Fiction set in ancient Rome

Rome as a Kingdom

If you know of works set in the pre-Republican era, please expand this section.

• Founding Fathers (1959) by Alfred Duggan. Originally titled Children of the Wolf, this novel tells the story of King Romulus and the founding of Rome through the eyes of a variety of characters who come to the new city.
• Roma (2007) by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.^[1]
• The Seven Kings of Rome series: The Arms of Quirinus (2005), The Scent of Hyacinth (2005), The Warrior's Dance (2008) by Sherrie Seibert Goff

Early Republic (before 264 BC)

If you know of works set in the Early Republic, please expand this section.

• Roma, published March 6, 2007, by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.^[1]
• Viriato by João Aguiar (1st century BC, Viriathus)
• Numancia by José Luis Corral (1st century BC, Numantia)
• The Wedding Shroud, published September 2010 by Elisabeth Storrs. This book is set on the cusp of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, about a Roman girl married to an Etruscan man in the events leading up to the war between Rome and Veii. The great Roman general Marcus Furius Camillus is featured.
• The Etruscan by Mika Waltari. Part of the story is set on the first few years of the Republic.
• Traitors’ Legion (Ace G-532,1963) by Jay Scotland, a swashbucker about a disgraced legion, set in Hannibal’s time.

Middle Republic (264 BC - 133 BC)

If you know of works set in the Middle Republic, please expand this section.

• Roma, published March 6, 2007, by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's Republican history.^[1]
• Scipio: A Novel, published March 1998 by Ross Leckie (Scottish writer). This is the second book in a loose trilogy about the Second Punic War.
• Scipio trilogy by Santiago Posteguillo (the Punic Wars general Publius Cornelius Scipio)

1. Africanus, el hijo del cónsul
2. Las legiones malditas
3. La traición de Roma

• Of Merchants & Heroes, published 2008 by Paul Waters. Set at the end of the 3rd century BC, about the life of a fictional Roman called Marcus. In the novel Marcus becomes involved in the war against Philip V of Macedon, which was led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who later became Consul and is a major character in the story.
• "The Shield of Rome", published 2011 by William Kelso. 216 BC. The novel is set during "Rome's finest hour" after the battle of Cannae when Hannibal threatens the very existence of the Republic.
• "The Fortune of Carthage", published 2012 by William Kelso. 207 BC. The novel is set during the 2nd Punic War and covers Hasdrubal Barca's attempt to link up with the Carthaginian army of his brother Hannibal.

Late Republic (after 132 BC)

• "Alberix the Celt / Books 1 & 2 (2014-2015) by Albert Noyer, as Julius Caesar's territory is threatened, he invades Gaul. Attracted to Roman institutions, Alberix survives the war and is elected a magistrate. Covers the years 59 B.C. to 43 B.C.
• The Bow of Heaven (2011) by Andrew Levkoff, a novel of events leading up to the battle of Carrhae, and the triumvir responsible for one of the greatest defeats suffered by Republican Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus
• Young Caesar (1958) by Rex Warner
• Imperium and Lustrum (novel) by Robert Harris, the first two volumes of a trilogy of fictionalized biography told by his slave, later freedman, Tiro depicting Cicero's rise to the consulship in 63 BC and subsequent role in the final days of the Republic.
• A Pillar of Iron (1965) by Taylor Caldwell, a fictionalized biography of Cicero.
• Imperial Caesar (1960) also by Rex Warner
• The Ides of March (1948) by Thornton Wilder, culminating in Caesar's assassination.
• The Key (1988), The Door in the Wall (1994), The Lock (2002) by Benita Kane Jaro
• Catiline (2007) by Brandon Winningham
• Barbarians in the Republic: The Long Journey to Rome (2005) by Skarr One
• Caesar, Anthony by Allan Massie
• Freedom, farewell! by Phyllis Bentley.
• The Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor is set in the later years of the Republic and the beginning of the Augustan period.
• Roma, published March 6, 2007, by Steven Saylor. According to the author's website, the book covers part of Rome's early history.^[1]
• The Emperor Series (2003-2013), by Conn Iggulden, Julius Caesar's life
• Spartacus (1951) by Howard Fast about the historic slave revolt led by Spartacus around 71 BCE
• 10th Legion: Battle Born (2015) by Ben Soden the first book in a series based on a fictional group of Roman Legionary anti-heroes who join the 10th legion in Hispania culminating in the beginnings of the Helvetian campaigns.
• The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy (2005) by Michael Curtis Ford. The career of Mithridates VI (134-63 BC)
• The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. Beginning before the birth of Julius Caesar to after his death, it details the self-immolation of the Roman Republic.
• Spartacus by Howard Fast
• Spartacus by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
• Three's Company (1958) by Alfred Duggan. The career of Lepidus, triumvir with Octavian and Marcus Antonius after the death of Julius Caesar.
• Winter Quarters (1956) by Alfred Duggan. Two Gauls in the time of Julius Caesar, one of whom is under a curse from the Mother Goddess, whose worship he finds throughout the Roman world.
• The Conquered by Naomi Mitchison (1923). Gaul & the Gallic Wars 1st century BC
• Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invasion (1893) by G. A. Henty
• Imperial Caesar (1960) also by Rex Warner
• Marius' Mules (2009) by S.J.A. Turney. Fictionalised account of Caesar's Gallic Wars from the point of view of a fictional legate. Series ongoing at 10 books to 2017
• "Marching with Caesar Series" by R.W. Peake A mostly accurate fiction that takes place during the rise of Julius Caesar, with his first campaign in Gaul, onwards and beyond his life, from the perspective of a soldier as he rises through the ranks^[2]

