8. HF - FORTUNE'S FAVORITES- PART VI (535 - 604) (09/05/11 - 09/11/11) ~ No spoilers, please

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Hello Everyone,

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

This is the reading assignment for week eight - (September 5th-September 11)

Week 8 - Sept 5-11: Part VI, pp. 535-604

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 was kicked off on July 18th.

This discussion is being led by assisting moderator for Fortune's Favorites - 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 opens up Monday, August 22nd for discussion. This is a non spoiler thread.

Welcome,

~Vicki


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...


by Colleen McCullough

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

This section takes place during the period September 77 B.C. to Winter 72-71 B.C. in Spain. Metellus Pius has been governor of Further Spain for some time and is joined by Pompey. Pompey is full of himself (as usual) and is sure he can finish off Sertorius in no time. But he suffers a crushing defeat at Lauro and withdraws into himself, licking his figurative wounds. Pius comes to join him, originally to sort of lord it over him, but when he sees how dejected Pompey is, Pius does his best to buck him up. Eventually Pompey, working with Pius, gains experience fighting Sertorius’ Spanish soldiers and learning the lay of the land.

Sertorius has been successful recruiting the Spanish tribesmen, who resent Rome. He plans to eventually conquer Rome and become king. Mithridates offers him gold and ships in exchange for Sertorius recognizing his Eastern conquests after Sertorius takes over. Sertorius has been helped psychologically by a white fawn that the people believe is the goddess Diana. When the fawn goes missing for several weeks, Sertorius is very worried and is relieved when it reappears.

Pompey has to write a few harsh letters to Rome because he needs money and soldiers, not having been given enough in the first place. Lucullus, the senior consul, exhorts the Senate to comply.

Ultimately, the only way to defeat Sertorius is to post a reward for information leading to his capture. It’s taken up by one of Sertorius’ legates, Perperna, who was miffed that Sertorius didn’t let him keep his legions when he came over to his side. Perperna kills Sertorius during a banquet and delivers his head to Pompey, who reneges on the reward, since he didn’t ask for Sertorius to be killed, just for information. After five years of fighting in Spain, Pompey’s matured but realizes he still has a lot to learn, and vows never again to fight against another Roman.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

I think she's a bit too hard on Pompey, portraying him as a big baby. It is pretty funny, though. I really liked his letters to the Senate, especially the SEND MORE MONEY parts. I wonder if there was a way to add emphasis in Latin, if they had upper- and lower-case letters. I have read that they didn't separate words by spaces, just ran all the letters together.

[Cheryl]

I like how Pompey, in his letter, says to Metellus Pius that they are to work together, then proceeds to tell him the strategy "we" will use. Pompey hasn't lost until now. He has been overdue for being taken down a notch, and I think this may be a reason for her harsh treatment of him.

I also like very much how patient Pius is with him, from his reaction to Pompey's letter to his reaction when he joins him. Metellus Pius is one of my favorites.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Yes, I like how Pius has grown from being the butt of Sulla's jokes to being an effective leader.

[Cheryl]

And I like the new humbled Pompey who takes advice from Pius. I enjoyed his letters to the Senate too - especially his tag lines: By the way, you owe me a new public horse. :)

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

But how long will Pompey's humility last? Probably not very.

[Cheryl]

True! Maybe until his next triumph. (Snicker - that was a Sulla-esque joke! I miss Sulla.)