Ancient Rome Historical Fiction

Welcome to Saturnalia, the Roman festival renowned for wild displays of sensuality and vice. Servants become masters and masters become servants as rich and poor alike revel in the thrill of role-reversal and the joy of debauchery. A rich Roman woman allows two of her lovesick servants a night of pleasure with each other, as long as she can indulge her secret desire for shame by watching them.

Helius, Nero's most trusted advisor, anticipates the death of his sworn enemy, the legendary warrior Gallus Sergius Vitas, scheduled to die a gruesome death in the arena. However, the badly beaten man who appears in the amphitheater is not who he seems. Rescued by a stranger and given a mysterious scroll, Vitas is told that he must decipher this letter to find the answers he needs. It is a letter that Helius is also determined to decipher and to keep hidden from Nero.

Rome, 133 BC. Gaius Marius is back from war in the West. They fought for the peace and prosperity of Rome, but the legions return to find the Eternal City far less peaceful and prosperous than they had hoped. People are starving, homelessness abounds, war after war has overtaxed the legions. And the revolutionary tribune, Tiberius Gracchus, thinks he has a solution for everything. Political parties are developing, the people are up in arms, the senate is enraged. And Tiberius is at the center of it all.

The final, gripping, instalment in "The Invincibles series". Octavian has revenged Caesar's name, and defeated the pirate Sextus Pompeius, but now he must ensure his complete rule of Rome. He feels the potential of betrayal around every corner: from his wife Livia, to his best friends and allies Maecenas and Agrippa. He needs heirs, and he needs security, but he has the shadow of Mark Anthony breathing down his neck from Egypt.

Elissa Rubria Honoria is a Vestal Virgin - priestess of the sacred flame, a visionary, and one of the most powerful women in Rome. Vestals are sacrosanct, sworn to chastity on penalty of death, but the emperor, Nero, holds himself above the law. He pursues Elissa, engaging her in a deadly game of wits and sexuality. Or is Elissa really the pursuer?

History awaits an unsuspecting young man, fleeing the imperial capital and Nero's wrath. Arriving in Pompeii, Marcellus witnesses the funeral of a local man; the course of his life will be altered by this stranger's death. Unable to stop the murder of a mysterious woman named Helen, Marcellus becomes the caretaker of the dead woman's newborn baby. Hiding in plain sight at a brothel, Marcellus is left to decipher Helen's secrets. With the help of his overbearing servant and a seductive oracle, Marcellus must deduce who in Pompeii has blood on their hands.

Caesar is dead. Revenge has armed his hand. His name is Octavian. Though little more than a boy, Octavian, Caesar's heir is determined to avenge his adoptive father's death. Battling against some of Rome's most imposing political figures, Octavian surrounds himself with a group of loyal allies who are as determined as himself to succeed: Maecenas, Agrippa and Rufus. They become known and feared as the 'Invincibles'; dedicated to vengeance, with the aim of punishing, one by one, all those who have Caesar's blood on their hands.

Despite his young age, Octavian is already a consul. Yet his position is not yet consolidated, and he is yet to carry out his plans for revenge upon the murderers of his beloved adoptive father Julius Caesar. He makes powerful allies in Mark Antony and Lepidus with whom he forms a powerful triumvirate, and unleashes upon the streets of Rome a reign of terror. Soon two great armies, led by four renowned commanders, stand ready to clash in Macedonia, far from the city of Rome and its corruption.

After saving the Empire's richest province from a foreign army, Marcus and the men who protect him have been in hiding. Their lives will be forfeit if they are seen in Rome. But times have changed. Marcus's protector, the patrician legion commander Scaurus, has been summoned home by his mentor, a powerful senator who has decided he must act to save the empire from its debauched ruler's reign of terror. Rome is a hotbed of conspiracy and treachery and the senator is not the only contender for power. The emperor himself plans to destroy those he mistrusts, and no-one is safe.

Loyalty to your people. Loyalty to Rome. Only one can remain... Centurion Faustus Valerianus has already proven his bravery and skill, marching alongside Julius Agricola for six gruelling years to conquer the north of Britain. But that was just the beginning... With Agricola back in Rome, Faustus is given a new mission: to journey to Hibernia with exiled Irish prince Tuathal Techtmar and help him reclaim his rightful throne.

