by Aldus Marius on Sat May 28, 2005 12:14 pm
Salve, Aurelia...
I shall have to put myself in the 'pro' column, at least for the books I've read: The First Man in Rome and The Grass Crown. But then, I'm prejudiced; these first two books are the only modern account I've bumped into (of any length) of the career of my Distinguished Adopted Ancestor, Gaius Marius. When the first book came out, I was giddy that anyone would have written a Roman novel of such dimensions--and about Marius!! --I was a very happy camper--literally; I took it up to Idyllwild for the weekend, wet a corner, smudged the dust-jacket, and not incidentally realized that the camp-stoves there were very much like Roman ones.
I enjoyed the story; the historical incidents were mainly told through letters between friends or else on the personal level, through the eyes of involved soldiers, officers or civilians. The incidents of Roman private life were priceless! And the glossary, in which Very Much Is Explained to your average, Rome-deprived American, is all by itself worth the price of the book. You have the toga pattern there. The plan of the triclinium. And maps--!! Fifteen years later I still use them for reference, most recently right here in the SVR roleplaying thread. (What Roman road goes to Massilia...?)
Okay, the experience was not all sweetness and light. McCullough's narrative style is straightforward, matter-of-fact...and sometimes plodding. All her characters start to sound the same after awhile. She puts some fairly modernistic notions inside some Roman heads; Marius, for example, is aghast to learn that many of the slave-laborers on one of his properties in Sicily (I think) are of Italian-Allied origin: "That's like enslaving Romans!" And the books share a common problem with other historical novels: Everything seems preordained; everything happens A...B...C like it's supposed to. I like a little uncertainty in my history, some acknowledgement that it didn't necessarily have to be that way. The Masters of Rome series has done better than many on that score, but the trait is still apparent.
As for authenticity...the author has a standing offer to send a list of her sources to anyone who asks. (The address is in the glossary.) She is Latinate, so has likely read most if not all of her material in the original.
I have the rest of the series on standby, awaiting the day when I, a Marius, can stomach two thick volumes of Sulla on the way to Caesar, Cicero and Catiline.>({|;-)
Hope this helps...
In amicitia et fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.