STEVEN’S BOOKSHOP/USA

NOVELS ABOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD

Special Fiction Bookshelves:

Greece

Troy

Roman Britain

Hannibal & Carthage

Attila

Cleopatra

Alexander

Classic Novels

Mystery

Sci-Fi/ Fantasy

Younger Readers

Recent Arrivals & Backlist:

	LAVINIA by Ursula K. LeGuin Before the Trojan warrior Aeneas founded Rome, he took the daughter of King Latinus to be his wife. “Deserves to be ranked with I, Claudius.” (Publishers Weekly)		DARK NORTH by Gillian Bradshaw The tale of Memnon, an Ethiopian warrior in the service of emperor Septimius Severus in Britain. To see Bradshaw’s other ancient world novels, click here.
	TYRANT by Christian Cameron After fighting for Alexander, Kineas becomes a mercenary for the Tyrant of Olbia on the Black Sea, where he encounters danger, love, and the intervention of the gods.		EMPEROR AND GALILEAN by Henrik Ibsen Ibsen’s epic 10-act play about Julian, the last Pagan emperor, is a “gargantuan masterpiece” (Booklist).
	VOYAGE OF THE SNAKE LADY by Theresa Tomlinson After Troy falls, Myrina builds the Moon Riders into a potent band of warrior women. But the son of Achilles is bent on revenge. Sequel to The Moon Riders.		THE EAGLE AND THE RAVEN by Pauline Gedge Gigantic novel of Boudicca and Caradoc spans three turbulent generations in Roman Britain; foreward by Donna Gillespie.
	THE HEADLONG GOD OF WAR by Jon Edward Martin A novel of ancient Greece and the battle of Marathon by the author of In Kithairon’s Shadow and Shades of Artemis.		ANTONY & CLEOPATRA by Colleen McCullough The epic Masters of Rome series continues with history’s most famous love story. To see all titles in the series, click here.
	SOLDIER OF ROME: THE SACROVIR REVOLT by James Mace Militaryman Mace brings a professional soldier’s sensibility to this novel of Tiberius’s legions; a sequel to The Legionary.		SOUL FLAME by Barbara Wood Healer Selene travels from Antioch to Persia, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Nero’s Rome. Is she the granddaughter of Caesar and Cleopatra? By the author of Daughter of the Sun.
	GREEK FIRE by Clara Rising A novel of Pericles, the birth of democracy in Athens, and the struggle with Persia. Read an excerpt.		ANTIGONE’S WAKE by Nicholas Nicastro The playwright Sophocles becomes a general in the imperial Athens of Pericles. By the author of The Isle of Stone: A Novel of Ancient Sparta.
	THE FIGHT FOR ROME by James Duffy 68 A.D.: The emperor is dead, the throne is up for grabs, and Taurus the gladiator finds himself in the thick of it. A sequel to Sand of the Arena.		EMPIRE RISING by Sam Barone Barbarians and Egyptian intrigue threaten the rising city of Akkad on the Tigris at the dawn of civilization. Sequel to Dawn of Empire.
	THE QUEST by Wilbur Smith is the latest in the bestselling author’s series of historical thrillers set in ancient Egypt. Previous titles, in order: River God • The Seventh Scroll • Warlock		THE UNCERTAIN HOUR by Jesse Browner In 66 A.D., under pressure from Nero to commit suicide, the cultured aristocrat Petronius (author of The Satyricon) hosts a sumptuous banquet.

