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List of fiction set in ancient Rome

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Historical novels arranged by the period of their setting

Rome as a Kingdom

If you know of works set in the pre-Republican era, please expand this section.

  • Founding Fathers (1959) by Alfred Duggan. Originally titled Children of the Wolf, this novel tells the story of King Romulus and the founding of Rome through the eyes of a variety of characters who come to the new city.
  • Roma (2007) by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.[1]
  • The Seven Kings of Rome series: The Arms of Quirinus (2005), The Scent of Hyacinth (2005), The Warrior's Dance (2008) by Sherrie Seibert Goff

Early Republic (before 264 BC)

If you know of works set in the Early Republic, please expand this section.

  • Roma, published March 6, 2007, by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.[1]
  • The Wedding Shroud, published September 2010 by Elisabeth Storrs. This book is set on the cusp of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, about a Roman girl married to an Etruscan man in the events leading up to the war between Rome and Veii. The great Roman general Marcus Furius Camillus is featured.
  • The Etruscan by Mika Waltari. Part of the story is set on the first few years of the Republic.
  • Traitors’ Legion (Ace G-532,1963) by Jay Scotland, a swashbucker about a disgraced legion, set in Hannibal's time.

Middle Republic (264–133 BC)

If you know of works set in the Middle Republic, please expand this section.

  1. Africanus, el hijo del cónsul
  2. Las legiones malditas
  3. La traición de Roma
  • Of Merchants & Heroes, published 2008 by Paul Waters. Set at the end of the 3rd century BC, about the life of a fictional Roman called Marcus. In the novel Marcus becomes involved in the war against Philip V of Macedon, which was led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who later became Consul and is a major character in the story.
  • "The Shield of Rome", published 2011 by William Kelso. 216 BC. The novel is set during "Rome's finest hour" after the battle of Cannae when Hannibal threatens the very existence of the Republic.
  • "The Fortune of Carthage", published 2012 by William Kelso. 207 BC. The novel is set during the 2nd Punic War and covers Hasdrubal Barca's attempt to link up with the Carthaginian army of his brother Hannibal.
  • Numancia by José Luis Corral (2nd century BC, Numantia)

Late Republic (after 132 BC)

  • Viriato by João Aguiar (late 2nd, early 1st century BC, Viriathus)
  • Alberix the Celt, books 1 and 2 (2014-2015) by Albert Noyer, as Julius Caesar's territory is threatened, he invades Gaul. Attracted to Roman institutions, Alberix survives the war and is elected a magistrate. Covers the years 59 B.C. to 43 B.C.
  • The Bow of Heaven (2011) by Andrew Levkoff, a novel of events leading up to the battle of Carrhae, and the triumvir responsible for one of the greatest defeats suffered by Republican Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus
  • Young Caesar (1958) by Rex Warner
  • Imperium and Lustrum (novel) by Robert Harris, the first two volumes of a trilogy of fictionalized biography told by his slave, later freedman, Tiro depicting Cicero's rise to the consulship in 63 BC and subsequent role in the final days of the Republic.
  • A Pillar of Iron (1965) by Taylor Caldwell, a fictionalized biography of Cicero.
  • Imperial Caesar (1960) also by Rex Warner
  • The Ides of March (1948) by Thornton Wilder, culminating in Caesar's assassination.
  • The Key (1988), The Door in the Wall (1994), The Lock (2002) by Benita Kane Jaro
  • Catiline (2007) by Brandon Winningham
  • Barbarians in the Republic: The Long Journey to Rome (2005) by Skarr One
  • Caesar, Antony by Allan Massie
  • Freedom, farewell! by Phyllis Bentley.
  • The Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor is set in the later years of the Republic and the beginning of the Augustan period.
  • Roma, published March 6, 2007, by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.[1]
  • The Emperor Series (2003-2013), by Conn Iggulden, Julius Caesar's life
  • 10th Legion: Battle Born (2015) by Ben Soden the first book in a series based on a fictional group of Roman Legionary anti-heroes who join the 10th legion in Hispania culminating in the beginnings of the Helvetian campaigns.
  • The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy (2005) by Michael Curtis Ford. The career of Mithridates VI (134-63 BC)
  • The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. Beginning before the birth of Julius Caesar to after his death, it details the self-immolation of the Roman Republic.
  • Spartacus by Howard Fast
  • Spartacus by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
  • Three's Company (1958) by Alfred Duggan. The career of Lepidus, triumvir with Octavian and Marcus Antonius after the death of Julius Caesar.
  • Winter Quarters (1956) by Alfred Duggan. Two Gauls in the time of Julius Caesar, one of whom is under a curse from the Mother Goddess, whose worship he finds throughout the Roman world.
  • The Conquered by Naomi Mitchison (1923). Gaul & the Gallic Wars 1st century BC
  • Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invasion (1893) by G. A. Henty
  • Imperial Caesar (1960) also by Rex Warner
  • Marius' Mules (2009) by S.J.A. Turney. Fictionalised account of Caesar's Gallic Wars from the point of view of a fictional legate. Series ongoing at 10 books to 2017
  • "Marching with Caesar Series" by R.W. Peake A mostly accurate fiction that takes place during the rise of Julius Caesar, with his first campaign in Gaul, onwards and beyond his life, from the perspective of a soldier as he rises through the ranks[2]

