Best novels on Greco-Roman history

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Have you read a great novel based on ancient Greco-Roman history?
Help others who are seeking books related to this era and post it here. Thanks!

IMPORTANT NOTES (read this before posting)
If you make a post, please write both the author and the book title. Generic recommendations (f.e. giving just the author) won't be included in the list above.
Please don't post ancient or modern historians. Although I like and read them too, this thread is only about historical novels (fiction based on history).
Authors posted here should be widely known, critically acclaimed, or at least have a wikipedia entry.

Here's a list of the novels on Greco-Roman history, read and recommended by TWC members, organized in chronological order.

I. Ancient Greek history

Homeros: Iliad (around 800-700 BC)

David Gemmel - The Troy Trilogy (2005-2007)

Nicholas Nicastro - The Isle of Stone (2005) - Sparta in the Peloponnesian War

Steven Pressfield's novels:
Gates of Fire (1998) - about the Battle of Thermopylae
Tides of War (2000) - A Novel of Alciviades and the Peloponnesian War
The Virtues of War (2004) - about the entire campaign of Alexander
The Afghan Campaign (2006) - about Alexander the Great's conquests in Afghanistan (2006)

Michael Curtis Ford: The Ten Thousand (2001) - about the Spartan mercenaries that venture to Persia

Mary Renault - Alexander series
Fire from Heaven (1969) — Alexander the Great from the age of four up to his father's death
The Persian Boy (1972) — from Bagoas's perspective; Alexander the Great after the conquest of Persia
Funeral Games (1981) — Alexander's successors

Valerio Massimo Manfredi: Alexander trilogy (1998)
Child of a Dream
Sands of Ammon
Ends of the Earth

Paul C. Doherty - The Alexander Trilogy (2000-2003)

Gene Wolfe - The Soldier series
Soldier of the Mist (1986) - In times long past the gods still walked the Earth, and nowhere more so than amid the glory that was ancient Greece. It is 479 B.C. Latro, a mercenary soldier from the north, has suffered a head wound that has robbed him of his companions, of his past and above all of his ability to remember from day to day.
Soldier of Arete (1989) - sequel
Soldier of Sidon (2006) [winner of the 2007 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel] - sequel.

II. Roman Republic (up to Julius Caesar)

John Maddox Roberts
Hannibal series - alternate history series about what might have happened if the Carthaginians had won the Second Punic War against the Romans
Hannibal's Children (2002)
The Seven Hills (2005)
SPQR series containing 12 novels (1990-2005). The whole list can be found here.

Leonard Cottrell: Hannibal: Enemy of Rome (1974)

David Anthony Durham - Hannibal, Pride of Carthage (2005) - about the second Punic War

Steven Saylor: Roma Sub Rosa series (1991-2008) containing 12 mystery and crime novels (list is here).

Michael Curtis Ford: The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy (2005) - about Mithridates the Great

Tom Holland: Rubicon (2003) - Rubicon restricts itself to the lifetime of the Republic only - a mere 541 years, from 590 BC, when the monarchy fell, to 49 BC, the fateful year when Caesar, standing by the river that defined the limits of Rome, took the momentous decision to lead his army across, and declared himself sole ruler.

L.S. Lawrence: Eagle Of the East (2007) - about a legion of Roman mercenaries in Parthia after the battle of Carrhae

Colleen McCollough: Masters of Rome series - the first 3 books are about Marius and Sulla
The First Man in Rome (1990)
The Grass Crown (1991)
Fortune's Favorites (1993)

Robert Harris: Imperium (2006) - about the life of Cicero

Adrian Goldsworthy
Cannae: Rome's Greatest Defeat (2001) - about the battle of Cannae
Caesar: Life of a Colossus (2006) - biography of Julius Caesar

Conn Iggulden: Emperor Series (2003-2006), based on the life of Julius Caesar, including:
The Gates of Rome (2003)
The Death of Kings (2004)
The Field of Swords (2005)
The Gods of War(2006)


III. Early Roman Empire (from Augustus to Diocletian)

Anthony Everitt: The Life of Rome's First Emperor (2006) - The Roman Empire, with all its violence, greed, debauchery, and heroics, is depicted in this story of Augustus, adopted son of Julius Caesar, and heir to the throne.

Henryk Sienkiewicz: Quo vadis? (1896) - it takes place in the city of Rome under the rule of emperor Nero around AD 64.

Robert Graves
I Claudius (1934)
Claudius the God (1935)

Marguerite Yourcenar: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951)

Robert Harris: Pompeii (2003)

Harry Sidebottom: Fire in the East (2008) - AD 255 - the Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, its authority and might challenged throughout the territories and along every border. Yet the most lethal threat lurks far to the east in Persia, where the massing forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace.

