3. HF - FORTUNE'S FAVORITES- PART II (185 - 270 ) (08/01/11 - 08/07/11) ~ No spoilers, please

[Bryan]

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the historical fiction discussion of FORTUNE'S FAVORITES by Colleen McCullough.

This is the reading assignment for week three - (August 1st - August 7th)


Week 3 - August 1-7: Part II, pp. 185-270


This is the ninth historical fiction group selected book.

We will open up a thread for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers if you are catching up.

This book kicked off on July 18th.

This discussion is being led by assisting moderator for The Grass Crown - Vicki Cline.

We always enjoy the participation of all group members. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, but this is not available on Kindle or audible.

This thread opened up Monday, July 25th for discussion. This is a non spoiler thread.

Welcome,

~Bryan

TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL
Please feel free to research the complete Table of Contents and Syllabus on this thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

Colleen McCullough

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Sulla has been pondering religion in Rome. He believes the gods are upset because of lax practices and has set forth reforms. In particular, priests are no longer to be elected, but appointed. His first major appointment is Metellus Pius, aka the Piglet, as Pontifex Maximus. This is a great joke, since Piglet is a notorious stammerer and all religious proceedings must be performed perfectly from start to finish, or they have to be done over.

Also, Caesar’s wife Cinilla, the flaminia Dialis, is no longer Roman or patrician (a requirement for the flaminia), because her father was declared an enemy of Rome and legislation prescribes that minor children of such people cease to be Roman citizens. Caesar goes to see Sulla and refuses to divorce Cinilla, partly as a way to get out of being flamen Dialis, and partly because he truly loves her. The only solution for Sulla seems to be to kill Caesar. Realizing this, Caesar flees Rome with Burgundus, his giant servant, and much money, and takes refuge with Sertorius’ mother. He means to travel further but falls ill. While he’s incapacitated, Sulla’s men find him but are bribed into going away.

Aurelia pleads with Sulla to spare her son, but is unsuccessful. She consults with Sulla’s wife Dalmatica and his daughter, and they advise her to go again, but with an impressive entourage of Vestal Virgins and senators. Sulla is delighted with this crowd and stage manages them into a kind of Greek play. At the end, he agrees to let Caesar resign the flaminate and stay married to Cinilla. There’s an impressive sacrifice of a white bull as Caesar’s expiation of his “guilt” regarding the priesthood. Then Caesar goes off to Mitylene to serve in his first military campaign.

[Cheryl]

Classic Sulla! He's just like Megamind: Evil has vanquished good, the enemy is dead, world domination has been achieved, and he's . . . BORED! I thought naming Metellus Pius as Pontifex Maximus was funny, but the pageant/Greek tragedy was too much - Sulla's Creon to Aurelia's Antigone!

I love, too, that his main reason for freeing Caesar from the flaminate is to spite Gaius Marius, since he's still sore about the Jugurtha thing, among others.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

But to give Sulla some credit, he really was concerned about religion. A little later in the book, we will see just how serious. That's not to say his edicts on religion didn't serve his own purposes.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Thank you Bryan.

[Bryan]

Bentley wrote: "Thank you Bryan."

Glad to help.

[Cheryl]

Vicki wrote: "But to give Sulla some credit, he really was concerned about religion. A little later in the book, we will see just how serious. That's not to say his edicts on religion didn't serve his own purp..."

I agree completely! I admire his amazing knowledge of the law and constitution, as well as his ability to find and use the laws that support his goals and decisions - like any really good lawyer can. Even though he continues to compete with Marius's legacy, he truly does have Rome's best interests at heart, and wants to see the government and religion get back to the old way of doing things. If it weren't for that, he would just be a murderous self-serving tyrant and not a very likable or sympathetic character. I think his decision to leave the flaminate vacant was also a brilliant choice - covers all the legal bases.

[Bryan]

I wasn't sure how to react to Sulla's demands and enjoyment of Caesar's defense done by his mother, a kind of play. It worked, but it was odd.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

I love Sulla's line "In this young man there are many Mariuses." This was taken from by Suetonius. I wonder if Suetonius made that up, but he may have had access to Sulla's memoirs, since lost.

[Bryan]

It is a great line.

[Cheryl]

I like that line, too. That would be great if Sulla actually said that. Foreshadowing?

Bryan wrote: "I wasn't sure how to react to Sulla's demands and enjoyment of Caesar's defense done by his mother, a kind of play. It worked, but it was odd."

It is odd, but I feel like it makes sense in context - like he wants to create something aesthetically pleasing and that gives him instant gratification. Ruling does neither - he enacts all these laws and reforms but won't see the result of them on Rome for a while, since all reforms take time to shape the government. He does also love theater - and I think I remember him thinking in the previous book that he himself is not a great speaker but admires those who are.

Again I defer to those who know more of the actual history - did this "play" really happen, or is it invented for the novel?