anybody here ever read first man in rome

[insshc]

anybody here ever read mccullough's first man in rome series? just wondering, it's fairly long but I think it's great... I've read it twice and am contemplating a 3rd reread, though I havent had much free time lately

[aWizardly]

Very good books, I learned alot about that period of Roman history through it. McCullough makes the history really come alive, entertaining and very educational as well. I had never even heard about Marius and Cornelius Sulla before reading the books.

[_Sparta_]

i read the grass crown(part 2) and fortunes favorites(part3). But not the first man in Rome though. The local library has the nice habit of hiding the part one of every series.....

they r great books

[SbSdude]

Originally posted by aWizardly@Oct 22 2004, 12:46 AM
Very good books, I learned alot about that period of Roman history through it. McCullough makes the history really come alive, entertaining and very educational as well. I had never even heard about Marius and Cornelius Sulla before reading the books.

Aye well, be careful with what you interpret from her 'Histories'. Her attention to detail is good, but her characterisation is pretty flawed in my opinion.

This belongs in the Art and Literature section.

[redjameskidd]

I was about to start a post on this topic exactly when I realized there was one. I had seen McCullough's books on the library rack the other day at random, and I was wondering if they were enjoyable or historically accurate. They looked very interesting to me, if rather lengthy. But then, Rome wasn't built in a day, eh? It seems to be getting good enough PR for me to start the first book.

[Sulla]

Read all six...

"The First man in Rome" is the best IMO.

Found the last three a hard read as the characters are all going a bit feral by this stage.

Aye well, be careful with what you interpret from her 'Histories'. Her attention to detail is good, but her characterisation is pretty flawed in my opinion.

I like the way she does Marius, Rutilius Rufus, Sulla, Scaurus, Metelli, Servilli Caepio (father and son), Drusus. Find them believable. I loved the first three books because on some level I could relate to the characters as they actually believed in something (the republic).

I'm not so sure about Pompey Magnus and Crassus. I thought she idealised Caesar too much. Mark Antony and Clodius are just feral (actually in the last book most of the characters are borderline psychopathic). Since most of the characters in the third three books believe in nothing anymore, and those that did were so short sighted, I found I couldn't relate to them anymore. I would like to think that there was more to Pompey and Crassus (but maybe there wasn't)

I personally would like to have been taken inside their minds a little more. Explore what they thought and believed as much as what they did. An example of what I mean is when the butchery of the first civil war comes to pass there is little attempt to explain it as anything but a series of unfortunate events (A leads to B leads to C). Perhaps that was the way it looked to the Romans living in those times.

But overall I find them all highly informative and entertaining. Would recommend anyone interested in the fall of the Roman Republic to give them a read.

[Sidus Preclarum]

read first man and grass crown, enjoyed both immensly ...

[Candelarius]

I read the first four books of the series. The first two were excellent, but by the fourth book I had lost interest. The story arc that starts in the first book and covers the first three involves Sulla and Marius and their weird relationships and conquests. After Marius and Sulla both die, the characters became boring and, like another person said, Caesar was far too idealized. I strongly suggest the first three, especially the first two books. As for historical accuracy, I've read a number of non-fiction history books on this time period, as, obviously, I'm obsessed with all things about ancient Rome, and, I found her books to be entirely accurate. The biggest complaint I have about the series is the same that another person here pointed out: She tends to do an excellent job at dry narrative, but, seldom crawls into the characters heads, explains motivation, or truly develops their characters beyond "Sulla went there, said this, and then did that". That may be a gross simplification, but, the characters really lacked a "life of their own" in the books. Despite this, I really did enjoy them.

[SbSdude]

I'm not so sure about Pompey Magnus and Crassus. I thought she idealised Caesar too much. Mark Antony and Clodius are just feral (actually in the last book most of the characters are borderline psychopathic). Since most of the characters in the third three books believe in nothing anymore, and those that did were so short sighted, I found I couldn't relate to them anymore. I would like to think that there was more to Pompey and Crassus (but maybe there wasn't)

Well made point, and precisely what I was insinuating. The problem I found was that the characterisation between the focal characters was too simplistic in an artistic sense; McCullough takes the easy road and defines Caesar as the good guy and Pompey, Crassus, Clodius and Antony as the flawed instigators. By the end of the fifth book it was a complete cop out, I was literally cringing with distaste as I read the last 150 pages of Caesar's women.

I think she points this out, but in my view we find more believability in the earlier characters because they have been less documented throughout history, the evidence and sources pertaining to this part is largely narrative, whilst with Pompey, Crassus, Antony et all she is perhaps more constricted by historical occurence and as such tries to rationalise alot of the events within a modern context. The relationship between Pompey and Caesar in particular was badly done, as was the character of Antony.

Still, the books are the finest i've read about the late Roman Republic, that is of course until I write my own :p Where did you manage to find the sketch of Sulla from by the way?

[Spartan19]

Did no one else think they were boring? Im about 150-200 pages into the first man In Rome, and while its interesting to me, its very boring. I honestly dont care who Sulla and Marius slept with or where they lived, I like the overall history much better.

[RGB]

Didn't like First Man in Rome at alll....

I hate the kind of guy that her Caesar was.

[packard]

You've probably read it, insshc, but in case you haven't, there's a great book by Robert Graves called I, Claudius that you'd probably like. It's a great description of the Early Roman Empire and an excellent story.

[Redman]

i've read the whole "Masters of Rome" series. vgood books