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’.
From the Ashes
Genres:
In 79 AD Pompeii, a slave and scribe, Althea, is offered to Marcus, a former soldier, and operator of the amphitheater. Althea’s master ...Read Review
Cleopatra: The Queen Who Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity
Genres:
Popular Italian historian Angela’s docudrama covers a crucial fourteen years of Roman history, complete with feasts, battles, and two legendary love affairs. ...Read Review
Jewel of the Nile
Genres:
AD 56. Chariline has always been told that her father, the man who spoiled her late Roman mother, is dead. With her morose aunt, ...Read Review
Priestess of Pompeii: The Initiate’s Journey Book I
Genres:
Italy, 60 BCE: A baby girl is left exposed to the elements after her mother dies giving the child life. The infant is found ...Read Review
The Border Wolves (The Centurions Book 4)
Genres:
This is set in the time of Emperor Domitian’s Dacian Wars. The story flits between Dacia and Rome, following the final story ...Read Review
Emperor’s Spear (The Imperial Assassin 4)
Genres:
It’s 213 AD, and if Centurion Sergius Gaius Silus thought he’d left behind the “secret service” of the Arcani, he has another ...Read Review
A Man at Arms
Genres:
Jerusalem and the Sinai Desert, 55 AD. Two decades have passed since the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, and the fledgling Christian church struggles ...Read Review
Echoes of Germania
Genres:
Germania, circa 9 BCE: Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus defeats the Cherusci tribe. He drowns the Cherusci seer’s daughters despite her pleas and ...Read Review
The Emperor’s Exile (Eagles of the Empire 19)
Genres:
This is the latest book in the saga of Macro and Cato, books which have taken them far and wide in the Roman ...Read Review
Sons of Rome (Rise of Emperors 1)
Genres:
The first of a projected series called The Rise of the Emperors, this book details the intertwining lives of two major figures of ...Read Review