	NOVELS OF ROMAN BRITAIN & HOMER’S GREECE by Rosemary Sutcliff Originally marketed to younger readers, Sutcliff’s books have become beloved classics of the historical genre. Her stories set in ancient Roman Britain include The Mark of the Horse Lord, the story of a gladiator who impersonates a king • the million-copy bestseller The Eagle of the Ninth (available on audio cd) and its sequel The Silver Branch • The Outcast, about a Roman boy brought up by a British tribe • The Lantern Bearers, set in post-Roman Britain, and its sequel, Sword at Sunset, the tale of King Arthur’s rise. Sutcliff also retold the tales of Homer in Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus.
	Simon Scarrow chronicles the adventures of centurion Macro and callow legionnaire Cato beginning with the Roman invasion of Britain, with brazen tales of military adventure, political intrigue, and heroism. The series, in order: Under the Eagle • The Eagle’s Conquest • When the Eagle Hunts • The Eagle and the Wolves • The Eagle’s Prey • The Eagle’s Prophecy • The Eagle in the Sand • Centurion
	The Fall of Rome is the most ambitious novel yet by Michael Curtis Ford. His previous books: The Ten Thousand, about the epic struggles of Xenophon and the Spartan mercenaries stranded in Persia; Gods and Legions, a passionate account of the emperor Julian (compare to Gore Vidal’s classic Julian); The Last King, the saga of Mithridates the Great, rival of Rome; and The Sword of Attila, set against the twilight years of Rome’s Empire.
	The classic novels of Alfred Duggan include Three’s Company, a novel of the struggle between Octavian and Antony as seen by the third man in the Triumvirate, Lepidus. Winter Quarters follows the far-flung adventures of two Gauls in the Roman legions, including Crassus’s Parthian campaign. Conscience of the King and The Little Emperors are set in turbulent Roman Britain. Family Favourites is about the scandalous emperor Elagabalus.
	Imperium by Robert Harris Cicero’s tumultuous career in the Roman courts and political arena is recounted by his private secretary, Tiro. In Pompeii, the bestselling author of Fatherland and Archangel recreates an opulent world on the brink of disaster. Read Harris’s piece on “The Lost Library of Rome” in the Sunday Times.

Valerio Massimo Manfredi created an international sensation with The Alexander Trilogy: Child of a Dream, The Sands of Ammon & The Ends of the Earth. The Italian author’s other novels of the ancient world: The Last Legion (now a motion picture), about the destiny of Rome’s last emperor, the boy Romulus Augustus. • Spartan, the story of two brothers (one a warrior, the other born lame) in the harsh city-state of Sparta. • The Talisman of Troy, in which the Greek warrior Diomedes journeys to Italy after the Trojan War. • Tyrant, the tale of Dionysius of Syracuse and his epic war with Carthage. • Empire of Dragons, in which Roman soldiers journey to China to help a prince regain his throne. Manfredi has also written modern-day archaeological thrillers. In The Oracle, macabre murders in modern Greece are linked to a legendary hero of the Trojan War — a mystery man over 3000 years old. In The Tower (filmed as Tower of the Firstborn), archaeologists discover a lost city in the desert that holds a terrifying secret for all mankind.

