"Favorite Ancients Novel?" Topic

What is your favorite novel set prior to 500 AD?

Never read Ben Hur but might be my guess

Funeral Games by Mary Renault

Darkness Over Cannae by J.N. Dolfen.

The SPQR mysteries by John Robert Maddox.

Harry Sidebottom's Ballista stories

Gates of Fire by Pressfield

Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer (1983).

I have become partial to Christian Cameron's writings. If I had to choose, I think his "Alexander, God of War" is one for f his best, if you like it, I recommend his Tyrant series and Marathon series.

I am also enjoying Glenn Iliffe's King of Ithaca series on the Trojan War as told by a warrior fighting for Odysseus. Yes, not historical, with fantastical elements but I think it works rather well.

And finally, Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire. It ignited my passion for ancient history both fiction and non-fiction. A real treat is to listen to the abridged version read by Derek Jacobi. I cannot recommend Pressfield's Alcibiades books and I found Cameron the superior storyteller for Alexander but Gates of Fire is worth reading and re-eeading

Julian by Gore Vidal.

Lest Darkness Fall by L Sprague de Camp.

I Clavdivs and Clavdivs the God by Robert Graves.

Macro and Cato novels by Simon Scarrow
Gordianus the Finder novels by Steve Saylor

Both series are excellent

Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem.

Please be specific about the title, thank you.

Quo Vadis by Sinkiewicz.

Tides of War, by Steven Pressfield.

The Eagle of the Ninth
Outcast
—both by Rosemary Sutcliff

I also like Gates of Fire and Lest Darkness Fall, though as a point of order, the latter is set after 500AD, and is a time-travel/alternate history SF work.

The Gordians the finder series by Saylor or the Marius Mules series by Turney.

So I'll cheat a little, Count Belisarius by Robert Graves

The last of the wine by Mary Renault

"An Elephant for Aristotle" is pretty darn good. Got it somewhere in my book collection… :-)

Almost forgot, The Ransom by Maloof . A novel about King Priam retrieving Hectors body from Achilles. Superb.

Hannibal by Harold Lamb. Great read!

Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch – Sutcliff.

Ross Leckie – Hannibal
Ross Leckie – Scipio
Ursula Le Guin – Lavinia
Harry Sidebottom – warrior of Rome series – fire in the east, king of kings, lion of the sun
Adrian Goldsworthy – Vindolanda
Steven Pressfield- gates of fire

But if choosing one then Lavinia over Hannibal. The Le Guin book is about the Trojan founding of Rome, excellent read!

Salammbo, by Gustave Flaubert

Sinuhe, by Mika Waltari.

And only after this one: Funerary Games by Mary Renault, The first man in Rome by Colleen McCulough…

Robert Graves, "I Claudius" – or "I Clavdivs" as my father always called it.

So many to choose from, but some of my favourites not mentioned above are:-

David Wishart's "Marcus Corvinus" novels (the best of the Roman detective stories IMHO), opens with "Ovid", and "The Horse Boy" a novel set around the Boudiccan revolt.

Patricia Finney "The Crow Goddess" & "Shadow of Gulls"

Alfred Duggan "Winter Quarters" & "Three's Company"

Gillian Bradshaw "Island of Ghosts"

Paul Doherty's Ancient Egyptian trilogy containing "An Evil Spirit Out of the West", "The Season of the Hyaena", & "The Year of the Cobra".

Lauren Haney's "Lieutenant Bak" series starting with "The Right Hand of Amon"

Scott Oden "Memnon"

Rosemary Sutcliff "The Sword at Sunset"

Henry Treece "Jason"

George Shipway "Warrior in Bronze"

I, Claudius

The "v" is only used for inscriptions.

Rick

Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe.

Ron

Twilight of Empire series by Ian Ross – starts with War at the Edge of the World.

Lindsay Davis's Falco and Flavia Albia series.
Another vote for Lieutenant Bak.
Dragon of the Ishtar Gate by DeCamp.

Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliff. Her Eagle of the Ninth is a close second.

My list is almost a duplicate of Huscarle's, but I would add any Christian Cameron, Goldsworthy's Vindolanda, and the Egyptian 'Hippopotamus Marsh' trilogy of Pauline Gedge.
I also enjoyed the first 4 of Anthony Riches' Roman books.
As for favourites, it's a toss up between 'Winter Quarters' and 'Sword at Sunset'

I, Claudius

The "v" is only used for inscriptions.

Rick

As Foghorn Leghorn would say, "It's a joke, son."

Peregrine Primus, Avram Davidson.

Mary Renault: The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea

"Jason" by Henry Treece

"Lavinia", by Ursula K. Le Guin, of all people, is a dark horse favorite, in which the earliest days of the Roman Republic finally get their due.

Colleen McCullough gets a vote for "The Song of Troy" for re-telling the Trojan War as a struggle by the Greeks to break Troy's monopoly on tin, which makes a lot more sense than the whole Helen thing.

Try S. Turneys novels. The series is called Marius's Mules and is now up to book eleven. It follows the adventures of a fictitious legate called Fronto who campaigns with Caesar through all the Gallic wars and into the civil war that followed. Very readable and lots of action. Also the books are available on Kindle for a very reasonable price.

Casca: The Eternal Mercenary by Barry Sadler

Colleen McCullough for The First Man in Rome (the book, and the entire series).

'Votan' by John James

If it falls into the now stretched time frame; Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliff.

The Iliad. :-)

By Homer Simpson apparently.

I Claudius by R. Graves
Island of ghost and the sand reqiner by Gillan Bradshaw

Another vote for "Gates of Fire" by Pressfield.

"Imperial Governor: (Boudicca's Revolt) by George Shipway
"Augustus" by John WIlliams *****
"The Death Of Attila" by Cecelia Holland
"Purple Pirate" by Talbot Mundy

The Olympian

Any Robert E Howard story (Conan/Kull/Bran Mac Morn)