Novels set in roman era

[Rodion Romanovich]

Does anyone know good historical (and historically correct) novels set in the roman era 500 BC to 400 AD? If so, what do you think made them good? Also, what roman era novels that you haven't seen would you like to see, and why?

I've personally not found any good roman era novels, in fact I haven't found any novels set in the roman era at all (but admittedly, I haven't looked that much). What I'd like to see is a book about Lucius Junius Brutus and his fighting Tarquinius, or a book about a mad/half-mad emperor like Nero, Caligula or Heliogabalus. I think both those book ideas would contain both an interesting story and nice character studies, if written historically accurate (lots of interesting real-life events to use as starting point).

I think that writing a good novel set in this period is really hard though. There's not an as well-defined atmosphere as in Medieval and later periods, and even if you plot in historical events correctly, use correct character names and give them the professions they had in reality, and let the army fight realistically, you still don't have a well-defined overall atmosphere to use as starting point for your novel. It's also difficult because the average reader knows even less than an author that has made research, so it's not like the Medieval period where you can always insert castles, knights, chivalry and religious rituals and phrases to create the atmosphere. How would you create a similar atmosphere for the romans? The typical Medieval atmosphere is in many ways full of smaller misconceptions and seems to be based on contemporary tales and songs in many cases. Would it be possible to derive some sort of good basic atmosphere for a novel set in the roman period by starting from something made by contemporary writers, and if so, which books should be used?

[Kraxis]

Simon Scarrow's Eagle series is good. I have only read one, but it certainly worth it.

Sure he does make it a little too easy for the Roman legionaries at times, but you feel that they can do it. So while it might be too much he does it good so it is believeable.

The one I have has our two heroes, one young and one old centurion training a bunch of 'friendly' Britons to safeguard the loyal Briton kingdom by the southern coas against unfriendly Britons. The time is during the Claudian invasion (just after it actually as the fighting is moving northwards).

He is extremely good at presenting the fighting, Romans hunker down behind shields and generally stab, javelins are dangerous (to life and shields) and chariots are frightening.
Even social considerations are taken in (the locally trained troops win a skirmish and one soldier parades a head taken, then the mother of the head sees it ect ect).

[Geoffrey S]

An obvious one is I, Claudius by Robert Graves; definitely one to read if you want characters like Caligula. Also I'd advise Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar, a fantastic read which grants a lot of insight into the mind of possibly the best of the Roman emperors. It covers his views on major events, other people (such as Trajan or Antinous among others), and describes the place of philosophy and religion in Rome at that time in an intriguing manner. A personal favourite.

It's out of your timeframe, but I also enjoyed Count Belisarius by Robert Graves. It's about the Eastern Roman empire though.

[caesar44]

Caesar : A Novel , by Colleen McCullough
Centurion : A Novel of Ancient Rome , by Peter W. Mitsopoulos
Legion : by William Altimari
The Eagle and the Wolves : by Simon Scarrow
The Sword of Attila : A Novel of the Last Years of Rome , by Michael Curtis Ford

There is more .

[King Henry V]

The Emperor series by Conn Igulden are some good books, but he does take some liberties with history. The Eagle novels are also good.

[Aurelian]

I'll add: "Julian" by Gore Vidal (about Julian the Apostate, who tried to re-paganize the empire), and...

"The Antagonists" by Ernest K. Gann. "The Antagonists" was about the Roman siege of Masada, and dramatizes the story from the point of view of the opposing commanders. The book was turned into a TV mini-series called "Masada" in 1980. As a result, the book was re-released with the title "Masada" at about the same time. Very good book and series. The original running time was 6 hours and 34 minutes, but a shorter 2 hour version was also released later on video.

Apparently, there was a 1986 sequel to (the novel) "The Antagonists" called "The Triumph", with the Roman commander Flavius Silva "returning home disgraced, but with a still powerful army."

Here's the NYT review:

This absorbing sequel to The Antagonists, on which the television mini-series Masada was based, picks up the story of the Roman general Flavius Silva the morning after his Pyrrhic victory over the Jews, who chose to commit mass suicide rather than submit to Roman domination. ... Ernest K Gann writes with the forward-march precision of a Roman orator and the psychological insight of an ancient Greek dramatist. Especially masterful are his portraits of the gruff, rough-and-ready Vespasian and the wily Jewish historian Josephus. Best of all, he gives us a fresh, realistic look at the love affair between Titus and his Jewish mistress Berenice, a story that flowered in the French neoclassical drama of Corneille and Racine. This is a historical novel in the grand manner, unmarred by lapses into soap opera or sweet-savage formats. — New York Times

I just discovered "The Triumph" as I was writing this post, so I'll be looking for it myself! ~D

I'd also like to second Robert Graves' "I, Claudius", "Claudius the God", and "Belisarius". "Memoirs of Hadrian" was also interesting.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Cool, those novels seem very interesting indeed ~:)

[Seamus Fermanagh]

As noted above:

Graves' "I Claudius" and "Claudius the God." Both are fictionalized, but capture the nuance and feel of upper class life in the Julian Dynasty.

McCullough's Rome Series: "1st Man in Rome," "The Grass Crown," "Fortune's Favorites," "Caesar's Women," "The October Horse." Brilliant fictionalization of the dissolution of the Republic; very historically grounded with deviations from history carefully noted in the author's notes.

...Of course, some Monasterians would argue that Livy is fictionalized too...~;)

Seamus

[Randal]

What I'd like to see is a book about Lucius Junius Brutus and his fighting Tarquinius, or a book about a mad/half-mad emperor like Nero, Caligula or Heliogabalus. I think both those book ideas would contain both an interesting story and nice character studies, if written historically accurate (lots of interesting real-life events to use as starting point).

A fun book about Heliogabalus is Family Favourites by Alfred Duggan. As far as I can tell, it's historically accurate although the narrator is fictional. Lots of fun stuff about a Syrian sun priest turned emperor by bored Praetorians.

It's kinda hard to find nowadays, though.

[Idomeneas]

Eagle in the snow by Wallace Breem is a good read though i found it alittle overpraised. Its set during the period before the Rome collapse and tells the story of an old general who struggles to organise, in a totally corrupt-decayed society, an effective defense of the nothern borders against all odds. He is one of the few pagans left and believer of the old ways in general.

Another book of the period is Boudica by Manta Scot. Well its ok i guess but i caught myself bored here and there.

Stay away from Macimo Manfrenti's Last legion. My god does this guy wants so desperatelly to have a movie out of his books?

Generally i like books with strong characters that are properly elaborated so you can feel them close, care for them. For example Guy Gavriel Kay is a writer that really amazes me with the way he presents his characters even if he is a fantasy author. Every character has a background that justifies every action he takes. In that way you even care for the ''bad guys''