The First Man in Rome

The Splendor Before the Dark

Margaret George · 528 pages

The Blood of Gods

Conn Iggulden · 432 pages

The Ringed Castle

Dorothy Dunnett · 521 pages

Crawford is rescued from Volos by the clever, beautiful and power-hungry Kiaya Khatun and they travel to Moscow, where he is to train the Tsar's army. Determined never to return to Scotland, he summons some of the mercenaries from the force he trained in Scotland and has to negotiate with a volatile and brutal Tsar, in an insular society held back from greatness by the extremes of its climate and

Empire: the Novel of Imperial Rome

Steven Saylor · 595 pages

Continuing the epic story begun in his "New York Times"-bestselling novel "Roma," Saylor charts the destinies of five more generations of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to the height of Rome's empire.

Empress of the Seven Hills

Kate Quinn

Augustus

John Williams · 305 pages

A compelling fictional portrait of Augustus Caesar follows the ancient Roman leader from his youth to his rise to power following the murder of his uncle, Julius Caesar, in the midst of fierce competition, intrigue, and political machinations, in a new edition of the National Book Award-winning novel.

Priestess of Avalon

Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana L. Paxson · 394 pages

Pride of Carthage

David Anthony Durham · 592 pages

An epic work of literary fiction about the superb military leader of Carthage, Hannibal Barca, and his struggle against the mighty Roman Republic.With a vast cast of characters and nationalities, twists of fate, and tales of inspired leadership, David Anthony Durham perfectly captures the legendary Hannibal's world in Pride of Carthage. Beginning in ancient Spain, where Hannibal's father had carv

The Sunne in Splendour

Sharon Kay Penman · 940 pages

Author Sharon Kay Penman believes that the history written by the winners has been unfair King Richard III. Her novel portrays the Richard in a sympathetic light, casting aside the dark, sinister portrait painted by Shakespeare. Her afterword sheds some light into her reasoning, and summarizes her research. The novel begins with Richard's boyhood and holds accounts of the Wars of the Roses, his br

Shōgun

James Clavell · 979 pages

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and free

Menewood

Nicola Griffith · 720 pages

Praetorian

Simon Scarrow · 353 pages

The thrilling Roman adventure from the author of THE LEGION and THE GLADIATOR. The city of Rome in AD 50 is a dangerous place. Treachery lurks on every corner, and a shadowy Republican movement, 'the Liberators', has spread its tentacles wide. It is feared that the heart of the latest plot lies in the ranks of the Praetorian Guard. Uncertain of whom he can trust, the Imperial Secretary Narcissus s

The Forgotten Kingdom

Signe Pike · 475 pages

The Singing Sword

Jack Whyte · 547 pages

A fictional portrait of King Arthur's great-grandfather, Publius Varius, and his wife, Luceiia, follows their desperate struggle to protect their land from the barbarian hordes threatening to overrun the last remnants of Roman civilization in Britain.

Dictator

Robert Harris · 385 pages

There was a time when Cicero held Caesar's life in the palm of his hand. But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero's life is in ruins. Exiled, separated from his wife and children, his possessions confiscated, his life constantly in danger, Cicero is tormented by the knowledge that he has sacrificed power for the sake of his principles. His comeback requires wit, skill and courage - and for

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy · 716 pages

War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families. The novel begins in the year 1805 during the reign of Tsar Alexander I and leads up to the 1812 French invasion of Russia by Napoleon. The era of Catherine the Great (1762–1796), when t

I, Claudius

Robert Graves · 454 pages

Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. Here he recounts his surprisingly successful reign: how he cultivates the loyalty of the army and the common people to repair the damage caused by Caligula; his relations with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain. But the growing paranoia of absolute power and the infide

Child of Flame

Kate Elliott · 928 pages

The Grace of Kings

Ken Liu · 640 pages

"Wily, charming Kuni Garu--a bandit--and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu--the son of a deposed duke--seem like polar opposites. Yet, in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, soaring battle kites, underwater boats, magical books, shapeshifting gods, and scaled whales who se

The Way of Kings

Brandon Sanderson · 1,008 pages

I long for the days before the Last Desolation. Before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against us. When there was still magic in Roshar and honor in the hearts of men. In the end, not war but victory proved the greater test. Did our foes see that the harder they fought, the fiercer our resistance? Fire and hammer forge a sword; time and neglect rust it away. So we won the

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Lew Wallace · 551 pages

A bestseller since 1880...The classic saga of the Roman EmpireFrom a thrilling sea battle to its famous chariot race to the agony of the Crucifixion, this is the epic tale of a prince who became a slave and by a twist of fate and his own skill-won a chance at freedom.

Julian

Gore Vidal · 480 pages

Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was one of the brightest yet briefest lights in the history of the Roman Empire. A military genius on the level of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, a graceful and persuasive essayist, and a philosopher devoted to worshiping the gods of Hellenism, he became embroiled in a fierce intellectual war with Christianity that provoked his murder a

A Pillar of Iron

Taylor Caldwell · 580 pages

“The sweep and splendor of the Roman past blazes anew in this mighty story of Cicero and the Republic he fought to save.” “Unfolded here in rich detail are the private dramas behind the great Roman hero's triumphs and defeats—and the intimate, deeply moving story of his desperate love affair with the beautiful Livia.”

An Echo in the Bone

Diana Gabaldon · 834 pages

Diana Gabaldon's brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Now, in An Echo in the Bone, the enormously anticipated seventh volume, Gabaldon continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant reb