Now out - The Loyal Centurion by Jacquie Rogers

Last week saw the publication of Jacquie's third novel in her Quintus Valerius mysteries series.

It is currently available as a kindle ebook.

Roman Britain, AD 224. Quintus Valerius, imperial investigator, and his British optio, Tiro, are sent to York to strengthen ties with the new legate of the Sixth Victrix legion, Marius Crescens. In the depths of the northern winter, Saturnalia celebrations take over the streets - and a series of seemingly unrelated murders attracts the attention of Valerius. The two soldiers are soon heading towards Hadrian’s Wall on the trail of tribune Gaius Laelianus, suspected of the death of Placidia Septimia, the legate’s young wife. But Valerius, damaged by previous service beyond the Wall, mistrusts what he hears and sees.

Valerius has left behind in York his wife, Julia, who discovers that the murdered woman kept a journal detailing fears about her husband’s collusion with barbarians. But Placidia was silenced before she could talk, and the journal has disappeared. Crescens’s men pursue the soldiers and their suspect to Vindolanda, where they narrowly escape. Fleeing further north to a deserted Tayside fort, Valerius and Tiro must fight for their lives to uncover the truth, and prevent the invasion of Britannia by a ruthless new enemy - the Picts.

Kindle: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: Sharpe Books Availability and latest price on Amazon:

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Out today - The Hollow Throne by Tim Leach

Today sees the publication of Tim Leach's third novel in his Sarmatian trilogy, called The Hollow Throne. Out now in hardcover, kindle and audiobook formats with the paperback edition following in 2024. This is one of my favourite authors and I really enjoyed the first books in the trilogy.

The Hollow Throne (Sarmatian series book 3 of 3)

180 AD. North of the Wall, Sarmatian warrior Kai and his adopted tribe, the Votadini, struggle for survival, cast into unfamiliar lands by Roman reprisals.

When news arrives that an old enemy is in charge of the Votadini's hated foes, a confederation of tribes known as the Painted People, and has roused them to action, Kai heads south towards the Wall, hoping to ally with the Romans against this resurgent threat.

Meanwhile, the Romans have heard tales of butchery and mayhem beyond the Wall. Lucius, Legate of the North, believes Kai and his allies who are responsible, and sends forth an expedition to capture his old comrade.

Can Kai and his loved ones survive the onslaught—or will the combined might of Rome and the hatred of their enemies spell the end for the warrior and his tribe?

Hardcover: Publication date: 3 August 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1800242920 Pages: 320 Availability and latest price on Amazon:

Paperback: Publication date: August 2024 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1800242944 Pages: 320 Availability and latest price on Amazon:

Kindle: Publication date: 3 August 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus Availability and latest price on Amazon:

Audiobook: Publication date: 3 August 2023 Narrator: Gordon Griffin Length: 9 hrs 24 mins Availability and latest price on Amazon:

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have recently started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Just out - Para Bellum by Simon Turney

Last Thursday saw the publication of Simon's latest novel set in the ancient Roman world, called "Para Bellum".

It is currently available as a hardcover and kindle ebook with the paperback coming next January.

AD 381. Five years have gone by since a Roman governor ordered the deaths of a Gothic king and his attendants at a feast in their honour. This disastrous act led to warfare in the Roman Empire and the death of the Emperor Valens.
The Empire is now at peace, but the powerful brother of the murdered king has sworn revenge on the regicides, and will not rest until they are hunted down. For the eight legionaries who carried out the killings, the bloodshed is only just beginning.
Flavius Focalis is one of those legionaries. After narrowly surviving an attempt on his life, Focalis seeks to warn his former comrades, for he knows their enemy is implacable. So begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse across the Empire, with far more than eight lives at stake. For war is coming – and the only question is: do they die now, or die later?

Hardcover: Publication date; 6 July 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1804540312 Pages: 400

Kindle: Publication date: 6 July 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Now out - The Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy

This month saw the publication of Adrian Goldsworthy's third novel in his City of Victory series.

