Rome historical novels - Recommendations?

Colleen McCullough wrote an acclaimed series that is set around Cesar's time in Rome. The first one in the series is called "The first man in Rome".

The Sacred Cut, The Seventh Sacrament and The Garden of Evil - are all novels by David Hewson set in Rome.
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt is set in Venice but is a personal favorite.

Colleen McCullough's four-book series on ancient Rome....The First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites, and Caesar's Women.

Hi Michael, I really like everyone's suggestions and will consider reading them prior or during my next trip. I do have a fictional suggestion: Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" (I much preferred this over Da Vinci Code). He writes about actual locations in his stories. There's even an "Angels and Demons" tour you can take in Italy.

www.angelsanddemons.it

Michael,

A couple of years ago, I finished reading Angels and Demons on the plane on the way to Rome. My husband had just read it. We took our own Angels & Demons tour and it was fun.

Steven Saylor also wrote a series, I think the 1st book is Roman Blood.

Also, if you are going to Pompeii, it comes to life more if you have read (historical novel) Pompeii by Robert Harris. We walked all over Pompeii finding the places in the book, and it was quite fun.
We agree that reading the historical makes it more fun.

"The Agongy and the Ecstasy" by Iriving Stone. An amazing fictionalized biography of Michaelangelo with all sorts of characters...da vinci, raphael, 4-5 popes, ...etc. Truly made me feel as if I was there...

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm especially interested in the ones that are Medieval or more recent, rather than the ones set in classical Rome.

More suggestion, but still in the classical vein - Steven Saylor's "The Finder" series is full of references to locales in and around Rome. Robert Graves "I Claudius" books.

The "Agony and Ecstacy" is the best I know for medieval Rome. There's a non-fiction history also, I believe called "The Sack of Rome" that explains the depradations of that era.

I enjoyed the Lindsey Davis mystery series (Marcus Didius Falco is the main character - sort of Magnum PI in a toga). I also loved Ross King's "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" - made the place come alive for me.

"Basillica" is not fictional, but it might as well be, given the drama surrounding the construction of St Peters. It does also have a lot of architectural and building things in it so might appeal to guys (or even gals) interested by that.