The events of Fortune’s Favourites are dominated by the exploits of Sulla, the dictator, and Pompey, the young scion of an immensely powerful provincial family. Fortune’s Favourites is the story of Sulla’s return from exile, his installation as dictator of Rome, and his surprising self-imposed retirement. It witnesses the spectacle of Pompey, who designates himself Magnus (“the Great”) at the ripe age of twenty-two, and determines then to leapfrog over the accepted path to Roman politics - and over the careers of others - by any means necessary.
Most satisfying of all are Caesar’s exploits as a young soldier and advocate, testing and enhancing the talents with which destiny has equipped him, and which finally will allow him to overshadow all the other towering characters with whom he shared the stage of Roman politics.
