The History Book Club discussion

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the historical fiction discussion of THE GRASS CROWN
by Colleen McCullough.

This is the reading assignment for week one - (February 7th to February 13th, 2011)

Week 1 - Feb 7-13: Chapter I, pp. 13 – 130

This is the sixth 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 will be kicked off on February 7th.

This discussion is being led by assisting moderator for The Grass Crown - Vicki Cline. This is her first venture in moderating an historical fiction book and she is very excited to be doing this. Please support her in this effort.

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, February 7th for discussion. This is a non spoiler thread.

Welcome,

~Bentley


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/4...

Colleen McCullough

Gaius Marius is at loose ends since finishing his sixth term as consul. He decides to go on an extended tour of the East with his wife Julia and young son Gaius. They spend a good bit of time in Greece, then go on to Anatolia (modern Turkey), where Marius hopes to meet Mithridates, the king of Pontus, an area in the northeast of Anatolia.

Mithridates has had an almost fairy tale life so far, running away from home at nine years old after his mother murdered her brother-husband the king, living in the interior of the country with villagers, hunting and exploring. Finally, at seventeen, he returned to the capitol and did away with his mother and elder brother, consolidating himself as king. Somewhat later he disguised himself as a trader and traveled through the Near East, acquiring information about local politics, and especially about poisons.

Mithridates and Marius finally meet in the capitol of Cappadocia, after Mithridates and the Pontic army have vanquished the king and his army there. Marius tells him to go home, and by the way, those dead bodies in the field had better be cleaned up. Mithridates starts home but detours to Armenia, where he befriends King Tigranes, and they plan to divide up the Near East.

Meanwhile, Sulla was rebuffed when he propositioned Aurelia, and the only way he can feel better is to kill someone, but just can’t bring himself to kill Aurelia. He gets himself invited to dinner by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus (Piggle-Wiggle), and poisons him, then comforts Numidicus’ son.

Hi Vicki, excellent summary of what we can expect in the book and it sounds like it will be a very interesting account. I have only recently finished a book on Mithridates and I found him to be a most interesting man so I think people reading "The Grass Crown" which have a great time!

by Adrienne Mayor

by Colleen McCullough

I love your summary Vicki - so typical of politicians; when in doubt as to what to do - it must be time for a vacation. This book is certain to have the intrigue of The First Man in Rome. I look forward to this read.


Colleen McCullough

Also, want to welcome you to your first moderation here.

I see that Marius and Sulla are moving apart and that Sulla is trying to distance himself from his mentor. I suppose it is natural as Marius' influence is beginning to wane.

Also, Sulla is back to his old tricks by killing Piggle Wiggle. This should be prove to be a good read.

Yes, Aussie Rick, Mithridates is a fascinating character, and by Adrienne Mayor is a great read. I had never heard of him until I read our book, even though he was famous in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although I have to confess, I didn't know anything about Marius until reading Colleen McCullough.

The tsuris about the infant prodigy Julius Caesar was funny. We should be hearing more about him soon. Aurelia is one of my favorite characters.

Vicki wrote: "The tsuris about the infant prodigy Julius Caesar was funny. We should be hearing more about him soon. Aurelia is one of my favorite characters."

Mine, too. I hope her husband does not come back, or if he does, more drama...

I'm not participating in the read but had to stop by the thread to see what was happening in the first pages of the book. I *knew* Sulla was going to continue his murderous ways. That guy is evil incarnate!

Why are things tense between Gaius Marius and Sulla at the beginning of the novel? What happened to their relationship?

Maybe someone can fill me in on that.

Bentley wrote: "Why are things tense between Gaius Marius and Sulla at the beginning of the novel? What happened to their relationship?

Maybe someone can fill me in on that."

During the Jugurthine War, Marius was the general in charge, but it was Sulla who captured Jugurtha through the connivance of Jugurtha's father-in-law King Bocchus of Mauretania. Marius was rather miffed by the publicity over this. Also, they are no longer related by marriage (in the novel, anyway), Julia's sister Jullila having committed suicide. With Marius' influence waning, Sulla is looking for allies who can better help him in his political career.

Thanks for the great summary; now I understand.

OK I have another question; why is Gaius Marius so intent on going to Anatolia and is he really going there to check out Mithridates? Why would he even care about Mithridates?

Bentley wrote: "OK I have another question; why is Gaius Marius so intent on going to Anatolia and is he really going there to check out Mithridates? Why would he even care about Mithridates?"

By the time Marius decides to go, Mithridates has conquered a good bit of the lands surrounding the Euxine Sea (see the map here, dark purple parts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pon...) and some in Rome are worried about whether he might have designs on Asia Province.

Thank you Vicki for the map and the background explanation.

yeah, as I'm reading it, it seems like a fact-finding tour. I suppose we might find other reasons as we go along, since everything usually isn't what it seems on the surface.

It's great to be back with these characters. The author does a great job of keeping your interest in what is going to happen to them and at the same time you feel like you are realing learning about life in these Roman times.

What a cold-blooded fellow Sulla is; off-handedly killing Numidicus. I guess it's good to know he has some limits, in that he couldn't murder Aurelia nor his current wife, whom he loathes. Poor woman.

It is hard to understand how Sulla's own wife does not know how she is loathed.

I thought it was touch and go for Aurelia; but glad he does have some limits.

The author certainly has a way of weaving a wonderful tale around history.

Sulla is quite a character:can live in society as a charmer, but can kill.

I agree, the author has great skill. I love this series so far.

While Marius is in Pergamum, the capitol of Rome's Asia Province, he meets with Publius Rutilius Rufus, one of his best friends, who is there as legate to the Roman governor, Scaevola. They discuss the disturbing actions of some of the tax-farmers, who have been gouging the locals, even removing priceless works of art when the towns can't come up with cash. Rufus and Scaevola have tried to fix the worst offenses, but this enrages the tax-farmers, who plan to prosecute them in Rome. The whole system of tax-farming seems strange to me. Apparently, Rome was averse to setting up a kind of civil service which could handle this kind of thing in a professional manner.

Vicki wrote: "While Marius is in Pergamum, the capitol of Rome's Asia Province, he meets with Publius Rutilius Rufus, one of his best friends, who is there as legate to the Roman governor, Scaevola. They discus..."

http://www.unrv.com/economy/roman-tax...

Thanks, Garret, that's a good description of how Rome dealt with taxes.

And didn't one of the collector's take a treasured sculpture because the locals could not pay?!

When Marius travels to Cappadocia, he's amazed by the landscape, of which many pictures can be seen in this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia.

Vicki wrote: "When Marius travels to Cappadocia, he's amazed by the landscape, of which many pictures can be seen in this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia."

This link doesn't work for me.

Try:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

Got it, thanks.

Sorry. Looks like the final period became part of the link. Thanks, Bryan, for fixing it.

Vicki wrote: "Sorry. Looks like the final period became part of the link. Thanks, Bryan, for fixing it."

Glad to help. Thanks for the post, great pictures and very helpful, because I can now visualize what Marius saw in person. Amazing landscape!