It is currently available as a hardcover, audiobook and kindle ebook.

AD 117: BRITANNIA. Roman centurion Flavius Ferox is trying to live a quiet life of dignified leisure, overseeing his wife's estate and resisting the urge to murder an annoying neighbour - until someone else does it for him.

Dragged back into a life of violence, Ferox finds himself chasing raiders, fighting chieftains and negotiating with kings. Under the new emperor, Hadrian, the whole world seems to be changing: old friends are now enemies, enemies claim they are friends, and new and deadly threats lurk in the shadows.

When Hadrian himself comes to Britannia to inspect his great wall, war erupts suddenly. Ferox is the only one who can save the emperor - but with his family, and his own life, in danger, he must first decide whose side he is on.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1789545845 Pages: 480 Availability and latest price on Amazon:

Hardcover: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus ISBN: 978-1789545821 Pages: 480 Availability and latest price on Amazon:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: Head of Zeus Availability and latest price on Amazon:

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Just out - The Barbarian by Douglas Jackson

Last week Douglas published the sequel to "The Wall", called "The Barbarian".

It is currently available as a hardcover and kindle ebook.

AD 406. Abandoned by friends and hounded by enemies, Roman cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor and a small band of loyal warriors know that the time has come to leave an increasingly fractured Britannia.

Their journey takes them across the bleak, pirate-infested seas of the Mare Germanicum to Saxonia and on into the dark heart of barbarism. It seems the Britons' only salvation lies with an old comrade, General Stilicho - based far to the east but still within the sanctuary of the Empire. But the general has troubles of his own: his influence with the Emperor Honorius is waning, and a great warrior people are on the march - for Radagaisus, king of the Ostrogoths, has promised his subjects all the riches of Italia, and they will leave a sea of Roman bones in their wake.

But as Marcus and his companions battle their way towards what they hope will a safe haven of sorts, they stumble across a secret which could decide the fate of the Empire. But who can they really trust, and can Marcus reach Stilicho in time - because his every step is dogged by a son who wants him dead... Set during the desperate twilight years of Rome's once all-powerful empire, The Barbarian is the action-packed and thrillingly authentic new historical novel from one of the genre's very best.

Hardcover: Publication date: June 2023 Publisher: Bantam ISBN: 978-1787634824 Pages: 368

Kindle: Publication date: June 2023 Publisher: Transworld Digital

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Out today! Fatal Legacy by Lindsey Davis, the 11th Flavia Albia mystery.

Today sees the publication of Lindsey Davis's 11th Flavia Albia novel, called Fatal Legacy. Out now in hardcover, kindle and audiobook formats

Fatal Legacy (Flavia Alba series book 11 of 11)

An unpaid bar bill leads Flavia Albia to her most bitter and complex case yet.

Decades earlier Appius Tranquillus Surus wrote his will: it freed his slaves and bequeathed his businesses to them. He left an orchard to the Prisci, a family he was friendly with, on the condition that his freedmen could still take its harvest.

The convoluted arrangement has led to a feud between the two families, each of which has its own internal strife. Endless claims and counterclaims lead to violence and even death. Lawyers have given up in exasperation as the case limps on. The original will has disappeared, along with a falsified codicil - and might there be another one?

But is there a solution? Two youngsters from each side of the divide, Gaius Venuleius and Cosca Sabatina, have fallen in love, which could unite the feuding families. There is only one problem: were Sabatina's grandmother and father really liberated in the Surus will? If not, the stigma of slavery will stop the marriage and the dispute will rage on forever.

Reconciliation seems impossible, but Albia will try. Her investigation must cut through decades of secrets, arguments, lies and violence to reach a startling truth.

Hardcover: Publication date: 6 April 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton ISBN: 978-1529354737 Pages: 416

Paperback: Publication date: tbc Publisher: Hodder ISBN: tbc Pages:

Kindle: Publication date: 6 April 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Audiobook: Publication date: 6 April 2023 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Length: 11 hrs 50 mins Narrator: Jane Collingwood

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books, we blog and tweet about new titles and have recently started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

Out today! The paperback edition of Simon Scarrow's Death to the Emperor

Out today in paperback! The latest episode in the adventures of Cato and Macro, always a must-buy for me.

