The whole series is nicely abridged on tape for those who may not have time to read all of it. There is also an unabridged version of one or two volumes.
Charles Skallerud ----- Original Message ----- From: M W Hughes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 23, 1999 7:14 AM Subject: VIRGIL: Caesar novelised > For a train journey recently I bought a copy of 'Caesar' by Colleen > McCullough, well known for 'The Thorn Birds'. I thought that it was a > rather creditable and very well researched presentation of part of the > history on which V comments, so I commend it to you! The general line is > the Sallustian one in which there must be some truth, describing an > aristocracy corrupted by greed and the availability of imperial loot, with > the gossipy elements of Cicero's letters played up to give the characters > life. V's sense of Pompey and Caesar as genuinely 'concordes animae' is > endorsed. Vercingetorix, the rebellious Gaul, tries to persuade Caesar > that the Romans need a king: so Caesar is presented as an > imperialist, originally enlightened, eventually forcing on his own people > the very values which he had at first considered barbaric. I'd think that > this view underplays the 'civilised' monarchism of the Greeks, which must > have influenced both Caesar and V, as Cairns points out in 'V's Augustan > Epic'. At any rate, McCullough's novel reminded me of how many strong and > vivid characters, real source material for a great epic, were involved in > the Fall of the Republic. I've missed taking part in Mantovano discussion > for a month or two: we've had a tough term at Durham University. May I > wish everyone a pleasant Year 2000? - Martin Hughes > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
