Tag: Empire Series

Top Ten Tuesday – Favourite Books/Series Set in the Roman Empire

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday was a Thanksgiving themed list that required participants to list the reasons why they are thankful for books.  While this is an interesting topic, I decided against contributing to it, instead I’m skipping ahead to next week’s topic to free up December for my usual end-of-year lists.  As such, my topic for this week involves listing my favourite books set in a specific setting of my choosing, whether that be a country, state, outer space or something else.  This open-ended list left me with quite a few opportunities for potential topics, but I decided to go back to my historical fiction roots and instead focus on books set in the Roman Empire.

I have mentioned before that when I started reviewing books I focussed completely on historical fiction, which was a favourite genre of mine.  While I have expanded my horizons to other genres since then, historical fiction still has a very special place in my heart, and I always like to highlight it on this blog when I get a chance.  As such, I thought I would give this latest list a historical fiction theme and look at books set in the most popular historical fiction setting, the ancient Roman Empire.

Due to the rich history, intriguing people, multiple wars, and iconic nature of ancient Rome, so many historical fiction novels and series are set during this period.  While most of these books are military fiction, there are a ton other stories that can be told during this period, especially as there are so many detailed records about the various Roman Emperors and their reigns.  I have a great deal of love for the Roman Empire in fiction and nearly every major historical fiction author has written a Roman series at some point in their career.  As such, I can think of no better setting to focus this list on than the Roman Empire and its many different battles, plots and unique figures.

To feature on this list, a book needed to be set in some period of Roman history, whether it be the rise of city, the early wars, the height of Empire or its eventual decline.  I decided to allow whole series to be featured as a single entry on this list as this honestly saves me having to choose my favourite novel from some particularly long series.  While I had quite a few good options to feature here, I was eventually able to whittle my list down to ten books/series, with a few honourable mentions thrown in as well.  Each of the below entries are very much worth checking out if you want some fiction set in the Roman Empire, so let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

The Return by Harry Sidebottom

The Return Cover

A dark and gritty standalone novel set shortly after the Roman conquest of Greece, which sees a traumatised former soldier return home only to find himself a suspect in a series of brutal murders.

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Hannibal/The Forgotten Legion series by Ben Kane

Enemy of Rome Cover

Ben Kane has written several great Roman series over the years, and while I have one on the main list, I had to also highlight two of his other series here, including his awesome depiction Hannibal’s battles with Rome in Hannibal and the gripping read about Roman soldiers trapped in the East with The Forgotten Legion.

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The Siege by Nick Brown

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The fun first book in Brown’s Agent of Rome series that sees a young intelligence agent lead the defence of an isolated fort and its disparate soldiers.  High recommended.

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Top Ten List:

Eagles of the Empire series by Simon Scarrow

Death to the Emperor Cover

This list has to start with one of my all-time favourite historical fiction series, the Eagles of the Empire books by Simon Scarrow.  Probably the gold standard of Roman historical fiction, the Eagles of the Empire is a great long-running series that really drew me into the genre when I started reading it years ago.  Currently made up of 21 novels (with the 22nd due to drop any day now), the Eagles of the Empire books follow two Roman officers who bounce from deadly warzone to warzone, trying to survive.  Filled with elaborate battles, great characters, and a cool focus on some of Rome’s most memorable campaigns, the Eagles of the Empire books are so much fun and I cannot recommend them enough (check out my reviews for The Blood of Rome, Traitors of Rome, The Emperor’s Exile, The Honour of Rome and Death to the Emperor).

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Flavia Albia series by Lindsey Davis

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While most Roman series focus on wars and historical figures, one of the best is a fun murder mystery series with the Flavia Albia books by Lindsey Davis.  A sequel to Davis’ original Falco novels (a series I still need to check out), the Flavia Albia books follow a skilled investigator as she tries to solve a series of elaborate crimes and murders while also balancing her hectic personal life.  I have so much love for this series, especially as Davis always seems to get the perfect blend of humour, mystery, and dark intensity into her fantastic narratives.  Some of my favourites in the series include Pandora’s Boy, The Grove of the Caesars (one of my favourite books of 2020), and Desperate Undertaking (one of my favourite books of 2022), and Davis is at her best when she creates particularly elaborate murders and large comedic set pieces.  A must-read series for all fans of Roman historical fiction, especially those looking for something other than wars and politics.

