Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a frequent subject of Victorian historical fiction and also popular throughout the 20th century. It was similarly popular in movies, though it fell out of fashion for a couple of decades until the game-changing success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, released in 2000. Since then the floodgates of fictional Rome have been torn open.
But Rome means different things to different people. For some it is a military story of imperialism and war in foreign lands. For others it is the victim-tale of the conquered (especially if the conquered happen to be British or Judaic). For others it is broadly cultural: how could people be so similar to us and so different? There is a broad strand of historicals that touch on the New Testament stories, including many new ‘gospels’ and a wealth of faith stories, as well as some militantly anti-Christian novels. There are Roman detective novels, military historicals, sea stories, epics, and literary novels.
Biographical novels are perhaps the richest vein – for literature and ‘box office’.
Circus Maximus: Rider of the Storm
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This, the last in Annelise Gray’s Circus Maximus trilogy, follows our heroine Dido, now back in Rome, intent on returning to professional ...Read Review
Silk Road Centurion
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Silk Road Centurion is a remarkable story of a Roman soldier, Manius Titinius, whose duties mean he avoids the devastating Roman losses at ...Read Review
Rebellion (Eagles of Empire 22)
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Rebellion is the 21st book in Simon Scarrow’s Eagles of the Empire series (he has written or co-authored 15 other books) following the ...Read Review
The Temple of Fortuna (The Wolf Den Trilogy)
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Plinia Amara has risen in the world from her humble beginnings as a prostitute in the Wolf Den (brothel) in Pompeii. Now a ...Read Review
Of Love and Treason
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Rome, 270 CE, the reign of Emperor Claudius II. The Roman Empire is beset with threats from Germanic tribes as well as other peoples ...Read Review
Caracalla (The Damned Emperors, 4)
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It’s 189 AD when little Marcus, firstborn son of distinguished Roman commander Lucius Septimius Severus, has his first glimpse of his father’s ...Read Review
Vita & the Gladiator
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AdventureChildren/Young AdultMystery/Crime
It is not that long ago that young girls who loved history were hard-pressed to find a thrilling historical adventure story with an ...Read Review
A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women
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Histories of the Roman Empire usually focus on its men and their struggles against their neighbours and each other. While men wield weapons ...Read Review
Para Bellum
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Most Roman ‘militaries’ are set in the 1st century, when the Empire was expanding, and the Romans usually won. Para Bellum is set ...Read Review
The Hollow Throne (The Sarmatian Trilogy)
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Set around Hadrian’s Wall in 175 CE, The Hollow Throne picks up the story of a Sarmatian formation in the Roman army, and ...Read Review