Ancient Romans & Ancient Greeks - recs please

[whatausername]

A Classical Education by Catherine Taggart is proving very enjoyable! Ancient Roman and Greek histories were never something I paid much attention to before. I was too busy nerding out over other periods of history. ACE is providing a fun overview so what should I read next? Perhaps still a general overview but taken to the next level or a book that focusses on specific periods/people within the Romans or Ancient Greeks. I'd welcome suggestions please!

And Edith Hall's The Ancient Greeks: Ten Ways They Shaped The Modern World.

Meant to say Eagle of the Ninth is Rosemary Sutcliff.

Wolf den trilogy by Elodie Harper.

Lindsey Davis - the Falco series (Roman murder mystery!)

On the Greeks, the best overview textbook I found was “Ancient Greece. A political, social and cultural history”, by Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein and several others, Oxford University Press, 4th ed. Then H. D. F. Kitto’s “The Greeks” is a bit out of date but a really good, fun read. For more detailed studies, Blackwells have a whole series of books entitled “Companions to the ancient world”, which are really fascinating. I would also highly recommend the Landmark editions of Herodotus and Thuycidides to read actual classical authors: the translations are good, and the books come with all the maps you need to know where the authors are talking about as well as lots of really helpful notes and appendices so that you get the most out of the texts. Happy reading!

The Letter of the Younger Pliny. There are excellent translations (recommend the Penguin) and as well as events like Vesuvius and being an official during the reign of Trajan, you hear a human voice.

Place marking to come back to these recommendations. Mary Beard taught me back in the day and I love that she is successful in her 60s. And anyone interested in the Eastern Greek Empire may recognise my user name.

Under A Different Sky.

Just ordered a couple more books thanks to this thread!

Romanitas by Sophia McDougall might be of interest. Set in the modern day, but as if the Roman Empire had never fallen. Lots of murder and intrigue.

Definitely Lindsey Davis. Falco series and Flavia Albia. Also her standalone 'the course of honour' about the rise of Vespasian pictures through the eyes of his freedwoman mistress

Oh gosh, what a lot of recommendations, thank you to all. I feel I should have stated non-fiction books in my OP but everyone seems so happy and enthusiastic that I don't care!

@Bohemond23 how wonderful! I met Mary Beard a few years ago at a book signing, she was lovely!

I'm going to add a lot of these to my wishlist. I love classics. Obviously, reading the original literature is recommended too.

Falco & Helena Justina 4 ever ❤️

@NowyouhaveDunnett couldn't agree more!

She was pretty cool and just a bit bonkers in the 90s. It was my third year special subject - Roman Emperor, construction and deconstruction of an image. History degree but with a couple of options taught by the department of Classics.

@Bohemond23 I did English & Sociology, but chose Classical Literature for my third/subsidiary subject in my first year. I love Ancient History too.

Conn Iggulden - the Emperor series (and then all his other series - I particularly liked the Genghis Khan ones)

The Life of Brian, way ahead of its time. "WHAT does this say?" " It says Romans go home." " No it doesn't it says people called Romani they go the house". And so on. The compassionate centurion in charge of crucifixion was a brilliant character " line on the left one cross each please.".
And the ex leper whose begging was ruined by Jesus. "There's no pleasing some people, That's just what Jesus said!."
What a great film.

The Latin scene is my favourite scene, in what's probably my favourite film. I first saw it when I was doing Latin at secondary school!

I second this. Phenomenal series.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon - set in Syracuse after the catastrophic defeat of the Athenian army. It is funny, deeply moving and covers an area of ancient history not often talked about. Highly recommend it along with so many of the books suggested by previous posters.

edited for iPad autocorrect cockup.

Bit of a tangent: this evening I discovered Kaos on Netflix. A British dark comedy about the Greek gods. It has quite the cast!

It's brilliant but unfortunately a bit too adult for my 13 Yr old. She's gutted as she loves Classics and knows all the stories inside out so we were hoping this would give a modern twist for her

Yes, I second this. Robert Graves really knew his stuff. His book on Greek mythology is excellent as well. And watch the BBC adaptation of I Claudius. It's a masterpiece – one of the best things the BBC ever did.

I'd also recommend the first 100 pages of Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, where he covers ancient Greek history and philosophy. That may sound dry, but it isn't. It's written in wonderful, crystal clear prose, and is just so interesting. He gives you a real sense of how the Greeks thought.