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Vespasian series by Robert Fabbri

Emperor of Rome Cover

Many Roman historical fiction authors choose to centre their books around great figures of history, but few of biographic novels are as entertaining or bold as the Vespasian series by Robert Fabbri.  Focussing on the life of future Roman Emperor Vespasian, Fabbri works to combines the official record of Vespasian’s life with additional adventures that place the character in the middle of the most significant events of the era.  Thanks to Fabbri’s choice to bring every salacious and insane bit of history from the period to life, you get to see the outrageous emperors who preceded Vespasian in all the bloody glory as the protagonist tries to survive the tumultuous wars and politics leading to his ascension.  Deeply entertaining, compelling, and highly shocking, the Vespasian series (check out my reviews for Rome’s Sacred Flame and Emperor of Rome), are well worth checking out.

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Eagles of Rome series by Ben Kane

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As I mentioned above, there are several great Roman historical series written by Ben Kane, but my personal favourite is the Eagles of Rome series.  Set around the infamous massacre of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest, the first book, Eagles at War, perfectly covers the massacre, while the sequels, Hunting the Eagle and Eagles in the Storm shows the attempts by the Roman characters to get revenge years later.  Eagles at War really sets the tone for this excellent and dark series and I loved this fantastic and brutal portrayal of such an infamous event.

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Warrior of Rome series by Harry Sidebottom

Fie in the East Cover

One of my absolute favourite Roman historical series is the amazing Warrior of Rome books by Harry Sidebottom.  One of the first series I ever had the pleasure of reviewing, the Warrior of Rome novels follow the intriguing character of Ballista, a German hostage turned Roman nobleman who serves as a general and siege expert in the army.  The first book, Fire in the East, saw Ballista take command of a doomed city in one of my favourite siege books, while the sequels show his attempts to save his friend the emperor from threats outside and within with some amazing reads.  This series has remained very fresh and fun over the years, especially the last three novels which have featured an intriguing range of storylines, often laced with compelling thriller elements, such as the 24-inspired The Last Hour, the intense survival novel The Burning Road, and the behind-enemy-lines novel, Falling Sky.  I have a lot of love for this outstanding series and Sidebottom continuously shows himself to be one of the very best authors of Roman historical fiction.

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Commodus by Simon Turney

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A fascinating and addictive read that followed one of the most intriguing Roman Emperors, the infamous and beloved Commodus.  Turney does a wonderful job of showcasing this complex figure in all his glory, strength and insanity, and you really get a feel for both his nobility and his struggles.  One of the most moving and compelling Roman fiction novels I have had the pleasure of reading, this is an outstanding book.

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Empire series by Anthony Riches

River of Gold Cover

Another Roman historical series I got into years ago is the Empire series by Anthony Riches, which is a classic and impressive collection of books that dive into the comradery of a dedicated regiment.  Starting with Wounds of Honour, this series primarily follows a political fugitive fighting in the legions under an assumed name in several deadly conflicts.  I deeply enjoyed the first several books in the series, and I recently got back into it when I read the fun novel River of Gold.  An awesome and exciting series that proves very easy to read whenever I want a new historical adventure.

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The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

The Throne of Caesars Cover

Another excellent Roman detective series is the Roma Sub Rosa books by Steven Saylor which follow the long running character Gordianus the Finder.  I have only had the pleasure of reading one of Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa books, The Throne of Caesar, but I really loved it.  Set just before the Ides of March, The Throne of Caesar sees Gordianus investigate the conspiracy against Julius Caesar in a clever narrative that gets even more intense the closer the protagonist gets to the assassination.  A brilliant read that I am really glad I got the chance to check out.

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The Sword of Attila by Michael Curtis Ford

The Sword of Attila Cover

Another great standalone Roman fiction book I had to highlight on this list was the invigorating and compelling read, The Sword of Attila by Michael Curtis Ford.  The Sword of Attila is a gripping novel that focussed on two figures from history, Attila the Hun and the Roman general who beat him, Flavius Aetius.  Set towards the end of the Roman Empire, The Sword of the Attila did an excellent job of examining the lives of both fascinating historical figures and the connections they shared.  One of the better character-driven Roman historical fiction novels I have had the pleasure of reading, I deeply enjoyed learning about both these intriguing legends.

