Books!

[telophase]

(Putting this in a separate post in case spoilers end up in the comments on the other one.)

I'm in a Roman mood now: gimme recs for readable books on Rome and Romans. :) I've read I, Claudius and Claudius the God and liked them, and I've read some of Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco books, and I'm trying to remember if I read any of Steven Saylor's books or not. I also have read Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth, and something else by her that took place when the Roman troops were withdrawing from Britain.

Extra spiffy bonus points if the book is about Roman Britain. :)

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Gillian Bradshaw's Island of Ghosts is set in Roman Britain. And has Sarmatians!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Woo, thanks! Here, have some shiny bonus points. :)

[rilina.livejournal.com]

And I forgot Bradshaw's Beacon at Alexandria, which is set in various part of the empire in the 4th century AD.

[rachel-renee.livejournal.com]

Absolutely the only thing I can think of is "Asterix the Gaul". (my poor brain is broken.....)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

XD

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

It's not a book but have you checked out HBO's series Rome? It sgood stuff.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I finished watching it twenty minutes ago, hence my plea. :D

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

Yay! Wasn't it fabulous? :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yesyes! I rented the first DVD on a whim last weekend, and watched all the eps between then and now because I was addicted. XD

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

I'm SO excited for Season 2!!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I am, too. My mother was making fun of me earlier, as I was telling her about the series and how there was a second season coming, and she asked me how long I'd have to wait, since I watched this so fast. And I told her - not as long as everyone else who watched it. XD

[randomposting.livejournal.com]

LOL.

Good point!!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

There's Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, which I am insanely fond of, but which many people dismiss as being too violent.

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

I rather liked Margaret George's "Autobiography of Cleopatra", which has quite a lot about Rome, and a couple of rather famous Romans.

[assume-a-virtue.livejournal.com]

Light Bearer, though I've forgotten the author. It's.. uh. Romans and druids and clashing religions and I bought it when I was too young for it, but I struggled through and god, it was probably the first epic sort of anything I ever read beyond Dragonlance. (Though that might only be in the eyes of a fourteen year old. It was a while ago.)

[assume-a-virtue.livejournal.com]

Hah!

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_Bearer)

[assume-a-virtue.livejournal.com]

...if only the html would work.

The Light Bearer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_Bearer).

As long as you don't mind.. sheer fictionness, anyway. <<;

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

I know my father recommended Edward Rutherford's 'Sarum' and 'London' to me, but I can't remember if I read them or not.

In terms of historical fantasy, the first couple of Jack Whyte's King Arthur books were set in Roman Britain. Also, Guy Gavriel Kay has two books that are set in an alternate Byzantium towards the end of the Roman era of influence.

I was also trying to remember the name of a book I read a while back and enjoyed but utterly failed. In the process, I found this site:

http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=78&pageID=1

It may or may not help you, but that's a heck of a lot of Rome right there.

The fact that I can't remember the name of this book is going to drive me mad. I've already ripped open two boxes of packed paperback books trying to find it...

[fileg.livejournal.com]

The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge

[fuchsoid.livejournal.com]

I really loved Rosemary Sutcliff! The Eagle of the Ninth was wonderful, and the other book of her's you read sounds like The Lantern Bearers. She wrote a sort of loose series about the same family line living through the Roman withdrawal from Britain - The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. Besides these, there's my favourite, The Mark of The Horselord, about a paid-off gladiator who becomes king of a Scottish tribe. There's also Sword at Sunset, a "historical" King Arthur story. I'm not sure if these are still in print, but they are well worth looking for, especially Mark of the Horselord.

Have you seen the BBC series of I Claudius? It was repeated recently, and still brilliant, especially the young John Hurt as Caligula.

[cyphomandra.livejournal.com]

Alan Garner's Red Shift has one plot strand following a group of lost Roman legionaries in Britain, but although it's a brilliant book I'd call it "head-twisty" rather than readable; challenging, even. Henry Treece wrote a number of good gritty children's books about the Romans in Britain, particularly around the time of Boudicca (The Bronze Sword, Legions of the Eagle and so on). Quite a few King Arthur books have the fading Roman empire in them - Parke Godwin's and Mary Stewart's, both good, spring to mind.

Colleen McCullogh has an epic series (I think at least 5 very thick books) set in Caesar's Rome that I have not yet had time for, and she's also a hit-and-miss author for me.

(roving book recommender, hope you don't mind)

[the_rck]

Bradshaw's got several books that might qualify. I know there's one about Cleopatra's son (I'm just blanking on the title). There are others that center on Constantinople if you don't mind later Roman Empire.

[the_rck]

There's Barbara Hambly's Search the Seven Hills (aka The Quirnal Hill Affair).

Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove wrote a time travel book called Household Gods.

At least one of the stories in Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (or in its sequel, Rewards and Fairies) is set in Roman Britain.

I know there are other books I could recommend. It's just early here and before my morning caffeine, so the titles are escaping me. (And I might be wrong in thinking that there are more, but a lot of the history I know comes from fiction, and I know I've read a good bit about Rome.)

[anderson-t.livejournal.com]

Hadrian's Wall by William Dietrich.

I just recently read Pompeii and Imperium by Robert Harris, because I'm thinking of making a manga set during the eruption.

Oh, and here is a bit of Minami Megumu, because you know, when it comes to history, she is everyones friend: Roman Combat (http://gynocrat.com/gal.jpg)

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March. Epistolary novel, set in Rome obviously, and lots of fun.

Will *not* say The Last Days of Pompeii or Quo Vadis cause those are about the 19th century, not Rome, fun though they are. ^_^ I suppose Graves and Davis are about the 20th century, not Rome, but it shows less from here.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I APPROVE.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Mary Renault.