Young Adult Historical Novels: Ancient HistoryThis page lists historical novels for young adult readers set in ancient times, from times as early as the fourteenth century B.C. in Egypt up to the fifth century A.D. "Arthurian" period in Britain after the Romans withdrew, leaving the people of Britain to manage their own affairs. Many of these novels are also read and enjoyed by older adults. See the article Rosemary Sutcliff, about Sutcliff's books for young people. Jump to: Ancient Greece Abbreviations for Awards and Honors: ALANCB = American Library Association Notable Children's Book Ancient Greece
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Esther Friesner, Nobody's Princess (2009), about the determined and beautiful young Helen of Sparta (who would later become known as Helen of Troy); #1 in the Helen of Sparta series. Esther Friesner, Nobody's Prize (2009), about Helen of Sparta and her adventures when she disguises herself as a boy to join her brothers in a quest for the Golden Fleece; #2 in the Helen of Sparta series. Priscilla Galloway, The Courtesan's Daughter (2002), about a fourteen-year-old girl from ancient Athens whose father has married a famous and well-educated courtesan, and whose plans to marry the man she loves are disrupted by an enemy of her family. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Adele Geras, Ithaka (2001), about a girl who is in love with Odysseus's son Telemachos during the time when Odysseus is absent from home and his wife is besieged by men who wish to marry her and gain control of Odysseus's kingdom. Recommended for grades 7-12. Helen M. Hoover, The Dawn Palace: The Story of Medea Rosemary Sutcliff, Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad (1993), a retelling of the ancient Greek tale of the Iliad about the Trojan War. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995), a retelling of the ancient Greek tale of Odysseus and his struggle to return home after the Trojan War. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Theresa Tomlinson, The Moon Riders Theresa Tomlinson, Voyage of the Snake Lady (2004), about a young warrior priestess of the Amazons after the fall of Troy who must protect her people from the vengeance of Achilles; sequel to Moon Riders. Ancient Rome
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Gladys Malvern, The Secret Sign Marissa Moss, Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome (2002), about a twelve-year-old slave boy in ancient Rome during the time of Emperor Augustus. Ancient Rome: Mysteries
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Caroline Lawrence, The Secrets of Vesuvius (2001), about four friends in ancient Rome who go to spend the summer near Pompeii just as Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt; #2 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Pirates of Pompeii (2002), about four friends who discover that in the chaos after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius numerous children have gone missing, and set out to find them; #3 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Assassins of Rome (2002), about four friends from the Roman port of Ostia who discover one of them has gone on a secret mission and decide to follow him to Rome, where they discover an assassin is at work; #4 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Dolphins of Laurentum (2003), about four friends who discover a wrecked ship and a sunken treasure; #5 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina (2003), about a girl who sets out during the holiday season of Saturnalia to find out whether a Roman widow's interest in his father is for his own sake or for his money; #6 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Enemies of Jupiter (2003), about four friends who try to discover the cause of an epidemic after the father of one of them is summoned to Rome to help treat the sick; #7 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Gladiators from Capua (2004), about three friends who arrange to be invited to Rome to see the gladiatorial games in the new amphitheatre so that they can search another of their friends, who is believed to be dead; #8 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Colossus of Rhodes (2005), about four friends who sail to Rhodes in search of the mother of one of them, and discover a criminal is using the island as his base of operations; #9 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Fugitive from Corinth (2005), about a girl whose three friends help her track down her tutor, who has fled after committing a violent crime; #10 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Sirens of Surrentum (2006), about a girl and her three friends who, while spending the summer at an expensive villa, are asked to find out if one of the houseguests