The First Man in Rome

Why it’s on the list: Volume one of McCullough’s seven-novel Masters of Rome sequence, which reconstructs the late Republic from Marius and Sulla through to Augustus at the level of the men actually running it — the elections, the contracts, the client networks, the money. The series is the standard answer when someone wants Roman politics as a working system rather than a set of battles.

One card stands for the series: The First Man in Rome (1990) is followed by The Grass Crown, Fortune’s Favourites, Caesar’s Women, Caesar, The October Horse and Antony and Cleopatra.

Where I saw it: In the reply thread to @moseskagan’s question, “What historical fiction should I read next? (Bonus points for something involving building or trade, rather than violence)” (April 13, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved to his Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full set of replies lives on What historical fiction should I… (tweet). It was listed there as ""Masters of Rome” series by Colleen McCullough”.

Connections

• Rome — the subject; the series covers the Republic’s last two generations.
• Power — how Roman politics actually worked, at the level of patronage and procedure.
• Historical Fiction — the genre the thread was asking about.
• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.