Early/High Empire (27 BC to AD 192)

  • Hay luz en casa de Publio Fama by Juan Miñana (Barcino 60s AD)
  • Someday Never Comes by Mk Kayem
  • An Imaginary Life by David Malouf. A fictional account of the poet Ovid's exile from Rome.
  • The Quest For the Lost Roman Legions by Tony Clunn, Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, with his account of his discovery of the battlefield
  • Persona Non Grata, Terra Incognita, Medicus and Caveat Emptor, a series of mysteries featuring the "reluctant sleuth" Gaius Petreius Ruso by Ruth Downie, set around 120 AD.
  • Three Legions series by Rosemary Sutcliff set in Roman Britain c. 130 AD. The three novels consist of The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), The Silver Branch (1957), and The Lantern Bearers (1959). The three were first collected in one volume as Three Legions in 1980.
  • Empire published August 31, 2010, by Steven Saylor. The book follows two families through Rome's Imperial history, from the reign of Augustus to the reign of Hadrian. The sequel to Roma.
  • Vespasian series by Robert Fabbri. The series details the early career and rise to power of Vespasian.
  • Empire series by Anthony Riches. The series follows the fortunes Marcus Corvus during the reign of Commodus.

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty

Books about early Christians or the Christ include:

Books about Claudius or set in his reign include:

  • I, Claudius (1934) and its sequel, Claudius the God (1935), by Robert Graves. The classic and influential dramatised account of the life of the emperor Claudius, made into a popular TV series (see below).
  • The Eagle series by Nigerian-born British novelist Simon Scarrow. The first book Under the Eagle (part of the Eagle series) was published 2000 by Simon Scarrow. Story of Roman invasion of Britain, featuring a young Vespasian. Other books in the series include The Eagle's Conquest (2001 set in 42 AD (introducing Boudicca at the end); When the Eagle Hunts (2002) set in 44 AD. Other books in the series include The Eagle and the Wolves (2003), The Eagle's Prey (2004), The Eagle's Prophecy (2005), The Eagle in the Sand (2006), and the forthcoming Centurion (January - 2008).

Books set in Nero's reign include:

  • Beric the Briton, A Story of the Roman Invasion (1893) by G. A. Henty; the story of a Romanized Briton captured as a rebel and sent to Rome as a gladiator
  • Quo Vadis (1895/1896), by Henryk Sienkiewicz set in the reign of Nero in 64 AD.
  • The Flames of Rome by Paul L. Maier
  • A Song for Nero (2003) by Tom Holt, writing as Thomas Holt.
  • Letters from the Realms of Nero (2007) by George Kapo; story of British slave girl in household of Seneca
  • Rubies of the Viper (2010) and its sequel The Viper Amulet (2017) by Martha Marks; interwoven stories of a Roman woman who inherits a fortune when her brother is murdered and a Greek slave who comes into her possession as part of the estate; set in AD 53–67.
  • Nero, the Bloody Poet by Dezső Kosztolányi
  • The Ides of April by Mary Ray: Part of the Roman Empire Sequence.[3]
  • Imperial Governor (1968, reprinted 2002), George Shipway, the Icenii revolt under Boudicca.
  • The Roman (1964) by Mika Waltari
  • The Cleft by Doris Lessing is a book supposedly written by an historian during Nero's reign.

