Ancient Historical Fiction

Hannibal was a great and skillful general who defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome.

When Pheodora's husband is unexpectedly thrown into debtors' prison, she is shocked to learn that a loan from her generous sister would jeopardize her brother-in-law's religious aspirations. Forced to pin her hopes on two she-goats whose spotless white offspring could be sold for an upcoming Yom Kippur sacrifice, Pheodora must struggle to keep the animals - and her family - alive.

In the year A.D. 9, three Roman Legions under Quintilius Varus were betrayed by the Germanic war chief, Arminius, and destroyed in the forest known as Teutoburger Wald. Six years later Rome is finally ready to unleash her vengeance on the barbarians. The Emperor Tiberius has sent his adopted son, Germanicus Caesar, into Germania with an army of forty-thousand legionaries. The come not on a mission of conquest, but one of annihilation. With them is a young legionary named Artorius.

Before the age of gods and men, the most ancient of the immortals, Nyx, pulled herself into creation. Her power encapsulated the night and all its secrets, where nothing goes unseen. Once respected for the balance and duality that she brought to the world, and the haven she created in Tartarus, the rise of the gods has brought the goddess of night’s influence into question.

AD 1139 - When her husband perishes in a skirmish, the Lady Cantia du Bexley Penden is distraught. Her husband was assisting the mighty Viscount Winterton in the battle for the throne between Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois, caught, like most men, in a vicious struggle for the rightful ruler of England.

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.

It has been three years since the wars against Arminius and the Cherusci. Gaius Silius, legate of the 20th Legion, is concerned that the barbarians - though shattered by the war - may be stirring once again. He also seeks to confirm the rumors regarding Arminius' death. What Silius does not realize is that there is a new threat to the empire, but it does not come from beyond the frontier; it is coming from within, where a disenchanted nobleman looks to sow the seeds of rebellion in Gaul.

Titus Pullus, the hero of the 10th Legion and the Marching With Caesar series, tells his story from the very beginning of his life, starting with his relationship with his father, how his friendship with Vibius Domitius began, and how their burning ambition to join the Legions was helped by a veteran nicknamed Cyclops. Enlisting in the 10th Legion, raised in 61 B.C. by Gaius Julius Caesar, Birth of the 10th Legion recounts the first campaign ever conducted by Julius Caesar as a commander...

In this third story, Peri has become the de facto leader of the Cold Springs tribe, though he still resists the mantle. The tale follows his invention of such things as the spear-thrower, chimney, and the beginnings of agriculture - things that will markedly improve the lives of his fellow humans. He and Gia mate, and, in hopes of finding more lost members of Gia’s former tribe, set out to travel the great river to the sea. Despite the awe his ideas engender in those around him, he remains humble and commits himself to helping those in need - even the ones he doesn’t like.

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.

Kaspian is tended by a woman who offers him her breasts as way of sustaining his life. At first, he looks at the situation as a necessity, but he soon comes to crave it. He struggles to keep his feelings from the widowed woman, but it becomes increasingly difficult. For a man who has known little compassion or kindness in his life, Madelayne comes to represent everything he has been missing. She soon becomes to represent everything he wants, and he wants her.

The Roman war machine is on the move But behind the Centurions and Legionaries, a vast support network grinds into motion mobilising a new legion towards a hostile river border, its human cogs turning across Roman society: from downtrodden bath slaves, to legionary blacksmiths trying to get through the day, from unscrupulous traders who supply food and materials to corrupt politicians with their own cynical motives. Danube Legion is the darkly amusing story of what happens behind the scenes – the chaotic, the venal, the incompetent and the corrupt.

Trouble has a way of seeking out Nicolas Calva, and it's not likely to leave him alone anytime soon. With Caesar's magic bulla, the Malice of Mars, and the possibility of a Jupiter Stone in play, all the powers of Rome are circling Nic. He'll have to maneuver his way through scheming government officials and reawakened magical beasts to save the Empire.

Octa, the son of a mighty Saxon warlord, stands in the shield wall for the first time, eager to make a name for himself. But instead of the promised battle glory, fear overpowers him and he flees the battle, causing the death of his cousin and bringing shame to his family. Disowned by his father, and hunted by his own people, Octa is spurred on by his mother’s vision for his future, a promise of greatness to come. A chance encounter with a wiry traveller offers Octa a chance of redemption with a quest to retrieve a sacred weapon.

It’s the season of Fallow, the first century AD. In a misty northern bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields, lies a settlement far beyond the reach of the Roman invaders, who are still hundreds of miles to the southeast. Here, life is simple, or so it seems to the tightly knit community. Sow. Reap. Honour Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest time.

While recovering at his uncle's estate from wounds sustained in the Sudan, Jack Cameron - a loyal Scottish captain in the British army - is haunted by the words of a dying officer: one of her majesty's Black Dragoons is aiding the slavers they were sent to suppress. But how will he uncover the traitor without sending the culprit to ground?

An unexpected betrayal forces Hasting to abandon his closest ally. With his heart turned black, he rekindles the savagery of his race. In sacking Nantes, his bravery and luck earn him a place in the skalds' songs. Word of his deeds reach his kin in the North, and more and more sea captains sail to Francia to join him, hoping his luck might help theirs.

Four novella-length stories written to illuminate Lindsey Davis's unparalleled output of the last 30 years, with an introduction written and narrated by the author.

Rome - 97 BC. Quintus Sertorius is now serving as a legate in Greece. It's supposed to be a peacetime mission, but quickly Sertorius discovers there is more happening beneath the peaceful veneer of democracy's birthplace. Roman citizens are disappearing. Whispers are spreading that there is a force operating in the shadows bent on Rome's destruction.

Rome, 58 AD. The dinner party didn’t turn out the way Aemilius Valerius expected. He didn’t expect a place at the main table. He didn’t expect to drink that much. He didn’t expect to hook up with one of the scarier dancers. And he most certainly didn’t expect to trip over the bloody corpse of his host on the floor of the informal dining room. One man’s grisly murder is another man’s opportunity. Valerius teams up with the investigator, a plebeian with a chip on his shoulder, to discover the killer.