Eric Lawton reviewed The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
Well researched, well told.
5 stars
This is my review for all 6 in the series which I just re-read. I was looking for something easy-ish to read when I was too tired to concentrate, but not too trivial.
The books cover the republican era of Rome, mostly from the perspective of the more powerful leaders, but also including a lot of side characters from different walks of life.
It covers social, political, military and other aspects of life in a society significantly different from current eurocentric systems, but of course some of this evolved into those systems.
The author includes notes on her historical research for each book; what she knows to be factual and what she invented to bring life to the characters. It also includes a list of the main families and their relationships, and a glossary of Roman concepts which most of us might not know about.
The quality is consistent across …
This is my review for all 6 in the series which I just re-read. I was looking for something easy-ish to read when I was too tired to concentrate, but not too trivial.
The books cover the republican era of Rome, mostly from the perspective of the more powerful leaders, but also including a lot of side characters from different walks of life.
It covers social, political, military and other aspects of life in a society significantly different from current eurocentric systems, but of course some of this evolved into those systems.
The author includes notes on her historical research for each book; what she knows to be factual and what she invented to bring life to the characters. It also includes a list of the main families and their relationships, and a glossary of Roman concepts which most of us might not know about.
The quality is consistent across all the series.
