The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Rome

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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
70 The Aeneid Virgil -19 Roman Latin
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
123 Memoirs of Hadrian Marguerite Yourcenar 1951 French French
133 Confessions Augustine 397 Roman Latin
175 Metamorphoses Ovid 8 Roman Latin
231 Death of Virgil Hermann Broch 1945 Austrian German
313 Meditations Marcus Aurelius 161 Roman Greek
334 Parallel Lives Plutarch 100 Greek Greek
385 Quo Vadis Henryk Sienkiewicz 1895 Polish Polish
405 De Rerum Natura Lucretius 55 Roman Latin
453 I, Claudius Robert Graves 1934 British English
518 The Odes Horace 23 Roman Latin
695 Boys Alive Pier Paolo Pasolini 1955 Italian Italian
765 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
830 The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon 1776 British English
985 Mythology Edith Hamilton 1942 American English
1044 A Ghost at Noon Alberto Moravia 1954 Italian Italian
1054 Letters from a Stoic Seneca 64 Roman Latin
1066 Antony And Cleopatra William Shakespeare 1606 British English
1074 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown 2003 American English
1180 Annals Cornelius Tacitus 109 Roman Latin
1219 The Time of Indifference Alberto Moravia 1929 Italian Italian
1257 Lives of the Caesars Suetonius 121 Roman Latin
1312 Boredom Alberto Moravia 1960 Italian Italian
1389 On The Orator Marcus Tullius Cicero -55 Roman Latin
1558 Marius the Epicurean Walter Pater 1885 British English
1590 Germania Cornelius Tacitus 98 Roman Latin
1699 That Awful Mess On Via Merulana Carlo Emilio Gadda 1957 Italian Italian
1815 The Ring And The Book Robert Browning 1868 British English
1834 Histories Cornelius Tacitus 100 Roman Latin
1839 The Child Of Pleasure Gabriele D'Annunzio 1889 Italian Italian
1864 The Jewish War Flavius Josephus 75 Jewish Greek
1923 The Conquest Of Gaul Gaius Julius Caesar -51 Roman Latin
1939 The Marble Faun Nathaniel Hawthorne 1860 American English
2032 History Of The Reformation In Germany Leopold von Ranke 1834 German German
2032 The History Of Rome Theodor Mommsen 1854 German German
2032 Gedanken Und Erinnerungen Otto von Bismarck 1898 German German
2122 Julius Caesar William Shakespeare 1623 British English
2215 Roman Elegies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 German German
2372 Happiness, as Such Natalia Ginzburg 1973 Italian Italian
2424 Galileo Bertolt Brecht 1938 German German
2475 On Obligations Marcus Tullius Cicero -44 Roman Latin
2550 Death in Rome Wolfgang Koeppen 1954 German German
2555 Disobedience Alberto Moravia 1948 Italian Italian
2566 Poetry Quintus Lutatius Catulus -89 Roman Latin
2704 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
2715 Coriolanus William Shakespeare 1608 British English
2734 A Violent Life Pier Paolo Pasolini 1959 Italian Italian
2751 Decisive Moments in History Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
2752 Ides Of March Thornton Wilder 1948 American English
2789 A Cultural History Of The Modern Age Egon Friedell 1927 Austrian English
2812 The Agony and the Ecstasy Irving Stone 1961 American English
2875 The Moral Essays Giacomo Leopardi 1832 Italian Italian
3126 Daisy Miller Henry James 1878 American English
3128 Attis And Other Poems Catullus -53 Roman Latin
3225 The Driver's Seat Muriel Spark 1970 British English
3265 The Days Of Abandonment Elena Ferrante 2002 Italian Italian
3299 The Gallic War And Other Writings Gaius Julius Caesar -58 Roman Latin
3300 The Works Of Philodemus Philodemus -50 Greek Greek
3314 Satires Juvenal 100 Roman Latin
3638 Bicycle Thieves Luigi Bartolini 1946 Italian Italian
