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La columna de hierro
Esta novela legendaria, fruto de nueve años de trabajo e investigación, es una fascinante recreación de la vida de Marco Tulio Cicerón en la Roma imperial. Gracias a este trabajo, Taylor consigue describir el mundo de la antigua Roma con gran exactitud y captar el alcance de una figura tan excepcional y controvertida como la de Cicerón. Agudo analista del mundo que le rodeaba, Cicerón fue también una persona adelantada a su tiempo cuya clarividencia le hizo ganarse tantos amigos como enemigos.
Pero más allá de la reconstrucción histórica fidedigna, La columna de hierro también es una apasionante novela donde se cruzan las intrigas palaciegas, las pasiones y los crímenes, donde salen a relucir las cuestiones que más preocupaban a Cicerón: la religión, la política y la guerra.
Pero más allá de la reconstrucción histórica fidedigna, La columna de hierro también es una apasionante novela donde se cruzan las intrigas palaciegas, las pasiones y los crímenes, donde salen a relucir las cuestiones que más preocupaban a Cicerón: la religión, la política y la guerra.
784 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1965
1310 people are currently reading
3253 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Caldwell
152 books554 followers Also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner.
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
September 23, 2011
This book is about the story of Marcus Tullius Cicero the famous Roman lawyer, philosopher and statesman. Several historical characters are described the extent to which Cicero's life is described by the author. Jullius Caesar his childhood friend to whom Cicero always cheered despite some wrong political attitudes according to his point of view; Catilina his eternal enemy; Noe ben Joel a Jewish, a dearest friend and an intellectual who tried to convert Cicero to believe in the coming Messiah.
Even if his personal life was not easy with his marriage to Terentia, he adored her daughter Tullia. His son Marcus didn't follow his father's wish as a philosopher, he went to a military career instead.
The First and Second Triumvirate are interlaced with Cicero's career. Cicero founded the first Public Library in Roma, I didn't know about it. Caesar's and Cicero's assassination are described in a few paragraphs but we can shudder at the details.
According to the author's note, she made an extensive research work that began in 1947 from Cicero's diaries, from the historian Sallust and from his letters to Atticus and Julius Caesar. She translated hundreds of Cicero's letters in the Vatican Library.
Since this book was first published in 1965, the author dedicated her book to the memory of President John F. Kennedy.
Even if his personal life was not easy with his marriage to Terentia, he adored her daughter Tullia. His son Marcus didn't follow his father's wish as a philosopher, he went to a military career instead.
The First and Second Triumvirate are interlaced with Cicero's career. Cicero founded the first Public Library in Roma, I didn't know about it. Caesar's and Cicero's assassination are described in a few paragraphs but we can shudder at the details.
According to the author's note, she made an extensive research work that began in 1947 from Cicero's diaries, from the historian Sallust and from his letters to Atticus and Julius Caesar. She translated hundreds of Cicero's letters in the Vatican Library.
Since this book was first published in 1965, the author dedicated her book to the memory of President John F. Kennedy.
October 22, 2008
I don't really like historical novels, because so many false things are added with the truth to make the story interesting and fill in the gaps. It becomes a chore to filter out what is real and fake.
While reading this book, I have been reading others on Cicero and many websites, and believe this book was pretty accurate (with plenty of fill in the gap information that was made up).
Caldwell did a great job of explaining the principles Cicero fought for (like a republic and not a democracy or dictatorship) and conspiracies he fought against. The book brought me into that political world and I had much anxiety for the direction Rome was heading. I would close the book and see the same problems, lack of information, demogogues, and stupid apethitic people doing the same thing today and now. Repeating history all over again.
I can't help but think of Cicero's loneliness of standing up for proper principles alone, and how Ezra Taft Benson and Ron Paul have felt while they, alone, try to teach proper principles of government to the mases that just want socialism and will sell thier birthright for a bowl of pottage.
While reading this book, I have been reading others on Cicero and many websites, and believe this book was pretty accurate (with plenty of fill in the gap information that was made up).
Caldwell did a great job of explaining the principles Cicero fought for (like a republic and not a democracy or dictatorship) and conspiracies he fought against. The book brought me into that political world and I had much anxiety for the direction Rome was heading. I would close the book and see the same problems, lack of information, demogogues, and stupid apethitic people doing the same thing today and now. Repeating history all over again.
I can't help but think of Cicero's loneliness of standing up for proper principles alone, and how Ezra Taft Benson and Ron Paul have felt while they, alone, try to teach proper principles of government to the mases that just want socialism and will sell thier birthright for a bowl of pottage.
June 28, 2020
“Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.” Aristotle
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is probably the most important man in history most of us never heard of. That he was one of Rome’s greatest orators and writers is secondary to his impact on modern western political thought. "The influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language," wrote classicist Michael Grant. Cicero’s thoughts undergirded much of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. America’s founders often quoted the Roman.
“His own existence was less secure because his father no longer existed. Another statue had crashed in his hall of life and its senseless rubble littered the floor.”
Taylor Caldwell tried to change that in 1965 with this historical fiction biography. Drawing on speeches and letters of Cicero and contemporaries like Julius Caesar, Caldwell gives a survey of Cicero’s thought as well as his life. It makes for a long story, but worth the effort. A Pillar of Iron joins the genre of historical fiction, based on a Christian world view, such as Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, in the popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“Every age shouts, ‘We are a new era!’ Yet it is always the same, for man doesn’t change.”
Quibbles: Stirrups in 80 BC? Hard to accept that Cicero may have been a crypto-Jew, let alone a crypto-Christian, but his writings reveal his familiarity with Hebrew scripture and his belief in one God as distinguished from the Roman pantheon of lessor gods.
“God leads us on the way of wisdom’s everlasting law, that truth is only learned by suffering it.” Aeschylus
The following are Cicero quotations:
“The past is also the present and the future. The nation that forgets that is doomed.”
“When a civil right invades the domain of the rights of all people, then it becomes a special right for a special class.”
“War is particularly loved by tyrants; it diverts a people from just complaints against them.”
“The world … not only destroys our youth but destroys our certitude. God can ask nothing more of us than our intention, for we are essentially weak and must rely upon Him for all things, even our breath.”
“Man lives in an awful isolation, imprisoned by his flesh, unable to stir his tongue of flesh to pronounce the words in his heart, unable to show that heart of flesh to anyone, neither father nor child nor brother nor wife. That is man’s tragedy, he lives alone from the moment of his birth until the hour he lies upon his funeral pyre.”
“Beyond the walls of home live a world of Godless, dishonorable, and amoral men … now are the majority.”
“A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed.”
“You can be certain of only one thing with politicians, that you can be certain of nothing.”
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious, but it cannot survive treason from within.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) is probably the most important man in history most of us never heard of. That he was one of Rome’s greatest orators and writers is secondary to his impact on modern western political thought. "The influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language," wrote classicist Michael Grant. Cicero’s thoughts undergirded much of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. America’s founders often quoted the Roman.
“His own existence was less secure because his father no longer existed. Another statue had crashed in his hall of life and its senseless rubble littered the floor.”
Taylor Caldwell tried to change that in 1965 with this historical fiction biography. Drawing on speeches and letters of Cicero and contemporaries like Julius Caesar, Caldwell gives a survey of Cicero’s thought as well as his life. It makes for a long story, but worth the effort. A Pillar of Iron joins the genre of historical fiction, based on a Christian world view, such as Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, in the popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“Every age shouts, ‘We are a new era!’ Yet it is always the same, for man doesn’t change.”
