History Literature / MastersOfRome

* NobodyOver50IsGay: Averted by Sulla, who is sexually active with his male lover Metrobius until his death at the age of 60.

While there are hundreds if not thousands of named characters in these books, broadly speaking several major if unrelated story arcs stand out. The first two books are dominated by the friendship and later rivalry between the brilliant general [[SelfMadeMan Gaius Marius]] and the icy but cunning aristocrat [[ImpoverishedPatrician Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] while most of the later works focus on the careers and lives of UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat, Crassus, Creator/{{Cicero}}, Cato, Octavian and Mark Antony and above all UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar whose pivotal life makes him the central character of the whole story.

While there are hundreds if not thousands of named characters in these books, broadly speaking several major if unrelated story arcs stand out. The first two books are dominated by the friendship and later rivalry between the brilliant general [[SelfMadeMan Gaius Marius]] and the icy but cunning aristocrat [[ImpoverishedPatrician Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] while most of the later works focus on the careers and lives of UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat, Crassus, Creator/{{Cicero}}, Cato, Octavian and Mark Antony and above all Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar whose pivotal life makes him the central character of the whole story.

* Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar: The man himself. Born at the end of ''The First Man in Rome'' he appears in every book, barring ''Antony and Cleopatra'', set after his death.

* MaliciousSlander: The young (and beautiful) Caesar successfully negotiated an alliance with the old, CampGay, and lecherous King Nicomedes of Bithynia. In the novel, the two are presented as forming a real and non-sexual OddFriendship (and while Nicomedes finds Caesar attractive, he doesn't try anything). But from then on (in the novels and in RealLife), Caesar's enemies accused him of having prostituted himself to Nicomedes to secure the alliance.[[note]]And worse yet, they accused Caesar of being on the bottom.[[/note]] For Caesar's revenge, scroll down a little to AManIsNotAVirgin...
* AManIsNotAVirgin: A deliberate example, Caesar seduces the wives, sisters and in some cases mothers of his opponents--this is [[MamaBear on his mother's advice]], to humiliate the men who accuse him of being a homosexual.
** But he doesn't touch ''virgin'' daughters, again on his mother's advice. If he [[DefiledForever defiled]] an enemy's innocent daughter, under any circumstances, the enemy would gain sympathy and the city would be outraged. But seducing an enemy's ''wife'' makes the enemy a laughingstock.

* TheRomanRepublic: Deals with the finals days of the Republic, as it begins to buckle under the weight of corruption, personal ambition and opulent wealth. The series ends with Octavian in control of the Roman world, establishing the Roman Empire in all but name.

* FieryRedhead: Caesar's Gallic mistress Rhiannon. Subverted by Caesar's actual wife, Pompeia Sulla, who is a redhead in hair colour but a DumbBlonde in personality.

** PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Gaius Marius and Julia like each other at first sight and rapidly fall in love. Pompey the Great has a habit of falling madly in love with the wives he's married for purely political reasons.

* BlondesAreEvil: Gaius Verres.

* EvilMatriarch: If you thought Servilia was warped on ''Series/{{Rome}}'' wait 'til you see the ''MastersOfRome'' version.

* BrokenBird: Cato is a rare male version, and a very masculine one, at that.

* NeverLiveItDown: The young (and beautiful) Caesar successfully negotiated an alliance with the old, CampGay, and lecherous King Nicomedes of Bithynia. In the novel, the two are presented as forming a real and non-sexual OddFriendship (and while Nicomedes finds Caesar attractive, he doesn't try anything). But from then on (in the novels and in RealLife), Caesar's enemies accused him of having prostituted himself to Nicomedes to secure the alliance.[[note]]And worse yet, they accused Caesar of being on the bottom.[[/note]] For Caesar's revenge, scroll up a little to AManIsNotAVirgin...

* OddFriendship: The young Pompey and Cicero. Marius and Sulla too, in a way.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: A deliberate example, Caesar seduces the wives, sisters and in some cases mothers of his opponents.

* BreakTheCutie: While not technically a cutie, Sulla was always noted as being extremely handsome... until he gained and lost two hundred pounds, lost all of his teeth, his hair fell out and his face almost got sunburned off. All in about three months.

While there are hundreds if not thousands of named characters in these books, broadly speaking several major if unrelated story arcs stand out. The first two books are dominated by the friendship and later rivalry between the brilliant general [[SelfMadeMan Gaius Marius]] and the icy but cunning aristocrat [[ImpoverishedPatrician Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] while most of the later works focus on the careers and lives of Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato, Octavian and Mark Antony and above all Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar whose pivotal life makes him the central character of the whole story.

Set in AncientRome (between 110 BC and 27 BC) this epic seven book series covers the fall of the Roman Republic and ends with the rise of Octavian (later known as [[EmperorAugustus Caesar Augustus]]). Noted for their intricate research of Roman life and [=McCullough=]'s use of DeliberateValuesDissonance with even clearly sympathetic characters. Also sex, quite a lot of it.

While there are hundreds if not thousands of named characters in these books, broadly speaking several major if unrelated story arcs stand out. The first two books are dominated by the friendship and later rivalry between brilliant general [[SelfMadeMan Gaius Marius]] and the icy but brilliant aristocratic [[ImpoverishedPatrician Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] while most of the later works focus on the careers and lives of Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato, Octavian and Mark Antony and above all Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar whose pivotal life makes him the central character of the whole story.

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The enemies of Marius and Cinna have their heads hung on the walls of the Forum Romanum when a deranged Marius returns to Rome after his forced exile.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted due to historical necessity; there are are at least three important characters named Gaius Julius Caesar, for instance. In the books they are generally distinguished by nickname based on age, in this case 'Caesar Grandfather', 'Caesar' and 'Young Caesar.'.

* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight

* TheRomanRepublic

* VillainProtagonist: Sulla

While there are hundreds if not thousands of named characters in these books, broadly speaking several major if unrelated story arcs stand out. The first two books are dominated by the friendship and later rivalry between brilliant general [[SelfMadeMan Gauis Marius]] and the icy but brilliant aristocratic [[ImpoverishedPatrician Lucius Cornelius Sulla]] while most of the later works focus on the careers and lives of Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato, Octavian and Mark Antony and above all Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar whose pivotal life makes him the central character of the whole story.