Ancient Historical Fiction

AD 936. The great warrior, Einar Unnsson, wants revenge. His mother's assassin has stolen her severed head and Einar is hungry for his blood. Only one thing holds him back. He is a newly sworn in Wolf Coat, and must accompany them on their latest quest. The Wolf Coats are a band of fearsome bloodthirsty warriors, who roam the seas, killing any enemies who get in their way. Now they're determined to destroy their mortal enemy, King Eirik, who has captured the throne of Norway. Yet, for Einar, the urge to return to Iceland is growing every day.

Sixteen-year-old Hal Stevens is a budding historical scholar from a small town in Colorado. A virtual outcast at high school, he has only two friends: Roberto the Biker Witch and Cleo Mallawi. Cleo claims to be the reincarnation of Queen Cleopatra. But when Hal and Roberto find Cleo murdered in the forest near her home, it appears she may have been telling the truth. Her last request sends them journeying to Egypt, where it quickly becomes clear that Cleo has set them on the search of a lifetime: the search for the lost graves of Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

King Solomon was wealthy and wise beyond measure. He could - and did - have anything he wanted, including many women from many lands. But for all his wisdom, did he or the women in his life ever find what they searched for all of their lives? In this engrossing novel, you'll find yourself whisked away to ancient Israel, where you'll meet Solomon and four of the women he loved: Naamah the desert princess, Abishag the shepherdess, Siti, the daughter of a pharaoh, and Nicaula, the queen of Sheba. Did Solomon's wisdom ultimately benefit him and those he loved...or did it betray them?

After years of fighting on the battlefield, Sertorius returns to the city and family he fought for, to find them far different than he remembered. Rome, 100 B.C. The northern menace has been annihilated. Rome has no more foes to conquer, her borders are secure. But the Republic has never been closer to collapsing. At the height of his power and with the love of the people, Marius is a few political connections away from ruling the Republic. Will the august body of the Senate be enough to stop him?

The Persian epic that inspired Eric Clapton's unforgettable love song "Layla" and that Lord Byron called "the Romeo and Juliet of the East," in a masterly new translation The iconic love story of the Middle East, by a twelfth-century Persian poet who has been compared to Shakespeare for his...

In the hard, unforgiving land at the northernmost point of the Roman Empire lies a great wall. Once, the edge had been but a thing of thoughts and dreams, but one day the great Emperor from across the water had grown tired of such borders. So, a wall was raised from the earth at his command. From afar, it looked invincible. Yet every wall has its weaknesses—if one looks close enough. In its shadow gather five thousand fearsome soldiers. Men bred to fight and kill. The Sarmatians have suffered capture and defeat, but under a new command they are prepared to fight again.

Thirty thousand years ago, ice was storming the planet. Among the species forced out of the trees and onto the steppes by the advancing cold was modern man, who was both predator and prey. No stranger to the experiences that make us human - a mother's love and a father's betrayal, tribal war and increasing famine, political intrigue and forbidden love, joy and hope and devastating loss - our ancestors competed for scant resources in a brutal landscape.

Before gods had names and temples had walls, the sacred flowed freely among people... Goddess of the Indus brings alive a forgotten world and the moment it began to disappear. Before the rise of patriarchal faiths and priestly power, there was a time when the sacred was woven into daily life... when nature, earth, and the feminine were sacred. Set in the land of the Indus 3,200 years ago, Goddess of the Indus brings to life an ancient world at the crossroads of spiritual awakening, social change, and the birth of religion.

Born in the Greek city of Miletus, Aspasia was destined for a life of tragedy. Her wealthy father vowed to abandon any female child, so Aspasia was secreted away, educated independently of her family, and raised as a courtesan. She discovered at an early age how to use her powers of intellect as ingeniously as those of the flesh. Ensconced in the Persian harems of Al Taliph, she meets the man who will change her fate: Pericles, the formidable political leader, statesman, ruler of Athens, and Aspasia’s most cherished lover.

A young Aztec girl tells her little brother how their parents create beautiful painted manuscripts, or codices. She explains to him how paper is made from local plants and how the long paper is folded into a book. Her parents and others paint the codices to tell the story of their people’s way of life. Inspired by the pre-Columbian codices, this story tells how the Aztec and their neighbors in the Valley of Mexico painted books and records long before Columbus arrived, and continued doing so among their Nahua-speaking descendants for generations after.