Quibbles: Stirrups in 80 BC? Hard to accept that Cicero may have been a crypto-Jew, let alone a crypto-Christian, but his writings reveal his familiarity with Hebrew scripture and his belief in one God as distinguished from the Roman pantheon of lessor gods.
“God leads us on the way of wisdom’s everlasting law, that truth is only learned by suffering it.” Aeschylus
The following are Cicero quotations:
“The past is also the present and the future. The nation that forgets that is doomed.”
“When a civil right invades the domain of the rights of all people, then it becomes a special right for a special class.”
“War is particularly loved by tyrants; it diverts a people from just complaints against them.”
“The world … not only destroys our youth but destroys our certitude. God can ask nothing more of us than our intention, for we are essentially weak and must rely upon Him for all things, even our breath.”
“Man lives in an awful isolation, imprisoned by his flesh, unable to stir his tongue of flesh to pronounce the words in his heart, unable to show that heart of flesh to anyone, neither father nor child nor brother nor wife. That is man’s tragedy, he lives alone from the moment of his birth until the hour he lies upon his funeral pyre.”
“Beyond the walls of home live a world of Godless, dishonorable, and amoral men … now are the majority.”
“A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed.”
“You can be certain of only one thing with politicians, that you can be certain of nothing.”
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious, but it cannot survive treason from within.”
January 19, 2021
I read some of this author´s books years ago and remember liking them,but this one is awful. Historical novels are just that, novels;readers accept that gaps are filled, and events fictionalised,all within the boundaries of respecting the historical facts. If not, they´re trash. This one is.
Facts are twisted beyonf belief, chronology is off and daring to present Cicero as a protoChristian,when Roman religious beliefs at the time were, as we all know, pantheist and pagan,as were Cicero´s, as recorded in his own writings,is an insult to readers,and a travesty.
I´m yet to find a good, balanced and well researched bio of this extremely interesting historical figure. This book is not. Pure trash.
Facts are twisted beyonf belief, chronology is off and daring to present Cicero as a protoChristian,when Roman religious beliefs at the time were, as we all know, pantheist and pagan,as were Cicero´s, as recorded in his own writings,is an insult to readers,and a travesty.
I´m yet to find a good, balanced and well researched bio of this extremely interesting historical figure. This book is not. Pure trash.
April 1, 2019
Dated
Recommended for those who require a Christian infusion in their ancient history. Other readers may add a few stars if they are willing to skip anachronistic passages. It was an impressively researched work but compromised, in my opinion.
Recommended for those who require a Christian infusion in their ancient history. Other readers may add a few stars if they are willing to skip anachronistic passages. It was an impressively researched work but compromised, in my opinion.
November 8, 2016
I only finished this book because each page was a new revelation in how *not* to write a book. Turgid, redundant prose; cardboard characters; plodding plot -- Caldwell has them all. Most risible is the way she interlards her wooly-headed pseudo-philosophizing throughout. Wait, no; most risible is the way she feels it necessary to cast her hero as some sort of proto-Christian devoutly inquiring after the prophesies of the Jews and awaiting the coming messiah. Even the history of the period is perverted, glossed-over, and twisted to suit her desire for eschatological analogy. There is absolutely nothing of value in this book.
May 30, 2019
It was really painful to read this thick, ideology charged, repetitive book. I only did it to be able to write this comment with a clean conscience.
SPOILER ALERT! There is a consolation: Everyone dies and you actually feel good cause there is little reason to like any of the characters.
So, why did I disliked it so much?
First of all, some 700 out of the ca. 830 pages are unnecessary. It is just a constant repetition of the same rhetoric. Endless descriptions, repetitions of the same three-four basic ideas, and a simple, yet endless biography attempt that get us into many unimportant passages that provide nothing of content to the story.
Second and most importantly for me, if you are not a white, christian, nationalist, capitalist, male supremacist, I find it hard that you can go through it without turning your eyes every second page. If you didn’t turned your eyes, and you are not all of the above, I’m sorry, but you have been indoctrinated.
Why do I write that? Here some random thoughts:
Being an educated woman, I found it hard to believe how badly Mrs. Caldwell refers about women. If you are not a submissive, pretty woman, weaving all day and managing quietly the house affairs, you are a travesty of a female. I’m a man and felt deeply offended throughout this novel, I wonder how can a woman read this, even worse, how can an instructed female writer write it? HOW?
I also found tiring that only Cicero is the voice of morality; off course, he is an educated, burgeoning, nationalist, christian. YES! Cicero is a Christian ca.100-45 years before Christ in this book, he even ends up speaking with Yahveh at the end of his days and we finish with a hail Mary prayer, this is how wrong this book gets everything.
Everyone else other than Cicero and a few in his entourage seem to be a perverse degenerate, especially the proletariat. Off course Mrs. Caldwell doesn’t use this word (although if she speaks about Christ, why not about the proletariat, right?) but you can pretty easily find out what type of vermin (Mrs. Caldwell’s words, not mine) support Catilina. And off course the anti-hero is a left wing populist who wishes to use the uneducated, perverted and degenerated proletariat to achieve his goals.
I have also read in several analysis that there are several historical inaccuracies. Huge flaw for a writer that in the prologue brags about how much research went into this book.
So there you go, if you haven’t started reading and you are not a convinced fascist you probably shouldn’t start.
This book is fully charged with a conservative ideology, is poorly written both in style and content, it is endless and repetitive and personally, the story of Cicero written in this way was not appealing. Who wants to read 800+ pages of a winey, pathetic, arrogant man who believes his high moral is the only thing that can save the world? Not me... but I still did read the book ;)
SPOILER ALERT! There is a consolation: Everyone dies and you actually feel good cause there is little reason to like any of the characters.
So, why did I disliked it so much?
First of all, some 700 out of the ca. 830 pages are unnecessary. It is just a constant repetition of the same rhetoric. Endless descriptions, repetitions of the same three-four basic ideas, and a simple, yet endless biography attempt that get us into many unimportant passages that provide nothing of content to the story.
Second and most importantly for me, if you are not a white, christian, nationalist, capitalist, male supremacist, I find it hard that you can go through it without turning your eyes every second page. If you didn’t turned your eyes, and you are not all of the above, I’m sorry, but you have been indoctrinated.
Why do I write that? Here some random thoughts:
Being an educated woman, I found it hard to believe how badly Mrs. Caldwell refers about women. If you are not a submissive, pretty woman, weaving all day and managing quietly the house affairs, you are a travesty of a female. I’m a man and felt deeply offended throughout this novel, I wonder how can a woman read this, even worse, how can an instructed female writer write it? HOW?
I also found tiring that only Cicero is the voice of morality; off course, he is an educated, burgeoning, nationalist, christian. YES! Cicero is a Christian ca.100-45 years before Christ in this book, he even ends up speaking with Yahveh at the end of his days and we finish with a hail Mary prayer, this is how wrong this book gets everything.
Everyone else other than Cicero and a few in his entourage seem to be a perverse degenerate, especially the proletariat. Off course Mrs. Caldwell doesn’t use this word (although if she speaks about Christ, why not about the proletariat, right?) but you can pretty easily find out what type of vermin (Mrs. Caldwell’s words, not mine) support Catilina. And off course the anti-hero is a left wing populist who wishes to use the uneducated, perverted and degenerated proletariat to achieve his goals.