Death to the Emperor (Eagles of the Empire series: book 21 of 21)

It is AD 60. The hard-won province of Britannia is a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire, its tribes swift to anger, and relentless in their bloody harassment of the Roman military. Far from being a peaceful northern enclave, Britannia is a seething mass of bitter rebels and unlikely alliances against the common enemy. Corruption amongst greedy officials diverts resources from the locals who need them. For the military, it's a never-ending fight to maintain a fragile peace.

Now it's time to quell the most dangerous enemy tribes. Two of Rome's finest commanders - Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro - are charged with a mission as deadly as any they have faced in their long careers. Can they win the day, or could this be the last battle?

A stunning and unforgettable story of warfare, courage and sacrifice as brave men face an enemy with nothing to lose . .

Paperback: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: Headline ISBN: 978-1472287168 Pages: 352 Availability & latest prices:

Hardcover: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Headline ISBN: 978-1472287120 Pages: 352 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Headline Availability & latest prices:

Audiobook: Listening time: tbc Narrator: tbc Availability & latest prices:

New author: John Drake

We've added John Drake to our growing list of authors publishing novels set in the Ancient Roman world. He has written three novels so far in his Londinium series, the most recent being published in november last year. Set in the 1st Century London and tells the story of Ikaros of Apollonius, a Greek slave and former soldier.

1. Death in Londinium (Londinium series: book 1 of 3)

Londinium, 1st century AD. Must every slave die?

Fabius Gentilius Scorteus is a Britannic Celt, the richest man in Londinium. But he desperately wants to become a Roman citizen. He calls upon his Greek slave Ikaros of Apollonius.

Ikaros was once a soldier, nobleman and engineer, but, after his country was invaded by the Romans, he was forced into a life of servitude. Known for his mind-reading abilities, Ikaros is believed by some to have magical powers. Londinium is in need of a method to raise the water for the Imperial Baths. So Scorteus calls upon Ikaros’ talents to design such a structure. If this project is accepted, Scorteus will finance the project for Londinium in the hope of winning citizenship. And once he becomes a Roman citizen, Scorteus promises to make Ikaros a free man.

But, things do not go as planned… A member of the Scorteus household is discovered murdered. Everyone believes that it must be the work of a servant. Under a vicious Roman law Senatus Consultum Silanianum, if any slave killed the master, then every slave in the house was put to death, meaning hundreds of innocent people. Ikaros is sure no-one in the household is to blame. With his mind-reading powers, it is suggested that he may be able to solve the murder.

With the support of Morganus, First Javelin of the Twentieth Legion and his men, Ikaros sets out to solve the mystery. Will Ikaros unmask the culprit before innocent blood is shed?

Paperback: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Lume Books ISBN: 978-1839015144 Pages: 384 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2016 Publisher: Lume Books Availability & latest prices:

2. Games in Londinium (Londinium series: book 2 of 3)

Ikaros of Apollonis is a long way from home. An educated and noble man enslaved by the Roman Empire that killed his family and destroyed his city, he is stranded in the bleak and inhospitable colony of Britannia. His only consolation is to be living in the city of Londinium, a place where all races, tribes and intellects meet, within the household of his dear friend, the military hero Morganus.

But all is not well in Londinium. As the provincial governor plans an impressive spectacle to further his own ambitions, others see the Londinium games as a chance to pursue their own agenda, even it brings them into direct conflict with Rome.

In particular, the Celtic tribes of Britannia have been causing problems for the authorities. Officially colonised and suppressed, their druidic spiritual leaders are determined to rise up, even if blood must be spilled. Then, people start to die. And it falls to Apollonis and Morganus to find the common factor behind their brutal murders.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Lume Books ISBN: 978-1839015151 Pages: 358 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2018 Publisher: Lume Books Availability & latest prices:

3. Gods in Londinium (Londinium series: book 1 of 3)

Ikaros of Apollonis is a slave of the Roman Empire. But in the heathen wilds of Britannica, he may be about to save it.