Quintus Furius Varus is one of the best lanistas in Rome. Tall and strong in build, fearsome in manner, and sharp of wit, he trains the best gladiators bound for the arenas of Rome. When Senator Servius Augendus seeks personal guards, he attends the Ludus Varus for purchase of the very best. He puts to Quintus an offer he cannot refuse, and Quintus finds himself in Neapolis, contracted as a trainer of guards instead of gladiators. Kaeso Agorix was taken from his homelands of Iberia and delivered to Rome as a slave.

The tide of soldiers washed over the Legion shields. Buried, the ranks of Legionaries sagged. "Push!" the Legion NCO yelled. Welcome to 264 B.C. Over the grunts and cries of men struggling against the mass of bodies pressing down on them, the Optio bellowed again, "Push!" And the Legion shields rose, rolling back the tide. The higher the shields, the more soldiers slid off, and the straighter the Legionaries stood. One shield tilted back, and a mercenary soldier tumbled behind the ranks. An infantryman stepped back and drove his blade between the soldier's ribs.

Han Li thinks he is the smartest poet and most talented painter in China. His master, Lin Cho, tries to warn him about his arrogance, but Han Li does not listen. When Lin Cho becomes ill before he can finish his painting for the emperor, what will Han Li do?

Tungar is a smart, but proud and vain boy. He dreams of being a general for the warrior king Asoka. Will the king want Tungar by his side? Or is he looking for a different sort of warrior?

Zhou never seems to beat his brother, Cheng, at anything. But when Zhou finds a jade dragon, his luck changes. Soon, Zhou is beating Cheng at everything. Will Zhou and his jade dragon be able to keep up the winning streak, or will he lose his luck?

Along the 13th century Anglo-Scottish border, life is complicated. Enemies one day, allies the next. Scottish clan chiefs and English earls securing their homes and families amidst thievery and chaos. Pawns of kings with bigger games to play, leaving the border lords and ladies to fend for themselves. The men of the Border Series wield swords and lead armies. They are alpha males who have no idea they are about to be brought to heel by ladies who refuse to choose between duty and love. These women want it all, and they aim to have it.

Nach seinen Siegen über Mithridates und Spartacus gilt Caesar als der mächtigste Mann im römischen Reich. Nun beginnt der junge Heerführer von ruhmreichen Eroberungsfeldzügen zu träumen – Gallien soll dabei nicht mehr als eine erste Etappe sein. Doch leider hat Caesar nicht mit dem Widerstand und der Gerissenheit des Gallierkönigs Vercingetorix gerechnet. Und dann erreicht ihn auch noch eine erschreckende Nachricht aus Rom: Sein Widersacher Pompeius hat die Tyrannei ausgerufen. Wenn Caesar die Macht wieder an sich reißen will, muss er gegen eines der ältesten Gesetze Roms verstoßen.

Konsul Marius wird brutal ermordet, und Sullas fanatische Anhänger schreien nach Caesars Blut! Nur eine schnelle Flucht aus Rom kann das Leben des jungen Mannes jetzt noch retten. Doch bald schon verwandelt sich der einsame Flüchtling in einen strahlenden Triumphator: Nach beeindruckenden Siegen über die grausamen Seeräuber des Mittelmeers und den mächtigen Griechenkönig Mithridates kehrt Caesar schließlich in die Stadt zurück – an der Spitze einer ganzen Legion von kampferprobten Veteranen.

Two works by the Roman historian, Tacitus. Agricola is a portrait of Julius Agricola, a governor of Roman Britain, and the first surviving account of the geography, climate, and peoples of Britain. The German tribes of Northern Europe are discussed in Germania.

Beric, a dashing young British chieftain, must fight for liberty from the forests of his homeland, where he defies the legendary Roman legions, to the Roman Colosseum, where he must employ gladiatorial skills to defend a persecuted Christian girl. G.A. Henty provides fascinating details of life in a Roman villa, in the imperial palace, and in the villages of the tribal Britons; and accurately shows the strengths that allowed the Romans to conquer their empire and the weaknesses that would end it. Set in A.D. 62.