In 2024 I worked through the French Revolution—as well as some one-off texts about the Battle of Thermopylae. I am sure there are more subjects covered there (and a lot of book reviews from that period on my blog.)
In 2025 I recall working through the Roman Civil War (indeed there are a few), but the one I was most focused on was that of the Republic’s bulwark war with Julius Caesar.
I took a step back from non-fiction works to discover my passion for sci-fi and fantasy; indeed, 2025 was not a total loss for my hobby of history—I even brushed on the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire, and—believe it or not—King Henry V (Dan Jones is a great author on the subject).
Insofar as 2026 goes (admittedly I am late with this post,) I am diving back into the Classics. Piquing my interests presently are Ancient Greece (albeit I am still trying to find a foothold into the period) as well as circling back to Ancient Rome and the downfall of its Republic.
I mention that I am struggling to find a foothold into Ancient Greece insofar as I hope a few of my readers can provide me with some author recommendations—or even some old-school History Channel docs.
Sprinkled throughout May and June of this year were some tidbits on my favorite historical badass—Alexander The Great.
Sources
I am currently keeping the following texts close by.
- The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
- The Landmark Julius Caesar by Raaflaub, Strassler, and Romm
- The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss
- Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Goldsworthy Adrian (Oddly enough, I thought I had this one on my shelf. It turns out that I did not… oops.)
Honorable mention: I have recently fallen into the scholarly orbit of James Romm. I most recently finished his books on Alexander the Great and Seneca at Nero’s court—both of which I highly recoemmnd.
Coins, coins, coins!
In early 2025 I published a live collection of my ancient (and modern) coins. I stopped updating that list…but I have gotten better! I invite you all to check out my new (and hopefully updated from here on out) coin cabinet: https://numisvault.com/public/Gabe
Cheers!