	THE CLEFT by Doris Lessing In the Nobel winner’s latest, an old Roman senator retells the origin of humanity, beginning with the Clefts, a community of women living in a coastal wilderness...		AGE OF BRONZE: BETRAYAL by Eric Shanower Graphic novel continues the epic story of the Trojan war. Previous volumes: A Thousand Ships and Sacrifice.
	THE AFGHAN CAMPAIGN by Steven Pressfield Alexander the Great invades the Afghan kingdoms in 330 B.C. By the author of The Virtues of War, Gates of Fire, Tides of War, & Last of the Amazons. Also on audio cd.		DREAMING THE SERPENT SPEAR by Manda Scott Climax to an epic series about the warrior queen Boudica. Preceding volumes: Dreaming the Eagle • Dreaming the Bull • Dreaming the Hound.
	LADY OF THE LIGHT by Donna Gillespie Sequel to The Light Bearer follows a bold heroine in the age of Nero. “Historical fiction for adrenaline junkies: the pace is furious, the action ferocious, the suspense unrelenting.” (PW)		IN THE SHAPE OF A BOAR by Lawrence Norfolk “An epic achievement...stitching together classical Greek culture and modern barbarism.” (SF Chronicle) By the author of Lemprière’s Dictionary.
	FIRE AND BRONZE by Robert Raymond A Phoenician princess flees from Tyre to found the city of Carthage and become the legendary Queen Dido.		EPICURUS THE SAGE by William Messner-Loebs & Sam Keith Offbeat graphic novel spoofs ancient Greek philosopers and myth, featuring 8-year-old Alexander the not-yet-Great.
	THE EAGLE by Jack Whyte The concluding volume of The Camulod Chronicles, the story of King Arthur set against the backdrop of the Roman and Celtic struggle for Britain.		SWORDS OF ROME Vol. 1: The Conquerors by Dufaux & Delaby Graphic novel vividly depicts the decadence and debauchery of Nero’s bloody reign.
	SONGS ON BRONZE by Nigel Spivey Cambridge classicist Spivey retells the stories of Greek myth, from the creation of the world to the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus.		THE QUEST FOR THE LOST ROMAN LEGIONS by Tony Clunn In 9 A.D., three Roman legions vanished in the Teutoburg Forest. Clunn combines on-site explorations with a fictional reconstruction of the ambush.
	PILATE’S WIFE by Antoinette May From her privileged place in Roman society, Claudia Procula views the doings of madmen, emperors, and prophets.		PILATE’S WIFE by H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) The famous poet of the 1920s labored long on this unusual novel, in which Pilate’s wife plots to avert the crucifixion of Jesus.
	BOUDICA, QUEEN OF THE ICENI by Joseph E. Roesch Caught in a tragic web and trusting in ancient prophecy, Boudica raises the Britons in a bloody revolt against the merciless legions of Nero.		EMPEROR: The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden concludes the saga of Julius Caesar. Previous titles in the series: The Gates of Rome • The Death of Kings • The Field of Swords • Iggulden’s new series begins with Genghis: Birth of an Empire.
	DAUGHTER OF THE CROCODILE by Duncan Sprott continues the epic story of Greco-Egyptian royal dynasty that ended with Cleopatra. Volume I: The Ptolemies.		THE NERO PREDICTION by Humphry Knipe When Rome ruled the world, astrology ruled Rome. Nero’s secretary battles the prediction that he will murder the musical messiah.
	THE MEMOIRS OF HELEN OF TROY by Amanda Elyot In middle age, Helen writes her autobiography for her daughter, Hermione, revealing how she became the notorious Helen of Troy.		HELEN OF TROY by Margaret George The epic story of the Spartan princess, by the bestselling author of Mary, Called Magdalene, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, and Memoirs of Cleopatra.
	MEMNON by Scott Oden The Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes dares to oppose Alexander the Great. By the author of Men of Bronze.		MEN OF BRONZE by Scott Oden In 526 B.C., the decadent kingdom of Egypt faces threats and intrigue from Greeks, Persians, and Phoenicians. By the author of Memnon.
	DRUIDS by Morgan Llywelyn Panoramic novel of the Celtic culture and Druidic rites of the Gauls, and the struggle of their warlord Vercingertorix against Caesar. Sequel: The Greener Shore.		THE DRUID KING by Norman Spinrad SciFi master turns to historical epic with the tale of Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls against Julius Caesar. Spinrad wrote the screenplay for the movie now on DVD.
	AUGUSTUS by Allan Massie The fictional memoir of one of history’s most famous, yet most elusive, figures. By the author of The Evening of the World.		AUGUSTUS by John Williams Winner of the National Book Award. “A masterpiece.” (LA Times) “An always engaging, psychologically convincing work of fiction.” (NY Times)
	FOLLOWING HADRIAN by Elizabeth Speller combines travelogue, biography and fictional memoir to recount the life of the emperor Hadrian, who ruled Rome at the peak of her power.		THE LABYRINTH by Catherynne Valente A surreal version of the myth of the Minotaur, featuring a female Theseus.
	THE EVENING OF THE WORLD by Allan Massie First in the Dark Ages Trilogy; a young nobleman witnesses barbarian onslaughts and the seedy splendors of Byzantium. Volume II: Arthur the King.		IN THE ARMY OF MARCUS BATALLIUS by David M. Ross When German barbarians threaten the northern frontier, emperor Marcus Aurelius sends legionary commander Batallius to build forts on the Rhine.
	THE YOUNG JULIAN by Thomas J. Hairston Grand-nephew of Constantine the Great, the eventual emperor Julian is stalked through his adolescence by a powerful cousin bent on his death.		JUSTINIAN by Basil Eleftheriou The greatest of Byzantine emperors reorganizes the decaying Roman empire in the East, and makes an ex-prostitute his wife and empress.
	MEMOIRS OF A BYZANTINE EUNUCH by Christopher Harris Castrated and enslaved, Zeno becomes the property of an eminent scholar and is ushered into the glittering court-life of Constantinople.		LEGION by William Altimari First Century military adventure follows the fortunes of a centurion who arrives in Gaul to train the raw recruits of the 25th Legion, just in time to face a massive barbarian invasion.
	THE FIRST HEROES: New Tales of the Bronze Age ed by Turtledove & Doyle 14 authors including Gene Wolfe, Poul Anderson, Judith Tarr, and S.M. Stirling set their tales in the age of Homer and Gilgamesh.		68 A.D. by D.G. Bellenger Valerian, son of the murdered emperor Galba, encounters intrigue, rebellion, and murder as he seeks his father’s assassins.
	THE LOVE-ARTIST by Jane Alison On the Black Sea coast, the poet Ovid encounters Xenia, a wild-eyed young woman who becomes his muse.		AN IMAGINARY LIFE by David Malouf In exile on the desolate Black Sea coast, the supremely urbane poet Ovid attempts to civilize a feral child.

