Probably my 3rd or 4th time through the series, and it got me wondering why there are no notable modern films about Caesar and really the last century of BCE. And I'm not talking about a remaking of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, either. I'm talking Sulla vs. Marius/Cinna, Cato v. The Triumvirate, the Gaelic Wars, Pompey v. Caesar, etc. It seems like they always pick up with Caesar as emperor and his death as opposed to all the wild ass stuff that happened leading up to that point.

Anyone have any recommendations for a "historical fiction" series on this period of time? Between the wars, the politics, the intrigue, etc., it seems like these stories have everything you could want in source material.

I've not read them, but my brother has suggested Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series to me a couple of times, which seems to fit the bill of what you're looking for.

HBO's Rome is the best example I can think of for historical fiction of that era. Definitely ended way too soon.

MW03 said:

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Probably my 3rd or 4th time through the series, and it got me wondering why there are no notable modern films about Caesar and really the last century of BCE. And I'm not talking about a remaking of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, either. I'm talking Sulla vs. Marius/Cinna, Cato v. The Triumvirate, the Gaelic Wars, Pompey v. Caesar, etc. It seems like they always pick up with Caesar as emperor and his death as opposed to all the wild ass stuff that happened leading up to that point.

Anyone have any recommendations for a "historical fiction" series on this period of time? Between the wars, the politics, the intrigue, etc., it seems like these stories have everything you could want in source material.

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barbarians is on Netflix season two

never been into the Romans, maybe because I am an Israeli citizen and they committed genocide against us from 67 AD to 120 AD

Sapper Redux said:

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HBO's Rome is the best example I can think of for historical fiction of that era. Definitely ended way too soon.

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And damn HBO and BBC for pulling the cord early on this one and depriving us of this:

Quote:

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I discovered halfway through writing the second season the show was going to end. The second was going to end with the death of Brutus. Third and fourth season would be set in Egypt. Fifth was going to be the rise of the Messiah in Palestine. But because we got the heads-up that the second season would be it, I telescoped the third and fourth season into the second one, which accounts for the blazing speed we go through history near the end. There's certainly more than enough history to go around.

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Love that Hardcore History series and love the book Rubicon which DC references a decent bit throughout. I'm with you, though. So much material for an amazing movie or series. I don't think a lot of studios are anxious to shell out the massive budget it would take to do that kind of movie well when today's audience would not show up in big numbers. Just look at the money and work it took to make the new All Quiet on the Western Front for half those who watch it to go "meh, could have been better." We keep on teaching studios to give us more generic comic movies and vapid action flicks.

I read a series of historical fiction from Conn Iggulden about the life of Julius Caesar that was pretty good.

MW03 said:

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Probably my 3rd or 4th time through the series, and it got me wondering why there are no notable modern films about Caesar and really the last century of BCE. And I'm not talking about a remaking of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, either. I'm talking Sulla vs. Marius/Cinna, Cato v. The Triumvirate, the Gaelic Wars, Pompey v. Caesar, etc. It seems like they always pick up with Caesar as emperor and his death as opposed to all the wild ass stuff that happened leading up to that point.

Anyone have any recommendations for a "historical fiction" series on this period of time? Between the wars, the politics, the intrigue, etc., it seems like these stories have everything you could want in source material.

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I'm listening to it now as well and completely agree. Going into it I figured there would be a little build up and then introduce Ceasar towards the end of the first episode. Nope, I believe it's not till the 4th or 5th episode of the 6 part series until Ceasar is brought to the forefront of the narrative.

So much happened in the 150 years of leadup to Ceasar and the fall of the Roman Republic with the Populari, slave revolts, assassinations, rise of the equestrian (middle-class). Hopefully I can say this without it devolving into a f16 discussion, there's a lot of similarities to what we are going through now as a country?

Pick any 20 year period during that time and you're bound to find a populist tribune of the plebs, an assassination, war, and slave revolt. What a time to be alive.

Yeah, absolutely. The fact that Spartacus is famous for the Third Servile War means there were at least 2 more of those beforehand.

Lola68 said:

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I read a series of historical fiction from Conn Iggulden about the life of Julius Caesar that was pretty good.

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His series on Genghis Khan and his successors is fantastic too.

Enjoyed those also.

History of Rome is a fantastic podcast as well. Mike Duncan doesn't have Dan Carlins narrative flair, but still very good.

For any current students, assuming he's still teaching the course, do yourself a favor and take Christoph Konrad's History of the Roman Empire class. The best class I took while at A&M.

I will strongly second the recommendation of the "History of Rome" podcast by Mike Duncan. It is fantastic.

ETA: Ignore the dumb thumbs down icon on my post.

AirplaneAg09 said:

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ETA: Ignore the dumb thumbs down icon on my post.

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No

I listen to pretty much anything Mike Duncan or Dan Carlin put out.

Stepping away from Rome's story, Season 9 of Duncan's "Revolutions" series on the Mexican revolution is some of the best history podcasting I've ever heard. A crazy and epic story of revolution and civil war just across the border from Texas with larger than life characters (Pancho Villa is wild) and a huge body count. Strongly recommend checking it out.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revolutions/id703889772?i=1000417695831

It's not from the time of Caesar, but I've always thought the BBC series "I, Claudius" was fantasic. Derek Jacobi is amazing as Claudius.

I'm surprised that Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series hasn't already been made into a series. Gordianus the Finder is a great character, and the stories include references to a lot of historical figures.