Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome by Adkins and Adkins

If you are thinking of writing Roman historical fiction and want to know about Roman names, dates, towns, travel, religion, and everyday life, then this is the first book you should buy. It will tell you almost anything you want to know about life in ancient Rome. It is illustrated by plenty of clear maps, diagrams and black and white illustrations. Make this your first purchase if you want to be another Steven Saylor or Lindsey Davis!

Gladiators and Caesars: The Power Spectacle in Ancient Rome

This is the best reference book about gladiators that I have discovered so far. Clearly written, beautifully illustrated, published by the British Museum and with Ralph Jackson's supervision of the English edition, it is surely the definitive work on gladiators. This large format book also has some very useful sections on the ancient theatre, Roman chariot races, and Greek athletic competitions in Rome. My gladiator re-enactor friends first recommended it to me, and they were right!

ROME in Spectacular Cross Section by Stephen Biesty

Think 'Where's Wally' meets the Roman Mysteries... If you've ever had trouble imagining some of the scenes in my stories, look no further than this excellent book. Although it's set during the reign of Trajan, nearly 50 years after the Roman Mysteries - when Flavia would be sixty years old - it is still very appropriate. You can see the Circus Maximus as it appears in 'The Assassins of Rome', the Temple of Jupiter almostas it appears in 'The Enemies of Jupiter' and even the Flavian amphitheatre (Colosseum) as it appears in 'The Gladiator from Capua'. And you can supplement the book at the website HERE!

The Healing Hand by Guido Majno ISBN 0674383311

Full of fascinating facts about ancient doctors and medicine. This book was a valuable resource for The Enemies of Jupiter. If you are interested in ancient history or in ancient medicine or both. Majno is a doctor who put many of these remedies to the test. He discovered for example, that just a little wine or vinegar will kill most known bacteria in a cup of water. So the Greeks and Romans knew what they were doing when they mixed wine with water. Very easy to read for such an academic book, and there are lots of great illustrations.

Homer's Iliad in translation

No, not Homer Simpson! Homer the great blind poet who never wrote this down but RECITED THE WHOLE THING! In Greek, too! And in meter (poetry) I read this book when I was stuck in Switzerland with nothing else to do. (Sometimes it's good to be bored and frustrated). I couldn't believe something so old - composed over 2,500 years ago - could sound so modern. The goddesses Athena and Hera, gossiping on Mount Olympus, sound just like modern ladies in a hairdressers'. It's the story of the hero Achilles, and how his major sulk goes terribly wrong. Some nice gory battle scenes for you boys, too.

Homer's Odyssey in translation

Homer's other great masterpiece. This tells the story of the journey home from Troy of one of Greece's craftiest heroes. Odysseus was ten years at Troy and it took him ten years to get home. He encountered the Cyclops (a giant with one eye in the middle of his forehead) plus witches, monsters, sirens and beautiful maidens. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca, his faithful wife Penelope waited patiently. When some men wanted to marry her, so that they could be king, she thought of a very clever way to delay making her decision. I base a lot of things in 'The Assassins of Rome' on this great myth.

Virgil's Aeneid in translation

This is how Nubia learned Latin: by having Virgil's Aeneid read to her! It is the story of Aeneas, the handsome Trojan hero who fled after the Greeks emerged from the Trojan Horse to burn and sack Troy. He carried his crippled father Anchises on his back and led his son Ascanius by the hand. Sadly his wife Creusa fell behind and was killed. Aeneas had many adventures before he finally arrived at the mouth of the River Tiber (later to be known as Ostia). He was the great, great, great, etc grandfather of Romulus and Remus and he is the founder of Rome. Read all about him here.

Pliny the Elder's Natural History

This is the book Flavia wants for her 10th birthday in 'The Thieves of Ostia'. It teaches her some interesting things. For example, if a fierce dog is chasing you, says Pliny, you should always sit on the ground to avert his attack. Flavia gets a chance to try this out in 'The Thieves of Ostia'. Then in book two, 'The Secrets of Vesuvius' Flavia and her friends save Pliny's life and he rewards each of them. Part of Flavia's reward is a riddle which may lead them to great treasure. This book is full of treasures.

Pliny the Younger's Letters

Flavia and her friends meet Admiral Pliny (the elder) in book two, 'The Secrets of Vesuvius', when they save his life. Later, they meet him again when Vesuvius erupts. They don't meet Admiral Pliny's 17 year old nephew Pliny the Younger in Secrets because he decided not to go with his uncle to investigate the volcano. He stayed in to do his homework. But our four friends do meet Pliny the Younger (as he later came to be known) in book five, 'The Dolphins of Laurentum'.

Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars

This is one of my favourite reference books. Suetonius was born in AD 69 so he was exactly Flavia's age. His first book - sadly lost - was a collection of Greek swear-words. In this book, his masterpiece, he dishes the dirt on the first twelve Roman Emperors. This is where I get lots of my facts about Nero, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. For example, it is from Suetonius that I discovered Domitian had a habit of spearing flies with his sharp, brass stylus. If you've ever really wanted to know what horrible things the Roman Emperors did, this is your book. Be careful, though, it's strong stuff.

Alexandria Rediscovered by Jean-Yves Empereur

A fascinating and readable account of the latest research on Alexandria, correcting many erroneous ideas which have been repeated over the past century. It is particularly good on the Pharos and the Caesarium. There are some interesting watercolour reconstructions of what Alexandria looked like.

Another excellent British Museum publication. This was the book that accompanied the British Museum's Cleopatra exhibition a few years ago. There are some fascinating essays and pages and pages of stunning illustrations, including a very modern looking dog in tesserae so fine that it looks almost like a painting. This book shows the 'ugly' cleopatra from coins, and Goddio's new map of Alexandria. He should know, he and his team have been diving there for ten years.

A fan recommended this book and I found it fascinating. What's a cartouche? What does a scarab mean? Why do the figures face one way on one monument and another on the next? And what is it with all those ducks? This book has all the answers. An appendix at the back tells what all the signs represent and this itself is a fascinating glimpse into the birdlife and artefacts of ancient Egypt.

An amazing collection of faces from Roman Egypt of the 1st to 3rd centuries. Flipping through the portraits in this book is like coming face to face with ancient Romans. As well as the faces, there are names, epitaphs and artefacts, all valuable material for fleshing out the world of Imperial Rome. It's also fascinating to see how fashion and hairstyles changed over the years. This is a book I come back to again and again.

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