His home city conquered, Ikaros of Apollonis, an engineer and physician, is now the slave of a Roman soldier. But his master is no ordinary soldier, and Ikaros is far from an ordinary slave. In a characteristically Roman blend of pragmatism and superstition, he is widely admired – and feared – for his striking intelligence and ability to read minds. So, who else would the empire choose to investigate the death of a hero, the spread of a strange religion, and a potential uprising among the native Celtic tribes?

In Gods in Londinium, Ikaros navigates the tensions between Britannica’s Celts and its Roman occupiers, defying attempts on his own life and those of the people he loves. In doing so, he’s drawn into negotiations that may spell the end of Roman Britain – or perhaps, quite the reverse.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Lume Books ISBN: 978-1839015137 Pages: 290 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: Lume Books Availability & latest prices:

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books both traditionally- and self-published, we blog and tweet about new titles and have recently started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!

New author: James Mace

We've added James Mace to our growing list of authors publishing novels set in the Ancient Roman world. He has written four novels so far in the series called The Artorian Dynasty and set four decades after the Roman conquest of southern Britannia. It follows members of the Artorius family, first in Britannia but then further afield in the Roman Empire.

Soldier of Rome: Empire of the North (The Artorian Dynasty: book 1 of 4)

Battle for the Highlands. It’s been forty years since the Roman conquest of southern Britannia. The hostile western regions are at last subdued and twenty years have passed since the cataclysmic Iceni Rebellion in the east. With tribal kingdoms assimilating into Roman culture and the province at relative peace, Imperial Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola turns his attention north. The once-allied, now hostile Kingdom of Brigantes is divided between factions loyal to Rome and those of the usurper king, Venutius. Following a series of raids, and compelled to flee from imperial retribution, Venutius seeks the aid of a Caledonian chieftain named Calgacus. Calgacus hopes to use a conflict with the Empire to seal his claim as high king of the northern highlands.

In the southern coastal city of Portus Adurni, Gaius Artorius Armiger’s term as governor-mayor is coming to an end. Ten years have passed since Gaius’ last campaign during the Siege of Jerusalem. Ever the soldier, a summons to Londinium leaves him with an intriguing proposition. Knowing his reputation as a military leader, Governor Agricola offers Gaius a return to active service with command of the legendary cavalry regiment Indus’ Horse. Despite trepidation about leaving his wife and children and the lingering effects of old battle injuries, Gaius Artorius dons his armour once more as a soldier of Rome.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2020 Publisher: James Mace ISBN: 979-8687375504 Pages: 348 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2020 Publisher: James Mace Availability & latest prices:

Soldier of Rome: Crisis on the Danube (The Artorian Dynasty: book 2 of 4)

Since the reign of Emperor Tiberius, an uneasy peace has existed along the Danube frontier between the various Sarmatian tribal kingdoms to the north and the Roman Empire to the south. Now, a new threat has emerged in Dacia, as the aged King Duras seeks to unite his people; a feat not witnessed since the legendary King Burebista more than a century before. With great audacity, Duras sends his heir, Prince Decebalus—whose name means strength of ten men—into Roman Moesia. Pursuing more than glory and spoils, Duras hopes to win back some of the disputed territories south of the Danube and halt the increasing encroachment of the Roman Empire.

Early Dacian victories, coupled with the death of the imperial governor, find Rome engaged in an unexpected war it was ill-prepared for. Unlike most ‘barbarian’ peoples the Empire has faced over the centuries, the Dacians are better equipped, organised, and like the Romans, possess a professional army. With great duress, Emperor Domitian orders vast numbers of reinforcements to the Danube.