It is July, 67 AD. The brutal, 47-day siege of the rebel stronghold of Jotapata, in Galilee, has ended. The Roman armies of Vespasian destroyed the city and captured the leader of the resistance, Josephus ben Matthias. While being interrogated by the Roman commanding general, Josephus makes a bold prediction; Nero’s reign grows short and, in time, Vespasian himself will rise to become emperor. Intrigued, while also viewing the Jewish general as a great source of intelligence, Vespasian spares his life. He then unleashes a hell storm of fury upon the rest of Galilee and Judea itself.

Before Julius Caesar ruled Rome, his uncle Gaius Marius was the most powerful man in the eternal city. Once a provincial nobody with a ruined family, Marius only had one way to power: the sword. Years later, he writes to his protege Quintus Sertorius, explaining to him how he rose through the ranks of the Roman legion to become the most powerful man in the Republic. He wants to encourage and inspire the young man but gets lost in the retelling of his first experience of war, love, and killing.

101 A.D. Emperor Trajan, the heralded new Caesar of the Roman Empire, seeks to reverse 15 years of humiliating losses for Rome in wars against Dacia and its brilliant military leader King Decebal. To punish Dacia and Decebal, Trajan launches an invasion of Dacia with the largest army ever assembled in the history of Rome.

Anna Padula embarks on her third trip to Europe along with her brother Rocco. They have longed to revisit their father's home country of Italy to fully explore its rich heritage and hopefully feel his spirit. While visiting the Roman ruins, Anna begins to feel strange sensations whenever she is near any of the ancient structures, especially the Pantheon and the temples on Palatine Hill.

It is the time of Saturnalia, the most highly-anticipated festival across the whole of the Roman Empire. In the ancient city of Rome, citizens and slaves are preparing to honour the gods and to enjoy a time of freedom and revelry among family and friends. Saturnalia truly is the best of days for all!

Europe, 998 AD. Galen and Alcuin have finally escaped the clutches of the Moors. Now they're adrift in an unsettled continent where invasions, cults, plagues, drought and the looming millennium have upset the world order. Do these two young monks have what it takes to fulfil Alcuin's promise to get to Rome? The journey over the Pyrenees and across the Mediterranean isn't even the greatest challenge. Galen needs to decide whether he's a saint. Can he find the answer amongst the people he meets or will he have to look deeper within himself to find the truth?

Two boys appeal to the famed Roman oracle for a glimpse into their future, and the Sybil draws an omen of death. As they flee from the cave in fear, Aulus and Lucius make an oath of loyalty until death - one that will be tested in the years to come. Thirty years on and Aulus, now Rome's most successful general, faces his toughest battle. Barbarian rebels have captured his wife and are demanding the withdrawal of Roman legions from their land. It is unthinkable for Aulus to agree, and he fears she must be forfeit for Rome.

Hannibal Barca moved through the countryside burning, looting, and attracting recruits and supplies from disgruntled city residents and tribesmen. Cornelius Scipio remained with the forward Legions, taking any position available. It spoke well of his loyalty, but his actions hid a deeper secret. Cornelius feared the Scipio men would be accused of being cowards. Jace Kasia had no family but had a goal to be recognized as a Cretan archer. On the banks of Lake Trasimene, he earned the position of File Leader.

Rome - The Rise and Fall is designed as a bitesize, concise but easy-to-listen retelling of what happened to one of the greatest empires in history. The Roman Empire began with a boy named Romulus and ended with a boy named Romulus. Between the years 753 BCE and 476 CE, this magnificent empire rose in might, but died in misery. This story is derived from the narrations of the ancient writers who themselves were eyewitnesses and it draws upon the myths that invigorated the Roman spirit.

It is a world of power and privilege, secrets and sacred duty. It is the world of ancient Rome. And it is the esteemed Vestal Virgins - priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the home and hearth - who protect the Eternal Flame that protects the Eternal City. Dedicated to a 30-year vow of chaste service, Priestess Pomponia finds herself swept up in the intrigue, violence, wars, and bedroom politics of Rome’s elite - Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian and his maneuvering wife, Livia - all the while guarding the secret affection she has in her heart.