The First Man in Rome
This historical fiction takes prominent Roman names of the time, and tells their tale in an astonishingly descriptive way. It follows the life of Gaius Marius, and his fellow Roman, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and their struggles for power through war, politics, and blood.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
3mentions
3people
2016–2026years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Another amazing series is the Master of Rome series starting with the First Man of Rome book:
- I have to shout out the “Masters of Rome” series by Colleen Mccullough. It starts with “The First Man in Rome” covering Gaius Marius’ rise to power, and proceeds through the fall of the Republic and the establishing of the Empire.
These books are incredibly well researched and informative, but also have SUCH a compelling narrative style and characterizations. It’s very immersive.
- Colleen McCullough's The First Man in Rome. It's historical fiction, set in Rome a few years before Julius Caesar was born. I began reading it to see what I could learn about how war was waged by the romans and was absolutely dazed by the political and social intricacies exposed.
One of the most welcome gifts I've ever bought. One friend told me he had rediscovered the pleasure of reading; another read the full Masters of Rome series shortly after. Really good feedback.
Terry Pratchett's Night Watch is also one of my favorites to give. Although when asked if it is the first of a series people tend to be somewhat surprised by the answer: I send them a graph spanning all the Discworld books[1]. Night Watch is in no way the first but I've found it to be a good starter and the order is not that important in Pratchett's books.
Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. Already mentioned by someone. Some translations have an incredibly lyrical prose, but you've got to be careful with the one you buy.
[1] http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/38700000/The-Discworl...