Thousands of miles away, across the seas in Britannia, Gaius Artorius Armiger’s tenure as prefect of the legendary cavalry regiment, Indus’ Horse, is coming to an end. Now in his early forties, with his children coming of age, Gaius is eager to relinquish command and either take up a civilian posting or, perhaps, retire to his family’s manor in Londinium. His hopes are dashed following a despatch from the emperor, extending his command, while ordering Indus’ Horse to make for Moesia with all possible speed.

Thousands of imperial soldiers from across the Empire converge along the Danube with Indus’ Horse but one element of the British contingent. Gaius bids an emotional farewell to his wife and children before taking to his horse, in what he hopes will be his final campaign as a soldier of Rome.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2021 Publisher: James Mace ISBN: 979-8457621664 Pages: 328 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2021 Publisher: James Mace Availability & latest prices:

Soldier of Rome: March to Oblivion (The Artorian Dynasty: book 3 of 4)

In 89 A.D., following a failed insurrection by the governor of Upper Germania, the disgraced Legio XXI, Rapax, is dispatched to Pannonia, on the River Danube. The legion is purged of its senior officers and Emperor Domitian appoints the venerable Lucius Flavius Silva as commanding legate. Silva is a revered general, who twenty years prior captured the Herodian Fortress of Masada at the end of the Great Jewish Revolt.

Three years later a young staff tribune, Tiberius Artorius Castus, arrives at the legion’s fortress of Carnuntum. Idealistic if a touch naïve, he aspires to the martial legacy of the Artorians who came before him. Acting as his chief mentor is Centurion Primus Ordo Gavius Lucifer. A decorated veteran who rallied a band of loyalists during the Germania revolt in support of Emperor Domitian, he is one of the only senior officers to survive the legion’s leadership purging.

Within months of Tiberius’ arrival, indigenous Marcomanni and Quadi tribesmen openly rebel, supported by thousands of their kinsmen north of the Danube. Aiding them is a large contingent of Rhoxolani heavy cavalry. These are led by a Sarmatian general who previously survived being crucified and now seeks vengeance against the Empire. Surrounded and isolated from the rest of the province, Legio XXI engages in a bitter struggle for survival. The emperor orders his best general, Marcus Ulpius Trajan, with a large army from Hispania to crush the rebellion and save the embattled legion. These reinforcements must travel a thousand miles on a trek that will take months. Meanwhile, Silva orders Legio XXI make its stand against their overwhelming adversaries. They march to either victorious redemption or the cold embrace of oblivion.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: James Mace ISBN: 979-8836869403 Pages: 392 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2022 Publisher: James Mace Availability & latest prices:

Soldier of Rome: The Last Flavian (The Artorian Dynasty: book 4 of 4)

Three years following the destruction of Legio XXI in Pannonia, former Tribune Tiberius Artorius Castus and retired Centurion Primus Ordo Gavius Lucifer arrive in Rome. Their political fortunes rest in their letters of introduction from the revered general and Governor of Pannonia and Upper Germania, Marcus Ulpius Trajan.

Tiberius and Lucifer return to the Eternal City as growing turmoil engulfs the imperial court. Emperor Domitian’s paranoia remains unabated, his spies ever watchful for any sign of disloyalty. Despite his loathing and fear of potential usurpers, danger lurks not within the halls of the senate, but at the very seat of power.

As the two former soldiers embark on a life far removed from the Danube frontier, they remain ever mindful of Trajan’s cautionary advice; that Roman politics are deadlier than the most fearsome enemy warrior.

Paperback: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: James Mace ISBN: 979-8375206424 Pages: 364 Availability & latest prices:

Kindle: Latest edition: 2023 Publisher: James Mace Availability & latest prices:

About us: we've compiled a comprehensive list of fiction works set in Ancient Rome to help readers of the genre discover new authors and books both traditionally- and self-published, we blog and tweet about new titles and have recently started publishing our own reviews. We provide links to listings on Amazon and other popular online stores and if you click through to those sites and make a purchase we earn a small amount which helps keep this website going. Contact us on twitter at @books_rome or leave a comment on our website!