I have also read in several analysis that there are several historical inaccuracies. Huge flaw for a writer that in the prologue brags about how much research went into this book.
So there you go, if you haven’t started reading and you are not a convinced fascist you probably shouldn’t start.
This book is fully charged with a conservative ideology, is poorly written both in style and content, it is endless and repetitive and personally, the story of Cicero written in this way was not appealing. Who wants to read 800+ pages of a winey, pathetic, arrogant man who believes his high moral is the only thing that can save the world? Not me... but I still did read the book ;)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2017
This could have been a very good book. Caldwell is a very good author but her insistence that Cicero was a closet christian was just to damn much. He died 61 years before the birth of Christ for Pete's sake!
March 5, 2012
This is one of the greatest books I've read.
I was planning to rate it with 4 stars but at the end I was touched and decided to give it five stars.
The story is about Marcus Tullius Cicero, a roman orator and politic.
The pace is somewhat slow and repetitive. I can¿t recall a single chapter that didn't highlight the perversion of men and the debate of ideas: I s the man evil by nature or does he pursuits being virtuous?
Even though it is a great read, Caldwell does an excellent job at showing us Rome with all its splendour and crudeness.
I completely recommend it, it discusses politic and nature of men and the characters vivid and realistic.
The Iron Pillar is a worthy read.
I was planning to rate it with 4 stars but at the end I was touched and decided to give it five stars.
The story is about Marcus Tullius Cicero, a roman orator and politic.
The pace is somewhat slow and repetitive. I can¿t recall a single chapter that didn't highlight the perversion of men and the debate of ideas: I s the man evil by nature or does he pursuits being virtuous?
Even though it is a great read, Caldwell does an excellent job at showing us Rome with all its splendour and crudeness.
I completely recommend it, it discusses politic and nature of men and the characters vivid and realistic.
The Iron Pillar is a worthy read.
June 18, 2021
Un enriquecedor paseo por las calles de Roma, un recorrido por la historia, pasiones, filosofía, principios, valores, narrado a través de la magistral pluma de la autora, con una Interacción cotidiana de los grandes personajes, lo que hace que sea un libro ameno y fácil de leer.
April 30, 2014
"A Pillar of Iron" is a historical novel about Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great Roman orator and consul during the tumultuous last few decades of the Roman Republic. Let me open this review by noting that this novel, like all of Taylor Caldwell's historical novels, is not slavish to the facts. Caldwell takes lots of liberties in her telling of the tale, which is fine since this is a historical novel and not a biography. Caldwell does not deal with the complexities of Cicero, including his own hypocrisy and lust for power, in favor of her desire to portray him as an idealistic upholder of Roman tradition and government. Her subplot about the Jewish friend who almost converts Cicero to Judaism is hardly plausible, since there is no evidence at all that Cicero was at all familiar with the Jewish religion.
But putting aside these minor flaws, Caldwell's tale is compelling. Here is Cicero, the brilliant thinker who foolishly tries to save the Roman Republic against the powerful and ambitious Julius Caesar and his cohort. In this novel, as in all of Caldwell's novels, she tries to transplant the Kennedy family and the Camelot experience into history, and in this case she relates the suave and ambitious Julius Caesar with the young and ambitious JF Kennedy, who was president at the time that this novel was published. In fact, if you are familiar with the Kennedy administration, there are plenty of ties between Caldwell's Rome and Kennedy's Camelot. The motif of a traditional and idealistic thinker who fights the forces of the modern world certainly resonates with 20th Century America, which like the Roman Republic faced the crisis of rapidly rising fortunes in the world along with the powerful ambitions of those who would rule it. This is really the thrust of Caldwell's story in "A Pillar of Iron." She is speaking, not to the Romans of the First Century BC, but to Americans in the early 1960s.
This is really an interesting tale, and if you are willing to bear with a few historical inconsistencies, I would recommend this novel as a great story of the final years of the Roman Republic.
But putting aside these minor flaws, Caldwell's tale is compelling. Here is Cicero, the brilliant thinker who foolishly tries to save the Roman Republic against the powerful and ambitious Julius Caesar and his cohort. In this novel, as in all of Caldwell's novels, she tries to transplant the Kennedy family and the Camelot experience into history, and in this case she relates the suave and ambitious Julius Caesar with the young and ambitious JF Kennedy, who was president at the time that this novel was published. In fact, if you are familiar with the Kennedy administration, there are plenty of ties between Caldwell's Rome and Kennedy's Camelot. The motif of a traditional and idealistic thinker who fights the forces of the modern world certainly resonates with 20th Century America, which like the Roman Republic faced the crisis of rapidly rising fortunes in the world along with the powerful ambitions of those who would rule it. This is really the thrust of Caldwell's story in "A Pillar of Iron." She is speaking, not to the Romans of the First Century BC, but to Americans in the early 1960s.
This is really an interesting tale, and if you are willing to bear with a few historical inconsistencies, I would recommend this novel as a great story of the final years of the Roman Republic.
July 18, 2017
Leí unas 250 páginas de este libro. Es una lectura muy lenta, llena de descripciones rimbombantes que no aportan nada a la historia ni te sumergen en aquella época. También hace gala de una filosofía liberal barata cuando habla sobre política, que se puede resumir en: "todos son unos vagos y unos corruptos excepto la clase comerciante". Aunque en verdad esto no es de extrañar, teniendo en cuenta que la autora parece ser una gran admiradora de los EE.UU., y que dedica el libro al presidente norteamericano J.F. Kennedy.
Dejé de leer cuando vi que la autora contaba que Cicerón metió los pies en los estribos al montar un caballo, cuando el estribo no fue utilizado en Europa hasta varios siglos más tarde. Eso fue la gota que colmó el vaso. Una falta de rigor imperdonable en alguien que declara haberse documentado durante años para escribir este libro.
Si la comparamos con cualquier novela de la saga de Colleen McCullough ("El Primer Hombre de Roma", "La Corona de Hierba", etc.), La Columna de Hierro no aguanta ni un asalto. Si quieres sumergirte en la Roma tardorrepublicana, recomiendo no perder el tiempo con esta novela y acudir directamente a las obras de McCullough.
Dejé de leer cuando vi que la autora contaba que Cicerón metió los pies en los estribos al montar un caballo, cuando el estribo no fue utilizado en Europa hasta varios siglos más tarde. Eso fue la gota que colmó el vaso. Una falta de rigor imperdonable en alguien que declara haberse documentado durante años para escribir este libro.
Si la comparamos con cualquier novela de la saga de Colleen McCullough ("El Primer Hombre de Roma", "La Corona de Hierba", etc.), La Columna de Hierro no aguanta ni un asalto. Si quieres sumergirte en la Roma tardorrepublicana, recomiendo no perder el tiempo con esta novela y acudir directamente a las obras de McCullough.
June 28, 2007
I got most of the way through the book, but I got fed up with Caldwell's tone. There is too much of her bending the story around her own political views which seem to be mid century conservative. Specifically, her portrayal of Cicero as a stubborn and righteous crusader is too shrill. I don't know enough about the man for this to be a judgment on her accuracy, but the character's evolution turned me off.
