Novels set in Ancient Roman era...

I like Anthony Riches 'Empire' Series, Simon Scarrow 'Eagle' series and the 'Masters of Rome Series by Colleen McCullough
Also check out the 'Boudica' and 'Rome' books by M. C. Scott.

Other suggestions?

http://www.conniggulden.com/books/se...emperor-series

I've read them all bar the last one (which I didn't know existed until 5 mins ago).. I also read the Eagle series and Emperor is IMO, much better..

The Romans for some reason tends to attract a lot of military-themed novelists.

I read most of the eagle series. It is pretty good as light holiday entertainment, ive also read parts of Emperor and Falco.

One of my favourite non-military ones is Roma by Steve Saylor. Its a dramatised version of the historical events from the founding of the city up to the rise of Augustus, and it includes a lot of episodes from early Roman history which are very rarely covered outside of Shakespeare plays and Livy, but in a much more accessible way. Definitely worth a read.

Originally Posted by Copperknickers II

One of my favourite non-military ones is Roma by Steve Saylor. Its a dramatised version of the historical events from the founding of the city up to the rise of Augustus, and it includes a lot of episodes from early Roman history which are very rarely covered outside of Shakespeare plays and Livy, but in a much more accessible way. Definitely worth a read.

This. I loved that book. Really liked the way it took all the Roman myths/stories (e.g. Romulus and Remus, etc.) and gave plausable stories out of them to explain them. Also covered loads of events that I know next to nothing about, so not just the usual Roman setting.

And as others have said, anything by Simon Scarrow or Conn Iggledon (possibly spelt wrong?) is worth a read.

Ben Kane is also a great author. Try his Spartacus and Hannibal series.

Robert Graves; 'I Claudius' and 'Claudius the God' have to be on any reading list.

Not in the Roman era, but before it, in the Hellenistic era there were the so-called 'Alexander-Romances', novels about Alexander the Great in one way or other. A very popular one seems to have been the (now lost) 'The Wonders beyond Thule' (Τα Υπερ Θούλης Άπιστα), which according to the Souida byzantine Encyclopedia of the 10th century was massive in size and very well-writen, and a fantasy story

Not strictly Roman - But Massimo Manfredi is another author you might like.

Alexander trilogy.
Tyrant
Spartan
The Tower (Roman)
The Ides of March (Roman)

Not the best author I've read but I maybe some things were lost in translation. Still, he knows his subjects and tells their tales largely from a position of historian/novelist.

There is also the Marcus Didius Falco books by Lindsey Davis. I never read them all but the first couple do a good job of melding the classic private detective story to Vespasian's rule in Rome.

I read the first one of the Vespasian series. Pretty good.. I prefer the Emperor series myself..

https://www.goodreads.com/series/58804-vespasian

I started reading Marching With Caesar which follows a legionary's life from birth until death, covering the rise of Caesar, the Gallic Campaign, the Civil War and the rise of Augustus. Does a good job of covering the nitty-gritty day-to-day stuff of a simple foot soldier rather than the more sweeping stories of Rome's famous men and so on. Apparently it's pretty legit accuracy-wise but coming from Steven Pressfield I found the prose to be a bit bland. I feel the same about the A Song of Ice and Fire series though but many people like that too.

Gods and Legions, The Last King, The Sword of Atilla, and The Fall of Rome by Michael Curtis Ford. All four books I recommend wholeheartedly.