Ancient Historical Fiction

The Peloponnesian War drags on and on with no end in sight, and the tough-minded Lysistrata has had enough. Men! - always making stupid decisions that affect everyone. Women's opinions are never listened to. Taking matters into her own hands, Lysistrata convenes a meeting of women from warring city-states across Greece and calls for a sex strike. It's a hard sell, but in the end, it is agreed: They will withhold sex until the war is brought to hasty a close.

After more than a decade of tumult, Roman warrior Rex and his beloved wife, Flavia, are thankful to the God they serve for the peaceful life they are living in the city of Alexandria. But with the empire in flux, such tranquility cannot last. When Rex is called away to serve Constantine in his fight against Licinius, Flavia’s loneliness and longing for a baby lead her down the road of temptation. Perhaps one of Egypt’s gods will grant her conception?

From USA Today Bestselling Author, Uvi Poznansky, comes a captivating historical fiction novel with a modern twist: Here is the story of David as you have never heard it before: from the king himself, telling the unofficial version, the one he never allowed his court scribes to recount. Rooted in ancient lore, his is a surprisingly modern memoir. Notorious for his contradictions, David is seen by others as a gifted court entertainer, a successful captain in Saul’s army, a cunning fugitive, a traitor leading a gang of felons, and a ruthless raider of neighboring towns who leaves no ...

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.

A hanged man, an estranged son, an angry business partner and a scramble for the dead man's estate. A brutal attack on a rich slave-trader triggers a chain of events leading to his apparent suicide at the Festival of Liber. As the dead man's wife, son and business partner all claim ownership of his estate Secundus is thrown once more into an investigation he doesn't want to undertake. As the clues begin to unravel Scavolo takes over the case and Secundus finds himself reassigned to a probe into corruption at a sister temple. Angry at Scavolo for his interference and convinced there is more ...

His family farm and the surrounding community now emptied by war, young Hani embarks on an epic quest–assisted by a brooding yet brilliant donkey–to find his lost sister in the ruins of Troy. Some war stories transcend time and circumstance, and so it is with the resourceful and heartbroken Hani, who must employ every bit of intelligence, every scrap of ingenuity, and ultimately every ounce of his spirit and humor to withstand the forces of civilization’s collapse.

This anthology contains five short stories previously published in READING for Christian Schools Grade 6 (Bob Jones University Press 1988), updated for a new generation of readers, with plenty of new illustrations. Black and White interior and a full-cover cover. “Val is For Valiant” - An ordinary boy has an extraordinary dream that changes his life. “The Monument” - A game of tag turns into a journey of discovery and danger “Brethren Nisei” - A white American boy watches his Japanese friends undergo persecution during the war “Antarctica” - Two brothers help their uncle ...

On the isle of Ithaca, queen Penelope maintains a delicate balance of power. Many years ago, her husband Odysseus sailed to war with Troy and never came home. In his absence, Penelope uses all her cunning to keep the peace—a peace that is shattered by the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra. Orestes' hands are stained with his mother's blood. Not so long ago, the son of Agamemnon took Queen Clytemnestra's life on Ithaca's sands. Now, wracked with guilt, he is slowly losing his mind.

Jason and his Argonauts set sail to find the Golden Fleece. The journey is filled with danger, for him and everyone he meets. But if he ever reaches the distant land he seeks, he faces almost certain death. Medea—priestess, witch, and daughter of a brutal king—has the power to save the life of a stranger. Will she betray her family and her home, and what will she demand in return? Medea and Jason seize their one chance of a life together, as the gods intend. But their love is steeped in vengeance from the beginning, and no one—not even those closest to them—will be safe.

When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother Zeus overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed. While Zeus ascends, Hera is relegated to the role of wife and mother, a role she never wanted. She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?

Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro, hardened veterans of the Roman army, have faced the empire's enemies from Britannia to Parthia, from Hispania to Judea. Now once again they are on a mission that will imperil their lives and those of all who serve with them. Loyal to the last to their comrades in battle, fearless in the face of the most brutal or barbaric opponents, they are the finest men the emperor can call on in the service of Rome.