July 30, 2017
Whew! Am I glad to have finally finished this book! Most of the last third I skimmed so keen to be done with it. Cicero is a pathetic, weak character in this novel about him. He is so constantly exhausted with life in general it made me tired reading about him. This book can't even compare with the Rome novels of Colleen McCullough and Robert Harris. I had expected much more from Taylor Caldwell.
December 2, 2019
While reading this book, I was stunned by the realization that I was comparing this historical novel with other historical novels I’ve read (namely by Colleen McCullough and Robert Harris) and finding it lacking in historical veracity. For example, McCullough had Caesar grow up in the Subura in an apartment building and Caldwell had him grow up on the Palatine, next door to Cicero; you couldn’t have found more extreme opposites! McCullough was so convincing I never doubted her version, and I looked down my nose at the possibility that Caesar grew up wealthy. Shame on me! Especially since this book was written first. Actually, that’s why I picked up Taylor Caldwell in the first place; I never read any of her books before and felt I should remedy this lack. Once I woke up to the understanding that none of these authors had any idea about the personality of these people—or where they grew up—I adjusted my attitude accordingly. It was a good lesson for me. However, nothing could alter the fact that I found this book terribly old-fashioned, with frequent lapses into philosophical meanderings that slowed down the pace to a crawl. And Cicero’s constant depressions and lack of drive were tiresome. Taken at face value, it seemed impossible that such an unstable, naïve, and impressionable man could gain such notoriety in fractious Rome—or that he was only kept from assassination by the insistence of Julius Caesar, for reasons not satisfactorily explained. He never seemed to appreciate his fame, nor did he capitalize on it, which I found hard to believe. After dragging out each scene in his youth and middle age, by the end the author blasted through the major events (like Caesar’s end) like she couldn’t wait to finish. Perhaps this was the case; after 792 pages, enough was enough!
September 30, 2019
All that man knows is a synthesis of dead men’s knowledge.
This invariably over-descriptive and long tale of famous Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero is from time to time great, but the path to greatness is unfortunately cut short by a tedious and uneventful pace. To make matters worse, the final narrative arc betrays the reader, as a series of familiar (to us present-day walking encyclopaedias) events in history are foreshadowed by the main character in the form of vivid dreams. An unintentionally cheap device that made the book feel unnecessarily longer.
The Pillar of Iron is nonetheless an interesting read, especially for those who are into the history of Ancient Rome. I also found some of the dialogues to be quite intriguing, in particular the ideological clashes between Cicero and Julius Caesar.
This invariably over-descriptive and long tale of famous Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero is from time to time great, but the path to greatness is unfortunately cut short by a tedious and uneventful pace. To make matters worse, the final narrative arc betrays the reader, as a series of familiar (to us present-day walking encyclopaedias) events in history are foreshadowed by the main character in the form of vivid dreams. An unintentionally cheap device that made the book feel unnecessarily longer.
The Pillar of Iron is nonetheless an interesting read, especially for those who are into the history of Ancient Rome. I also found some of the dialogues to be quite intriguing, in particular the ideological clashes between Cicero and Julius Caesar.
December 13, 2014
A memorable fictional account of Rome's Cicero and the fall of the Roman Republic. Familiar historical figures like Julius Caesar frequent these pages as Caldwell masterly tells the story of the great Cicero as she relates the political machinations that impacted his meaningful life. Caldwell's intense research into the primary sources are evident on most every page and her skill as a writer makes it exciting reading. I heartily recommend this novel for several reasons. The most important being it is a great read a wonderful way to learn about an important time in Western history.
April 9, 2019
Thank you, Ms. Caldwell (posthumously), for a good read.
A marvelous read about the life of Cicero. He was a lawyer, orator, writer, and statesman in Rome just before, during, and after Julius Caesar's time. He passionately loved Rome and the Republic. His passion outweighed common sense at critical junctures throughout his life, but he was a mighty pillar of iron in Roman politics. The author's writing mechanics were excellent as was her research. The book was lengthy and, at times, wordy.
A marvelous read about the life of Cicero. He was a lawyer, orator, writer, and statesman in Rome just before, during, and after Julius Caesar's time. He passionately loved Rome and the Republic. His passion outweighed common sense at critical junctures throughout his life, but he was a mighty pillar of iron in Roman politics. The author's writing mechanics were excellent as was her research. The book was lengthy and, at times, wordy.
December 12, 2008
I learned a lot from this book about the Roman Empire; the conspiracies and power-seeking individuals that led to its fall. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Julius Casear, Cleopatra, and Casear Augustus (Octavius) are a few of the characters in this book. Strong plots and storyline throughout although drags slightly towards the end. A very good read overall.
February 2, 2008
I know. I know. But it is historical fiction and may not be accurate, but it is an inspiring book. The quotes that are included make it well worth reading, and the story is great even though some criticize it.
December 18, 2024
¡De lejos la mejor biografía novelada sobre Marco Tulio Cicerón y familia!
Después de leer todo Posteguillo ha sido para mi muy interesante echarle una mirada a una novela clásica como esta que antecedió la obra del autor español de mi preferencia. Naturalmente la maestra Taylor Caldwell no escribe igual que Posteguillo. Sus descripciones son mucho más refinadas, los detalles de la vida de los personajes mucho más elaborados y, puede ser por el personaje alrededor del que gira la novela o por el enfoque mismo de Caldwell, no hay en "La columna de hierro" los niveles de acción y suspenso que se encuentran en la obra de Posteguillo.
La historia se desarrolla desde antes del nacimiento de Cicerón hasta su muerte durante el segundo triunvirato de Antonio, Octavio (Augusto) y Lépido. La vida de su madre y padre, su nacimiento y el de sus hermanos, educación temprana, amores, matrimonios, sus procesos más importantes, una enumeración viva de su cursos honorum, la conflictiva relación con los hombres más poderosos de su tiempo, Sila, Craso, Catilina, Pomepeyo y por supuesto Julio Cesar, pero también la profunda amistad con quiénes fueron más cercanos a él, su amigo Noe, su hermano Quinto, su editor griego Atico, entre otros.
El nivel de detalle en la descripción del desarrollo de Cicerón como persona, pensador y político es sencillamente impresionante. No dejaré de admirar la capacidad de autoras como Caldwell de adentrarse en la mente de individuos del pasado partiendo de escritos antiguos. Ahora bien, en el caso de Ciceron parece fácil: el registro escrito que dejo este orador y filósofo latino es realmente basto, y lo es precisamente por la calidad de su obra. Entre los escritos que se conservaron están decenas sino un centenar de cartas que le permitieron a la autora reconstruir las emociones de Cicerón, especialmente a medida que se fueron desarrollando los importantes eventos que marcaron el destino de Roma durante aquellos años del final de la República.
Aunque, después de esta descripción, el libro no parece tener página mala, hay cosas que realmente no me gustaron mucho y tal vez las personas que lean mis reseñas podrían compartir o usar antes de leer esta novela (que es extensa y requiere dedicación y paciencia).
El más importante defecto para mí es un cierto tufillo cristiano que impregna la novela de principio a fin. No es muy marcado, pero tampoco es imperceptible como para no incomodar.
