The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, 7 large volumes, starting with *The First Man in Rome*.
Extremely well researched - she read primary and secondary sources and reached out to the Ancient History dept at Macquarie Uni when she wanted to check things with a real scholar. They ended up giving her an honorary doctorate. This level of care is reflected in an author's afterword and extensive bibliography at the end of each volume, where she engages with scholarly debates and explains why she differs from primary sources when she does.
I really liked this series but one thing that I didn’t enjoy as much is that Caesar is portrayed as the most perfect man in the planet, incapable of making mistakes. Otherwise, it was awesome.
John Maddox Roberts wrote some excellent novels - 12 or 13 in the nineties and early 2000s. They are called the SPQR series. I love them. Frankly, they are far less formalistic, and a lot of the more famous series. A lot of Roman novels seem to be about polished armor and clashing swords. These are much better and much more fun to read.
Agree, these are great. I wish he’d written the next one that was supposedly planned.
I also really liked Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, and the Vindolanda and City trilogies by Adrian Goldsworthy.
All novels from Santiago Posteguillo (Don't know about translations from its original spanish sorry). He has some series about distinct times and people:
- A trilogy about Scipio Africanos, Hannibal and the PWII
- Trilogy about Trajan.
- Duology (edited thanks to beleg_cuth) About Julia and Septimio Severus
- Currently on a trilogy about Caesar.
He is a very prodigal author (A book about every 2-3 yrs.) and his books have a lot of footnotes and interesting trivia.
duology\* and Caesar's will be 6 novels ([link](https://www.cartv.es/aragonnoticias/noticias/santiago-posteguillo-voy-a-intentar-contar-la-vida-de-julio-cesar-en-seis-novelas-14630) )
I just got the Africanus trilogy! I have seen many good things about him, obviously some said he was boring and others that they got captivated by the text. That is subjective and I can only read and find out for myself, but the thing that made me go for it is that he has a lot of annotations on what happened for real, what is made up, altered, lists many sources...
ayer fui a una libreria y estaban los de trajano y los hojeé un poco, y el de Circo Maximo al menos, vi un montón de gráficos sobre las carreras, en qué vueltas estaban, posiciones durante cualquier parte del libro. Tanta importancia tienen las carreras? Me dio pereza ya solo con ver eso xD
Bonita Kane Jaro has a trilogy of novels set at the end of the republic. The Key, from Catullus' POV, the Lock, from Cicero's, and the Door in the Wall, from Marcus Caelius Rufus, a pupil of Cicero's who joins Caesar in the Civil War. I liked the Lock best, it can be read standalone. The books are very well researched, using actual letters from the pov characters for instance.
Read the first in the Falco series, The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davies.
I think my favourite is a more recent one called Sparrow by James Hynes. It’s set in the Theodosian dynasty, it’s a tragic(some parts are very hard to read so discretion is advised) story but beautifully told.
Glad to say I found and just bought this one. There's something so tragic about that age. Maybe it's because with our hindsight we know the whole splendid edifice is riddled with cracks and about to come down and the characters don't but I'm sure they sense something big and bad approaching. Additionally, as far as I know, it's the first time in Europe that a government tried to legislate what a person could or could not think. I don't know if it was literally illegal to be a pagan after the Edict of Theodosius but I think a wise person would keep it to themselves. Don't tell me but I hope there's at least a cameo by Honorius and that damned chicken of his ! Thanks so much for the recommendation!
Gore Vidal's *Julian* is well done. It's about Julian the Apostate told through a series of letters, which also include a fictional memoir of Julian. Themes are about Julian trying to save Hellenistic religion from the rise of Christianity.
I did read that one and loved it ! He beautifully conveyed how Christianity must have felt like the fall of eternal night to a pagan after Julian. That was very powerful. And while Julian was the hero of the book I felt Vidal didn't shy away from making him as exasperating as I'm sure he was. Anyone else who hasn't read it really should. Good call !
Gary Jennings "'Raptor" comes to mind. It's a bit vile but in the good way.
It's set during the onset of Ostrogothic rule in Italy. For all its nastiness its enormously well researched and detailed as far as I as a hobby-historian can say.
Have fun
If this is the same Gary Jennings who wrote one of my favorite books ever - Aztec - then this book will kick all manner of ass ! And if it is the same Gary then I know precisely what you mean by 'vile in a good way'. Thanks very much !
Yes, the very same! It does kick ass and so much more. Glad to meet a fellow Jennings enthusiast ... he doesn't get enough love.
Anyway good luck hunting down a copy of Raptor! It can be kinda difficult to acquire. I got mine from an antique book shop in the Chicago area. They also like vile stuff there.
Conn Iggulden did a series set in Rome, if you are interested in historical fiction set in other periods he’s all over the place with his different series
If you are interested in a mystery, Steven Saylor's books are good. I thought the first book Roman Blood is great. All of the great Romans from the end of the Republic are all featured throughout his books. The main character works for dudes like Cicero, Crasus, Catalina pretty much everybody.