The Flavian Dynasty

  • Josephus Trilogy (1959), by Lion Feuchtwanger about Flavius Josephus, but set in Ancient Rome during Reign of Vespasianus and Titus
  • "In the Shadow of Tyranny" (2013), the first novel by Chris Westcott tells the story of Gaius whose fate and fortune is aligned to the reigns of Vespasian, Titus and the tyranny of Domitian.
  • The Course of Honour (1998), the first novel by Lindsey Davis (later author of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, which also take place during the reign on Vespasianus) narrates the history of Vespasian's imperial freedwoman mistress Antonia Caenis.
  • The Light Bearer (1994), by Donna Gillespie tells the story of a Germanic female warrior who becomes a gladiator in Rome in the reign of Domitian.
  • Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn is the story of a young Jewish slave who rises to become the mistress of Emperor Domitian.
  • Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn is set during the Year of Four Emperors and ends with the rise of Vespasian.
  • Trajan trilogy by Santiago Posteguillo (Trajan life)
  1. Los asesinos del emperador (Domitian death)
  2. Circo Máximo (Trajan's Dacian Wars)
  • The Last Days of Pompeii by E.G.Bulwer-Lytton
  • Pompeii by Robert Harris, tells the story of Pompeii and the volcano Vesuveus during the reign of Titus.
  • The Veteran of Rome Series by William Kelso tells the story of a Roman military family in Roman Britain from 83 AD to 106 AD.
  • "In the Shadow of Tyranny" by Chris Westcott set in the reigns of Vespasian, Titus and Domitian
  • "The Jew of Rome" by Lion Feuchtwanger

The Nervan-Antonian (Ulpio-Aelia) Dynasty

Middle Empire (AD 193–293)

  • Family Favourites (1960), by Alfred Duggan; a tale of court life under the teenage emperor Elagabalus, as recounted by his personal bodyguard
  • Warrior Of Rome series by historian Harry Sidebottom, takes place in the years 238 to 264, mostly from 256 to 264, six books so far published
  • Iron And Rust also by historian Harry Sidebottom, takes place before the Warrior Of Rome series

Late Empire: West (AD 293–457)

“Flavius Aetius: the Last Conqueror and Flavius Aetius: Twilight of Empines” by Jose Gomez Rivera III (2014, 2017) set in the religious-olitival struggles of Russia

  • "The Saint's Day Deaths" by Albert Noyer, (2000) Set in ancient Mainz, A.D. 406: citizens are found murdered on their namesake's feast day and in the same grisly manner the saint was martyred. Who is doing this, why, and who will be next?
  • "The Secundus Papyrus" by Albert Noyer, (2003) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 439: Terms of a "Last Will and Test-ament" of Christ will bring chaos to the Roman world. What did Christ leave and to whom; is it genuine; what happened to it?
  • "The Cybelene Conspiracy" by Albert Noyer, (2005) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: Two products smuggled into Italy from China could change the course of western history. What are they and what happened to them?
  • "Death at Pergamum" by Albert Noyer, (2013) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: a woman minister stages a bizarre Egypto-Christian resurrection on the 'Throne of Satan' to discredit a pagan physician at the Asklepion healing shrine.
  • Unholy Sepulcher" by Albert Noyer, (2014) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: A body found in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher leads to Arcadia's abduction by a cult member, where a Bedouin warlord will sell her to the highest bidder.
  • "The Kashat Deception" By Albert Noyer, (2015) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. Prologue. A.D. 1 / Story A.D. 441: A papyrus concealed in a Kushite prince's mummy reveals a youthful Jesus raised in an Egyptian tradition of diviners and healers. If genuine, orthodox Christianity is threatened.
  • The Young Julian by Thomas J. Hairston
  • Helena by Evelyn Waugh; follows the quest of the Empress Helena, a Christian and the mother of Emperor Constantine to uncover the remains of the cross upon which Christ was crucified.
  • Julian (1964) by Gore Vidal, fictionalized biography of the emperor Julian the Apostate, who tried to revive Paganism
  • The Last Legion: A Novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi; fictionalized story of the emperor Romulus Augustulus and what might have happened to his surviving retinue.
  • Eagle in the Snow (1970) by Wallace Breem; set in Britannia and Germania in the late 4th and early 5th century; features a Mithraic Roman general.
  • The Little Emperors (1951) by Alfred Duggan. A succession of coups in late-Roman Britain.
  • Gods And Legions: A Novel of the Roman Empire (2002) by Michael Curtis Ford
  • The Sword of Attila: A Novel of the Last Years of Rome (2005) by Michael Curtis Ford
  • The Fall of Rome: A Novel of a World Lost (2007) by Michael Curtis Ford
  • Raptor (1993) by Gary Jennings is an historical novel set in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. It purports to be the memoirs of an Ostrogoth, Thorn, who has a secret.
  • Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth Century Rome (1966) by Hella Hasse
  • Legionary (2011) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: Viper of the North (2012) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: Land of the Sacred Fire (2013) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: The Scourge of Thracia (2015) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: Gods & Emperors (2015) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: Empire of Shades (2017) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: The Blood Road (2018) by Gordon Doherty
  • Legionary: Dark Eagle (2020) by Gordon Doherty
  • Embers of Empire, The Veiled Assassin (2013) by Q. V. Hunter espionage adventure series set during reigns of Constantius II and Julian the Apostate
  • Embers of Empire, Usurpers (2013) by Q. V. Hunter
  • Embers of Empire, The Back Door to Hell (2013) by Q. V. Hunter
  • Embers of Empire, The Wolves of Ambition (2015) by Q. V. Hunter
  • Embers of Empire, The Deadly Caesar (2015) by Q. V. Hunter
  • Embers of Empire, The Burning Stakes (2016) by Q. V. Hunter