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Emperor series by Conn Iggulden

The Gates of Rome Cover

The final series I want to feature on this list is one of the best with the Emperor series by iconic historical fiction author Conn Iggulden.  An awesome retelling of the entire life of Julius Caesar, Iggulden imagines all the triumphs and tragedies of this illustrious leader and portrays them in a captivating and intelligent way for the reader.  A deeply impressive series that proves very hard to put down, the Emperor books are some of the best Roman historical fiction novels out there and are a must read for fans of the genre.

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Well that’s my latest list.  As you can see, there are a range of awesome and compelling novels and series set in the Roman Empire that are very much worth checking out.  I am such a huge fun of this setting and all the above books and series come highly recommended.  Let me know in the comments below what your favourite books set in ancient Rome are, as well as some of your favourite settings.

River of Gold by Anthony Riches

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction4 Comments

River of Gold Cover

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Hardback – 6 August 2020)

Series: Empire – Book 11

Length: 339 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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From one of the top authors of Roman historical fiction, Anthony Riches, comes River of Gold, the action-packed and epic 11th entry in his bestselling Empire series.

Aegyptus, 187 AD.  Under the command of Tribune Scaurus, decorated Centurion and former fugitive, Marcus Valerius Aquila, serves with several elite veteran officers, each of whom has displeased the Imperial hierarchy in some way.  These Roman soldiers now find themselves part of an informal troubleshooter unit, destined to die if they should ever fail one of their impossible tasks.  The Roman Empire is once again in danger as a mysterious army advances from the south of Africa, killing a major garrison and conquering a key port city at the southernmost border of the empire.  In order to solve this problem, the Emperor’s corrupt advisor sends Centurion Marcus and his comrades on another dangerous mission.

Arriving in Alexandria, Marcus and his comrades discover a rich province riddled with corruption and with a much reduced military presence.  Taking command of the local legion, Scaurus marches what soldiers he can down to the site of the massacre to find a new grim reality waiting for them.  After centuries of peace, the mysterious kingdom of Kush has once again declared war on Rome, determined to claim what is rightfully theirs from the weakened Romans.  In order to stop them, Scaurus leads his force deep into enemy territory to recapture an abandoned fortress and hold it against impossible odds.  Their mission is borderline suicidal and only has a slim chance of success, but if anyone can pull of this impossible task, it is Marcus and his friends.

This was another fun and exciting historical novel from Riches which proved to be a fantastic new entry in his Empire series.  Riches is a prolific and talented author who has been writing since 2009, when he debuted the first Empire novel, Wounds of Honour.  Since then he has gone to write an additional 10 novels in this series, as well as writing his separate series, The Centurions.  I have previously read a few of Riches’s books, including the first three entries in the Empire series when they were released.  While these first three books were extremely enjoyable Roman historical fiction novels, I missed the chance to read a couple of entries in the series and fell too far behind to catch up.  However, I recently got a copy of this latest book and, as I was in the mood for a visit back to ancient Rome, I tried out River of Gold to see how it would turn out.

This proved to be a good decision on my behalf as River of Gold ended up being a fantastic and compelling read.  Riches sets up an excellent character-driven story that sets a group of unique Roman officers against a dangerous new foe.  The author does a good job setting the story up, allowing those readers unfamiliar with the series or the historical era to easily jump in, and then sets the characters toward their goals.  This results in a captivating narrative that has a good blend of action, character development and cool historical features, as the protagonists embark on a madcap plan to win the war.  This leads to a number of awesome battle scenes, including an extended siege sequence which was a lot of fun to read, and the various characters find themselves in sufficient danger throughout.  The story ends a tad suddenly, although Riches does a good job of setting up the overall conclusion to the main storyline.  This story also felt a bit short, and I think it could have benefited from another 50 pages or so, perhaps extending out the siege sequence and adding in some more action and peril there.  However, this was still an overall excellent narrative which I was able to get through in only a few short days.

