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Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: 110 BC: The world cowers before its legions, but Rome is about to be engulfed by a vicious power struggle that will threaten its very existence. At its heart are two exceptional men: Gaius Marius, prosperous but lowborn, a proud and disciplined soldier emboldened by his shrewdness and self-made wealth; and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a handsome young aristocrat corrupted by poverty and vice. Both are men of extraordinary vision, extreme cunning and ruthless ambition, but both are outsiders, cursed by the insurmountable opposition of powerful and vindictive foes. If they forge an alliance, Marius and Sulla may just defeat their enemies, but only one of them can become First Man in Rome. The battle for Rome has just begun..… (more)
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The book has a very large cast. McCullough lists 42 as "main characters" but few are really memorable years after my read. The central character in this book is definitely Gaius Marius, and this book tells the tale of his rise to power and his unprecedented six back to back consulships over the span of a decade. Sulla also comes through vividly--a complex character, sympathetic here despite his dark aspects. And their two wives, Julia and Jullila also are memorable characters in the book--as is Aurelia, the mother of Julius Caesar who is born in the last pages of the book.
I have a friend who is a classicist. She doesn't just know Greek and Latin, she teaches Latin for a living and Rome is her passion. She just couldn't get into this book. I've seen some reviewers complain it can be ponderous reading, and it can be and at such an intimidating length, I'm not sure I can ever bring myself to reread it. I don't think McCullough is as good a writer as, for instance, Robert Graves, of I, Claudius. But I loved this book, a favorite among historical fiction, for how it fully immersed me in the world of the late Roman Republic over two millennium ago. More so than Graves. How it can point up the modern aspects in all different sorts of social strata, from the maneuverings of the Senate to the startling cosmopolitan world of Aurelia's insula (tenement). I think my friend perhaps knew too much about Rome, and that spoiled her for the book--it would take outstanding prose writing to entice her into a world she already knows so intimately. And I don't think McCullough gives you that--the writing itself is fairly pedestrian. This isn't the kind of book that makes me want to highlight lines or dogear pages or linger in sheer envy of the prose. But it does what really fine historical fiction does--make you feel like you've lived in a distant place and era. And it's because of this book and series that when my Latinate friend said all she wanted in her field was dignitas, I understood exactly what she meant.
I really appreciated the way she was faithful to the known history but filled in the unknown areas with reasonable and interesting guesses (e.g., Sulla's first wife probably wasn't Julius Caesar's other aunt, if he had more than one, but she was a Julia). There are dozens of interpretations that she makes (and usually explains in the notes at the end) that are usually so well thought-out and ring true to the known history. Her take on Caesar's epilepsy was particularly interesting and reflects her expertise as a medical doctor (a perspective most historians can't draw on). Her explanation of how Marius made J.C. the flamen dialis, a priesthood that would have prevented any kind of military or significant political career, was ingenious. It's clear (and she points out as much in her afterwords) that some things may not have happened the way she portrays them. But you never get the sense that, like some historical fiction writers, she's changing the history to fit her story. Instead, she tries to understand sometimes conflicting facts to arrive at a plausible rationale.
But, mainly, it's the characters that give this series life. Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and Julius Caesar are living, breathing human beings. She gets inside their heads, and you really get the sense that you know and understand these historical giants, who all were contemporaries of one another and of other legendary figures--Marc Antony, Cicero, Pompey Magnus, Crassus, Spartacus, Brutus, Cassius, and on and on.
I was never that interested in Roman history as a student, with its emphasis on the imperial period. But I think I find something tragic and bittersweet about the end of the republic, which, after all, was a functioning form of democracy more than 2,000 years ago. These men all held the ideal of the republic dear, but they just couldn't help destroying it, blinded as they were by their own hubris, greed, and ambition. It's a fascinating and exhilarating story, and the best way I can think of to understand this important period of Western history.
On a sliding scale for historical fiction, this lands unusually close to the actual history end. This first volume predominantly belongs to Marius, but also serves as a kind of origin story for Sulla who will eventually become his rival. These names I knew; some I did not, and mostly resisted the Internet so the novel could reveal their importance. The research is fantastic, and (as far as I've determined) where it takes some liberties it does so in the vein of a best guess. Invented characters are few, and there's a minimum of invented drama, but still plenty of excitement to go around in the careful round-robin coverage of political, personal and military events. There's a hundred pages of glossary at the end to defend any liberties she's taken. All of these are positives for me, but they may not appeal if you only want a rollicking story. McCullough likes sticking to the facts, and reality can be stranger and messier than fiction.
The writing unfortunately isn't at the level that I normally enjoy. McCullough is sometimes too obviously sharing her research instead of smoothly integrating it, and the dialogue can be borderline juvenile, although neither flaw is taxing. It's very strange to me that Marius and Jugurtha, for all of their mutual history and respect, never speak face to face; is that likely? Helpful maps are inserted where the author thought them relevant, but require extra bookmarks to find them when they matter again. The book's greatest feature is that it successfully makes its setting come alive: the ancient city of Rome and environs feel like real places, the historical figures like real people with all of their pettiness and humanity to balance their accomplishments. It felt like I heard what the Romans heard, smelled and saw the same things they did as they went about their business, and it's a world I'll be pleased to return to in "The Grass Crown".
Gaius Marius and Sulla come alive in this volume as in no other history of the classical period. The language is blunt (and often brunt), and so colourful yet historically accurate in its details and portrayals (OK, a little poetic license is taken but author scholar McCullough argues her positions well in the bounteous glossary at the back of the book that's worth the price of the book alone in historical information about Roman life and culture). It's the perfect book to accompany Robin Lane Fox's Classical World or David Abulafia's history of the Mediterranean (The Great Sea).
