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| The First Man in Rome | 
 enlarge | Author: Colleen Mccullough
Publisher: Avon
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  144 reviews
Sales Rank: 165480
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1104
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.8
ISBN: 0380710811
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780380710812
ASIN: 0380710811
Publication Date: August 1, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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Product Description
When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with intricate and merciless machinations of their own -- to achieve in the end a bloody and splendid foretold destiny ... and win the most coveted honor the Republic could bestow.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 139 more reviews...
 Amazing book September 30, 2008
This is simply the best book I have ever read. I was fascinated about Rome and have read 7 books about Rome prior to this one, and this trumps them all! I am enjoying the rest of the series currently and recommend this series for anyone (like myself) who is travelling to Rome in the future. Amazing charachter development and drama. Amazing story. As far as historical accuracy, everytime I independently check the facts, I find that the book is right on. This is a great(and fun) way to lean about the Roman founders and history.
More Addictive than Crack Cocaine September 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After more than 40 years of reading, my selection for my favorite books ever are the "Rome" series of books by McCullough. The First Man in Rome is the beginning of this series, and may be my favorite book ever, although the Grass Crown, which is the second book in the series may be even better. It's painful to have to decide. The words compulsive and fascinating are simply too flat and characterless to do justice to this series. If I was ever stranded on a desert island with only one thing to read for the rest of my life it would be this series of novels, they are simply that good. One of my very real epiphanies in reading this was how similar the politics of Rome were to our politics today. I think anyone reading this will be similarly struck and it is not hard to envision dropping the Roman senate down in Washington and not seeing any real change in our daily lives. The headlines would all be the same, the debates as sharp, the slandering and pandering, the demonizations, and the partisanship and bickering would go on without the slightest flicker of disruption!
I first read these books about seven years ago, and then read them all over again last year when the last installment came out. After I finished reading them the second time I nearly started over again at the beginning for a third go round, but decided instead to go and read other works relating to Rome and some works of the ancients themselves, including Caesar and Cicero.
These novels cover the period of Rome from about 110 BC to roughly 40 BC, a period of great change and upheaval for the republic that eventually led to the empire (sounds a bit like the star wars series, doesn't it? I think George cribbed a lot of notes from Roman history). This first novel deals with Gaius Marius and his rise to incredible power even though he was not one of Rome's "inner circle of elite". Gaius was a military innovator and was responsible for some sweeping changes in the legions that improved their deadly efficacy and transformed the nature of what it meant to be a legionaire; from gentleman farmer to professional soldier. The new legion structure was actually similar in many respects to our military organization today.
This is a grand book, with characters that seem more alive and more real, than many flesh and blood people we deal with in our daily lives. The character development McCullough achieves is nothing short of mind-bending and indeed may make you a pickier reader in the future. I whole-heartedly recommend this book, and the entire series, to any reader. It is difficult to pick a favorite out of the series, and I don't think I could, but I really, really enjoyed this first novel as much as any of them.
One cautionary note, since some of my friends are ancient history buffs, is that while the known "facts" in McCullough's series are extremely accurate and she did an incredible amount of research for these books (will someone give her an honorary doctorate please?), people's personalities and their daily lives between the big, recorded facts of history are not as well established. I love McCullough's impression and interpretation and I think few could gainsay her much in her works. Her Caesar and Sulla though may get more favorable treatment from her than other commentators and novelists might elect to award. That, however is one of the greatest things about these books: after the compulsive reading is over comes the compulsive conversations, the debating with friends about this or that, and the further exploration of one of the most facinating periods in history.
Very much like a drug... September 8, 2008
First off, the book is the first in a huge series of huge, mind blowing, history based novels on Rome. Information is poured into you mind like water is poured into the oceans of the Earth. Characters plot, armies stomp into battle, wealth is collected and power is grasped. This is soap opera, but on an epic scale that boggles the reader. And it hooks you. Once you finish the first book you must go to the second. You may refuse to at first. You may say, No, I don't need to read the rest of the series. But you will anyway. It is like a drug, calling out to you.
The glossary is amazing enough and, as a lover of history, I can't say enough about how well it seems to fit true history. To a point. Some of the characters are fictional and, of course, we don't really know half of what was said. But Rome is a great civilization to write about because they left A LOT of records behind. Colleen McCullough pointed wisely when deciding to do novels on Rome. If you enjoyed HBO's ROME, you should love this one also.
A true epic September 6, 2008
This is one of those books that is slow to begin, bogged down with long names and heavy politics, but absolutely brimming with wonderful scenes and credible dialogue. If you can get past the first chapter, you will be well rewarded by being transported to ancient Rome. Colleen McCullough's genius is in recreating a time and place two thousand years in the past and actually making it interesting! If you enjoy Roman politics or history, you will probably become a huge fan of this series.
get some perspective August 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For those who feel the politics of today are bound to destroy the world: read this first book in McCullough's Roman Republic series and get some perspective! Everything old is new again? You bet! A friend in the military said this was recommended reading from an Army strategics trainer due to the detailed maneuvers of the Roman Army. I am a pacifist but I was completely engaged with the Army maneuvers as well as the political intrigue and personalities inhabiting these ancient names. I heard McCullough, at a book reading many years ago, describe her process for this series: she spent 13 years researching by reading as many texts & letters surviving from this era in the original languages. That way she could get a better feel for the people who wrote them, catching the nuance of how they described people, places and events. We reap the benefit of her passion! Don't be intimidated by the long Latin names; you get used to seeing them & so long as you're not trying to read it aloud, it's not too hard. If you do wish to get the actual pronunciations, she provides phonetic information in the appendices.
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