Si bien es cierto que Cicerón vivió en un tiempo en el que la provincia de Jerusalén era muy importante y el poder y las ideas de los Judíos, en particular aquellas sobre la llegada de un mesías, eran posiblemente conocidas en Roma, especialmente si se tenía amigos, como apunta la Novela con el personaje de Noe (que parece inventado por la autora), la insistencia a lo largo de la obra en la llegada del mesías y en la importancia que tendrá para la humanidad es simplemente sospechosa y a mi parecer bastante anacrónica e históricamente imprecisa. Personalmente no me imagino al gran pensador que fue Cicerón ocupado en una leyenda Judía, por muy eclécticas que fueran sus preferencias filosóficas.
También hay una insistencia a lo largo de la novela en hacernos creer que Ciceron y muchos de los personajes romanos eran monoteístas. Caldwell nos ofrece una panorámica que consideron simplemente inverosímil de pensadores que si bien muy supersticiosos, creían en una sola divinidad (el dios desconocido la llama Caldwell) en lugar de en la multitud de dioses del panteón latino (que también aparecen para ser justos).
En fin, creo que en estas cosas se le salió a Caldwell sus sesgos religiosos y contaminó indebidamente una novela que por lo demás brilla por su precisión histórica.
Otro de los defectos de la novela es la personalidad que pinta de Julio Cesar que contradice no solo la que muestran muchos de sus biógrafos de la antigüedad, sino también la que nos transmite la más reciente obra literaria de Santiago de Posteguillo.
No puedo asegurar (no es mi especialidad) si el Julio Cesar de Caldwell es más cercano al histórico que el de Posteguillo, pero, si bien también con una personalidad atractiva y compleja, el Cesar de esta novela se me antoja demasiado voluble, demasiado superficial, incluso, demasiado inmoral para el personaje que dio un vuelco tan radical a la historia del pueblo romano y que fue admirado como ninguno por casi la mitad de la historia de esa nación.
Con todo, vale mucho la pena leer la Columna de Hierro y acercarse a la vida del gran Cicerón.
Después de leer todo Posteguillo ha sido para mi muy interesante echarle una mirada a una novela clásica como esta que antecedió la obra del autor español de mi preferencia. Naturalmente la maestra Taylor Caldwell no escribe igual que Posteguillo. Sus descripciones son mucho más refinadas, los detalles de la vida de los personajes mucho más elaborados y, puede ser por el personaje alrededor del que gira la novela o por el enfoque mismo de Caldwell, no hay en "La columna de hierro" los niveles de acción y suspenso que se encuentran en la obra de Posteguillo.
La historia se desarrolla desde antes del nacimiento de Cicerón hasta su muerte durante el segundo triunvirato de Antonio, Octavio (Augusto) y Lépido. La vida de su madre y padre, su nacimiento y el de sus hermanos, educación temprana, amores, matrimonios, sus procesos más importantes, una enumeración viva de su cursos honorum, la conflictiva relación con los hombres más poderosos de su tiempo, Sila, Craso, Catilina, Pomepeyo y por supuesto Julio Cesar, pero también la profunda amistad con quiénes fueron más cercanos a él, su amigo Noe, su hermano Quinto, su editor griego Atico, entre otros.
El nivel de detalle en la descripción del desarrollo de Cicerón como persona, pensador y político es sencillamente impresionante. No dejaré de admirar la capacidad de autoras como Caldwell de adentrarse en la mente de individuos del pasado partiendo de escritos antiguos. Ahora bien, en el caso de Ciceron parece fácil: el registro escrito que dejo este orador y filósofo latino es realmente basto, y lo es precisamente por la calidad de su obra. Entre los escritos que se conservaron están decenas sino un centenar de cartas que le permitieron a la autora reconstruir las emociones de Cicerón, especialmente a medida que se fueron desarrollando los importantes eventos que marcaron el destino de Roma durante aquellos años del final de la República.
Aunque, después de esta descripción, el libro no parece tener página mala, hay cosas que realmente no me gustaron mucho y tal vez las personas que lean mis reseñas podrían compartir o usar antes de leer esta novela (que es extensa y requiere dedicación y paciencia).
El más importante defecto para mí es un cierto tufillo cristiano que impregna la novela de principio a fin. No es muy marcado, pero tampoco es imperceptible como para no incomodar.
Si bien es cierto que Cicerón vivió en un tiempo en el que la provincia de Jerusalén era muy importante y el poder y las ideas de los Judíos, en particular aquellas sobre la llegada de un mesías, eran posiblemente conocidas en Roma, especialmente si se tenía amigos, como apunta la Novela con el personaje de Noe (que parece inventado por la autora), la insistencia a lo largo de la obra en la llegada del mesías y en la importancia que tendrá para la humanidad es simplemente sospechosa y a mi parecer bastante anacrónica e históricamente imprecisa. Personalmente no me imagino al gran pensador que fue Cicerón ocupado en una leyenda Judía, por muy eclécticas que fueran sus preferencias filosóficas.
También hay una insistencia a lo largo de la novela en hacernos creer que Ciceron y muchos de los personajes romanos eran monoteístas. Caldwell nos ofrece una panorámica que consideron simplemente inverosímil de pensadores que si bien muy supersticiosos, creían en una sola divinidad (el dios desconocido la llama Caldwell) en lugar de en la multitud de dioses del panteón latino (que también aparecen para ser justos).
En fin, creo que en estas cosas se le salió a Caldwell sus sesgos religiosos y contaminó indebidamente una novela que por lo demás brilla por su precisión histórica.
Otro de los defectos de la novela es la personalidad que pinta de Julio Cesar que contradice no solo la que muestran muchos de sus biógrafos de la antigüedad, sino también la que nos transmite la más reciente obra literaria de Santiago de Posteguillo.
No puedo asegurar (no es mi especialidad) si el Julio Cesar de Caldwell es más cercano al histórico que el de Posteguillo, pero, si bien también con una personalidad atractiva y compleja, el Cesar de esta novela se me antoja demasiado voluble, demasiado superficial, incluso, demasiado inmoral para el personaje que dio un vuelco tan radical a la historia del pueblo romano y que fue admirado como ninguno por casi la mitad de la historia de esa nación.
Con todo, vale mucho la pena leer la Columna de Hierro y acercarse a la vida del gran Cicerón.
January 18, 2025
La columna de hierro narra de una forma muy detallada la vida de Marco Tulio Cicerón, uno de los principales personajes en la época de Julio César, que sin duda es la parte de la historia que más se conoce. Durante la novela vemos la lucha de Cicerón por salvar la República, que ya está llegando o ya había llegado a su final.
Algo que me llamó la atención es que el Julio César que se plantea aquí es muy diferente al que tengo construido. Solo he leído las dos novelas que lleva Posteguillo de este personaje y algunos documentales, pero aquí se pinta realmente como malvado, marcando de esta manera durante toda la novela, el conflicto de Cicerón de su amor y odio hacia él.
Algo que me llamó la atención es que el Julio César que se plantea aquí es muy diferente al que tengo construido. Solo he leído las dos novelas que lleva Posteguillo de este personaje y algunos documentales, pero aquí se pinta realmente como malvado, marcando de esta manera durante toda la novela, el conflicto de Cicerón de su amor y odio hacia él.
February 8, 2025
Es un buen libro para entender la vida de Cicerón y su influencia en la república romana tardía. Cicerón, aquel abogado que hizo todo para defender Roma contra la formación del imperio y de los tiranos.
