Ancient Historical Fiction

In this first of a series of four novels, the Jewish rebellion begins in a backdrop of secret tunnels and assassins, where the dreaded Sicarii can strike like lightning and blend back into the crowd just as quickly. Even trained Roman mercenaries are no match for them.

Rome, 58 AD. Aemilius Valerius is on the up and up. His reputation has been rehabilitated, he has established a fledgling career, and he has new friends in very powerful places. When one of those new friends, the poet Lucan, is attacked, Valerius is given an offer he can’t refuse: find the culprits before they strike again. But when every man in Lucan’s circle of poets and playwrights and artists is potentially a suspect, each one of them competing for the emperor’s favor, how is Valerius supposed to tell the difference between petty jealousy and murderous rage?

Alexandria, 47 BC. For three centuries, the House of Ptolemy has governed the Kingdom of Egypt. Cleopatra – seventh of her name – rules from Alexandria, that beacon of commerce and learning that stands between the burning sands of the desert and the dark waters of the Middle Sea. But her realm is beset by ethnic rivalries, aristocratic feuds and courtly intrigues. The world is watching the young Queen, waiting for a misstep. And now her most trusted servant – her Eye – has been murdered and a vast shipment of newly minted coin stolen.

King Aethelred II, who men will one day call The Unready, rules over a land divided by the shadowy spin of his mother Queen Ælfthryth and the sprawling power of the Church. The Viking Warlord, Olaf Tryggvason smelling the Kingdoms weakness brings the vicious Jomsvikings to the Saxon coastline ravenous for war and plunder.

A thousand years ago, the mighty Cahokian civilization dominated the North American continent. At the heart of the empire stood a vast city, teeming with tens of thousands of residents, traders, and travelers. The city of Cahokia sent settlers and priests throughout the continent, from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, carrying word of the power of their gods. People who wouldn't bow to that power were conquered or slaughtered. Power rested in one being, Morning Star, a god resurrected in the body of a living man.

In Roman times, the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World held a deep fascination. Two of them were in Egypt: the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Lighthouse at Alexandria. Marcus Didius Falco's wife Helena Justina is determined to see them before her next confinement. Conveniently, he has an uncle with a house in Alexandria. For this innocent reason (he says) they sail to Egypt. As soon as they arrive in Alexandria, a suspicious death occurs at the famous Great Library.

The Pinarii witness the machinations of Tiberius, the madness of Caligula, and the decadence of Nero. The deadly paranoia of Domitian gives way to the Golden Age of Trajan and Hadrian - but even the most enlightened emperors wield the power to destroy their subjects on a whim.Empire is filled with the dramatic, defining moments of the age, including the Great Fire of 64 A.D, Nero’s persecution of the Christians, and the astounding opening games of the Colosseum.

A loro insaputa, il destino delle due donne è legato a doppio filo, entrambe sono figlie dello stesso segreto che solo il liberto Satrico conosce. Elissa, promessa sposa di Amilcare Barca, un uomo che nemmeno ama, dovrà sopravvivere per non essere travolta dagli eventi innescati dal conflitto tra Roma e Cartagine. Nel frattempo, Atilia, promessa sposa di Vesta, dovrà districarsi tra gli intrighi di una Roma pericolosa e le mire ambiziose dei Cornelii.

This is a re-imagining of the story of Elijah from the Bible...Elijah is a young prophet studying the Torah, when the soldiers of Queen Jezebel burn his school and massacre his teachers. He escapes, barely, but finds himself on the run and hunted....as Queen Jezebel attempts to stamp out the worship of the Hebrew God in Israel and replace it with the worship of Ba’al. As the queen’s soldiers close in on him, Elijah discovers a little known promise in the Scroll of Deuteronomy and prays for something impossible....

Veteran cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor sets out with his regiment to make what may be his final tour of the forts along Hadrian's Wall. Through a combination of military prowess, brutality and bribery, Marcus has spent 20 years keeping the savage Picts at bay. Feared by his enemies and hated by his superiors, his strength of will is the only thing that has held the disgruntled, poorly paid garrisons of the Wall in place as the failing Roman Empire's grip on Britannia weakened.

It begins to dawn on the nine-year-old Sambhaji that his father has fled from the clutches of the Mughal badshah Aurangzeb and left him behind. He must now find his way back home with the help of strangers....

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.

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.

Victory is in sight for Kivilaz and his Batavi army. The Roman army clings desperately to its remaining fortresses along the Rhine, its legions riven by dissent and mutiny, and once-loyal allies of Rome are beginning to imagine the unimaginable: freedom from the rulers who have dominated them since the time of Caesar. The four centurions - two Batavi and two Roman, men who were once comrades in arms - must find their destiny in a maze of loyalties and threats, as the blood tide of war ebbs and flows across Germania and Gaul.

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.

This is the saga of the Hittite King Suppiluliumas, and rings with authenticity and the passion of a world that existed 1400 years before the birth of Christ. They called him Great King, Favorite of the Storm God, the Valiant. He conquered more than forty nations and brought fear and war to the very doorstep of 18th Dynasty Egypt, but he could not conquer the one woman he truly loved.

Judea has always been the crossroads and battlefield of contending nations. It is no less so in this biblical time of the Judges. Uriah Tarhund's Hittite home is destroyed by invading Greeks. His dying father tells him to go south to seek a Canaanite named Sisera. When he saves a young boy from being sacrificed to Moloch, he is given succor for a time by the Hebrews. Later, he finds Sisera and joins him in war against these same people. When the Canaanites are defeated, the young Hittite has the opportunity to come to peace with himself, the Hebrew people, and their God.

An ancient highlander who’s never been allowed to love. A modern woman who keeps men at arm’s length. Can their passion overcome their pasts? Althea Jarden’s botanical fieldwork keeps her happily busy, but it has kept her from relationships as well - by design. But all the self-reliance in the world can’t prepare her for being taken to ancient Scotland and what she finds there.

Tuuli is a prehistoric girl, travelling with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the many hazards that the climate throws at them. Tuuli knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises that he might hold the adventure she is looking for. He is a Neanderthal, sent by his tribe to find safer ground and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will impact the rest of human history.

The imaginative talents of Caroline Lawrence (author of the Roman Mysteries series) and Laura Jenkinson Brown (illustrator of Greek Myth comics) combined with the expertise of Dr Sophie Hay, Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and Dr Olivia Elder, with just a dash of the CSCP magic that made the Cambridge Latin Course so well-loved, bring the ancient town of Pompeii to life in a truly unique way.