Early/High Empire (27 BC to 192 AD)

• Hay luz en casa de Publio Fama by Juan Miñana (Barcino 60s AD)
• Someday Never Comes by Mk Kayem
• An Imaginary Life by David Malouf. A fictional account of the poet Ovid's exile from Rome.
• The Quest For the Lost Roman Legions by Tony Clunn, Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, with his account of his discovery of the battlefield
• Persona Non Grata, Terra Incognita, Medicus and Caveat Emptor, a series of mysteries featuring the "reluctant sleuth" Gaius Petreius Ruso by Ruth Downie, set around 120 AD.
• Three Legions series by Rosemary Sutcliff set in Roman Britain c. 130 AD. The three novels consist of The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), The Silver Branch (1957), and The Lantern Bearers (1959). The three were first collected in one volume as Three Legions in 1980.
• Empire published August 31, 2010, by Steven Saylor. The book follows two families through Rome's Imperial history, from the reign of Augustus to the reign of Hadrian. The sequel to Roma.

Middle Empire (193 AD to 293 AD)

• Family Favourites (1960), by Alfred Duggan; a tale of court life under the teenage emperor Elagabalus, as recounted by his personal bodyguard
• Warrior Of Rome series by historian Harry Sidebottom, takes place in the years 238 to 264, mostly from 256 to 264, six books so far published
• Iron And Rust also by historian Harry Sidebottom, takes place before the Warrior Of Rome series

Late Empire: West (293 AD to 457 AD)

• "The Saint's Day Deaths" by Albert Noyer, (2000) Set in ancient Mainz, A.D. 406: citizens are found murdered on their namesake's feast day and in the same grisly manner the saint was martyred. Who is doing this, why, and who will be next?
• "The Secundus Papyrus" by Albert Noyer, (2003) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 439: Terms of a "Last Will and Test-ament" of Christ will bring chaos to the Roman world. What did Christ leave and to whom; is it genuine; what happened to it?
• "The Cybelene Conspiracy" by Albert Noyer, (2005) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: Two products smuggled into Italy from China could change the course of western history. What are they and what happened to them?
• "Death at Pergamum" by Albert Noyer, (2013) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: a woman minister stages a bizarre Egypto-Christian resurrection on the 'Throne of Satan' to discredit a pagan physician at the Asklepion healing shrine.
• Unholy Sepulcher" by Albert Noyer, (2014) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. A.D. 440: A body found in Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher leads to Arcadia's abduction by a cult member, where a Bedouin warlord will sell her to the highest bidder.
• "The Kashat Deception" By Albert Noyer, (2015) A Getorius and Arcadia Mystery. Prologue. A.D. 1 / Story A.D. 441: A papyrus concealed in a Kushite prince's mummy reveals a youthful Jesus raised in an Egyptian tradition of diviners and healers. If genuine, orthodox Christianity is threatened.
• The Young Julian by Thomas J., Ph.D. Hairston
• Helena by Evelyn Waugh; follows the quest of the Empress Helena, a Christian and the mother of Emperor Constantine to uncover the remains of the cross upon which Christ was crucified.
• Julian (1964) by Gore Vidal, fictionalized biography of the emperor Julian the Apostate, who tried to revive Paganism
• The Last Legion: A Novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi; fictionalized story of the emperor Romulus Augustulus and what might have happened to his surviving retinue.
• Eagle in the Snow (1970) by Wallace Breem; set in Britannia and Germania in the late 4th and early 5th century; features a Mithraic Roman general.
• The Little Emperors (1951) by Alfred Duggan. A succession of coups in late-Roman Britain.
• Gods And Legions: A Novel of the Roman Empire (2002) by Michael Curtis Ford
• The Sword of Attila: A Novel of the Last Years of Rome (2005) by Michael Curtis Ford
• The Fall of Rome: A Novel of a World Lost (2007) by Michael Curtis Ford
• Raptor (1993) by Gary Jennings is an historical novel set in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. It purports to be the memoirs of an Ostrogoth, Thorn, who has a secret.
• Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth Century Rome (1966) by Hella Hasse
• Legionary (2011) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: Viper of the North (2012) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: Land of the Sacred Fire (2013) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: The Scourge of Thracia (2015) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: Gods & Emperors (2015) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: Empire of Shades (2017) by Gordon Doherty
• Legionary: The Blood Road (2018) by Gordon Doherty