is a poisoner; #11 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Charioteer of Delphi (2006), about four friends who meet a young charioteer in Rome and help him investigate who stole a famous race horse during the chariot races of the Festival of Jupiter; #12 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Slave-Girl from Jerusalem (2007), about four friends who go to the aid of a freed slave-girl accused of murder after she has difficulty proving she has been freed in a court case brought by the man who inherited the estate where she was a slave; #13 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Beggar of Volubilis (2008), about four friends on a mission from Emperor Titus to find and steal a gemstone that, according to prophecy, will assure that its owner becomes ruler of the Roman Empire; #14 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Scribes from Alexandria (2008), about four friends separated when the ship they are traveling on is wrecked in a storm near the Egyptian city of Alexandria; #15 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Prophet from Ephesus (2009), about four friends who set out to investigate a continuing rash of kidnappings and find the trail leads to distant Halicarnassus; #16 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Caroline Lawrence, The Man from Pomegranate Street (2009), about four friends who investigate the death of Emperor Titus; #17 and last in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14. Review at Rebecca's Book Blog Roman Britain
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Frances Hendry, Victrix: Triumph in the Roman Arena Frances Hendry, Gladiatrix: The Supreme Warrior Mollie Hunter, The Stronghold
Rosemary Sutcliff, The Silver Branch (1957), about two cousins, one a junior surgeon and the other a centurion in the Roman army in Britain who discover a plot against the Emperor's life during the waning days of Roman Britain in the late third century A.D.; #2 in the Eagle of the Ninth series. CM. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers (1959) about a young Roman cavalry officer born and raised in Britain who must decide what to do when Rome decides to pull its armies out of Britain in the fifth century; #3 in the Eagle of the Ninth series. ALANCB, CM. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, Three Legions (1980; to be reissued 2010 as Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles), an omnibus edition containing the first three novels in the Eagle of the Ninth series, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, Dawn Wind (1961), about a fourteen-year-old Briton who sells himself into thralldom on a Saxon farm at the end of the sixth century in order to save the life of a British girl; #4 in the Eagle of the Ninth series (followed by Sword at Sunset, an adult novel). Rosemary Sutcliff, Frontier Wolf (1980), about a Roman officer sent to a post on Hadrian's Wall in Britain after he is disgraced by abandoning his fort when barbarians attack; #6 in the Eagle of the Ninth series, but set chronogically after The Silver Branch. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, Outcast (1955), about a boy who survives a shipwreck on the coast of Britain as a baby, but is cast out at age fifteen because of his Roman birth and must make his way alone in a hostile world. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, Warrior Scarlet (1958), about a boy in Britain during the Bronze Age who has a withered arm and will lose his place in the clan unless he kills a wolf by himself so he can be initiated as a man of his tribe. ALANCB, CMH, IBBY. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Rosemary Sutcliff, The Mark of the Horse Lord (1965), about a freed Roman gladiator who agrees to impersonate the king of a tribe in northern Britain to whom he bears a remarkable resemblance. Rosemary Sutcliff, The Capricorn Bracelet (1973), a collection of linked short stories about Roman soldiers serving at Hadrian's Wall on the northern edge of Roman Britain. Rosemary Sutcliff, Sun Horse, Moon Horse (1977), about a young artist in Iron Age Britain and the creation of the giant "Uffington Horse" carved into a chalky hillside. Rosemary Sutcliff, Song For A Dark Queen (1978), about Boudica (Boadicea), the queen of the Iceni tribe in Britain, and her rebellion against Rome. Rosemary Sutcliff, Eagle's Egg Rosemary Sutcliff, The Shining Company (1990) , about a boy who becomes the shield-bearer to a British prince who is gathering an army to defend Britain against Saxon invaders. ALANCB. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Arthurian
