List of fiction set in ancient Rome

Historical novels arranged by the period of their setting

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]

• 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 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 swashbuckler about a disgraced legion, set in Hannibal's time.

Middle Republic (264–133 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. 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.
• "Salammbô", published 1977 by Gustave Flaubert. 240 BC. The novel is set before and during the Mercenary War, an uprising of mercenaries in the employ of Carthage in the 3rd century BC.
• "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.
• "Rome: Destroy Carthage", published 2013 by David Gibbins. 146 BC. The novel was written to promote the strategy game "Rome 2 Total War" and is set during the 3nd Punic War and covers the siege and utter destruction of Carthage.

Late Republic (after 132 BC)

• Viriato by João Aguiar (late 2nd, early 1st century BC, Viriathus)
• 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.
• Caesar, Antony 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
• The Last King: Rome's Greatest Enemy (2005) by
  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

Early/High Empire (27 BC to AD 192)

• Someday Never Comes by Mk Kayem^[2]
• An Imaginary Life by David Malouf. A fictional account of the poet Ovid's exile from Rome.
• The Last World by Christoph Ransmayr. Another Ovid-related novel.
• 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.
• Roma
  .
• Vespasian series by Robert Fabbri. The series details the early career and rise to power of Vespasian.