Masters of Rome

[Jarhead0331]

In anticipation of the release of AJE, I'm interested in brushing up on some Roman fiction.  Anybody read the Masters of Rome series, by Colleen McCullough.  I picked up book one, The First Man in Rome, from a used book store.  These books are beefy.  Are they worth the effort?

[Bison]

It's a really good series and reads much quicker than the number of pages would suggest.

[Jarhead0331]

^Excellent.  Thanks!  Is there a lot about the Roman army in it?  Or is it more about politics and intrigue?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

They are great books and very well researched.  There is a fair amount about the military and theMarian reforms, but it's told from the perspectives of the generals and mostly deals with their personalities, their intrigues, and their power struggles.  There's not a lot of detail about the soldiers themselves or in depth descriptions of battles and tactics.

[MetalDog]

I tried First Man In Rome several years ago.  I found it daunting and fizzled out after a hundred pages or so.  It's a period I know less about than others.  However, I have been following the Alea Jacta Est threads in Computer Wargaming and am thinking about pulling the trigger on the preorder.

[Bison]

Yeah SDR has it correct.  Politics and intrigue are the main thrust of the story. 

[besilarius]

A friend read all of the series and loved it.
His only quibble was that the author makes Marius' erratic behavior the result of a stroke.
Entirely possible, but he thought it was an easy out for her, instead of trying to write about how he made his choices.