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Message:: [QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 2871029, member: 81887"]There are several series of detective-style novels set in the Roman period.  I second the nomination of Steven Saylor's series about "Gordianus the Finder" and will add another favorite, Ruth Downine's "Medicus" series.  Downie's series is set in the reign of Hadrian and features an army physician, Gaius Petreius Ruso, and his British slave girl (later wife) Tilla, whose original British name is dismissed by Ruso as "one long string of spelling mistakes".  Be aware that the books have different titles in the US and the UK, so double-check to make sure you don't accidentally buy the same book twice.  Robert Graves' Claudius novels and Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy have already been mentioned, but I can also vouch for those.   Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" and "Baudolino" are set in medieval Europe and have excellent, accurate historical background (unsurprising as Eco studied medieval philosophy and literature at the University of Turin).  Finally, for more recent history, David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet" is set at the Dutch trading post of Dejima, Japan during the Napoleonic era and is well worth reading.[/QUOTE]