Oh. My. Goodnes. What a slog! I never once had any compassion or connection to a single character in this story, least of all Antony or Cleopatra. The only sympathetic character was Octavia. And the dozens of name for each character! And sooooo many characters!

The story is filled with interesting historical detail, almost to distraction at times. This is my first novel by Colleen McCullough, and I don't know if I'll read another.