Simon Scarrow: Eagle series (2000-2007), containing 8 books (first books recommended, the whole list is here ). Roman Military fiction set in Britain, covering the second invasion of Britain and the subsequent campaign undertaken by the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

IV. Late Roman Empire (3-4th century)

Wallace Breem: Eagle in the Snow (1970) - about a fictional Roman general fighting against Germanic tribes

Michael Curtis Ford
Gods and Legions: A Novel of the Roman Empire (2001) - about the Apostate Emperor Julian
The Sword of Attila (2005)
The Fall of Rome: A Novel of a World Lost (2007)

Valerio Massimo Manfredi
The Last Legion (2002)
Empire of Dragons (2005) Roman prisoners of war and emperor Valerianus are captured by the Persians and are transported to the East.

Gore Vidal: Julian (1964) - a classical novel written primarily in the first person dealing with the life of the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, (labeled by Christians as Julian the Apostate), who reigned 360-363 CE.


V. Eastern Roman Empire

Lord Mahon: Life of Belisarius (1829) - about the life of Justinian's great general, Belisarius

Robert Graves: Count Belisarius (1938) - about the life of Justinian's great general, Belisarius

If you'd like to hunt even more related books, here's a longer list:
http://www.historicalnovels.info/Ancient.html

VI. Arthurian Britain

John Steinbeck: Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights (1976) - a modern, but classical adaptation of the Arthurian legend, based on the Winchester Manuscript text of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur

Bernard Cornwell: Warlord Chronicles series - a trilogy of books telling the legends of Arthur seen through the eyes of his follower Derfel Cadarn
The Winter King (1996)
Enemy of God (1997)
Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur (1998)

[DisgruntledGoat]

An absolute classic is Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. Its written in the form of a letter from Hadrian to Marcus Aurelius instructing him on how to rule based on Hadrian's own life experiences. Very deep novel full of emotion. It tries (and succeeds) to convey more the emotion and the thinking of Hadrian rather than simply retelling the events. Very similar to Graves but imo much more successful.

Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. A fictional novel about the pagan commander of a british legion sent to combat german raids across the Rhine during the collapse of the empire. Excellent novel.

More recent and I'd say more popular fiction are the Micheal Curtis Ford novels. He has written several books (I've read most of them) and they are all decent reads. They keep you turning the page and interested in the Characters. They are

Gods and Legions (about the Apostate Emperor Julian)
The Ten Thousand (about the 10,000 spartan mercenaries that venture to Persia)
The Last King (about Mithradates the Great)
Sword of Attila (I'm sure you know what this is about)
The Fall of Rome (I have not read this one)

Then there are always the Steven Pressfield novels

Gates of Fire (a modern classic in my opinion about thermopylae)
Tides of War (a novel about the golden age of greece and the athens/spartan war)
Virtues of War (about the entire campaign of alexander)
The Afghan Campaign (about Alexanders afghan missions, I didn't like it all that much as it tried to draw far to many parallels with todays conflict and injected to much modern thinking and slang into the dialogue.)

[pannonian]

Mary Renault is best known for her Alexander trilogy, but her other novels are quite good as well. Also try Rosemary Sutcliff, who concentrates on the Romano-British experience.

[The Good]

Gates of Fire (I'm reading this one right now! It's about Thermopylae)

Eagle in the Snow (about a Late Roman general)

There are more, but none come to mind now....I haven't read many of these types of novels.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Great tips, guys, keep them coming!

[Lt.Bradford]

Yeah, Gates of fire is great.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

The only one I've read was Steven Pressfield's "Virtues of War" which is historical-fiction about Alexander the Great. It was decent.

[scottishranger]

Read the novels "Hannibals Children" and"The Seven Hills" by Stephen Maddox Roberts. They are an alternate history series about what might have happened if Hannibal had defeated Rome. I liked them alot.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Updated the list to help others browse the novels easier.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

Here's a book I have, but I haven't actually read it yet:

"The First Man in Rome" (Colleen McCullough). It's a fictional account of the political life of Gaius Marius.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Here's a book I have, but I haven't actually read it yet:

"The First Man in Rome" (Colleen McCullough). It's a fictional account of the political life of Gaius Marius.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention Colleen McCullough's The Grass Crown (which is the sequel of The First Man In Rome). It is a really page-turner, great insight of the struggle between Marius and Sulla. I would recommend it to everybody.

[Juvenal]

Some books by John James.