What History Forgets, Legend and Folklore Remember. An Enchanting Sumptuous Short Story inspired by Japanese and Shoshone Folklore. At the western edge of Japan's Shimane Peninsula lies Izumo, a place steeped in mystical legend. Here, nestled along the serene shoreline, one is welcomed by enchanting landscapes of sandy beaches and towering headlands reaching out into the vast sea, where breathtaking views of the sun setting await. Hidden deep within the soaring mountain sanctuaries, the Oni wields a mystical club glowing with amethyst hues, symbolizing his formidable control over thunder ...

“Can I save my daughter . . . and them?” Time traveler Tom Cook has settled into his prehistoric life among the Neanderthals, but it’s not without its challenges that include a burning desire to see his future-dwelling daughter, Pook, again. When a growing threat from hostile neighbors turns into an attack, an old contact from another world comes to the rescue and leads both Tom and his Neanderthal wife, Brassy, back to that future through an increasingly unstable time portal. Now, after traveling to and from two different worlds, Tom must find a way to defeat his enemies in both, ...

Una expedición de paleontólogos y científicos descubre una isla sin cartografiar en mitad del Atlántico con restos de una civilización muy antigua. En ella hay una cueva y en el centro de esta una inmensa columna con unas inscripciones en una lengua ya perdida. Cuando el grupo que entra en la cueva regresa a sus respectivos hogares comienzan a tener visiones de una grotesca presencia. Uno de los paleontólogos mata a su familia y reproduce en la pared de su salón las extrañas escrituras de la cueva antes de suicidarse.

Veinte años tardará Ulises, el rey de Ítaca, en volver a su patria. Luego de luchar en la guerra de Troya por diez años, siendo uno de los héroes, Ulises emprende el regreso a su tierra natal. Pero una ofensa al dios Poseidón lo alejará de su camino por otros diez años, siendo condenado a navegar sin rumbo y a vivir las más extrañas aventuras y vicisitudes en el camino. Así, en su retorno a Ítaca, Ulises desafiará monstruos y tempestades, se enfrentará a encantamientos y a las seductoras sirenas, sobreponiéndose al designio de los dioses, en su intento por volver a su hogar.

Fame is never what it seems. Deception, lies and death follow in her footsteps. War thrusts Secundus into the public eye - a fame that he does not want. And then when the famous Gaius Scavolo is implicated in a scam at the Temple of Jupiter it soon becomes clear that someone is plotting against the Merenda family. Loose lips lead to death as gossip and scandal follow our hero and an old flame comes to his door. With his ever-increasing role within the politics of the City, Secundus must make a choice - the life of a priest or to disappear into obscurity. And whilst he dithers and waits to ...

An ancient prophecy, a terrifying threat, a dangerous secret about to unleash its fury. When a terrorist explosion in the Great Pyramid of Giza, kills a group of tourists during a late-night ceremony, the sole survivor, Isa Floris, a photographer, stumbles upon a thirty-year-old plot to control the greatest prize of all -- the power of the human mind. From Cairo to Paris and London, across the mountains of Colorado to the dusty playa of the Black Rock Desert, hunter and hunted, Isa races through the nether worlds of deep black ops and ancient power in a desperate bid to prevent the ...

The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army.

Life is short and cheap in Nero’s arenas. A single stab can annihilate humanity. Rome, 54 AD: Rawena overcomes a lion with just a spear and a dagger, making the emperor believe she’s a sorceress. Cursed to unleash a plague when steel pierces her heart, the immortal Celtic woman fears that Nero’s desire to learn her secrets will trigger a catastrophe. Her fight against destiny pulls Rawena into a whirlpool of dazzling perils. The rat-goddess who cursed her strives to drag her soul into a pestilential swamp. Her sister longs to destroy her. So does the man Rawena once loved. Then the ...