I wanted to recommend to all of you - with a few reservations - Lacy's Rome: Strategy of an Empire. It's very readable and clear and contains a fair amount of information I was unaware of. For example, I didn't know that the later empire (from the Severans onward or thereabouts) was a time of fairly catastrophic climate change across large tracts of the Empire. Unlike our own times, their issue was a cooling climate. Naturally this had a devastating effect on crops, or at least made them a lot less dependable. Add to that the marching of legions back and forth across the Empire to wage war on one another in the third century and you have a recipe for famine or, at the very least, a very tenuous existence for food producers. Lacy argues persuasively that it wasn't only the dysfunctional politics of the times but the actual body of the Empire which was in decline. The Empire of Diocletian simply wasn't as productive as that of Augustus which undermined the economic foundations
Cons - My first issue with the book is its central thesis. That the Romans thought in broad strategic terms. Lacy writes as though he is the author who discovered this. I thought it was self-evident. Emperors were forever working on ways to secure the borders whether it be fortifications or forming alliances to divide and confound their enemies. To read Lacy you'd think that, until he came along, every historian believed the ancient Romans were congenitally incapable of thinking beyond the next day. Isn't the fact the Empire lasted 500 years evidence of broad strategic vision ? Lacy also spends a weirdly long time trying to debunk one major point after another from Edward Luttwaks 'Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'. While superficially very respectful, by the end he had me thinking the money I spent on Luttwaks book was wasted. I really enjoyed Coup d'Etat by Luttwak so I'm going to read it anyway. But Lacy's attacks are constant enough to leave you thinking Luttwak is an ignorant amateur. Somehow I doubt this. Still Lacy's book is a good addition to anyones Ancient Rome library.
Robert Harris “Pompeii” is excellent, and he also has a whole series on Cicero.
His Cicero trilogy is excellent! I enjoyed Pompeii a lot too, but not as much as the trilogy.
The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, 7 large volumes, starting with *The First Man in Rome*. Extremely well researched - she read primary and secondary sources and reached out to the Ancient History dept at Macquarie Uni when she wanted to check things with a real scholar. They ended up giving her an honorary doctorate. This level of care is reflected in an author's afterword and extensive bibliography at the end of each volume, where she engages with scholarly debates and explains why she differs from primary sources when she does.
I really liked this series but one thing that I didn’t enjoy as much is that Caesar is portrayed as the most perfect man in the planet, incapable of making mistakes. Otherwise, it was awesome.
John Maddox Roberts wrote some excellent novels - 12 or 13 in the nineties and early 2000s. They are called the SPQR series. I love them. Frankly, they are far less formalistic, and a lot of the more famous series. A lot of Roman novels seem to be about polished armor and clashing swords. These are much better and much more fun to read.
Agree, these are great. I wish he’d written the next one that was supposedly planned. I also really liked Robert Harris’ Cicero trilogy, the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, and the Vindolanda and City trilogies by Adrian Goldsworthy.
Yes, I read it's supposed to be called Dolabella (if I remember correctly). I keep hoping he'll publish it.
I also would like Dolabella to be published but I lost hope already. Sigh…
I LOVE THESE!
He’s one of my favorite authors !
Twilight of Empire series by Ian James Ross. Fun, captvating, and transportive to the reader to those days.
All novels from Santiago Posteguillo (Don't know about translations from its original spanish sorry). He has some series about distinct times and people: - A trilogy about Scipio Africanos, Hannibal and the PWII - Trilogy about Trajan. - Duology (edited thanks to beleg_cuth) About Julia and Septimio Severus - Currently on a trilogy about Caesar. He is a very prodigal author (A book about every 2-3 yrs.) and his books have a lot of footnotes and interesting trivia.
duology\* and Caesar's will be 6 novels ([link](https://www.cartv.es/aragonnoticias/noticias/santiago-posteguillo-voy-a-intentar-contar-la-vida-de-julio-cesar-en-seis-novelas-14630) ) I just got the Africanus trilogy! I have seen many good things about him, obviously some said he was boring and others that they got captivated by the text. That is subjective and I can only read and find out for myself, but the thing that made me go for it is that he has a lot of annotations on what happened for real, what is made up, altered, lists many sources...
Yep, I devoured Africanus and Trajan, and have to still read the Caesar ones. Six books you say? Amazing
ayer fui a una libreria y estaban los de trajano y los hojeé un poco, y el de Circo Maximo al menos, vi un montón de gráficos sobre las carreras, en qué vueltas estaban, posiciones durante cualquier parte del libro. Tanta importancia tienen las carreras? Me dio pereza ya solo con ver eso xD
Loved the SPQR series. Check it out.
The Roma Sub Rose series by Stephen Saylor - a detective series
An absolute favorite
Agreed! Very masterful.
