The Greatest Ancient Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
14985 Pandora's Jar Natalie Haynes 2020 British English
14985 Rubicon Tom Holland 2003 British English
14985 The History And Culture Of The Indian People R. C. Majumdar Indian English
15743 The Iliad / The Odyssey Homer -762 Greek Ancient greek
15771 The Complete Writings Of Thucydides The Peloponnesian War Thucydides -431 Greek Ancient greek
15774 The Oedipus Plays Of Sophocles Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
15916 The Origins Of European Thought R. B. Onians 1951 British English
15916 The Greeks And The Irrational E. R. Dodds 1951 British English
15916 The Greek Myths Robert Graves 1955 British English
15916 Themis Jane E. Harrison 1912 British English
15916 An Introduction To The Study Of Indian History D. D. Kosambi 1956 Indian English
15916 A History Of India Romila Thapar 1966 Indian English
15916 An Anthology Of Sanskrit Court Poetry Vidyakara, Daniel Ingalls 1957 Unknown Sanskrit
15916 Age Of Nandas And Mauryas K.A. Nilakanta Sastri 1952 Unknown English
15916 Alberuni's India Al-Biruni, Edward C. Sachau 1030 Multiple Arabic
15916 Prehistoric India Panchanan Mitra 1923 Unknown English
15916 The Corn King And The Spring Queen Naomi Mitchison 1931 British English
15916 Daily Life In Ancient Rome Jérôme Carcopino 1936 French French
15910 Letters On Ethics Seneca 62 Roman Latin
15885 Ocean Of The Streams Of Story Somadeva 1063 Indian Sanskrit
16606 Storia Dei Greci Indro Montanelli 1959 Italian Italian
16593 Iliad & Odyssey Homer -749 Greek Ancient greek (homeric greek)
17162 Spqr Mary Beard 2015 British English
17162 Gorgias/Gorgias Coleen P. Zoller, Jurgen R. Gatt, S. Montgomery Ewegen 2023 Unknown Unknown
17162 The Great Leveler Walter Scheidel 2017 American English
17162 The Oldest Dead White European Males Bernard Knox 1993 American English
17162 The Roots Of Civilization Alexander Marshack 1972 American English
17162 The Fall Of Rome Bryan Ward-Perkins 2005 British English
17162 Persian Fire Tom Holland 2005 British English
17162 Heroes Stephen Fry 2018 British English
17162 Pax Tom Holland 2024 Unknown English
16807 The Last Of The Wine Mary Renault 1956 British English
17162 Helen Of Troy Margaret George 2006 American English
17162 1177 B.C. Eric H. Cline 2014 American English
17162 The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan 2015 British English
17162 The Fall Of The Roman Empire Peter Heather 2005 British English
17162 India John Keay 2000 British English
17162 Prehistory And Protohistory Of India VK Jain 2006 Indian English
17162 Ancient History Of India Charles J. Naegele Unknown English
17162 In Search Of The Cradle Of Civilization David Frawley, Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak 1995 Multiple English
17162 Ancient Cities Of The Indus Valley Civilization Jonathan Mark Kenoyer 1998 Unknown English
17162 Mountain Of Fame John E. Wills Jr. 1992 Chinese English
17162 The Cleopatras Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 2024 Unknown English
17162 The Storm Before The Storm Mike Duncan 2017 American English
16946 Agamemnon Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
17031 Discourses And Selected Writings Epictetus 108 Greek Greek
17162 Who Wrote The Bible? Richard Elliott Friedman 1987 American English
17162 Poems Of Sextus Propertius Propertius -29 Roman Latin
17162 A God Against The Gods Allen Drury 1976 American English
17162 Return To Thebes Allen Drury 1977 American English
17162 The Twelfth Transforming Pauline Gedge 1984 Canadian English
17162 Lady Of The Reeds Pauline Gedge 1994 Canadian English
17162 King And Goddess Judith Tarr 1996 American English
17162 Funeral Games Mary Renault 1981 British English
16807 Winter Quarters Alfred Duggan 1956 British English
17162 Family Favorites Alfred Duggan 1960 British English
17162 Hannibal Ross Leckie 1995 British English
17162 Augustus Allan Massie 1986 British English
17162 Tiberius Allan Massie 1991 British English
17162 Caesar Allan Massie 1993 British English
17162 Emperor Of Rome Mary Beard 2023 British English
17162 Pagans And Christians Robin Lane Fox 1986 British English
16875 The Theban Plays Sophocles -442 Greek Ancient greek
17162 Selected Poems Su Tung–p’o Chinese Chinese
17006 Von Der Kürze Des Lebens · Vom Glücklichen Leben Seneca -49 Roman Latin
17162 Of Consolation To Helvia Seneca 2042 Roman English
17064 Lord Of The Horizon Joan Grant 1969 British English
17162 Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire Drusilla Dunjee Houston 1985 American English
17162 Lettere A Lucilio Seneca 2064 Roman Italian