Ancient Rome Fiction

In the depths of the desert on the empire's Eastern Frontier, the Roman army lays siege to the city of Nicopolis. Estranged from his beloved Enica to keep her safe, centurion Flavius Ferox has secured his freedom after being framed once again. His next quest: to uncover traitors within the Roman ranks. As the siege builds, widespread corruption seethes and soldiers are murdered in cold blood. Meanwhile, Ferox's investigation brings him closer and closer to the imperial court, and uncovers connections to Hadrian himself...

Rome - The Rise and Fall is designed as a bitesize, concise but easy-to-listen retelling of what happened to one of the greatest empires in history. The Roman Empire began with a boy named Romulus and ended with a boy named Romulus. Between the years 753 BCE and 476 CE, this magnificent empire rose in might, but died in misery. This story is derived from the narrations of the ancient writers who themselves were eyewitnesses and it draws upon the myths that invigorated the Roman spirit.

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress' rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome's newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, but that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

Rome 174 AD. As the war continues in the north, Marcus Aurelius orders Gaius Maximus and Rufus Atticus to return to Rome. Enemies lurk in the shadows in the capital, spreading propaganda and sowing dissent. The praetorian guards must lure their enemies out - and defeat them. Yet Maximus is returning home for something, or rather someone, else: Aurelia. The soldier will be caught between his duty and his happiness. Rufus Atticus will also be forced to make a choice, between duty and family.

Cowardice in a legionary carries a heavy punishment: the sentence of decimation—to live or die at the whim of the gods with the unlucky ones clubbed to death by their fellow soldiers. Ursus, the man killed in Quintus's group, lays a heavy charge on the youth, asking him to look after the remaining men and to take care of his family back in Rome.

The only survivor of a brutal battle, driven by a desperate need to see his family again.... Rome, 107 BC. Quintus Sertorius fought while the enemy slaughtered 90,000 of his brethren in the city’s bloodiest defeat. Battling night terrors and survivor’s guilt, he vows to preserve his beloved Rome and embarks on a covert mission deep into enemy territory. Sertorius grows his beard and disguises himself in the garb of a Gaul, all the while his stomach churns with fear of discovery. But in order to gain vital information about the invaders, he must sink deeper into their ranks.

With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.

When Rome transgresses upon his father's domain that lays between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Pacorus, a prince of the Parthian Empire, is sent to exact revenge. After a string of victories, Pacorus and his men are captured in Cappadocia, clapped in chains, and sent to Italy to live out the rest of their days as slaves. But fate intervenes and Pacorus and his companions are saved from a living hell by a renegade gladiator named Spartacus. In gratitude, Pacorus agrees to help Spartacus build his army as Rome musters its legions to crush the slave uprising.

On a blistering day in the 26th year of Augustus Caesar's reign, a young chef, Thrasius, is acquired for the exorbitant price of 20,000 denarii. His purchaser is the infamous gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, wealthy beyond measure, obsessed with a taste for fine meals from exotic places and a singular ambition: to serve as culinary adviser to Caesar, an honor that will cement his legacy as Rome's leading epicure.

43 BC, Rome: As Gaius Octavius Thurinus—now known as Gaius Julius Caesar—crosses the Rubicon and marches on the Eternal City with eight legions at his back, the Roman Senate comes to their senses and agrees to make him consul. Not yet twenty years old, Octavius becomes the youngest consul in the history of the Roman Republic—but his ambitions won't stop there.

The decadence of Imperial Rome comes to life in S.P. Somtow's Literary Titan Award-winning novel about one of ancient history's wildest characters. The historian Suetonius tells us that the Emperor Nero emasculated and married his slave Sporus, the spitting image of murdered Empress Poppaea. But history has more tidbits about Sporus, who went from "puer delicatus" to Empress to one Emperor and concubine to another, and ended up being sentenced to play the Earth-Goddess in the arena. World Fantasy Award winner S.P. Somtow weaves a vivid adventure about one of the most colorful personalities ...

While her father is in hiding after attempts on his life, 12-year-old Cleopatra records in her diary how she fears for her own safety and hopes to survive to become queen of Egypt some day.

Elegant and ambitious, Cornelia embodies the essence of the perfect Roman wife. She lives to one day see her loyal husband as Emperor. Her sister Marcella is more aloof, content to witness history rather than make it. But when a bloody coup turns their world upside-down, both women must maneuver carefully just to stay alive.

When the daughter of a prominent Roman general meets a disinherited Jewish immigrant, neither one can dream of God's plan to transform them into the most influential couple of the early church. Nor can they anticipate the mountains that will threaten to bury them. Their courtship unwittingly shadowed by murder and betrayal, Priscilla and Aquila slowly work to build a community of believers, while their lives grow increasingly complicated thanks to a shaggy dog, a mysterious runaway, and a ruthless foe desperate for love.

Three men; three vows. One vows to destroy Rome, another to protect it. A third swears to crush them both. This is the saga of Scipio Africanus, one of history's greatest generals. ROME, 210 BCE. The Roman Republic is on the cusp of a second war with the Carthaginian empire. In the midst of this conflict, three men arise to change the course of western history: Cato the Elder, Hannibal the Great, and Scipio Africanus. Born into a wealthy military family, Publius Cornelius Scipio is a young scholar who dreams of teaching Rome's commoners. But Scipio has promised his father that he will ...

A city on the brink of disaster. A slave girl with a deadly secret.Disguised as a young man, Ariella escapes life as a Jewish slave in Rome, only to be sold into a traveling gladiator troupe. Waiting for her moment to gain fame and then freedom, she keeps her identity secret. But when she arrives to fight in Pompeii, a Roman politician-turned-winemaker shows too much curiosity, and Ariella must harden her heart against Cato’s interest. And then there’s Jeremiah, the aged barracks slave who whispers of a new sect of Jews called Christians, who offer a different way of life. All the while...

In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.

It is a world of power and privilege, secrets and sacred duty. It is the world of ancient Rome. And it is the esteemed Vestal Virgins - priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the home and hearth - who protect the Eternal Flame that protects the Eternal City. Dedicated to a 30-year vow of chaste service, Priestess Pomponia finds herself swept up in the intrigue, violence, wars, and bedroom politics of Rome’s elite - Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian and his maneuvering wife, Livia - all the while guarding the secret affection she has in her heart.

Rome, 609 AD. Empire is a fading memory. Repeatedly fought over and plundered, the City is falling into ruins. Filth and rubble block the streets. Killers prowl by night. Far off, in Constantinople, the Emperor has other concerns. The Church is the one institution left intact, and is now flexing its own imperial muscle. Enter Aelric of England: young and beautiful, sexually uninhibited, heroic, if ruthlessly violent He’s only here by accident. Without getting that girl pregnant, and the resulting near-miss from King Ethelbert’s gelding knife, he might never have left Kent. But here ...

Now the governor of Transalpine Gaul, Marcus Agrippa, is tasked with quelling a rebellion of the Aquitani tribes, led by the charismatic Brannus, who has sworn to eradicate every Roman from the province or die trying. But Agrippa's troubles are only just beginning, for things are not quite what they seem, with powerful forces working behind the scenes to ensure that he fails and never returns to Rome.