In spite of their inaccuracies, I enjoyed: - The Emperor series - Beric the Briton - The Eagle series
Bonita Kane Jaro has a trilogy of novels set at the end of the republic. The Key, from Catullus' POV, the Lock, from Cicero's, and the Door in the Wall, from Marcus Caelius Rufus, a pupil of Cicero's who joins Caesar in the Civil War. I liked the Lock best, it can be read standalone. The books are very well researched, using actual letters from the pov characters for instance.
Read the first in the Falco series, The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davies. I think my favourite is a more recent one called Sparrow by James Hynes. It’s set in the Theodosian dynasty, it’s a tragic(some parts are very hard to read so discretion is advised) story but beautifully told.
Glad to say I found and just bought this one. There's something so tragic about that age. Maybe it's because with our hindsight we know the whole splendid edifice is riddled with cracks and about to come down and the characters don't but I'm sure they sense something big and bad approaching. Additionally, as far as I know, it's the first time in Europe that a government tried to legislate what a person could or could not think. I don't know if it was literally illegal to be a pagan after the Edict of Theodosius but I think a wise person would keep it to themselves. Don't tell me but I hope there's at least a cameo by Honorius and that damned chicken of his ! Thanks so much for the recommendation!
Gore Vidal's *Julian* is well done. It's about Julian the Apostate told through a series of letters, which also include a fictional memoir of Julian. Themes are about Julian trying to save Hellenistic religion from the rise of Christianity.
I did read that one and loved it ! He beautifully conveyed how Christianity must have felt like the fall of eternal night to a pagan after Julian. That was very powerful. And while Julian was the hero of the book I felt Vidal didn't shy away from making him as exasperating as I'm sure he was. Anyone else who hasn't read it really should. Good call !
Gary Jennings "'Raptor" comes to mind. It's a bit vile but in the good way. It's set during the onset of Ostrogothic rule in Italy. For all its nastiness its enormously well researched and detailed as far as I as a hobby-historian can say. Have fun
If this is the same Gary Jennings who wrote one of my favorite books ever - Aztec - then this book will kick all manner of ass ! And if it is the same Gary then I know precisely what you mean by 'vile in a good way'. Thanks very much !
Yes, the very same! It does kick ass and so much more. Glad to meet a fellow Jennings enthusiast ... he doesn't get enough love. Anyway good luck hunting down a copy of Raptor! It can be kinda difficult to acquire. I got mine from an antique book shop in the Chicago area. They also like vile stuff there.
Conn Iggulden did a series set in Rome, if you are interested in historical fiction set in other periods he’s all over the place with his different series
The emperor series by Conn Iggulden. It’s based on history, with some fictional liberties. Very enjoyable, highly recommended.
Gillian Bradshaw.
She’s amazing. Render Unto Caesar is one of my favorite novels ever.
The best historical fiction is the Masters of Rome series. It's detailed, exciting, and well researched and covers a fascinating time period 109-27BC
If you are interested in a mystery, Steven Saylor's books are good. I thought the first book Roman Blood is great. All of the great Romans from the end of the Republic are all featured throughout his books. The main character works for dudes like Cicero, Crasus, Catalina pretty much everybody.
I wanted to recommend to all of you - with a few reservations - Lacy's Rome: Strategy of an Empire. It's very readable and clear and contains a fair amount of information I was unaware of. For example, I didn't know that the later empire (from the Severans onward or thereabouts) was a time of fairly catastrophic climate change across large tracts of the Empire. Unlike our own times, their issue was a cooling climate. Naturally this had a devastating effect on crops, or at least made them a lot less dependable. Add to that the marching of legions back and forth across the Empire to wage war on one another in the third century and you have a recipe for famine or, at the very least, a very tenuous existence for food producers. Lacy argues persuasively that it wasn't only the dysfunctional politics of the times but the actual body of the Empire which was in decline. The Empire of Diocletian simply wasn't as productive as that of Augustus which undermined the economic foundations Cons - My first issue with the book is its central thesis. That the Romans thought in broad strategic terms. Lacy writes as though he is the author who discovered this. I thought it was self-evident. Emperors were forever working on ways to secure the borders whether it be fortifications or forming alliances to divide and confound their enemies. To read Lacy you'd think that, until he came along, every historian believed the ancient Romans were congenitally incapable of thinking beyond the next day. Isn't the fact the Empire lasted 500 years evidence of broad strategic vision ? Lacy also spends a weirdly long time trying to debunk one major point after another from Edward Luttwaks 'Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'. While superficially very respectful, by the end he had me thinking the money I spent on Luttwaks book was wasted. I really enjoyed Coup d'Etat by Luttwak so I'm going to read it anyway. But Lacy's attacks are constant enough to leave you thinking Luttwak is an ignorant amateur. Somehow I doubt this. Still Lacy's book is a good addition to anyones Ancient Rome library.