The First Man In Rome: Colleen McCullough

Book I of the Masters of Rome series. On New Tear's Day in 110 B.C., two very different men watch the latest Roman mediocrities assume the coveted mantle of consul. One is Sulla, the handsome and debauched son of an impeccably aristocratic house. prevented by penury from claiming his birthright; the other is Marius, a wealthy rustic barred by his low birth from grasping his prophesised destiny - to become the First Man in Rome. But the Goddess Fortune favours them both. They are brought together by war in distant lands to battle the enemies of Rome - and the enemies within Rome - in the quest to become the First Man. A meticulously researched and accurate historical novel.