Antony and Cleopatra: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Colleen McCullough (Author)
Key Phrases: royal harbor, rex sacrorum, free grain dole, Marcus Antonius, Livia Drusilla, Divus Julius (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
McCullough (The Thorn Birds; The October Horse) continues her Masters of Rome series with a chronicle of one of history's most infamous love affairs. After the death of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Caesar's ambitious and brash cousin, and Octavian, Caesar's adopted son and designated heir, agree to jointly administer the far-flung empire: Antony in the East and Octavian in the West. It's not a happy arrangement, though, and their rivalry to rule Rome is the overarching theme of this sprawling, captivating saga. After a disastrous campaign to subdue the Parthians, Antony turns to Cleopatra, the enigmatic and fabulously wealthy queen of Egypt, to replenish his war chest. Determined to make Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar, ruler of Rome, Cleopatra seduces Antony and soon has him as soft as a mushy pudding. Meanwhile, with the aid of his wife and Marcus Agrippa, Octavian secures his position in Rome and Italia. Prodded by Cleopatra, Antony gathers his forces in Greece for an invasion of Italia. The tragic denouement is, in McCullough's capable hands, no less compelling for being so well known. As with the previous volumes in this series, the author's scholarship and larger-than-life characters bring a tempestuous Rome to life. (Dec.)
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From The Washington Post

Reviewed by Ann Wroe

Rome has seven hills, and Colleen McCullough, living in imagination among those hills for the past two decades, has now produced seven huge historical novels about the Roman republic. The October Horse, in 2002, was meant to be the final one, but then readers beseeched her to write another, and perhaps she herself couldn't bear to leave untouched the story of Antony and Octavian's struggle for power after the death of Julius Caesar; of Antony's bewitchment by Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt; of their tragic downfall and Octavian's triumph; and of the rise of Rome as the world's unrivalled power.

But times have changed since McCullough last wrote on this subject. Many of her would-be readers have now experienced a different Rome, courtesy of the HBO series. It is not just that they expect blood-soaked violence and graphic sex; they have vividly in their minds Mark Antony daubed with sweat and mascara, glassy-eyed Octavian with his chilling smile, minx-like Cleopatra in her gauzy nakedness, and good old Pullo riding stoically through it all. Any fictionalized account of Rome now has these strong shades to contend with.

McCullough cannot compete. Characterization is not her strong point. She has others: She writes clearly, keeps the action going and has a firm control of a sometimes dizzying assembly of satraps, battles, places, gods and army commanders. She seems never happier than when immersed in the sheer business of Rome, in a room piled with scrolls and papers, in the crowded Senate or on a harbor wall surveying the quinqueremes. But the characters who inhabit these scenes are either undescribed or grotesque. Anthony's shoulders and thighs are so muscled that he can hardly move. Cleopatra, on the other hand, is thin as a stick. Only the beautiful Octavian, later Augustus, is securely and lovingly evoked in his nimbus of light.

Conversations put no flesh on character: Instead, they strain at the seams with plots, motivations and explanations. Romance gets scant attention. "Here, have a grape," says the half-naked Antony to Cleopatra on their second meeting. "Here, have an apple," she replies. Shakespeare wept.

The time span of this book, from 41 to 27 B.C., covers some famous set pieces: the arrival of Cleopatra's barge; Antony's hopeless war against the Parthians; the naval battle of Actium; the denouncing of Antony in the Roman Senate; the double suicides of the main characters. A writer should be in heaven here, and McCullough does several scenes well, especially Octavian's pay negotiations with his mutinous troops, abacus beads flying, and his murder of Cleopatra's insufferable son Caesarion. Before Cleopatra's suicide, McCullough manages to make the Egyptian queen briefly affecting and pathetic -- and stages a genuine surprise.

But many smaller scenes prove disappointing. McCullough has a habit, almost a compulsion, of breaking off as soon as matters threaten to get interesting. Her battles are a few sword-thrusts, no blood, and much strategy before and after. Lovemaking usually ends as the couple get into bed; orgies consist of slaves placing chamber pots and bowls behind a screen. Early on, she builds up a great scene of Cleopatra's ship sailing off, filled with terrified Egyptians, most in peacock feathers, who have never been on the sea. They hoist anchor -- and the next thing we know, they are safely in harbor again.