Sin embargo, el libro conlleva y deriva en un gran contenido religioso judeocristiano que hace poco creíble muchos de los sucesos. Adicionalmente, no es clara la obsesión que tiene por Livia y llega a ser ridículo en muchos momentos del libro.
Finalmente, a los personajes les falta complejidad y en cierto modo son como arquetipo de “el malo”, “el bueno”, “el nerd”, etc.
Sin embargo, el libro conlleva y deriva en un gran contenido religioso judeocristiano que hace poco creíble muchos de los sucesos. Adicionalmente, no es clara la obsesión que tiene por Livia y llega a ser ridículo en muchos momentos del libro.
Finalmente, a los personajes les falta complejidad y en cierto modo son como arquetipo de “el malo”, “el bueno”, “el nerd”, etc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2021
Una lectura muy enriquecedora, un acercamiento a la Roma del s. 1 A.C. Un hombre , un filósofo, un padre, un amigo, un enemigo, un defensor y amante de la justicia y de la ley. El que tuvo todo y tuvo nada al mismo tiempo.
December 2, 2024
se salva por el mínimo romance y el final entretenido, sino al pobre cicerón lo q de verdad le gustaba era oírse hablar interminablemente
no paraba de quedarme dormida
no paraba de quedarme dormida
November 21, 2020
Another wonder written by Taylor Caldwell. This book tells the story of Julius Caesar as he grows up and becomes the leader of Rome. During his childhood days he was a very good friend of of Cicero who tried to save Rome as others try to destroy it. Cicero knew that Caesar was doing wrong and tried to stop him even as he as he cherished him. A very sad book about Cicero as he challenged Caesar and the rise and fall of Cicero in doing so. A fantastic read of Ancient Rome and those who tried to make Rome a better place. If you like history this is a wonderful book to read without it becoming boring.
May 12, 2021
es un libro tradicional escrito en un lenguaje un poco elevado pero sinceramente es una increible forma de poder conocer el mundo donde vivía marco tulio cicerón hijo de marco tulio cicerón un exponente jurista con una increible importancia en el dia a dia actual no solo se ve su vida personal si no que se exponen de manera muy precisa sus opiniones hacia el sistema corrupto de la república romana cicerón fue estudiante de séneca un abogado muy reconocido de la época solo que este tenia una forma un poco fuerte de hacer que los senadores cedieran sobre sus casos y esta política moral de cicerón genero muchos conflictos a tal punto de que trataron de matarlo en varias ocasiones hay una conexión interesante a la revolución agrícola aunque no directa pero los guio una vez que esto se establece los gobiernos empiezan y roma nace el poder emerge y la ambición de la gente por el poder crece de una forma incontrolable cosa que se ve claramente en este libro
December 3, 2025
La Cortina de hierro, Taylor Caldwell
“Cicerón había asomado su cabeza fuera de la litera y Herenio se la cortó”
Unos días antes, Quinto, su hermano, junto con su hijo, también murieron de la espada del triunviro (Marco Antonio, Augusto y Lépido). Cicerón (Marcus Tullius Cicero) cumpliría sesenta y cuatro (64) años ese diciembre del 43 antes de nuestra era vulgar, joven para nuestra época, para su momento ya era un anciano afectado por las enfermedades de su tiempo, pero más por la desesperanza de haber visto caer a su Roma. Tiempo atrás Cicerón escucharía de Arquías (Aulo Licinio Arquias) que él, Cicerón, era por naturaleza un político, algo que es natural en toda la especie humana; somos políticos por naturaleza, el poder que tengamos lo utilizamos para lograr objetivos. — Con las leyes no basta — pensó Cicerón, aún y cuando éstas sean grandiosas.
Taylor Caldwell escribe del gran Cicerón desde su infancia hasta su muerte. La construcción de personajes en esta novela histórica permite deslizarse hacia la historia de la Roma en ese último siglo antes de nuestra era; un tiempo de grandes cambios, el principio del declive de lo que fue el gran imperio, el inicio de la transición hacia una nueva forma de gobierno, misma que Caldwell anticipa en el final de este libro: “Cuarenta y tres años después de estos hechos, el acontecimiento que Cicerón había anhelado tanto ver, tuvo lugar por fin, llegando la hora tan deseada”.
Cicerón fue ¿el amante de la ley por excelencia? El mismo celo por la ley, hacer prevalecer el “espíritu” del estamento legal, lo llevó a dos exilios, el último con el desenlace de su asesinato. En palabras de Caldwell ya no deseaba vivir, la desesperanza de vivir el final de su Roma lo llevó a ello. Llegó a comprender que “la ley es sagrada, pero la naturaleza no mira nada como sagrado”. Esto lo hizo entrar de lleno en la política y con esto La Columna de Hierro es ¿una gran escuela para formación política? La esposa de Cicerón, Terencia, muestra que la práctica de la política la utilizamos en todas las actividades que implica relacionarnos con otros, a nivel personal, profesional de negocios. La historia siempre ha sido injusta con las mujeres y poco se habla de Terencia, de quien dice Antonio Fajardo: “era una mujer fuerte que apoyó la carrera política de su marido”. Caldwell la muestra como esa mujer fuerte, insistente, que cuida la “prole”, la seguridad del hogar; utiliza todo lo que tiene a su alcance: sus habilidades financieras, negociación, persuasión, tanto con los externos como con su marido Cicerón quien finalmente entra en la política, algo para lo que ya tenía su principal herramienta: el conocimiento de las leyes, el espíritu de éstas. “Todos los cargos políticos están en venta, todos los políticos que tienen éxito lo son porque antes pagaron con oro”, le dice Terencia a Cicerón en una ocasión. Con lo ampliamente escrito por Caldwell es notable que Terenia fue una mujer brillante.
Los personajes alrededor de Cicerón son de mayor conocimiento: el gran César (Gaius Julius Caesar ), Craso (Marcus Licinius Crassus), Marco Antonio (Marcus Antonius), entre otros. Con el personaje de mayor fuerza opuesta a Cicerón: Catilina (Lucius Sergius Catilina), la autora deja ver ese lado natural que Cicerón llega a comprender, algo que queda escrito como: “sentimos compasión por los débiles, pero la naturaleza los elimina de forma implacable, porque la debilidad engendra debilidad. El nombre “patricio” (pater, de linaje noble) resalta y choca ante quien lee este libro, Catilina es un patricio, de linaje noble por tener como ascendencia a los fundadores de Roma. La descripción de Caldwell sobre este patricio es exuberante, lo muestra como un Adonis, aún en su vejez, personalidad fuerte, que desprecia a los de raza inferiores, a los “no patricios”. La pusilanimidad que la cultura judeocristiana impregna al mundo occidental puede hacer ver a este patricio como un ser loco, despreciable. ¿Se le podría considerar como un A. Hitler? Es importante ver este personaje en la historia porque siempre están presentes, puede que en estado de hibernación, silenciados por la sociedad, pero están ahí y surgen cuando la misma sociedad grita por ellos, para reactivar ese instinto natural. “¿Hemos de disputar con la naturaleza porque ella ha decretado que la supervivencia de hombres, animales y vegetales dependa de la eliminación de aquellos no dotados de cualidades para sobrevivir?, escribe Caldwell. Con mayor fuerza militar, Catilina también destaca con sus elocuentes argumentos para proteger su tradición patricia, algo que la autora agrega cuando escribe sobre su físico, de gran belleza escultural, casi un dios. Se puede leer entre líneas que la naturaleza de los romanos patricios era “vencer o morir”, así muere Catilina, en la lucha, una dramática construcción de relato hecha por Caldwell.
