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’.
The Governor’s Man (A Quintus Valerius Mystery)
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When Roman Imperial Investigator Quintus Valerius is despatched to investigate the suspected theft of silver, mined in the southwest of what is now ...Read Review
The Work of Thy Hand: A Novel of Early Christianity
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AD 66. Mira Bat-Chet is the daughter of a prosperous Christian family from Yaffa. When the Romans attack, she is taken as a slave ...Read Review
Traitor: 2 (The Raven and the Eagle series)
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This is the continuing story of Corvus, Eighth Legion standard bearer, soon to become deserter, during the Bellum Batonianum (6-9 AD). Disillusioned with ...Read Review
Sands of the Arena and Other Stories
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A novice gladiator fighting for his life before depraved emperor Caligula, a centurion unhappy in retirement, and Hannibal pondering attacking Rome—these are ...Read Review
Daughter of Carthage, Son of Rome
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218 BC. Desperate to flee an arranged marriage, Elissa sneaks aboard one of her father’s ships setting sail for Italy. Little does she ...Read Review
Legion (The Raven and the Eagle series Book 1)
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In 6 AD Pannonia, Corvus is a legionary—section commander in the second century of the second cohort of the Eighth Legion. Thanks to ...Read Review
A Dreadful Destiny (A Libertus Mystery of Roman Britain, 19)
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In late 2nd-century Roman Glevum (present day Gloucester), Libertus, duumvir and former slave, is his patron Marcus’s main advisor in how to ...Read Review
Guardians at the Wall
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As the history of an excavation site comes to light, so too do the ancient peoples who lived it. Alternating between third-person-narrated past ...Read Review
To Be Wolves (Vesta Shadows Series, Book 2)
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To Be Wolves, Book 2 of The Vesta Shadows, centers around the chief Vestal priestess, Pomponia, during the imperial rule of Caesar Augustus in ...Read Review
Dominus: A Novel of the Roman Empire
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Following his novels Roma and Empire comes Steven Saylor’s latest about the Pinarii family, Dominus. Spanning seven generations between 165 to 326 AD, Dominus ...Read Review