Perhaps McCullough is writing not a novel, but dramatized history; her aim is not entertainment, but instruction. Her books contain glossaries and scholarly maps of cities and campaigns. Many of them, though not this one, have endnotes explaining and justifying her version of events. All through Antony and Cleopatra the reader is aware of a passion for details, from the right height of heels on Roman boots to the correct shorthand inscriptions on seals, from the marching formations of soldiers to the favorite vintages of wine. But everything is at the service of demonstrating the decline and fall of the Roman Republic.

The story has been told well enough, with straightforward confidence. Fans will be pleased to have another volume. But it seems a shame, after all this labor, that her book so rarely evokes the sounds, smells or even the sights of Rome and Egypt. Despite all the knowledge on show here, the reader seldom feels that he is in a startlingly different place, with views of the world, of life and of manners that he has never imagined. Extraordinary as the predicaments of the characters have been, they never touch the heart. The story careers along too brightly and briskly, propelled by the need to cram in as many events as possible.

Few can have tried harder than McCullough to bring ancient Rome to a broad audience. But perhaps she should have cared less about pleasing the historians, who can never be impressed, and settled for engaging and moving ordinary readers instead.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416552944
• ISBN-13: 978-1416552949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #164,092 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bring a massive saga to a close., December 14, 2007

By	Rebecca Huston "telynor" (On the Banks of the Hudson) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Forget, if you can, all of the stories that you've read or seen about the fabled Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt. Try if you can, not to see her as a voluptuous Elizabeth Taylor or enchanting Vivien Leigh or as some grand beauty. She's not in these pages. Not at all.

Instead, Colleen McCullough's final epic in her multivolume tale of the end of the Roman Republic takes an entirely new spin on the story. Nor does she forget the rest of the vivid cast that populate the story, from Octavian -- now calling himself Caesar -- and his sister, Octavia, and Mark Antony, Julius Caesar's former friend and now determined to make himself just as great as slain dictator. But there are plenty of minor players as well, and all of them are given a voice in this sprawling novel that travels from Rome to Egypt, the mountains of Armenia and as far as Parthia in the East.

The novel covers from Antony and Cleopatra?s fateful meeting in Ephesus, and goes all the way to the final, fateful end for both of them. While the story is certainly familiar, in McCullough?s capable hands, it takes on entirely new forms. Most of all it?s Octavian that takes center stage, evolving into the man that history considers the first Emperor of Rome, and his friendship with Marcus Agrippa. There?s also his family, namely the two vital women in his life ? Octavia, who might understand Octavian better than anyone, and the very clever Livia Drusilla, who most readers will remember from the 70?s BBC series, I, Claudius.

So begins a war of wills and manipulation by one of the more famous romantic couples in history. McCullough creates some of the most unusual characters that I've come across in a long time, and ones that forced me to fling aside all of my preconcieved notions of this often told story.

There are battles, conspiracies, romance, conniving, and some outrageous puns, all dished up in McCullough's style. This novel fits in very neatly with the rest of the series, and it's a grand, eye-opening adventure for the reader. While some of the action in the book is rather compressed -- most of the battles, including that of Actium towards the end -- the psychological base and giving a new spin on history is top notch.

This is what I really like about this series by McCullough. It's subtle, engaging and while she's not adverse about putting a bit of creativity in the story, she also knows her facts. It's here that makes her storytelling so good -- she creates characters that the reader can feel deeply about, and while you might not like them personally, they are compelling. Along the way, there's plenty of details about daily life, the way that the ancients looked at the world around them, and some deeply moving prose.

Indeed, one of scenes of the book is so heartbreaking that I broke down in tears. I don't do that very often and I had to set the book down and walk away for a moment before continuing to read.

For those who have managed to stay with the series from the begining, this one provides an adequate tying up of a lot of the loose strings from the previous work, The October Horse. While this book, as with all of the others, can stand well on its own, it really does help to know some of the previous action of the story. If the reader is already fond of novels set in Ancient Rome, this is simply one of the best.

A wonderful conclusion to the series, and worth the effort that it takes to get through it.

Five stars, and highly recommended, as are all of the Masters of Rome series.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent continuation of the Masters of Rome series, November 26, 2007

By	S. Crouch (Tuggeranong, A.C.T. Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Colleen McCullough has again produced an enthralling novel of first century BC Republican Rome in "Antony and Cleopatra". If you want a book that accurately tells it the way it probably was then this is the one to get.

