Rating: 
Summary: First Man of 900 pages
Review: Colleen McCullough has produced a series of incredibly researched political thrillers, of which this is the first. Marius is the First Man in Rome, even the Third Founder of Rome, for his military victories. Yet he is also a shrewd political operator, divorcing his wife of 25 years, to establish an alliance with a more established family, in order to enable his promotion within the Senate. Marius suffers from a lack of gravitas, in that he is only a rich Italian, and not a member of Rome's establishment until his marriage to a daughter of the house of Julius. Marius also suffers from well-connected enemies who despise him and his camp for a series of childhood pranks performed some 30 years earlier. His ally, Sulla, is the opposite, a member of a well-established family, but a man of low-living and poverty, until he engineers several secretive deaths to create an inheritance and he too marries a daughter of the house of Julius, becoming Marius's brother in law and chief aide-de-camp. Together they defeat other Roman politicians as well as the greatest nomadic army ever seen by Rome. Those who foretold the future turn out to be correct as Marius is returned to the highest office in the Senate an unprecedented five times. This book is well-written but difficult to follow at times due to the incredible numbers of characters, some of whom are of no real relevance. It is necessary to keep the glossary handy and take notes as well. The glossary by itself would be as much as other novelists provide for the same price. It contains endless descriptions of Roman customs, practices, and history.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This is definately a masterpiece of stortelling. It is an incredibly engrossing book that makes you want to learn more about ancient Rome. When you begin to research the history - it becomes clear how much of the story is based on actual history. This makes the book even better! Can't wait to get the second volume of this work.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Brilliance
Review: Colleen McCullough is a genius, a modern day Plutarch with an innate knowledge of the human condition. No historical writer has attempted a work on this scale, and few -if any- other than McCullough could pull it off. My only regret is that with the October Horse, she has brought this series to an end. I would have liked to see McCullough writing about Rome straight through the emperors, and even on into the survival of the Eastern Roman empire.
Colleen McCullough educates, entertains, and has brought such a polished maturity to the historical fiction genre that was sorely needed. Her characters and historical detail are immaculate, so much so that when she does contrive an idea, it goes almost unnoticable. The amount of research in the pages is awsome.
If you are tired of the recent quasi-historical drivel that has been popular of late, then look to Colleen McCullough as your guiding light.
Rating:
Summary: The First Man in Rome
Review: This big, complex novel detailing the beginnings of the downfall of the Roman Republic is a startling change of pace for McCullough ( The Thorn Birds, LJ 5/1/77). Gaius Marius, an upstart New Man from the Italian provinces, and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a patrician Roman brought up in the slums of the Subura, are both ambitious enough to want to become First Man in Rome, despite their social handicaps. The author deftly weaves politics, family rivalries, and battle scenes into a riveting story replete with fascinating details of everyday Roman life. The research is obviously painstaking; the author includes a large glossary of more than 100 pages as well as a pronunciation key for the Roman names. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant historical fiction.
Review: This is a great book. It presents the reader with a dazzling image of ancient Rome, in fact I literally felt transported back to the Rome of the time of Marius. After reading all of McCullough's "Masters of Rome" books (those written as of this date) this one is still my favorite. I've read a fair amount about Rome, but no book that I have read has ever explained Rome's politics and social structure half as well as this one. Marius is shown as what he was: a giant. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with McCullough's portrayal of Sulla, but each reader can make that decision for him or her self. This book covers the time period as from shortly before the Jugurthine War (which I never really understood until I read this book) to slightly after Marius' conquest of the German tribes. But this isn't just a book about wars. McCullough takes the readers into the Senate, into private conversations of Roman (and foreign) leaders, and really tries to get at the guts of what was going on in the Roman Republic at this critical stage of its history. Mostly, she succeeds brilliantly.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and a stunning piece of research in novel form
Review: I am revisiting the first book of McCullough's series after an absence of seven years and I am finding it even greater than I had remembered. The characters are taken from the pages of history and fleshed out, becoming people that we can relate to. Who couldn't admire Gaius Marius, "an Italian hayseed with no Greek," for wanting to rub Rome's nose in its own snobbishness by becoming consul not once but several times? Likewise is admiration of Sulla, a man born to privilege but unable to take advantage of it because his inheritance was one of poverty. Both men are perfectly paired: they are ruthless to get what they want and McCullough has the reader feeling deeply for both of them. The attention to detail is a marvel, so much so that as Bomilcar of Numidia descends into the bowels of the Subura, you can smell the stench and hear the cacophany of Rome's unwashed as they go about their daily business. Whether she writes about triumphs, Forum speeches, Rutilius Rufus' witty letters, or back room wheeling and dealing, Colleen McCullough makes the Roman Empire come alive! This series of books is easily my favorite, just ahead of Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: marvelous historical fiction
Review: I have never read a better series of historical novels than Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome." As both an enthusiastic fiction reader and a doctoral student in history, I stand in awe. To recreate a historical period in the kind of living detail McCullough provides is a daunting task; to do it and to make it riveting is little short of miraculous. I discovered these books recently and out of order, and immediately had to buy all five; when "Caesar" ended after the battle of Pharsalus, I promptly got online to find out when the next book was coming out, and was very relieved to discover that I have only two months to wait. It seems a very long time. All intelligent readers of historical fiction owe Ms. McCullough a debt of gratitude for producing art of this caliber.
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very impressive and lots of fun
Review: An amazing epic covering ten years of Roman history towards the final fifty years of the Republic. McCulloch has a wonderful ability to convey the feeling of the age -- not just the sights and sounds, not just the smells, but the way in which people thought and acted. At the same time, the humanity of her characters (all of the most important of whom are historical) is never lost. The only thing I found disconcerting was the sheer volume of Latin names, which are surprisingly difficult to keep track of. With all of the appendixes, the glossary and pronunciation guides, I think there really ought to be an index of names included. Often, I'd run into a character with the vague and unhappy feeling that I had met him before, but unable to find him in the close to 1000-page book. But, don't let that dissuade you from reading this fine novel, especially if you have a preference for historical fiction. I look forward to exploring the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have ever read!
Review: This is without a doubt, the best book to be published, ever! I will never find a better book and niether will anyone else! Seems so true to life! You can really feel the characters pain, happiness, and whatever. The only dowm spot in this book is trying to pronounce the names!
Rating:
Summary: tremedous research expressed as enthralling literature...
Review: So often I read novels with some modest historical references where the author expresses thanks to the "little people" who helped with the research. Sometimes these include dozens of names. Astoundingly in "The First Man in Rome" Colleen McCullough says that is was basically a one woman show. Honestly, this book is such a comprehensive study of an era of Roman history that I think it would be worthy of someone working on a doctorate dissertation. The detail is breathtaking. And Ms McCullough even does the (very good) maps and other illustrations! It is hard to explain the story of a 1000+ page historical novel. But it basically chronicles the political and military struggles in and around Rome circa 105 BC. The detail to which the author describes these events can be a bit beyond the interest of most readers but at least her prose is very rich and enjoyable to read. And she entertains the reader with several vignettes into the personal lives of the Roman leaders. Rather than dwelling on debauchery and crude aspects of their lifestyle she focuses on aspects on what is important to the Roman citizen: honor, status, money, and power. Bottom line: a long and sometimes heavy read which is quite simply a masterpiece. Compulsory reading.
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