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All time favorite book

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My Top Ten in Roman Empire Fiction:

I, Claudius - Graves

Eagle in the Snow - Breem

Claudius the God - Graves

Eagle of the Ninth - Sutcliffe

The Light Bearer - Gillespie

Under the Eagle (#1 in Scarrow's series) - Scarrow

Sand of the Arena - Duffy

Eagle's Conquest (#2 Scarrow) - Scarrow

Fire in the East - Sidebottom

Fight for Rome - Duffy

Gladiatrix - Whitfield

 

(hmm...that would be my Top 11...I'm soooo Spinal Tap)

I never really liked Under The Eagle as much as some of the other books from the series. But I agree with the others you put up there, and I have been meaning to read Fire In the East for a long time.

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I thought I'd throw out my all-time top books list...not just Roman-focused...would love to see what others would bring on a desert island...

 

Top Ten Desert Island Books:

Aztec by Gary Jennings

Conquest of the Incas by John Hemming

Eagle in the Snow

I, Claudius

Ilium by Dan Simmons

Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham

Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

The Game by Ken Dryden

Jaws by Peter Benchley

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I thought I'd throw out my all-time top books list...not just Roman-focused...would love to see what others would bring on a desert island...

 

Top Ten Desert Island Books:

Aztec by Gary Jennings

Conquest of the Incas by John Hemming

Eagle in the Snow

I, Claudius

Ilium by Dan Simmons

Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham

Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

The Game by Ken Dryden

Jaws by Peter Benchley

 

Roman Empire(fiction)

I Claudius & Claudius the God Robert Graves

Roman Empire(history)

The Roman Society Ceza Alfoldi

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The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie - its up there with Eagle in the Snow

 

The Light Bearer is an awesome book. The detail is amazing and the plot keeps you going despite the length.

 

I read Steven Saylor, he is a gifted storyteller and I'm a fan of Quo Vadis. Pillars of the Earth by Caldwell also excellent despite its age.

 

Has anyone read Island of Ghosts, something like this? I've been meaning to look for it. I heard this was good and deals with Sarmatians in Roman times.

 

I've read Under the Eagle by Scarrow and liked it. I also read the Secundus Papyrus by Noyer, which is 5th century and closer to my heart and really enjoyed the mystery and the husband-wife team physicians as ancient detectives.

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The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie - its up there with Eagle in the Snow

 

Pillars of the Earth by Caldwell also excellent despite its age.

 

Actually by Ken Follet, but also of my favorite historical fictions of all time. Unfortunately, his relatively recent follow-up "World Without End" just didn't kind reach the same standard.

 

Has anyone read Island of Ghosts, something like this? I've been meaning to look for it. I heard this was good and deals with Sarmatians in Roman times.

 

Yes, it was well done. I believe it's one of those under the radar kind of books. It really should be more well known. Ironically though, I've never looked to read any of Gillian Bradshaw's other titles.

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Best Adult Fiction: I, Claudius

Best Young Adult Fiction: Eagle of the Ninth

Best Sequential Art: Asterix

Best Ancient Writer: The Twelve Caesars

 

Honestly, I recommend Suetonius to people before many other, more modern, books :)

 

:)

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My favorite Roman fiction novel is M. Yourcenar - Memoirs of Hadrian.

 

I've had this in my Amazon wishlist for a few months now.

 

How does it compare to I, Claudius?

 

I would say it's much more self-consciously 'literary' than I, Claudius. It took me several goes to get through it - and I'm not sure I felt any better for the experience - whereas I read I Claudius for the first time aged 13 and fell in love with it at once.

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I forgot to mention, "The Roman Empresses" by Robert Graves. My very first non-fiction(?) book about Rome.

 

Right now I'm on the third chapter of "Eagle in The Snow". Hey - no blood, guts, short sword thrusts or decapitations so far! Just when I was getting used to all that after finishing Scarrow's Under the Eagle series. :) Not to mention it is 400AD now.

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I forgot to mention, "The Roman Empresses" by Robert Graves. My very first non-fiction(?) book about Rome.

 

Right now I'm on the third chapter of "Eagle in The Snow". Hey - no blood, guts, short sword thrusts or decapitations so far! Just when I was getting used to all that after finishing Scarrow's Under the Eagle series. :) Not to mention it is 400AD now.

 

Hey - I remember thinking the same thing about "Eagle in the Snow"...took a little bit to reorient myself before I started to find myself staying up into the middle of the night to finish it...

 

J

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I read Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth recently - yes, a good book.

 

I had read Frontier Wolf some time ago, enjoyed it. I have sitting at home The Lost Eagles by Ralph Graves (published the year I was born, 1955) which I had started but put aside and need to finish. Can't give a judgment on that one yet - perhaps one of you has read it?

 

Any fans of 'Eagle Of the Ninth' here?

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I've read Holland's Rubicon early on in my ancient Roman reading and plan to read it again now that I really appreciate the topic. My favorite book to date is First Man in Rome. I'm on book 4 in the series and love them all. I'm also reading Everitt's Augustus and enjoy it immensely. I plan on getting I, Claudius next even though I've seen the BBC TV series. There's many more books on my list I'm going to read. I just can't get enough.

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Best Adult Fiction: I, Claudius

Best Young Adult Fiction: Eagle of the Ninth

Best Sequential Art: Asterix

Best Ancient Writer: The Twelve Caesars

 

Honestly, I recommend Suetonius to people before many other, more modern, books :)

 

:)

 

Nothing like reading the Kitty Kelley gossip book of its day....

 

:)

 

Seriously, I agree. It provides a good look into what a writer of the day found important.

 

For me, Meier's Caesar is superlative. It can be a bit dry, but its density really laid out Rome for me.

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I forgot to mention, "The Roman Empresses" by Robert Graves. My very first non-fiction(?) book about Rome.

 

Right now I'm on the third chapter of "Eagle in The Snow". Hey - no blood, guts, short sword thrusts or decapitations so far! Just when I was getting used to all that after finishing Scarrow's Under the Eagle series. :) Not to mention it is 400AD now.

I liked how it did that, as it was a nice change. Instead of just being combat, it includes a lot more about the storyline and situation the empire is in.

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