Recommendations based on "Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome"

New York Times BestsellerBernard Cornwell, the New York Times bestselling “reigning king of historical fiction” (USA Today), tackles his most thrilling, rich, and enthralling subject yet—the heroic tale of Agincourt. The epic battle immortalized by William Shakespeare in his classic Henry V is the background for this breathtaking tale of heroism, love, devotion, and duty from the legendary author of the Richard Sharpe novels and the Saxon Tales. This extraordinary adventure will captivate from page one, proving once again and most powerfully, as author Lee Child attests, that “nobody in the world does this stuff better than Cornwell.”

The third in the epic trilogy narrating the history of the Roman Empire from renowned historian Tom Holland[Bokinfo].

A brilliant and beautifully written novel in the tradition of Robert Graves' I, Claudius, Augustus is a sweeping narrative that brings vividly to life a compelling cast of historical figures through their letters, dispatches, and memoirs. A mere eighteen years of age when his uncle, Julius Caesar, is murdered, Octavius Caesar prematurely inherits rule of the Roman Republic. Surrounded by men who are jockeying for power-Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony-young Octavius must work against the powerful Roman political machinations to claim his destiny as first Roman emperor. Sprung from meticulous research and the pen of a true poet, Augustus tells the story of one man's dream to liberate a corrupt Rome from the fancy of the capriciously crooked and the wildly wealthy.

It is 1806 and Napoleon is master of an empire covering half of Europe. He subdues kings, conquers woman and defies the Pope himself over the Continental Blockade. In this dazzling mix of history and creativity, Max Gallo brilliantly recreates the most pivotal and turbulent years of the Little Corporal's reign, ending with his 500,000 strong army's march into Russia in 1812. Shifting between the battlefield and the bedroom, we follow every step of Napoleon's relentless pursuit of power.

Imperium - bk1712; Heyne Verlag; Robert Harris; Paperback; 2006

Alexander the Great, perhaps the most commanding leader in history, united his empire and his army by the titanic force of his will. His death at the age of thirty-two spelled the end of that unity.The story of Alexander’s conquest of the Persian empire is known to many readers, but the dramatic and consequential saga of the empire’s collapse remains virtually untold. It is a tale of loss that begins with the greatest loss of all, the death of the Macedonian king who had held the empire together.With his demise, it was as if the sun had disappeared from the solar system, as if planets and moons began to spin crazily in new directions, crashing into one another with unimaginable force.Alexander bequeathed his power, legend has it, “to the strongest,” leaving behind a mentally damaged half brother and a posthumously born son as his only heirs. In a strange compromise, both figures—Philip III and Alexander IV—were elevated to the kingship, quickly becoming prizes, pawns, fought over by a half-dozen Macedonian generals. Each successor could confer legitimacy on whichever general controlled him.At the book’s center is the monarch’s most vigorous defender; Alexander’s former Greek secretary, now transformed into a general himself. He was a man both fascinating and entertaining, a man full of tricks and connivances, like the enthroned ghost of Alexander that gives the book its title, and becomes the determining factor in the precarious fortunes of the royal family.James Romm, brilliant classicist and storyteller, tells the galvanizing saga of the men who followed Alexander and found themselves incapable of preserving his empire. The result was the undoing of a world, formerly united in a single empire, now ripped apart into a nightmare of warring nation-states struggling for domination, the template of our own times.

Between 58 and 50BC Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and twice invaded Britain. This is the record of his campaigns.Caesar's narrative offers insights into his military strategy & paints a fascinating picture of his encounters with the inhabitant of Gaul and Britain, as well as offering lively portraits of a number of key characters such as the rebel leaders and Gallic chieftains. This can also be read as a piece of political propaganda, as Caesar sets down his version of events for the Roman public, knowing that he faces civil war on his return to Rome.

"I haven't read historical fiction this good since I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves and PERSIAN BOY by Mary Renault--and this is a lot funnier."DETROIT FREE PRESSHe's Rome's favorite son, and of late, Emperor Vespasian's favorite palace spy, charged with finding the culprits who are plotting his imperial demise. In the meanwhile, Marcus Didius Falco has unfinished business with one citizen, Helen Justina, a high-born beauty he has given his heart to. And at these wages, his heart is all he can afford to render unto her--which causes its own problems.The second in Lindsey Davis' Ancient Rome detective series.

“May Steven Saylor’s Roman empire never fall. A modern master of historical fiction, Saylor convincingly transports us into the ancient world...enthralling!” —USA Today on Roma Continuing the saga begun in his New York Times bestselling novel Roma, Steven Saylor charts the destinies of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome’s empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the ancient world and of the emperors that ruled it—from the machinations of Tiberius and the madness of Caligula, to the decadence of Nero and the golden age of Trajan and Hadrian and more. Empire is filled with the dramatic, defining moments of the age, including the Great Fire, the persecution of the Christians, and the astounding opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novel’s heart are the choices and temptations faced by each generation of the Pinarii. Steven Saylor once again brings the ancient world to vivid life in a novel that tells the story of a city and a people that has endured in the world’s imagination like no other.

When Alexander the Great carved out his empire, Rome was just one of many city states on the Italian peninsula. Yet it conquered its neighbours one-by-one, defeated Carthage and eventually overwhelmed the Greek successor states too. As its republican institutions gave way to Imperial rule by Augustus and his heirs, the Roman Empire extended from the French Atlantic coast to Syria. Later conquests included Britain and much of modern Romania. How did Rome overcome opponent after opponent? What was the grand strategy of the Roman Empire? Adrian Goldsworthy reveals why Rome developed the most professional fighting force of the ancient world and what it was like to be a soldier in the legions.