Of course I know they were real people but I have trouble trying to imagine people living in ancient times as fully fleshed out real people.
Classical Rome would be a good example. Although I feel like when I’ve seen stuff particularly related to the Vesuvius eruption, read personal letters, and even the dog epitaphs, this helps bridge that gap.
Looking for books that give similar reactions. Can be any ancient period in time and any place in the world.
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Robert Harris’ Roman novels, such as Pompeii
Christian Cameron’s Long War series.
The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis is the first in a series of murder mysteries set in ancient Rome that really show the day to day life of the characters
Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War is amazing
Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson is a good read about prehistoric people
Colleen McCullough’s ‘Masters of Rome’ series is as comprehensive and meticulously detailed a history of the last century of the Roman Republic that’s ever been written. They’re all 500+ very dense pages, but the characters are all vividly human.
“First Man in Rome”
“The Grass Crown”
“Fortune’s Favorite’s”
“Caesar’s Women”
“Caesar”
“The October Horse”
“Antony and Cleopatra”
Medieval England
*The Black Death: An Intimate History* (also released as *The Black Death: The Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis*) by Dr John Hatcher is half non-fiction and half fictionalised account of a real village during the Black Death of 1345-1350. Takes real court roll documents from the time and translates them into a narrative of life in that particular village – so the people you’re reading about were real, and their births and marriages and deaths were real, but Hatcher has fleshed out their surrounding lives
Clan of the Cave Bear
Spartacus by Howard Fast