Colleen McCullough - Fortunes Favorites

"Fortune's Favourites" witnesses the power, mastery and cunning of two enigmatic Rulers of Rome - Sulla, returning from exile, and the 22-year-old Pompey, who designates himself Magnus "The Great". And in the background is the young soldier, Caesar, who begins to show the expert qualities that will one day culminate in him becoming the unparalleled leader of ancient Rome. And at the heart of this sumptuous tale is the unforgettable story of Spartacus and his doomed slave revolt - the true story, as no modern reader has ever before encountered it.

Fortunes

Favorites

FORTUNE SHINES

Denver Rocky Mountain News

WONDERFUL UNFORGETTABLE

AN IMPRESSIVE PIECE OF WORK

One of the most intriguing epics in history

A fascinating and surprisingly fast-moving story

about some of the most interesting figures

in a most important era

Virginian Pilot and Ledger-Star

GLORIOUS AMBITIOUS

QUITE ENTERTAINING

Colleen McCullough has found her stride.

Washington Post Book World

RIVETING FASCINATING A creative colossus McCullough somehow manages

to highlight the individuals caught up

in the hurricane of history without trivializing

its scope or halting its momentum.

Baltimore Sun

A COMPELLING STORY EXCITING ENTERTAINING INTRIGUING Artfully composed Chicago Tribune

BRILLIANT FRESH

OUTSTANDING REMARKABLE

A brightly illuminated panorama of world history ..

In McCulloughs hands historical characters

become fascinating, complex and credible figures

who give the novel its real power

They leave a lasting impression.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

TRULY IMPRESSIVE Intrigue, political maneuvering, grandstanding, gossip,

sex both affectionate and calculated,

and wholesale slaughter McCullough works

to charge history with the current of personality.

Booklist

WONDROUS HISTORY

Her characters have become more and more real,

more evil, more complex, braver and bolder.

Pasadena Star-News

ROLLICKING GOOD FICTION ..

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

McCulloughs Roman saga is like a trip through time.

Her characters come alive

Library Journal

A TREASURE McCulloughs genius as a writer is evident

Baton Rouge Magazine

EXCITING WITTY A MAJESTIC TALE .. McCullough brings order to the mighty tangle of battles and political strategies of ancient heavy weights-in the Forum Romanum or the tents of war. Kirkus Reviews

WONDERFUL

McCullough creates a rich landscape for her

history-shaping characters to roam

She helps you understand and relate

to these people of long ago and far away.

Macon Telegraph

Other Avon Books by Colleen McCullough

the first man in rome the grass crown

the ladies of missalonghi

A creed for the third millennium

an indecent obsession

the thorn birds

tim

Avon Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund raising or educational use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs.

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Colleen

McCullough

Fortunes

Favorites

AVON BOOKS NEW YORK

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

AVON BOOKS

A division of

The Hearst Corporation

1350 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10019

Copyright 1993 by Colleen McCullough Front cover art by Paul Stinson Inside front cover art by Tom Hall Published by arrangement with the author Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-534 ISBN: 0-380-71083-8

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law.

Published in hardcover by William Morrow and Company, Inc.; for information address Permissions Department, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10019.

First Avon Books Printing: June 1994

AVON TRADEMARK REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A.

Printed in the U.S.A.

OPM 10 987654321

For Lieutenant Colonel the Reverend A. Rebecca West

Femina Optima Maxima

The worlds greatest woman

[ FF viii.jpg ]

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

MAPS

Italia: Topography and Roads viii

The Roman Near East (with particular reference

to the movements of Caesar and Verres) x-xi

Northern Italy and South-Central

Italian Gaul 20, 119, 569

East-Central Italy 26

Ofellas Siege of Praeneste; Sullas Occupation

of Via Latina 135

Route of Samnites to Colline Gate of Rome 146

The Hellespont, the Propontis, the Thracian

Bosporus, Bithynia, Mysian Asia Province,

and Lesbos 392-393

The East (with emphasis upon the conquests

of Tigranes) 452-453

Pompeys Route Across the Alps 598-599

The Spains 606-607

The Wanderings of Spartacus 73-71 B.C. 800

Southwestern Italy 817

ILLUSTRATIONS

Some Events in the History of Rome Prior to

The First Man in Rome xii-xiii

Nicomedes III Epiphanes Philopator xiv

Young Pompey 2

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix 184

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius 284

Lucius Licinius Lucullus 438

Gaius Julius Caesar 496

Quintus Sertorius 592

Marcus Licinius Crassus 676

The Consul Pompey 840

The Well of the Comitia 949

Aurelias Insula 978

Roman Magistrates 987

Shape of Toga 1018

Triclinium 1022

[ FF x.jpg ]

Some Events in the History of Rome Prior to THE FIRST MAN IN ROME

(Note: All dates are B.C.)

ca. 1100 A refugee from Troy, Aeneas established himself in Latium.

Son. Iulus, became King of Alba Longa.

753-775 Romulus first King of Rome: built the Palatine city.

715-673 Numa Pompilius second King: created 100 senators, priestly colleges, made

10-month year a 12-month year.

673-642 Tullus Hostilius third King: built Senate House.

642-617 Ancus Marcius fourth King: built Wooden Bridge, fortified Janiculum, seized

salt flats at Ostia for Rome.

616-578 Tarquinius Priscus fifth King: built Circus Maximus, sewered central Rome,

enlarged Senate to 300, created Tribes and Classes, established the census

578-534 Servius Tullius sixth King: created pomerium, built Agger.

534-510 Tarquinius Superbus seventh King: finished temple of Jupiter Optimus

Maximus, destroyed Gabii. ___

509 Tarquinius Superbus expelled, monarchy abolished. THE REPUBLIC OF

ROME BEGINS. Brutus and Valerius first chief magistrates (called

praetors, not consuls).

508 Pontifex Maximus created to overpower Rex Sacrorum.

500 Titus Larcius the first-ever dictator.

First secession of Plebs: 2 tribunes of the plebs and 2 plebeian aediles created.

471 Second secession of Plebs: Plebeian Assembly made tribal.

459 Number of tribunes of the plebs raised from 2 to 10.

456 Third secession of Plebs: plebeians granted land.

Decemviri codified the XII Tables of Roman Law.

449 Fourth secession of Plebs: lex Valeria Horatia defined sacrosanctity of tribunes