat away. We don't want slaves to hear what we have to say. Bloody gossips every man jack of them. F*** off, do you hear me and leave the sodding wine. That's better." (Chapter 15)
This reminds me of Roland Barthes' comments about how Romans have American haircuts in the films. Here they speak with a very British turn of phrase and rhythm. This is perhaps unavoidable and Massie does use it to create an engaging and provocative range of characters. Decimus may have been a relatively minor figure (but compared to Caesar, Brutus, Antony and Cicero who wouldn't be?), but this is useful in the novel as he mixes with all sides and is not too flamboyantly partizan to lose credibility.
Massie reveals a sense of history which he invigorates with effective plotting - there is genuine tension as the story develops, despite the fact that we know the outcome - and with some strong characterisation. The style, though, does not always fizz as a great novel might.
Show Less