Byzantine Empire (AD 457–1453)

Unknown period

Detective fiction

Science fiction/time travel novels

  • Caesar's Bicycle (1997) (Timeline Wars series) by John Barnes
  • The Green Bronze Mirror (1966) by Lynne Ellison (young adult); set in reign of Nero
  • Arria Marcella (1852) by Théophile Gautier set in 79 AD in Pompeii
  • Household Gods (1999), by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove set in the reign of Marcus Aurelius
  • The Time Travelling Cat and the Roman Eagle (2001) by Julia Jarman
  • Toss of the Coin (Time Rangers) (1998) by Rob Childs
  • In Daniel Godfrey's New Pompeii (Titan Books, 2016), the population of ancient Pompeii is transported through time to the present day and into a replica of their town.
  • "Codex Alera" Jim Butcher's fantasy take on what happened to the Lost Roman Legion.

Alternate history

The following alternate history novels are set in fictional universes where Rome's struggle with Carthago went differently

The following alternate history novels are set in fictional universes where the Roman Empire never fell, and has endured to the present day:

The following alternate history novels are set in fictional universes where Julius Caesar survived his assassination attempt:

  • "Caesar Ascending" series by R.W. Peake. Caesar survives his assassination and carries out his plans to invade Parthia.

Comic books

  • The Adventures of Alix (1948-now) series by Jacques Martin of which some titles are set in Rome and the Ancient World. This series has a spin-off, called The travels of Alix, that gives illustrated information on famous places and empires of the Ancient World during the Roman Era.
  • Astérix (1959-now) series by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). A tiny village in Gaul holds out against the Roman Army, and its doughtiest warriors meet all the famous Romans.
  • Murena (1997-now) series by Jean Dufaux and Philippe Delaby
  • Le Fléau des Dieux (2000–2006) series by Valérie Mangin and Aleksa Gajic. Science fiction set in a remote future

Movies

Main article: List of films set in ancient Rome

Plays

Television

Video games

Main article: List of ancient Rome video games

Works inspired by Roman history, or by works of fiction and non-fiction about Rome

Science fiction

Comic books

  • Leading Comics - in the 1940s, a series called "Nero Fox" (about a funny animal named Nero Fox, who was emperor of Rome) was published as a backup series in this comic title.
  • Trigan Empire was a Science Fiction comic series telling of adventures on the planet Elekton with many similarities to the Roman Empire

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d http://www.stevensaylor.com/ Saylor, Steven. "Steven Saylor website". Retrieved May 16, 2007
  2. ^ "Marching With Caesar Book Series - Historical Fiction by RW Peake — Marching With Caesar Book Series". marchingwithcaesarbookseries.com.
  3. ^ "The Ides of April (Roman Empire Sequence, #2)". Goodreads. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  4. ^ Dick, Philip K. The VALIS Trilogy. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
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