There are lots of reviews about this book, so I will not go into details. Suffice it to say it exudes literary gravitas; the story is enthralling in its detail and when you finish this book, there are five more in the series to keep you chained under your reading lamp.
One let down - the maps (hand drawn by the author) - are almost useless. Seek this information elsewhere.
I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, and recommend this book to any fan of classical history.
So he does a radical thing; gets together a Head Count army which is made up of the lowborn. Prior to this, soldiers had to be men of some substance. It was believed that a man would only fight well if he had something to protect. The trouble was that this was a huge drain on the economy. If a man remained in service 10-20 years, his farm very likely ran into disrepair and no longer could sustain itself. Rich men could then buy the land very cheaply, turn out the women and children and bring in slaves to run the place profitably. When the men were discharged, they were penniless and ended up in the slums of Rome, living off the miniscule wages they could find.
It was a very subtle way to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer. Because they had no new men to bring into the army, they kept the soldiers on for longer times and then even those who might have returned to working farms, couldn’t and no new sons were born to fill the new generations. It was a vicious cycle. Marius had to fight tooth and nail to get the Senate to see that the proper reward for his Head Count army would be land. They wanted to keep all the land for the privileged rich. Explanations of the influx of poor, idle soldiers descending into Rome and causing crime rates to rise and general havok did no good. Amazing snobbery.
Roman women were no better off. Mostly they were sold off to husbands by their fathers so that he or his sons could have a favorable position in life. They weren’t allowed to eat with the men on couches, just chairs. They couldn’t drink. They couldn’t hold property while their husbands or fathers were alive. They couldn’t vote or have any part in political life. Unless they had “enlightened” husbands, or could get some hold over him, they had very little freedom.
An engrossing story and history lesson and a great opening salvo to the series.
The story is full of political intrigue, history, and character-driven drama. It's enjoyable, but will require a bit of patience to work through the multi-threaded plot lines and overwhelming amount of characters.
Characters: Excellently drawn, with enough attention even on the minor characters to
Style: Dense, even though description is relatively sparse. A lot of background information is given out, usually in epistles that can grow a bit tiring.
Plus: Historical accuracy. No blunders there, what is made up or assumed is plausible.
Minus: Too many maps and pictures scattered throughout the books. Map of the Roman empire, yes, map of Aurelia's house, no.
Summary: A great read, but some background knowledge of the time, original Roman terminology, and locations is certainly helpful. Resorting to the appendix covers those needs, but it interrupts the reading flow.
The First Man in Rome is the first book in a fictional series that chronicles the devolution of Rome from republic to empire. It begins with Gaius Marius and the start of his relationship with the Caesar family.
While I found some of the military
I wish that the series had begun with Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus (and maybe she'll go back and do that someday). It was a time filled with political turmoil all of which was significant in making Rome what it became.
I give all of the credit to Colleen McCullough for her astounding research into the lives of these men and the rest of the sweeping cast. Truly, she should be commended in the best of ways for her research and then successfully delivering it to the readers in a manageable, easy to digest and wonderfully worded historical fiction.
For the most part, the story of the First Man in Rome is likable. One really gets to know the turmoil in Rome at this time from a political standpoint and there is so much to be taken and learned from the creators of modern day democracy. I learned so much from this book that it's hard to put into words how much I value that.
But the buck stops there. The biggest problem I had with The First Man in Rome, and thus will prevent me from reading the rest of the series, is the ridiculous length of the novel. I like big books. They give the opportunity for better, more thought-out explanations and better character development. I sometimes find the stories are richer and more real this way. All of this, you simply cannot accomplish in 400 pages or less. Unfortunately, here, after 500 pages (hard-earned, mind you), I kept thinking it was almost over, that surely, it can stop here. I thought the same at 600 pages, 650 and so on and so forth. There were a multitude of places where this book could have been cut up and split into several more easily readable novels. And this feeling makes the reading painful - something reading should never do.
I also found the book to be too political and a little over the heads of many readers. I dunno, but from the synopsis, I wasn't expecting there to be that much emphasis on the politics. I was expecting a little more action, a little more sex (as the Romans do), a little more violence and debauchery. What I got was a conservative speech from the podium at the House of the Senate. Bleh.
This is without a doubt a character-driven book. I adored the characters, really and truly. I got to know them on a very personal level. I knew their secrets, their home lives, their innermost desires they themselves could not admit to. And they have stayed with me.
One aspect of the novel that I really appreciated with relation to this character-based premise was how McCullough relayed information. While Marius and Sulla were away in Africa and then, Gaul-Across-the-Alps, Rome was scintillating and lots happened - famine broke out, senators died, women lost babies, people went crazy, etc. One of Marius' closest friends, confidants and family by one marriage or another, Publius Rutilius Rufus kept in correspondence with him. In these letters, Rufus explained all that happened in Rome with a voice that was amusing and interesting. I found this to be a really great reprieve in the novel (as these letters usually came at the end of the too-long chapters) and looked forward to the block-quote style text found between endlessly massive paragraphs.
Unfortunately, character-driven books tend to not go anywhere. The plot is very slow and doesn't really follow the formula for a fiction novel. There's no rising action leading to a climax in the plot that leads to a resolution. Or maybe there was but then I'd have to say there were lots of them, hence the idea of several smaller novels. I had a real problem with this and felt as though it dragged on for no good reason.
Overall, I'm glad I read this. I'm glad I stuck with it through to the end. The time and effort McCullough put into this book, and the series overall, is well worth the reading it. She really is a masterful storyteller, I just couldn't get past the length and general going-nowhere-ness.