Riches spends a good part of River of Gold focusing on the various characters he has introduced and developed over the course of his long-running series, and this proves to be an entertaining group of protagonists.  In order to examine these characters Riches utilises a detailed, in-narrative character introduction near the start of the book, in which a newcomer reads off personnel files about each of the recurring characters.  While this was rather forced and inelegant way to introduce the characters and their history, it does the job and allows the readers to get an idea of who these protagonists are and their various quirks.  I found this particularly useful after having skipped several books in the series, and new readers will definitely appreciate the background.  Most of these characters get some intriguing arcs throughout the book.  For example, Marcus is once again the lead character of the novel as he tends to get the most important missions and ends up in the most danger, including a particularly close look at the Kush and their society.  Marcus is a fairly typical Roman historical fiction protagonist who has gone from raw recruit to hardened veteran throughout the course of the series, and it was interesting to see the various developments that have occurred since the last Empire novel I read.  Tribune Scaurus also gets a fair bit of attention as the leader of the Roman force and the mastermind behind their attack.  Scaurus is a good leader character, providing the rest of the characters with backbone and fortitude, and I liked his rather unique command style that relates to the dangerous political situation he finds himself in.  The other major character arc that I liked revolved around Cotta, the group’s veteran centurion and Marcus’s mentor, who reluctantly returns to Aegyptus for the first time after assassinating a Roman general who sought to rebel against the Emperor.  Cotta’s interesting subplot revolved around him reminiscing about his past mistakes while he attempts to hide his identity from the legion they have taken over, as they suffered as a result of his actions.  All of these recurring characters provided a great base for the story and some major moments that occurred will definitely rock readers, especially those long-term fans of the series.

While the recurring characters are good, I really have to highlight some of the new characters that Riches created for this novel, one of whom in particular outshines the rest.  This new character is Demetrius, a Christian who accompanies the army down south as part of his holy mission.  Demetrius is a complex and enjoyable character mainly due to his past as a vicious Christian-hunting Roman soldier.  After a series of brutalities, Demetrius sought redemption by joining the Christian cult, and now he fights against the invaders, believing that this fight is a holy war.  Riches focuses a good amount of the plot on Demetrius, and he proves to be a captivating and central figure, offering words of wisdom and defending his newfound Christian beliefs.  I found the author’s portrayal of this character to be really intriguing and I liked the close relationship he formed with some of the recurring characters, especially Marcus, despite that fact that none of them are Christians.  The other new character I liked was Ptolemy, an Imperial secretary and scribe assigned to the group, who provides them with relevant information and history to assist with their mission.  Ptolemy is essentially a walking piece of exposition, and a large amount of the book’s historical information is revealed thanks to him.  Despite this, he was a rather entertaining character, mainly due to the odd-couple friendship he formed with Dubnus.  The two characters are pretty much opposites in every way and end up bickering on a number of subjects, while also building up a mutual respect for each other.  This fun discourse between the two resulted in some great moments throughout the book and he was an interesting addition to the plot.

In addition to the fun story and great range of characters, Riches also invests a significant amount of time and effort in bringing the historical aspects of this novel to life.  The author has obviously done some serious research on the subject of Roman military history as he does a wonderful job showcasing various elements of the Roman legions and soldiers to life, including gear, unit makeup and tactics.  This also translates incredibly across into the various combat scenes throughout the novel, as you get a real feel for how a Roman solider would have felt in combat, especially at the Centurion level, although Riches mostly focuses on unique fight situations in this book.  The book also contains a number of detailed descriptions of the historical landscapes that the protagonists traverse through, such as Alexandria and the rest of historical Egypt.  This proved to be quite a fascinating inclusion in the story and I always enjoy seeing an author’s depiction of historical settings.  However, the most fascinating part of this novel has to be the inclusion of the ancient African Kingdom of Kush, with whom our protagonists face off against.  The Kushites were a powerful and advanced civilization, who, until recently, have been somewhat overlooked by historians and archaeologists.  Riches does an incredible job working them into his novel and setting them up as a rival kingdom to Rome.  Not only does he feature a number of detailed depictions of their culture and military make up during the events of the book, but he also spends time exploring the history of Kush, including their origins as a civilization, their prior history throughout Aegyptus and their conflicts with the Romans.  This was easily one of the most interesting and compelling elements of River of Gold, and I really appreciated Riches’s inclusion of such a unique historical adversary.  Indeed, all of the historical inclusions in this book are excellent, and I had an amazing time exploring them as the story progressed.

River of Gold by Anthony Riches is a captivating and enjoyable novel that takes the reader on a fascinating and action-packed journey through history.  Riches does an excellent job continuing his bestselling Empire series, and I had a great time getting through his exciting story, loaded with great characters and an impressive historical background.  All of this results in an amazing historical fiction novel that is well worth checking out, whether you are a fan of this long-running series or a general historical fiction fan looking for a fun adventure story.

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