Votan: How Photinus the Greek found out whence the amber road leads, and by accident became incorporated into the Norse pantheon.

Not for All the Gold in Ireland: Photinus goes to Britannia to discover the source of the myths of Irish gold.

Bridge of Sand: A story of the military adventures of a young Decimus Iunius Iuvinalis during Agricola's campaign in Wales.

Men Went to Catraeth: A story of the faded remnant of Roman Britain and their last attempt to push back the Anglo-Saxons.

[Arthum]

Read the novels "Hannibals Children" and"The Seven Hills" by Stephen Maddox Roberts

No don't, these books are rather dull pro-roman "fanboyism extraordinnaire", especially when compared to his SPQR-series, so read those instead.

The first books of Simon Scarrow's "Eagle"-series were okay, especially if you like B. Cornwell, but I personally find all these rather unreflective military stuff to get annoying fast, although you might watch out for some of Alfred Duggan's republished books, they're of a better cast.
I found that I personally prefer crime stories in ancient setting, because this seems the best way for the authors to make the ancient world become alive, so you might consider checking out Steven Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa"-series - when you finished "SPQR", if you still want more you could even check out Lindsey Davis "Falco"-series, though I found the easy-going "jolly good"-attitude "a tad" too annyoing.

I'd second the recommendations of Steven Pressfield's (although he appears void of any irony) and Michael Curtis Ford's books (mediocre stories made up by interesting settings).Colleen McC and Wallace Breem are readable too, definitely so is Mary Renault.

If you absolutely want more "hero tales" like in Iggulden's books, albeit by a less gifted story-teller, try Valerio Massimo Manfredi.

EDIT:ooops, didn't read through the first post completely...

[scottishranger]

No don't, these books are rather dull pro-roman "fanboyism extraordinnaire", especially when compared to his SPQR-series, so read those instead.



EDIT:ooops, didn't read through the first post completely...

I liked them, they at least kept me interested.

I wouldnt buy them, just rent them from a local library.

[Iustinianos]

Some of my favorites:

Early Roman Empire:
Pompeii, by Richard Harris. As the title says, it's about the disaster with the vulcano at Pompeii.

Late Roman Empire:
The Last Legion, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi(much, much, much better then the film)
Empire of Dragons, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Some Roman prisoners of war and the emperor: Licinius Valerianus are captured by the Persians and are transported to the East where they eventually get in touch with the Chinese.

Ancient Greece:
Alexander Trilogy, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Great story of Alexander's campaign to conquer the world.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

Early Roman Empire:
Pompeii, by Richard Harris.

It's Robert Harris, just for the record. BTW in February 2007 it was announced that Roman Polanski was set to direct the film of "Pompeii". The IMDB entry is here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0958865/

Can't wait!

Manfredi's books were recommended by a friend of mine who is a great antiquity-geek.

I didn't like the film The Last Legion, but this doesn't mean it wouldn't be a great book. More often than not it is extremely difficult to reproduce the events and mood of a book in the movie.

[Trax]

The Last Legion, by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

It's not horrible but not exactly good either.

Pompeii, by Robert Harris.

Try his Imperium too, about Cicero.

[Iustinianos]

Try his Imperium too, about Cicero.

Yeah, I got it on my bookshelf, looks good but unfortunatly I did not yet had the time to read it. Will try it soon tough.

It's Robert Harris, just for the record.

Guess I mistaked the man with Marcus Aurelius.

Ancient Greece:
The Talisman of Troy, by Manfredi. Tells the story of Diomedes after the Trojan War.

[Cavalier]

Steven Saylor's Romanblood is awesome. A detective-story in ancient Rome, at the time of Sulla, Cicero and more.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

I've been to London, and spent several hours in second hand bookshops.
Found a gripping new novel:

Robert Harris: Imperium (2006)
It is about the life of Cicero, portrayed first as a rising new lawyer, who decides to gamble everything on one of the most dramatic courtroom battles of all times.

Marvellous read, I can't put it down, and reading it on my way home when I'm walking too. (Okay, I guess that's abnormal, but that's just who I am.) I can recommend it to anyone, who would like to get detailed and captivating insight to Roman politics of the late Republic.

BTW anyone here read Fatherland from Robert Harris? It is history fiction: how would things look like, if Hitler won the war, and Nazi Germany (actually Europe) consolidated. As a journalist, Harris is the master of words, capturing and maintaining attention, and writes very powerful, engrossing stories.

Also laid my hands on some of the Simon Scarrow books, and I must say the they are very well written. Centurion is an automatic page-turner.

OP updated.