By Frank Miller

An emperor amasses an army of hundreds of thousands, drawn from two continents, to invade a third continent and conquer a tiny, divided nation. Only a few hundred warriors stand against them. Yet the tiny nation is saved. It sounds like the plot of a preposterous fantasy novel. It is historical fact. In 481–480 B.C., King Xerxes of Persia raised forces in Asia and Africa and invaded Greece with an army so huge that it "drank rivers dry." Then they entered the mountain pass of Thermopylae and encountered 300 determined soldiers from Sparta.

By Morgan Llywelyn

Remaining on the virtually abandoned island of Britannia after centuries of Roman rule, two cousins pursue very different efforts to unite disparate tribes and factions, including throne-seeking Dinas and reluctant leader Cadogan.

By Conn Iggulden
Series Emperor

One of history’s most notorious assassinations sets the stage for a riveting tale of political intrigue, epic battle, and righteous retribution in a new novel of ancient Rome.

By Jean M. Auel
Series Earth's Children
Recommended By Lakshmi Kasturi, Library Clerk, Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian

An injured and orphaned infant carries within her the seed and hope of mankind in this epic of survival and destiny set at the dawn of prehistory.

Became the movie: Clan of the Cave Bear.

By Robert Harris
Series Cicero Trilogy
Recommended By Barney Levantino, Reference Librarian

“A second installment in the trilogy that began with Imperium finds powerful and brilliant politician Cicero struggling with the high human cost of agendas gone terribly wrong (From the Publisher).”

By Agatha Christie

It is Egypt in 2000 BC, at the foot of a cliff lies the broken, twisted body of Nofret, concubine to a ka-priest. The priest's daughter Renisenb believes that the woman's death is suspicious. Increasingly, she becomes convinced that the source of evil lurks within their household

By W. Bruce Cameron

Years after an ice age tribe leader tames a hungry wolf, a boy shunned from his people for his disability forges an inseparable bond with a wolf cub who helps him to survive in an enemy-controlled, environmentally extreme world.

By Alice Hoffman

A tale inspired by the tragic first-century massacre of hundreds of Jewish people at Masada presents the stories of a hated daughter, a baker's wife, a girl disguised as a warrior, and a medicine woman who keep doves and secrets while Roman soldiers draw near.

By Michael Crichton
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager

“An ambassador of the tenth-century Caliph of Bagdad is carried off by the Norsemen to endure, for three years, the harshness of their way of life and the creatures that terrorize them (From the Publisher).”

By Rebecca Kanner

After becoming the Queen of Persia, Esther must find the strength within to violate the king’s law, risk her life, and save her Jewish people.

By Colleen McCullough

When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth.

By Steven Pressfield

Chronicles the battle of three hundred Spartan warriors against a huge force of Persian soldiers in 480 B.C. against the background of life in ancient Sparta and its extraordinary culture.

By Caroline B. Cooney

Taken from her home on an Aegean island as a six-year-old girl, Anaxndra calls on the protection of her goddess while she poses as two different princesses over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.

By Margaret George
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

Married at a tender age to the remote Spartan king Menelaus, the beautiful Helen bears him a daughter and anticipates a passionless marriage in spite of her divine origins before falling in love with the Trojan prince Paris, with whom she flees to Troy, with devastating consequences.

By Robert Harris
Series Cicero
Recommended By Barney Levantino, Reference Librarian

"Harris returns to ancient Rome for this entertaining and enlightening novel of Marcus Cicero's rise to power. Narrated by a household slave named Tiro… (From Publishers Weekly)."

By Harry Sidebottom
Series Warrior of Rome

A.D. 255: The Roman imperium is stretched to the breaking point, its authority and might challenged throughout the territories and along every border. One man is sent to marshal the defenses of a lonely city and to shore up the crumbling walls of a once indomitable symbol of Roman power, a man whose very name means war, a man called Ballista.

By Marion Zimmer Bradley
Recommended By Jessikah Chautin, Community Engagement Specialist

“Here is the magical legend of King Arthur, vividly retold through the eyes and lives of the women who wielded power from behind the throne. A spellbinding novel… (From the Publisher).”

By Robert Harris
Recommended By Barney Levantino, Reference Librarian

“When the aqueduct that brings fresh water to thousands of people around the bay of Naples fails, Roman engineer Marius Primus heads to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius to investigate, only to come face to face with an impending catastrophe (From the Publisher).”

By Anita Diamant

An inspired reimagining of the female experience in Biblical times.

By Steven Saylor
Series Rome

Spanning a thousand years, and following the shifting fortunes of two families though the ages, this is the epic saga of Rome, the city and its people.

By Geraldine Brooks
Recommended By Audrey Honigman, Library Clerk
With Jean Simpson, Readers' Services Librarian

Tuesday, March 28, 2017. 1:30 PM.

Based on the story of King David, traces his journey from an obscure shepherd to a hero and king before his fall.

Composed in medieval England by an unknown poet and set in what were (even then) the old days of King Arthur, the tale begins when a magical warrior with green skin and green hair interrupts the Christmas party at Camelot with a bizarre challenge which Sir Gawain accepts.

Became the movie: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

By James Michener
Recommended By Ed Goldberg, Head of Reference

An archaeological excavation of Tell Makor initiates a journey into the ancient history and culture of Israel that explores the life of the early Hebrews, the impact of Christianity, the Spanish inquisition, and the modern Middle East conflict.

By Ben Kane

Returning to his village after escaping the Roman army, Spartacus is betrayed by his jealous king and forced into life as a gladiator before executing a daring overthrow and assuming leadership over an army of escaped slaves.

By Natalie Haynes
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager

A retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of its women follows the stories of a vigil–keeping Penelope, an Amazon princess rival of Achilles, and three goddesses whose feud sparks a tragic conflict.

By Simon Scarrow
Series Cato

It is the year 42 AD, and Centurion Macro, battle-scarred and fearless, is in the heart of Germany with the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army. Cato, a new recruit and the newly appointed second-in-command to Macro, will have more to prove than most.