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Hey all.
New to studying the period, and this site is an amazing resource. Already have more than enough suggestions for the best starter books for learning about the Roman Army and ancient history. Would love to hear thoughts on the most historically accurate (and least cheesy) novels about Rome in general and the Roman army in particular. Any period of Roman history is fine.
Thanks!
brian english
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Sidebottom's trilogy centering on the semi-mythical Ballista (semi mythical in that what we know about him comes mainly from the SHA - he definitely existed however) is excellent!!!!
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In what way 'accurate'? Dealing with historical figures and events or accurate in detail?
My personal favourite is Wallace Breem's 'Eagle in the Snow'.
Possibly the least cheesy book ever written.
"Medicus" Matt Bunker
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You can hardly do better than SPQR VI: NOBODY LOVES A CENTURION. A work of rare genius, taking place at the outset of Caesar's war in Gaul. Impeccably accurate as well as compelling. I forget the author's name.
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I've always found S. Scarrow's series a good read! I've almost finished the 5th book in the series and can't wait till I can get my hands on the 6th.
Quote:You can hardly do better than SPQR VI: NOBODY LOVES A CENTURION. A work of rare genius, taking place at the outset of Caesar's war in Gaul. Impeccably accurate as well as compelling. I forget the author's name.
That sounds very interesting! I shall be looking out for that.
- Lorenzo/Virilis
Lorenzo Perring Mattiassi
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Quote:You can hardly do better than SPQR VI: NOBODY LOVES A CENTURION. A work of rare genius, taking place at the outset of Caesar's war in Gaul. Impeccably accurate as well as compelling. I forget the author's name.
Sounds very interesting indeed! I'll be on the lookout too!
i hope you can recall the authors name.:wink:
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
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Byron Angel
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Simmon Scarrow is TERRIBLE!!! All of his dialogue is modern, stolen from popularized Hollywood movies. Scarrow doesn't even come close to exploring the actual culture of Rome or the Legions, giving the book a very shallow sense of the period he's writing in. You could transplant the two main characters into any period and they would fit because of this.
I would recommend Colleen McCullough, and "The Masters of Rome" series.
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Magnus/Matt
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I thinks most of the novels of this genre are going to be lacking in some way. I enjoyed Damion Hunter's Centurion series. The first book, The Centurions, is the best of the three, Barbarian Princess and The Emperor's Games are the other two. I enjoyed the description of life of the Roman Army of the Flavian period.
in slightly different genre Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset is the best Arthurian novel I've ever read; there is no round table, no Merlin, no magic, it is the story of a Dark Age warrior at the head of his mounted companions battling to hold back the darkness engulfing post Roman Britain.
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01-24-2011, 05:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-08-2015, 12:05 AM by Nathan Ross.)
George Shipway's 'Imperial Governor', recommended on this board before, is a pretty solid and detailed account of the Boudicca revolt from the point of view of Suetonius Paulinus. There's one major outbreak of cheese - a scene of bizarre chariot-sex involving Cartimandua, of all people (what is it with these 'military' novelists and female characters?) - but if you can overlook that, the rest's very good.
On non-military topics, Graves' 'I Claudius' and 'Claudius the God' are classics. Likewise Marguerite Yourcenar's 'Memoirs of Hadrian', and is about as far from cheese as you can get. I like Mario de Carvalho's 'A God Strolling in the Cool of Evening', which concerns the siege of a provincial city in Spain, but is mainly about the interactions of the city residents.
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
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Quote:Simmon Scarrow is TERRIBLE!!! All of his dialogue is modern, stolen from popularized Hollywood movies. Scarrow doesn't even come close to exploring the actual culture of Rome or the Legions, giving the book a very shallow sense of the period he's writing in. You could transplant the two main characters into any period and they would fit because of this.
I would recommend Colleen McCullough, and "The Masters of Rome" series.
I do get what you mean in a way, but the modern dialogue, for me, makes the characters more believable, especially the slang, I just think that it's an attempt to portray 'vulgar latin' in English, not to popularise it. I do think that the culture of Rome should be explored more to a degree, but it's just a matter of getting into the series. Personally, I can't put the books down - but books, as a rule, are things of personal preference.
I've never got my hands on any of Colleen McCullough books, however, I should give them a read, really.
Lorenzo Perring Mattiassi
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For non-military (albeit the military are never far away!) you could try Lindsey Davies' Marcus Didius Falco books and Steven Saylor's Roma Sub-Rosa books. I also liked the recent Wounds of Honour and Arrows of Fury books by Anthony Riches.
Sulla Felix
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Rober Harris' 'Imperium' and 'Lustrum' (first parts of what I suspect will end up as a trilogy of the dramatised life of MT Cicero) are excellent. Captures the era and the politics very well.
I agree on Scarrow - about as 'period' as Sharpe was. I have just read a much better one (borrowed it) whose title and author I cannot remember - about the son of an important Roman declared a traitor who is hiding out in a cohort on Hadrians wall. He does at least capture the experience of being in the military much better.
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My favourite is Gore Vidal`s "Julian". You should also try Mika Waltari`s (the author of "Sinuhe the Egyptian") "The Etruscan". I liked it very much, especially the "thundering of immortality" in the ears of the main character. A very athmospheric novel. He was, after all, a "Lukumo"  ...
Virilis / Jyrki Halme
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Quote:a much better one (borrowed it) whose title and author I cannot remember - about the son of an important Roman declared a traitor who is hiding out in a cohort on Hadrians wall. He does at least capture the experience of being in the military much better.
That's Anthony Riches, mentioned by Barry above. It was good actually - he gives a very authentic feel to his descriptions. Agreed on Vidal's 'Julian' too - I forgot that one...
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
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I love the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts as well as the Roma series by Steven Saylor although they cover more the civic life instead of the army.
As for gladiators I love the two novels by James Duffy which I found very accurate. These were planed as a trilogy but were dropped after only two volumes 
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