Ancient Roman Fiction

On the eve of Marcus Cicero's inauguration as consul of Rome, the grisly death of a boy sends ripples of fear through a city already wracked by civil unrest, crime, and debauchery of every kind. Felled by a hammer, his throat slit and his organs removed, the young slave appears to have been offered as a human sacrifice, forbidden as an abomination in the Roman Republic.

When Tiro, the confidential secretary (and slave) of a Roman senator, opens the door to a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he sets in motion a chain of events that will eventually propel his master into one of the most suspenseful courtroom dramas in history.

Rome 400 BCE. Greed, envy and broken trust. A prophecy of fame is spoken and the commander of the legions wants it for himself, whatever the cost. Driven by the constant march of the enemy the young Marcus Furius finds he is a natural leader of men as war rages and battles are hard-fought. With success comes jealousy and resentment. Hatred soon follows. Fighting to retain his dignity, to see Rome smash her foes and to become the man for whom the prophecy is spoken, Marcus Furius must learn to be a soldier and a statesman if he is ever to become Dictator of Rome. This is the first book in ...

Plato recorded the final days of his mentor, Socrates, who was tried and condemned in Athens in 399 B.C. on trumped-up charges of being a heretic and corrupter of the young. This collection comprises 4 books: Euthyphro, in which Socrates engages Euthyphro in a debate on the steps of the courthouse where he is to stand trial, The Apology, in which Socrates argues on his own behalf, Crito, in which Socrates's friends and supporters visit him in prison and urge him to recant.

Cassandra, a princess of Troy and follower of Apollo, is delighted when the god himself appears to her. Apollo asks to love her in exchange for giving her future sight, and she agrees—but recoils when he kisses her. Enraged, the god transforms his gift into a curse: Cassandra’s visions will never be believed.

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.

In this second book of the Camillus series Marcus is pitted against enemies old and new. Publius Postumius is the hero of the hour, sacking the city of Bolae with its incredible treasures. Sent with a relief force to support his old enemy Marcus falls foul of an assassination attempt before his credibility is tested by the scheming of his old commander and he must choose between friendship and duty. Back in Rome tensions are rising as Postumius’s schemes grow and his soldiers rage against their former Tribune as the plebeians and patricians come to bloody conflict. Marcus is given his ...

In the sacred grove of Julius Caesar, something deadly stirs in the undergrowth - a serial killer, who haunted the gardens for years, has claimed another victim - in Lindsey Davis' next historical mystery, The Grove of the Caesars. At the feet of her adoptive father, renowned private informer Marcus Didius Falco, Flavia Albia learned a number of important rules. First and foremost - always keep one's distance from the palace, nothing good comes from that direction. But right behind it - murder is the business of the Vigiles, best to leave them to it.

Un nuevo y extraño enemigo ha irrumpido desde las estepas y lo arrasa todo a su paso. Nadie sabe quiénes son, ni de dónde proceden. Es imposible encontrar información sobre ellos en los archivos imperiales; ningún historiador, ningún geógrafo los ha descrito antes. Son hábiles jinetes, menudos, de piernas arqueadas y extraños rasgos, implacables; son los hunos. Decenas de miles de godos, incapaces de resistir el empuje imparable de esos demonios, se ven obligados a dejar sus hogares y las tierras de sus antepasados.

Theft, murder, deception and the threat of war! Another day in Ancient Rome During the Festival of Consualia, a precious staff of office and the King's beloved racehorse are stolen. TO add to the confusion a Sabine guard is killed and the Roman soldier who was his counterpart goes missing. The situation becomes even more complicated when the family of our hero, Secundus, comes under suspicion, and he and his sidekick Graccus are banned from the investigation. Determined to prove their innocence and solve the crime, Secundus and Graccus set out to retrieve the stolen family heirloom and ...

Her heart becomes the deadliest weapon. Hiding from her past and wracked by remorse, Rawena dedicates her life to bringing bread to lepers outside the walls of Constantinople. She visits the colony every day, driving her cart through the city gates and past a dilapidated hilltop palace. Her carefully reconstructed life shatters when she finds that the palace has a new tenant: a deposed warrior king, left there to die. Just as she decides to help the unfortunate prisoner, Rawena realizes the king would do anything for revenge - even band with Rawena’s divine tormentor, Pandemia. Pandemia ...

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 ...

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 ...

After the Fall ratchets up the tension as time traveler Gigi Perrin and her husband, the Roman warrior Quintus Magnus, join forces with the Visigoth King Alaric to march on Rome. There waits Princess Galla Placidia, the admirable sister of the despicable Emperor Honorius. About to be forced into an arranged marriage by her brother, Placidia fears a bleak future, trapped in a loveless union. In an attempt to save Rome from barbarian invasion, Placidia puts aside her troubles and meets with Alaric’s delegation, which includes Gigi and Magnus, and the king’s second-in-command, the Visigoth...

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle delves into the question of what is best for mankind and humans as individuals. His conclusion is that happiness is the best possible human condition, though he is not referencing the emotion of happiness. Instead, Aristotle concludes that true happiness comes as a way of life in which the individual contributes to the good of his community, as well as his mind.

The book is one of the most influential ethical treatises of all time. Written in 350 BC, it identifies happiness as life's goal. How do we achieve this goal? Not through the satisfactions that come from pleasure, wealth, or fame. According to Aristotle, the true path to happiness lies in contemplation of philosophic truth. This is the only action through which humans can exercise their distinctively unique trait: the ability to reason.

Britannia - AD 60. When her husband dies, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, expects Rome to enter into a new power-sharing agreement with her people. However, when Rome reneges on the agreement and her daughters are raped by Roman soldiers, Boudicca raises an army to fight back against the occupation. The Britannic tribes rise up and join her in a campaign against their oppressors, and soon her enormous army is sweeping across Britannia in an unstoppable campaign of brutality.

With his compelling Centurions trilogy complete, Anthony Riches returns to his best-selling Empire sequence of novels with his storytelling skills polished to perfection. Set in the second century AD, The Scorpion's Strike continues the story of Marcus Aquila's fight for justice for a family ripped asunder by imperial assassins. Still seeking revenge, Marcus finds himself thrown back into the heart of the chaos that is shaking the Roman Empire to its roots.

THE FINAL BOOK IN THE DICTATOR OF ROME SERIES Revenge walks the streets. The Gauls are on the move again, sacking cities in the North of Italy as the Romans come under increasing pressure to defend their territories. Javenoli and Camillus clash in the Senate as the legacy of Capitolinus creates anger within the lower orders and laws are vetoed. A mysterious slave starts a campaign of hatred against the man he believes caused the death of his family and a race against time ensues to find this killer. The gods begin to play games with the lives of mortals as Nemesis, Jupiter and Mars look ...

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 ...