“Ningún político puede mantenerse al margen de la corrupción, porque es tarea de la política el tratar con el pueblo y el pueblo inevitablemente corrompe” ¿Una barbaridad esto que dice Julio Cesar a Marco Tulio Cicerón? Las relaciones de los gobernantes con la “plebe” son puestas sobre la mesa por Caldwell. Esta plebe llega a gobernar Roma y de ésta se agarra Catilina para utilizarla y lograr sus objetivos, un gran político sin duda. “La voz del pueblo es con frecuencia la voz de los necios, criminales y de los violentos”, Caldwell lo escribe, pero es algo conocido por los grandes pensadores y políticos, como Cicerón. Esa masa de población vive de “pan y circo”, sin mayores ambiciones, algo que se ha observado desde entonces. La cara que los gobernantes (senador, cónsul, pretor, edil, cuestor) ponen ante la plebe es de “respeto”, considerarlos nobles, apegados al derecho, respeto a la religión, sin embargo, ambos saben no es así y por ende las relaciones se estiran y encojen para mantener ese equilibrio que siempre está a punto de reventarse. El tiempo de crisis que vive Cicerón es precisamente cuando ya la cuerda está por reventar y revienta. Julio Cesar toma el poder después de hacer que el resto del triunviro desaparezca (Pompeyo y Craso), el mismo Cesar también muere. El gran César tuvo a Cicerón como un “augur” y éste hace premonición de su muerte. La muerte estaba casi asegurada para cualquier figura en el poder, las conspiraciones y traiciones eran lo común. Se consideraba que la muerte bajo estas circunstancias los llevaría a ser “dioses” y la tragedia era de esperar, quizas desear. Cada autor construye a los personajes acorde a lo que percibe de la lectura de fuentes bibliográficas. Cayo Julio César es para Caldwell un tipo ameno, conversador, tolerante. La historia lo muestra como un gran político y soldado, de grandes capacidades estratégicas para abordar el gobierno y las guerras. “Julio César podría resultar muy violento, pero no era un genocida” dice Santiago Posteguillo sobre él. Cicerón siempre supo que era un gran político, con gran uso de la discreción para llevar a cabo sus propósitos, aún ante él que era su amigo, casi hermano, a quien amaba desde su niñez. En el ir y venir de la política, Cicerón y Julio Cesar fueron en su mayor parte del tiempo antagónicos, aunque no enemigos. Taylor Caldwell pone su mano de mujer para construir esta relación de gran dulzura, honestidad, sin tintes a medias. La muerte de Julio Cesar es como lo auguró Cicerón quien está presente en ese momento y entonces ve el final de todo. “En política solo puedes estar seguro de una cosa, de que jamás puedes estar seguro de nada”.
La Columna de Hierro es de múltiples lecturas, apuntar lo dicho por Cicerón, Arquías (su primer maestro), Scaevola (su segundo maestro), Catilina, Julio Cesar, Craso. La disciplina de la retórica resalta como el elemento necesario para las relaciones, que todas son "políticas", para lograr un objetivo.
“Cicerón había asomado su cabeza fuera de la litera y Herenio se la cortó”
Unos días antes, Quinto, su hermano, junto con su hijo, también murieron de la espada del triunviro (Marco Antonio, Augusto y Lépido). Cicerón (Marcus Tullius Cicero) cumpliría sesenta y cuatro (64) años ese diciembre del 43 antes de nuestra era vulgar, joven para nuestra época, para su momento ya era un anciano afectado por las enfermedades de su tiempo, pero más por la desesperanza de haber visto caer a su Roma. Tiempo atrás Cicerón escucharía de Arquías (Aulo Licinio Arquias) que él, Cicerón, era por naturaleza un político, algo que es natural en toda la especie humana; somos políticos por naturaleza, el poder que tengamos lo utilizamos para lograr objetivos. — Con las leyes no basta — pensó Cicerón, aún y cuando éstas sean grandiosas.
Taylor Caldwell escribe del gran Cicerón desde su infancia hasta su muerte. La construcción de personajes en esta novela histórica permite deslizarse hacia la historia de la Roma en ese último siglo antes de nuestra era; un tiempo de grandes cambios, el principio del declive de lo que fue el gran imperio, el inicio de la transición hacia una nueva forma de gobierno, misma que Caldwell anticipa en el final de este libro: “Cuarenta y tres años después de estos hechos, el acontecimiento que Cicerón había anhelado tanto ver, tuvo lugar por fin, llegando la hora tan deseada”.
Cicerón fue ¿el amante de la ley por excelencia? El mismo celo por la ley, hacer prevalecer el “espíritu” del estamento legal, lo llevó a dos exilios, el último con el desenlace de su asesinato. En palabras de Caldwell ya no deseaba vivir, la desesperanza de vivir el final de su Roma lo llevó a ello. Llegó a comprender que “la ley es sagrada, pero la naturaleza no mira nada como sagrado”. Esto lo hizo entrar de lleno en la política y con esto La Columna de Hierro es ¿una gran escuela para formación política? La esposa de Cicerón, Terencia, muestra que la práctica de la política la utilizamos en todas las actividades que implica relacionarnos con otros, a nivel personal, profesional de negocios. La historia siempre ha sido injusta con las mujeres y poco se habla de Terencia, de quien dice Antonio Fajardo: “era una mujer fuerte que apoyó la carrera política de su marido”. Caldwell la muestra como esa mujer fuerte, insistente, que cuida la “prole”, la seguridad del hogar; utiliza todo lo que tiene a su alcance: sus habilidades financieras, negociación, persuasión, tanto con los externos como con su marido Cicerón quien finalmente entra en la política, algo para lo que ya tenía su principal herramienta: el conocimiento de las leyes, el espíritu de éstas. “Todos los cargos políticos están en venta, todos los políticos que tienen éxito lo son porque antes pagaron con oro”, le dice Terencia a Cicerón en una ocasión. Con lo ampliamente escrito por Caldwell es notable que Terenia fue una mujer brillante.
Los personajes alrededor de Cicerón son de mayor conocimiento: el gran César (Gaius Julius Caesar ), Craso (Marcus Licinius Crassus), Marco Antonio (Marcus Antonius), entre otros. Con el personaje de mayor fuerza opuesta a Cicerón: Catilina (Lucius Sergius Catilina), la autora deja ver ese lado natural que Cicerón llega a comprender, algo que queda escrito como: “sentimos compasión por los débiles, pero la naturaleza los elimina de forma implacable, porque la debilidad engendra debilidad. El nombre “patricio” (pater, de linaje noble) resalta y choca ante quien lee este libro, Catilina es un patricio, de linaje noble por tener como ascendencia a los fundadores de Roma. La descripción de Caldwell sobre este patricio es exuberante, lo muestra como un Adonis, aún en su vejez, personalidad fuerte, que desprecia a los de raza inferiores, a los “no patricios”. La pusilanimidad que la cultura judeocristiana impregna al mundo occidental puede hacer ver a este patricio como un ser loco, despreciable. ¿Se le podría considerar como un A. Hitler? Es importante ver este personaje en la historia porque siempre están presentes, puede que en estado de hibernación, silenciados por la sociedad, pero están ahí y surgen cuando la misma sociedad grita por ellos, para reactivar ese instinto natural. “¿Hemos de disputar con la naturaleza porque ella ha decretado que la supervivencia de hombres, animales y vegetales dependa de la eliminación de aquellos no dotados de cualidades para sobrevivir?, escribe Caldwell. Con mayor fuerza militar, Catilina también destaca con sus elocuentes argumentos para proteger su tradición patricia, algo que la autora agrega cuando escribe sobre su físico, de gran belleza escultural, casi un dios. Se puede leer entre líneas que la naturaleza de los romanos patricios era “vencer o morir”, así muere Catilina, en la lucha, una dramática construcción de relato hecha por Caldwell.