3638 Cause, Principle, And Unity Giordano Bruno 1584 Italian Italian
3638 Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Lord Byron 1812 British English
3638 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3638 The Bible As History Werner Keller 1955 German German
3638 The Prophecies Nostradamus 1555 French French
3638 The Four Books On Architecture Andrea Palladio 1570 Italian Italian
3638 An Outline Of European Architecture Nikolaus Pevsner 1943 British English
3638 The Seven Lamps Of Architecture John Ruskin 1849 British English
3638 Nuremberg Chronicle Hartmann Schedel 1493 German Latin
3638 Art In Crisis Hans Sedlmayr 1948 Austrian German
3638 A Stroll To Syracuse In The Year 1802 Johann Gottfried Seume 1803 German German
3638 Der Moderne Kapitalismus Werner Sombart 1902 German German
3638 Franz Sternbald's Wanderings Ludwig Tieck 1798 German German
3638 The Embezzled Heaven Franz Werfel 1940 Austrian German
3638 History Of The Art Of Antiquity Johann Joachim Winckelmann 1762 German German
3924 The Great Captains Henry Treece 1956 British English
3954 The Papess Joanne Emmanuel Rhoides 1866 Greek Greek
4062 Mit Dem Fahrstuhl In Die Römerzeit Rudolf Pörtner 1959 German German
4073 Private Renaissance Maria Bellonci 1985 Italian Italian
4106 Renaissance And Renascences In Western Art Erwin Panofsky 1960 Unknown English
4217 Epistles Horace 20 Latin Latin
4226 Satires Horace 35 Latin Latin
4310 Count Belisarius Robert Graves 1938 British English
4379 A Woman Sibilla Aleramo 1906 Italian Italian
4387 Fratelli D'italia Alberto Arbasino 1963 Italian Italian
4393 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4495 The Letters Of Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert 1887 French French
4636 The Medici George Frederick Young 1910 Unknown English
4755 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
4782 Pharsalia Lucan 61 Roman Latin
4783 The Art Of Love Ovid 2 Roman Latin
4836 Black Magic Marjorie Bowen 1909 British English
4889 Natura Morta Josef Winkler 2001 Unknown German
4900 Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare 1594 British English
4900 The Last Man Mary Shelley 1826 British English
4900 On Occult Philosophy Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa 1531 German Latin
4900 Lord Of The World Robert Hugh Benson 1907 British English
5046 My First Two Thousand Years George Vierick 1928 American English
5283 The Complete Notebooks Of Henry James Henry James 1987 American English
5362 Foundations Of Christian Faith Karl Rahner 1976 German German
5516 Journal Of A Soul Pope John XXIII 1964 Italian Italian
5596 Poetry And Truth From My Own Life Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2004 German English
5608 A Man Oriana Fallaci 1979 Italian Italian
5783 The Old And The Young Luigi Pirandello 1913 Italian Italian
5783 Stories For A Year Luigi Pirandello 1959 Italian Italian
5820 Heroides Ovid 25 Roman Latin
5817 Epigrams Martial 86 Latin Latin
5828 On The Gods Marcus Tullius Cicero 45 Roman Latin
5836 Six Tragedies Seneca 54 Roman Latin
6005 Seven Gothic Tales Karen Blixen 1934 Danish Danish
6005 Theatre Of The World Frances A. Yates 1969 British English
6100 The History of Rome Livy -27 Roman Latin
6188 Claudius The God Robert Graves 1935 British English
6190 The March Of Folly Barbara Wertheim Tuchman 1984 American English
6237 Petrolio Pier Paolo Pasolini 1992 Italian Italian
6315 The Fifth Gospel Mario Pomilio 1974 Italian Italian
6337 The Worldly Philosophers Robert Heilbroner 1953 American English
6343 Kriminalgeschichte Des Christentums Karlheinz Deschner 1986 German German
6382 An Essay On Universal History, The Manners, And Spirit Of Nations Voltaire 1756 French French