The drama of Antony and Cleopatra must be one of the most common historical stories told and there have been many novels and films about this era. One of the recent additions was the visually impressive but historically questionable TV series "Rome". There are a variety of interpretations of the story, some having Octavian as the villain and others Antony and Cleopatra. Octavian in this work is largely the good guy with Antony coming across as a skilled soldier but generally a pretty unimpressive character who is constantly manipulated by a scheming Cleopatra. Cleopatra is also pictured as being slightly naive without a real understanding of the Roman world as she ruthlessly pursues the interests of Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar. McCullough also takes the view that Cleopatra was physically rather unattractive which is supported by her coin portraits. This view is still unproven but no one, of course, will ever know the complete truth.

There is a lot of detail here and it takes careful work to follow all the characters, relationships and military campaigns. There are plenty of maps though and the usual glossary at the end to help.

Overall a very good historical novel which I highly recommend.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Conclusion to a Great Series, February 9, 2008

By	J. Fuchs "jax76" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'm a huge fan of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, and the First Man in Rome remains one of my all-time favorite books. Some of the books in the series were not as strong as the others and so it was with great delight that I started reading this one and saw that McCullough appeared to be back in form. Unfortunately, my pleasure did not last.

This book should more aptly be titled Antony and Octavian, because what it is really about is the battle for control of Rome between these two strong men. Events start out shortly after the battle of Philippi, as Octavian, Antony and Lepidus form the second triumvirate and divide up the Roman Empire, ostensibly as equals. We are introduced to the historical figures who played a significant part in the lives of Antony and Octavian, including Sextus Pompeius, the outlawed, pirate son of Pompey the Great, and Octavian's second-in-command Agrippa, whose military and engineering genius propelled Octavian to greatness. The women get plenty of time in this novel, particularly Octavia (Octavian's sister) and Livia Drusilla, Octavian's power-hungry wife, in addition to Cleopatra.

The book is at its best when examining the characters of Antony, Octavian and Cleopatra, especially in the early days of their conflict, as Antony travels to his domains in the east and vows to defeat the Parthians, a task Julius Caesar never finished. McCullough presents a compelling account of Antony's disastrous campaign to take Phrapssus, and his subsequent descent into an alcoholic fugue, which only Cleopatra seems able to pull him out of. But shorly after this, however, when Antony takes up residence in the East, the book starts to fall apart. Here it begins to seem like McCullough is so interested in cramming in history, that she loses sight of her characters, who begin to flatten. In trying to reconcile the known historical facts with motivations that make sense but keep the characters likeable, McCullough loses her way. It's great that she tried to do this -- history brings us a Mark Antony and a Cleopatra who never seem like real people, and Octavian in his early years is generally depicted as quite a monster. So it's nice to see a portrait of Octavian that can be reconciled with his later self (as Augustus Caesar he led Rome to unparalled peace and prosperity) an Antony that is more than just an overly muscled ladies' man, and a Cleopatra that is something other than all-wise and all-seductive. That said, however, McCullough did a better job with a young Mark Antony in her earlier novels and Margaret George created a more rounded and believable Cleopatra in her excellent "Memoirs of Cleopatra." After a while, I didn't feel like I was reading either history or a great novel. McCullough was too busy rushing from set piece to set piece, and she really seemed to lose it in the transitions. I just finished reading the book last night and I can't really remember most of the second half, which seemed to consist largely of McCullough trying to create characterizations that allow the ending to make sense. Octavian muses about Rome, Antony wonders what happened to his luck, Cleopatra ruminates about Antony's failings as a general and her plot to make her son ruler of the world, when all of a sudden -- bam! -- there we are at Actium, without any sense of the book having led up to it, and with the battle itself seeming undramatic and anticlimactic, which is probably historically true, but isn't too interesting in a novel which purports to be about one of the most dramatic historical romances of all time. The ending itself is also disappointing, certainly nothing like the one Margaret George wrote or the one depicted in HBO's "Rome." McCullough makes Caesarion, Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar, wise beyond his years, but never convinces us that he can't see Octavian's treachery coming. I know McCullough has done her research on ancient Rome better than anyone, but she just made me question the history in this book. Maybe she was just falling a little too in love with her characters, knowing that it might be the last time she would be writing about them. If so, however, she's done herself and us a disservice because this great series deserved a truly great ending and this wasn't it. I'll still take second-rate McCullough over just about anyone else, and if it were any other writer, I'd give it 4 stars. But for McCullough, from whom I expect better, this is only a 3 star effot.

Oh well... there's always the Pax Romana to write about.