“Ningún político puede mantenerse al margen de la corrupción, porque es tarea de la política el tratar con el pueblo y el pueblo inevitablemente corrompe” ¿Una barbaridad esto que dice Julio Cesar a Marco Tulio Cicerón? Las relaciones de los gobernantes con la “plebe” son puestas sobre la mesa por Caldwell. Esta plebe llega a gobernar Roma y de ésta se agarra Catilina para utilizarla y lograr sus objetivos, un gran político sin duda. “La voz del pueblo es con frecuencia la voz de los necios, criminales y de los violentos”, Caldwell lo escribe, pero es algo conocido por los grandes pensadores y políticos, como Cicerón. Esa masa de población vive de “pan y circo”, sin mayores ambiciones, algo que se ha observado desde entonces. La cara que los gobernantes (senador, cónsul, pretor, edil, cuestor) ponen ante la plebe es de “respeto”, considerarlos nobles, apegados al derecho, respeto a la religión, sin embargo, ambos saben no es así y por ende las relaciones se estiran y encojen para mantener ese equilibrio que siempre está a punto de reventarse. El tiempo de crisis que vive Cicerón es precisamente cuando ya la cuerda está por reventar y revienta. Julio Cesar toma el poder después de hacer que el resto del triunviro desaparezca (Pompeyo y Craso), el mismo Cesar también muere. El gran César tuvo a Cicerón como un “augur” y éste hace premonición de su muerte. La muerte estaba casi asegurada para cualquier figura en el poder, las conspiraciones y traiciones eran lo común. Se consideraba que la muerte bajo estas circunstancias los llevaría a ser “dioses” y la tragedia era de esperar, quizas desear. Cada autor construye a los personajes acorde a lo que percibe de la lectura de fuentes bibliográficas. Cayo Julio César es para Caldwell un tipo ameno, conversador, tolerante. La historia lo muestra como un gran político y soldado, de grandes capacidades estratégicas para abordar el gobierno y las guerras. “Julio César podría resultar muy violento, pero no era un genocida” dice Santiago Posteguillo sobre él. Cicerón siempre supo que era un gran político, con gran uso de la discreción para llevar a cabo sus propósitos, aún ante él que era su amigo, casi hermano, a quien amaba desde su niñez. En el ir y venir de la política, Cicerón y Julio Cesar fueron en su mayor parte del tiempo antagónicos, aunque no enemigos. Taylor Caldwell pone su mano de mujer para construir esta relación de gran dulzura, honestidad, sin tintes a medias. La muerte de Julio Cesar es como lo auguró Cicerón quien está presente en ese momento y entonces ve el final de todo. “En política solo puedes estar seguro de una cosa, de que jamás puedes estar seguro de nada”.
La Columna de Hierro es de múltiples lecturas, apuntar lo dicho por Cicerón, Arquías (su primer maestro), Scaevola (su segundo maestro), Catilina, Julio Cesar, Craso. La disciplina de la retórica resalta como el elemento necesario para las relaciones, que todas son "políticas", para lograr un objetivo.
December 20, 2018
Taylor Caldwell, also the author of The Testimony of Two Men, wrote this historical novel about Cicero. The work spans the time before Cicero's birth until his death by assassination at the hands of Marcus Antonius, his opponent and Caesar's "right-hand man." Cicero and Caesar were, in a sense, lifelong friends, but Cicero, having acute insight, recognized early the political aspirations of Caesar and foretold Caesar's death at the hands of his enemies. A tense friendship between the two men existed and, but for their common history and reciprocal affection, tragedy would have occurred much earlier than it did.
Cicero was a man of truth and virtue, something which, in his world as in our own, is valued on the one hand, but despised and resented on the other. He was of a melancholic (depressive) nature from early life, tending to see the disparaging and violent, as well as hypocritical, aspects of human nature in greater relief than its sometime goodness. Ultimately, after a lifetime of writing and arguing before the Senate on behalf of a better Rome, hopelessness and helplessness engulfed him.
Cicero often quoted Aristotle, his senior by centuries, since his works were very familiar to him. And, those quotes about both the nature of man and his behavior are as familiar to us today as they were to the sages of eras BCE.
All his life, Cicero suffered from obsessive fantasies of his beloved Livia, killed by her husband Catalina. Livia was deified and pure and the epitome of womanly virtue in Cicero's mind. He never loved his wife Terentia, and his son thought him an ineffective, intellectual recluse, making private mockery of him.
Cicero was betrayed again and again during his lifetime, even to the point of being expelled from Rome to a foreign land. He, in letters to his best friend Atticus, his publisher, he wrote of the excruciating pain his perceived failures had brought him.
Like the protagonist in The Testimony of Two Men, Cicero was a good man torn asunder by those who hated him for his virtue and courage. Betrayal is a dynamic Caldwell is talented in detailing. The protagonists' stories are summed up in the notion that good men will be destroyed, but will remain good.
Caldwell researched hundreds of books and documents, including the Orations, and undertook years of field research, prior to writing her book. I recommend this historical novel to those who love antiquity, it relationship to us, and the embodiment of persons otherwise relegated to the abstractness of purist biography and history.
Cicero was a man of truth and virtue, something which, in his world as in our own, is valued on the one hand, but despised and resented on the other. He was of a melancholic (depressive) nature from early life, tending to see the disparaging and violent, as well as hypocritical, aspects of human nature in greater relief than its sometime goodness. Ultimately, after a lifetime of writing and arguing before the Senate on behalf of a better Rome, hopelessness and helplessness engulfed him.
Cicero often quoted Aristotle, his senior by centuries, since his works were very familiar to him. And, those quotes about both the nature of man and his behavior are as familiar to us today as they were to the sages of eras BCE.
All his life, Cicero suffered from obsessive fantasies of his beloved Livia, killed by her husband Catalina. Livia was deified and pure and the epitome of womanly virtue in Cicero's mind. He never loved his wife Terentia, and his son thought him an ineffective, intellectual recluse, making private mockery of him.
Cicero was betrayed again and again during his lifetime, even to the point of being expelled from Rome to a foreign land. He, in letters to his best friend Atticus, his publisher, he wrote of the excruciating pain his perceived failures had brought him.
Like the protagonist in The Testimony of Two Men, Cicero was a good man torn asunder by those who hated him for his virtue and courage. Betrayal is a dynamic Caldwell is talented in detailing. The protagonists' stories are summed up in the notion that good men will be destroyed, but will remain good.
Caldwell researched hundreds of books and documents, including the Orations, and undertook years of field research, prior to writing her book. I recommend this historical novel to those who love antiquity, it relationship to us, and the embodiment of persons otherwise relegated to the abstractness of purist biography and history.
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