THE MYTHS “A series of works that retell the great myths of the world is being released simultaneously in more than 30 countries, one of the largest synchronized publishing efforts ever...The publisher vows [the series] will eventually number more than 100.” (New York Times) • A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong • The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, a retelling of the myth of Penelope and Odysseus • Weight by Jeanette Winterson, updating the tale of Atlas and Herakles • The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus & the Minotaur by Victor Pelevin • Lion’s Honey by David Grossman, the story of Samson • Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Andrew McCall Smith

DIG IN! Archaeology Magazine combines worldwide archaeological findings with photography, specially rendered maps, drawings, and charts. Articles cover current excavations, recent discoveries, and special studies of ancient cultures. Regular features and departments include Timelines, news briefs, film and book reviews, current museum exhibits, The Forum, and two annual Travel Guides. Published six times a year by the Archaeological Institute of America.

	DOMITIA & DOMITIAN by David Corson Massive novel of the emperor whose reign saw the siege of Masada, the burying of Pompeii, and the opening of the Colosseum. • TRAJAN AND PLOTINA by David Corson The marriage of Trajan, the “perfect prince,” and the philosopher-empress Plotina raises Rome to new heights of grandeur.
	COMIC NOVELS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD by Tom Holt • No other author approaches the ancient world with the comic panache of Britain’s Tom Holt. A Song for Nero poses a stunner of a “what if” about the latter days of the notorious emperor. Alexander at the World’s End tells parallel tales of two Alexanders — one busy conquering the world, the other struggling to care for his own village. Olympiad uncovers fertile comedy in the first Olympic Games.
	NOVELS OF ANCIENT EGYPT by Richard A. Gabriel • Military scholar Gabriel turns to historical fiction with two epic novels of ancient Egypt: Warrior Pharaoh, and a sequel, Lion of the Sun. Both are chronicles of Thutmose III, Great Lion of Egypt, as told by Thaneni the Scribe. Also by Gabriel: Great Armies of Antiquity • Great Battles of Antiquity • Great Captains of Antiquity • The Military History of Ancient Israel
	THE SEA TRILOGY By Les Cole The Mediterranean world of the Bronze Age, dominated by Minoan Crete, is the unusual setting for a trilogy of epic adventure novels notable for the author’s meticulous research. The Sea Kings recounts the fortunes of Tanuati, a Minoan sea trader. Lion at Sea follows the far-flung travels of a young aristocrat who flees the wrath of King Minos. The trilogy concludes with The Sea Peoples.
	THE MASTERS OF ROME SERIES by Colleen McCullough chronicles in epic detail the same period as Steven’s Roma Sub Rosa series. The saga begins with The First Man in Rome and continues with The Grass Crown, Fortune’s Favorites, Caesar’s Women, Caesar, The October Horse, and the latest, Antony and Cleopatra.
	THE ROMAN TRILOGY by Benita Kane Jaro • Three interrelated but independent novels focus on the same period as Steven’s Roma Sub Rosa books: The Key, about the poet Catullus; The Lock, about Cicero; and The Door in the Wall, about Marcus Caelius, the quicksilver lover of Clodia, protege of Cicero, and betrayer of Caesar. John le Carre says Jaro possesses “a voice I can listen to, and an ear that hears right.”

