Fantastic fiction set in ancient Rome
Explore the best fantastic fiction set in ancient Rome! Dive into a curated list of ancient books blending history, myth, and adventure for an unforgettable read.
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The Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
The splendor and pagan excesses of Roman society are confronted by the life-changing faith of Christianity in this historically accurate fiction work. Guaranteed fiction!
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I Am a Barbarian
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Britannicus, a tribal chief's son, is held as a slave by the Romans and has to face death numerous times in gladiatorial feats while he waits for revenge
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Island of Ghosts
by Gillian Bradshaw
Ariantes is a Sarmatian, a barbarian warrior-prince, uprooted from his home and customs and thrust into the honorless lands of the Romans. The victims of a wartime pact struck with the emperor Marcus Aurelius to ensure the future of Sarmatia, Ariantes and his troop of accomplished horsemen are sent to Hadrian's Wall. Unsurprisingly, the Sarmatians hate Britain--an Island of Ghosts, filled with pale faces, stone walls, and an uneasy past. Struggling to command his own people to defend a land they despise, Ariantes is accepted by all, but trusted by none. The Romans fear his barbarian background, and his own men fear his gradual Roman assimilation. When Ariantes uncovers a conspiracy sure to damage both his Roman benefactors and his beloved countrymen, as well as put him and the woman he loves in grave danger, he must make a difficult decision--one that will change his own life forever.
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The Beacon at Alexandria
by Gillian Bradshaw
In the Fourth Century A.D., independent and determined young Charis is forbidden to become a doctor because she is a woman. Disguising herself as a eunuch she flees Ephesus for Alexandria, then the center of learning. There she apprentices to a Jewish doctor but eventually becomes drawn into Church politics and is forced once again to flee. She serves as an army doctor at a Roman outpost in Thrace until, kidnapped by barbarian Visigoths, she finds her destiny to heal and also to be a woman and a wife.
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A.D. 62
by Rebecca East
A twenty-first century woman is stranded in first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment goes awry; she is sold to a wealthy family as a house slave. This provides her with an intimate, upstairs/downstairs perspective on household life in ancient times. At first she does menial work, but she improves her situation by telling stories and making prophecies. As her influence grows, she wins the love of her master and his daughter and provokes the vengeful jealousy of his wife. In this gentle fable about the power of stories to change people's lives, the heroine uses sources that include fairy tales and great works of literature to argue for women’s rights and the humanity of slaves, and to inspire herself and others to be resourceful, courageous and independent. Miranda's own life becomes as mythic as the stories she tells. In a narrative that is part adventure, part romance, and part fantasy, the heroine triumphs over adversity and makes a place for herself in the world of the past. Visit the companion web site at www.rebecca-east.com to see ancient works of art that inspired the descriptions of characters and settings.
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The Course of Honor
by Lindsey Davis
In a departure from her international bestselling Marcus Didius Falco mystery series, Davis creates an intriguing and suspenseful love story set during ancient Rome's most turbulent period.
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The Love-artist
by Jane Alison
A darkly brilliant first novel that imagines a missing chapter in the life of Ovid, the most popular author of his day. Between the known details of the poet's life and these enigmas, Alison has interpolated a haunting drama of passion and psychological manipulation.
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Song for a Dark Queen
by Rosemary Sutcliff
The life of Boadicea (Boudicca), queen of the Iceni, who led them and other British tribes in a valiant but futile revolt against the Romans in 62 A.D.
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The Key
by Benita Kane Jaro
The first volume of a dazzling trilogy, "The Key" shows a world on the verge of collapse through the eyes of its greatest and most passionate poet. Gaius Valerius Catullus, the boy from the provinces who became the lover of the most powerful and beautiful married woman in Rome, is dead at twenty-nine. His friend Marcus Caelius Rufus must search for the meaning of his life in the slums and bloody secret cults, the palaces and law courts of the tottering Roman Republic. Vivid, exciting, carefully researched and beautifully written, "The Key" has been a cult favorite in hardbound for years.
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The Ides of March
by Thornton Wilder
"The Ides of March, first published in 1948, is a brilliant epistolary novel set in Julius Caesar's Rome. Thornton Wilder called it "a fantasia on certain events and persons of the last days of the Roman republic." Through vividly imagined letters and documents, Wilder brings to life a dramatic period of world history and one of history's most magnetic, elusive personalities." "In this inventive narrative, the Caesar of history becomes Caesar the human being. Wilder also resurrects the controversial figures surrounding Caesar - Cleopatra, Catullus, Cicero, and others. All Rome comes crowding through these pages - the Rome of villas and slums, beautiful women and brawling youths, spies and assassins."--BOOK JACKET.
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Pompeii
by Robert Harris
This latest "New York Times" bestseller by the author of "Archangel" chronicles the suspenseful last days of the legendary ancient city nestled below the slopes of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. "[An] intelligent, engaging historical novel."--"The Washington Post Book World."