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Patricia Malone, The Legend of Lady Ilena (2002), about a fifteen-year-old girl in Scotland in 500 A.D. who begins a search for the mysterious origins of her parents after her father dies. Anne McCaffrey, Black Horses for the King (1996), about a teenaged boy from a dishonored family in fifth-century Britain who gets the chance to serve as interpreter for Lord Artos when he buys horses for his warband. Recommended for grades 7-10. Philip Reeve, Here Lies Arthur (2008), about a girl who escapes to the forest when her village is attacked and burned, and is found by the bard Myrddin who takes her into his service and transforms her into the Lady of the Lake. BBYA. Rosemary Sutcliff, Tristan and Iseult (1971), about a young man in post-Roman Britain who defeats an Irish knight and is sent on a mission to win a queen for his uncle, the King of Cornwall. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Elizabeth E. Wein, A Coalition of Lions (2003), about a daughter of Artos, the High King of Britain, who travels to Africa after the disastrous Battle of Camlan to meet her intended husband, but finds the land in turmoil. Recommended for grades 7-12. Jane Yolen, Sword of the Rightful King (2004), about seventeen-year-old Gawaine, whose treacherous mother wishes to put him on the throne of Britain instead of Arthur. BBYA. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Ancient Ireland
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Rosemary Sutcliff, The High Deeds of Finn MacCool Ancient Egypt
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Dianne Hofmeyr, Eye of the Sun Dorothy Sharp Carter, His Majesty, Queen Hatshepsut (1987), about the Egyptian princess Hatshepsut, who grows up to rule as king in ancient Egypt. Recommended for grades 5-12. Esther Friesner, Sphinx's Princess (2009), about Nefertiti, the beautiful daughter of a commoner, who becomes a queen of ancient Egypt. Eloise Jarvis McGraw, The Golden Goblet (1988), about a boy in ancient Egypt who wants to follow his father's profession of goldsmith, and whose half-brother is stealing from him. Recommended for grades 5-8. Biblical Times and the Ancient Middle East
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Susan Fletcher, Alphabet of Dreams (2006), about a girl, her brother and Melchior, one of the three magi seeking a newborn king whose birth was foretold by the stars. BBYA pick. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Review at the Nimble Spirit website Nikki Grimes, Dark Sons (2005), a novel told in verse form which moves between the story of a modern-day African-American boy whose parents have divorced and the Biblical tale of Abraham's son Ishmael, who saw his place taken by his father's younger son, Isaac. BBYA pick. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Gloria D. Miklowitz, Masada: The Last Fortress (1998), about the seventeen-year-old apprentice physician who is the son of the leader at Masada, the last Judean fortress, as the Roman army prepares to attack it. Recommended for grades 5-12. Top of Page
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(1988), the story of Medea and Jason and the transition from matriarchal rule and worship of a goddess to patriarchal rule and the ascendance of male gods. Recommended for grades 7-12.
(2002), about a young warrior priestess of the Amazons at the time of the Trojan War. 
(1961), about an actor and a senator's daughter who fall in love during the time when Emperor Nero was persecuting Christians in Rome.
(2001), about a Roman sea captain's daughter and her friends in the port of Ostia who decide to find out who killed the dog belonging to her neighbors, who are secret Christians; #1 in the Roman Mysteries series. Recommended for ages 9-14.
(2004), about a young Celtic woman in Britain who becomes involved in Queen Boudica's revolt against Rome; #1 in the Gladiatrix trilogy.
(2004), about a young Celtic woman who has survived the aftermath of Boudica's rebellion and goes to Rome to train as a gladiatrix in order to avenge her tribe; #2 in the Gladiatrix trilogy.
(2005), about a woman gladiator who has vowed to destroy Rome as Rome once destroyed her people; #3 in the Gladiatrix trilogy.
(1974), about a brilliant young man in Scotland who is underestimated by druid leaders because he has been crippled since Romans attacked his village.
(1981), about a young standard-bearer in the Roman army in Britain who must gain a promotion in order to marry the girl he loves. 
(1963), a retelling of the legend of the ancient Irish hero Cuchullain.
(1967), a retelling of the legend of Finn MacCool, the leader of a band of renowned warriors.
(2007), about a young woman who flees to Nubia with Tuthmosis, the heir to the throne of Egypt, after his mother, Queen Tiy, is murdered.
(2008), about a young woman who returns to Egypt in secret with Tuthmosis, the heir to the throne of Egypt, and lands in the midst of dangerous political struggles; sequel to Eye of the Moon.