'Byzantine' Empire (457-1453 AD)

• Anna of Byzantium, 1999
• Bélisaire
• Belisarius series
• Count Belisarius (1938), by Robert Graves, set in the 6th century, in the reign of Justinian
• The Dancing Bear (1972), by Peter Dickinson. Young adult.
• Justinian, a novel, by H N Turteltaub (Harry Turtledove), August 1998
• The Palaeologian Dynasty. The Rise and Fall of Byzantium
• Roma Eterna (2003), by Robert Silverberg
• A Struggle for Rome (1876), by Felix Dahn
• There Will Be Time
• Tirant lo Blanch (finished posthumously by Martí Joan de Galba, published 1490), by Joanot Martorell
• Up the Line (1969), by Robert Silverberg
• You with the Roses - What are You Selling?, (1966) a novel by James Wellard, fictionalised biography of the Empress Theodora
• Strategos: Born in the Borderlands (2011) by Gordon Doherty
• Strategos: Rise of the Golden Heart (2011) by Gordon Doherty
• Strategos: Island in the Storm (2011) by Gordon Doherty

Alternate history

The following alternate history novels are set in fictional universes where Rome's struggle with Carthago went differently

• The Seven Hills (2005) by John Maddox Roberts
• Alejandro y las águilas de Roma by Javier Negrete (Alexander the Great doesn't die in Babylon and goes on to Italy to fight Rome)
• Delenda Est by Poul Anderson
• Lest Darkness Fall (1939) by L. Sprague de Camp; a time-travelling American alters history, set in 535 AD.
• Agent of Byzantium by Harry Turtledove set in an alternate 14th century with no Islam.
• Hannibal's Children (2002) and its sequel The Seven Hills by John Maddox Roberts. A victorious Hannibal sends all the Romans into exile, but they found a new city and their descendants return for vengeance.

The following alternate history novels are set in fictional universes where the Roman Empire never fell, and has endured to the present day:

• Romanitas (2005), by Sophia McDougall
• Rome Burning (2006), sequel to Romanitas, by Sophia McDougall
• Roma Eterna, a 2003 novel by Robert Silverberg
• Warlords of Utopia by Lance Parkin
• Gunpowder Empire by Harry Turtledove
• The Aquiliad (1983), by Somtow Sucharitkul. Circa 50 AD. A light-hearted novel in which Roman legions discover America, battle the Aztecs, encounter Big Foot, and drive off flying saucers.
• Oebis (2002), by Scott Mackay. Romans return to a modern-day Earth to retake it from alien invaders who exiled them centuries ago and imposed a strange form of Christianity.
• The Germanicus trilogy, a collection of books by Kirk Mitchell.
• Emperor (2006), by Stephen Baxter. After a Celtic chieftain obeys an ancient prophecy, and sides with the invaders, the history of Roman Britain takes a different path. First in a series.

Science fiction

• Empire of the Atom, by A. E. van Vogt, translates Graves' novel about Claudius(above) into a science fiction context.
• The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, about the fall of a galactic empire, is derived from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
• Dominic Flandry series by Poul Andersen, a space empire similarly inspired by Gibbon's history (and by Asimov) is decaying and about to collapse into a Long Night of barbarism; a heroic secret agent fights to stave off this fate.
• Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson, about a post-apocalyptic America transformed into a neo-Roman Empire, and a high born youth who, like Julian the Apostate, fights the power of the Church.
• Bread and Circuses (Star Trek: The Original Series)
• Tarzan and the Lost Empire by Edgar Rice Burroughs, a surviving fragment of the Roman Empire is discovered hidden in a corner of 20th century Africa.
• In Philip K. Dick's VALIS ancient Rome is superimposed over the present (California in the 20th century) and the far future world of The Android Cried Me a River to reveal "the Empire" – a supra- or trans-temporal constant. Furthermore, it is often repeated that the empire never fell. Also the novel's protagonist is described as living in two spacetime-continua with one of the personalities presently living in ancient Rome. Ancient Rome is also described as to breaking through into the modern world and "real time" is speculated as to having ceased in 70 AD with Roman times still being present.^[4]

Comic books

• Leading Comics - in the 1940s, a series called "Nero Fox" (about a funny animal named Nero Fox, who was emperor of Rome) was published as a backup series in this comic title.
• Trigan Empire was a Science Fiction comic series telling of adventures on the planet Elekton with many similarities to the Roman Empire