PILATE & THE EARLY CHRISTIANS In the spirit of Quo Vadis?, The Robe, and The Silver Chalice, Paul Maier’s documentary-style novels include Pontius Pilate, about the Roman politician who made a fateful choice, and The Flames of Rome, set in Nero’s reign. In Memoirs of Pontius Pilate by James R. Mills, an exiled Pilate compiles his memoirs, thirty years after the death of Jesus. The immensely popular inspirational novels of Francine Rivers include her Mark of the Lion series set in Rome, Ephesus, and Israel in the 1st century A.D., about Hadassah, a young Jewess sold into slavery, Marcus, a Roman sated by decadent pleasures, and Atretes, a Germanic captive forced to become a gladiator: A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and As Sure as the Dawn.

Peter Huby is an artist, filmmaker, and writer with a special passion for the Ancient World. (At left: his sculpture Icarus & Daedalus.) The British polymath’s brief, potently charged novels offer insight into primal myth and tragedy. PASIPHAE The queen of Crete, consumed with passion for a white bull, turns for help to the inventor Daedalus. CARTHAGE The Roman siege of Carthage ends in a merciless orgy of fire, destruction, slaughter, and enslavement.

	THE EUNUCH NEFERU by Daniel Tegan Marsche In the 1st century B.C., an aging Roman general, smitten by a handsome peasant, takes the youth from his desert hovel to the marble halls of Alexandria.		CUTTER’S ISLAND by David Corson Short novel based on a seminal event of Caesar’s youth — his kidnapping by pirates. The same incident inspired Steven’s “Little Caesar and the Pirates” in The House of the Vestals.
	DOMINIC by Kathleen Robinson An orphaned Gaulish dwarf trains as an acrobat and tours the ancient world with a Greek circus troupe; a tale of unlikely heroism.		GAMES OF VENUS by Sylvia Shults Orphaned and sold into slavery, Camilla becomes the most sought-after courtesan in Pompeii. By the author of Golden Horus.
	DAUGHTER OF LAZARUS by Albert A. Bell, Jr. Lorcis, a female slave, witnesses the eruption of Vesuvius and the decadence of Domitian’s court. By the author of All Roads Lead to Murder.		CENTURION by Peter W. Mitsopoulos Centurion Glaxus Valtinius battles wild beasts, barbarians, and the incompetence of his own commander, whose carelessness threatens the survival of three legions.

Through a long and varied career, Gillian Bradshaw has become a prolific author of fiction set in the ancient world. What if young Caesarion, Cleopatra’s Heir, had not been killed after his mother’s demise? • In The Beacon at Alexandria, a young woman passes as a eunuch to study medicine in Alexandria. • The Sand-Reckoner charts the life of Archimedes, whose scientific genius created weapons of mass destruction. • There’s frontier intrigue in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall on the Island of Ghosts — foggy, barbaric Britannia. • Dark North is the tale of Memnon, an Ethiopian in the service of Septimius Severus in Britain. • In Render Unto Caesar, a young Alexandrian travels to Rome and encounters a female gladiator who is more than she seems. • Alchemy of Fire takes place in Constantinople in 672 AD, as a concubine hides her daughter’s royal origins. More titles: Horses of Heaven • Imperial Purple • The Bearkeeper’s Daughter.

HAIL SHAKESPEARE! Three Roman Plays by William Shakespeare If plays be fiction, then Shakespeare set the standard as the great historical novelist of Rome. Closely following the accounts of Plutarch, the Bard gave us the great play of politics and conspiracy, Julius Caesar; the great play of love and warfare, Antony & Cleopatra; and the tragedy of the hero-traitor of the early Roman Republic, Coriolanus. Click here to see the plays on DVD. Other Shakespeare plays set in the Ancient World: • Troilus & Cressida, about two lovers caught in the intrigues of the Trojan War. • Timon of Athens, the tale of a misanthrope in the Greece of Alcibiades. • Pericles, Prince of Tyre, inspired by the ancient Greek novel An Ephesian Tale; a story of shipwreck and mistaken identity that reaches a joyful climax at the Seventh Wonder of the World, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. • Titus Andronicus (famously filmed as Titus), the fictional tragedy of a Roman general inspired by Seneca’s bloody Thyestes, the rape of Philomel in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and the death of Verginia in Livy. • Cymbeline, set in Rome and Britain during the reign of Augustus. • The Comedy of Errors, a tangled tale of twins inspired by The Brothers Menaechmus by the Roman playwright Plautus • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in the enchanted woods outside the Athens of Theseus, with motifs from Ovid and The Golden Ass of Apuleius; forerunner of all subsequent fantasies set in the Classical World.