He won his fame—and his freedom—in the gory pits of Rome's Colosseum. Yet the greatest challenge for once-legendary gladiator Caros Viriathos comes to him through a slave. His slave, the beautiful and mysterious Pelonia Valeria. Her secret brings danger to his household but offers Caros a love like he's never known…. Should anyone learn she is a Christian, Pelonia will be executed. Her faith threatens not only herself, but her master. Can she convince a man who found fame through unforgiving brutality to show mercy? And when she's ultimately given the choice, will Pelonia choose freedom or the love of a gladiator?

Eleven-year-old Marcus is forced to train and fight as a gladiator in this fast-paced action-adventure set in Ancient Rome.

To master this man, he must fight for his trust... Mikel Vaughn became a slave the night the Boa Visk burned the Grand Library of Amberseth and locked him in chains. The Boa Visk, brutal overlords who have conquered much of humanity, bring the young librarian to Gesh and sell him to the highest bidder. After he's purchased by a Boa Visk noble, Mikel fears he'll be forced to submit to the cruel whims of a vile master. Instead, he's given as a reward to gladiator Bastion Hask for his latest victory in the fighting pits. Mikel is even more outraged to be owned by a human, swearing he would rather die than live as Bastion's bed slave. But the soft-spoken gladiator doesn't seem want a slave at all, much less him. Soon Mikel finds it increasingly difficult to hate an enemy who offers him kindness instead of punishment. Mikel will never trust again until he is free, and yet his new master may not be the one keeping him enslaved after all... Bastion Hask has never lost a match, not even against the twisted monsters he battles at the command of his owner. He's come to accept his life trapped in the arena, doomed to fight and die for the excitement of the crowds. He doesn't need or want the slave his noble-born owner has tossed to him like a scrap of meat. Although the young scholar is handsome enough, he seems too weak to survive in this merciless city. Yet Bastion soon finds himself protecting the other man, even putting himself at risk when for years he's only focused on his own struggle to survive. Mikel's determination to find a way free of his chains shakes Bastion's fatalism and rekindles a yearning for freedom he'd lost long ago. As danger relentlessly closes in, their fight to survive becomes a struggle for love and freedom that cannot be denied. Reader note: contains gay fantasy romance, male male love, and a happily ever after

"Like Platt’s previous ‘diaries’ about castles, pirates, and ancient Egypt, this offers an accessible introduction to history." — Booklist Iliona never imagined that her sea voyage from Greece to Egypt would lead to Rome, but when she is captured by pirates and auctioned off as a slave, that’s where she lands. Readers are invited to view the wonders of Rome through Iliona’s eyes—the luxury, the excess, and the politics. Back matter includes notes for the reader, a glossary, and sources.

An analysis of the lives of ancient Rome's gladiators explores how they were both despised and hero-worshiped, chronicling how tens of thousands of gladiators perished publicly over the course of six hundred years.

The Ancient Roman public's hunger for gladiatorial combat has never been greater. The Emperor Domitian's passion for novelty and variety in the arena has given rise to a very different kind of warrior: the Gladiatrix. Sole survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of Asia Minor, Lysandra finds herself the property of Lucius Balbus, owner of the foremost Ludus for female gladiators in the Eastern Empire. Lysandra, a member of an ancient Spartan sect of warrior priestesses, refuses to accept her new status as a slave. Forced to fight for survival, her deadly combat skills win the adoration of the crowds, the respect of Balbus. But Lysandra's Spartan pride also earns her powerful enemies: Sorina, Gladiatrix Prima and leader of the Barbarian faction, and the sadistic Numidian trainer, Nastasen. When plans are laid for the ultimate combat spectacle to honor the visit of the emperor's powerful new emissary, Lysandra must face her greatest and deadliest trial. This is a thrilling first novel that combines fascinating historical detail with blistering action.

Magnus, the mightiest gladiator in all of Rome, gives the people what they want - bloodlust and death for their entertainment. He and his mortal enemy, Urius, are the best of the best of the slaves doing battle for the roaring crowds. Slaves of the Empire immerses readers in the brutal age of ancient Rome, when the powerful took their sadomasochistic pleasure from the weak, and pain and death awaited every slave, no matter how strong. This tale has it all: fine writing, complex characters, and a story of rivalry, power, torment and an abundance of steamy gay sex.