Can Anyone Recommend any books on Rome?

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• Flashy Vic Posts: 782

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  22/01/09 - 21:32 #2

  trec123 wrote: »

  I'd like to read something that's written in an interesting way about some of the history of Rome, or, failing that, something fictional that's set in Rome.
  Can anyone recommend anything?...I'm thinking of taking a break there soon and want to get in the mood and set the scene!!
  Thanks, in advance.

  
  Lindsay Davis' 'Marcus Didius 'Falco' novels set in Rome in Vespasian's reign, aren't bad.
  He's an 'informer' or agent who does dirty work for the Imperial palace & some private work too.
  
  There's dozens of them out there.
  But its best to start the series at the beginning, which i think is the 'Silver Pigs'.

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• loppytart Posts: 986

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  22/01/09 - 22:23 #3

  Colleen Muculloch (spelling!) who wrote the Thorn Birds also wrote an excellent series called Rome. They are very long and detailed, but she was a scholar in ancient history, so they are also very accurate. I've read the first 2 and I really enjoyed them.
  
  There are a couple of really good 'coffee table' books about as well, with lots of pictures and details accompanying them, which will give you ideas of what to see whilst there and a brief history of what you're seeing. I'd just pop into your local waterstones and have a flick through til you find something that grabs you. Collosseum by peter connolly is a good one.
  hth!

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 191

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  23/01/09 - 01:18 #4

  Flashy Vic wrote: »

  Lindsay Davis' 'Marcus Didius 'Falco' novels set in Rome in Vespasian's reign, aren't bad.
  He's an 'informer' or agent who does dirty work for the Imperial palace & some private work too.
  
  There's dozens of them out there.
  But its best to start the series at the beginning, which i think is the 'Silver Pigs'.

  
  First ones i thought of. I love this series only read the first 5 but looking forward to the rest

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• wombat79 Posts: 1,157

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  23/01/09 - 08:07 #5

  Well, I've got to recommend I, Claudius by Robert Graves, and its sequel Claudius the God, about the Roman emperors from Augustus to, well, Claudius . Graves was a Classicist and based these books on a Roman author called Suetonius, who had access to the Imperial family's archives and letters, so they're filled with loads of gossip and scandal, as well as being quite authentic (depending on if you believe the scandal!). You could always read the original - Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars, but Graves' books are an easier read, and he's an excellent writer. The Julio-Claudians make the Borgias look like amateurs

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• sotek Posts: 3,246

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  23/01/09 - 09:48 #6

  Steven Saylor and the Roma Sub Rosa series is also worth a look. It is entirely fictional (albeit well written and well researched) but set around actual events in Rome. Nice way to get a perspective on Rome without limiting yourself to works of non-fiction.

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• discokandi Posts: 27

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  23/01/09 - 12:44 #7

  Angels & Demons by Dan Brown is set in Rome.

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• trec123 Posts: 4,419

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  23/01/09 - 14:20 #8

  Thank you all very much for your replies - I'm spoilt for choice now!
  I think I'll pop to Waterstones tomorrow and see if I can find any of those you've all mentioned.
  Thanks again - I always like to get a feel for places I'm visiting by reading about them beforehand:o:)

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• Brass Drag0n Posts: 5,046

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  23/01/09 - 14:39 #9

  If you want a good historical account of the early empire then Rubicon by Tom Holland is a pretty good read.
  
  Although, not set in Rome - Simon Scarrow's "Eagle" series of books are very good (like the Sharpe books but with Roman legionnaires instead).
  
  If you want something really off the wall, then Romanitas by Sophia McDougall is worth checking out. It's set in the present but in a Roman Empire that never fell.

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