First Century Rome Novels for Teens
What if you spent your whole life chasing greatness… and it still wasn’t enough?
What if Rome was burning, Nero was watching, and your entire future came down to one final mission?
And what if that mission was to hunt down a well known religious leader — and destroy everything he stood for?
Welcome to The Sword and Story Podcast—where we help Christian families find exciting, faith-filled books for their boys.
Our mission is to raise strong, courageous warriors for the Kingdom of God. Join us on a quest to discover stories that inspire our boys to grow into godly young men.
I’m your host, Laurie Christine. I’m an author, bible teacher, wife, and mom to four wild, wonderful, boys. I’m the author of the Dragon Slayer Bible Series, adventure-packed biblical fiction and devotions for middle-grade boys.
Our guest author today is Given Hoffman.
Shane Eash is a YA historical fiction author from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, whose work has earned praise from bestselling authors and historians alike. Shane combines meticulous historical research with compelling storytelling to create narratives that educate and inspire.
Maximus: Quest for Greatness
First Century Rome Novels for Teens
When the Great Fire shatters a young Roman’s world, he infiltrates the early Church with a mission to capture the Apostle Paul. It’s 64 A.D. and Maximus has spent his whole life yearning for greatness. As a soldier and Roman nobleman, he climbs the ranks until hopes are dashed by life-altering events. Now with Emperor Nero intent on crushing Paulus and a mysterious group called The Way, Maximus has his final chance to rise again and receive the reward from the Emperor. But everything hinges on one question: what if The Way is right?
Maximus: Quest for Greatness is an adventure-filled novel that brings the sweeping drama of first century Christianity to life!
More Maximus Books by Shane Eash
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW
Maximus: The Quest for Greatness by Shane Eash
Laurie Christine: “Our guest author today is Shane Eash. Shane Eash, welcome to the Sword and Story Podcast.”
Shane Eash: “Thank you so much for having me, Laurie. It’s great to be here.”
Laurie Christine: “Well, if you noticed in my introduction of Shane, he is from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which happens to be my hometown, which is really fun that we are both here in Lancaster. Another fun fact is that Shane and I are actually second cousins because if you live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, you are related to everyone and their cousins.”
Shane Eash: “That’s pretty much right.”
Laurie Christine: “We had a funny discussion. I said, ‘Now, how do you pronounce your last name?’ And I pronounced it wrong, and he corrected me. And I said, ‘Well, all along, my grandmother—our blood relative—has been pronouncing their last name incorrectly for decades.’ So now I have set it straight. It is Shane Eash, and we are excited to have you here on the podcast.
“So we’re going to be talking about Shane’s book, and it’s called Maximus: The Quest for Greatness. So, Shane, let’s just dive in and tell us a little bit about your book. Tell us about the setting and a little bit of the plot as well.”
Shane Eash: “Yeah, absolutely. Maximus: The Quest for Greatness is the story of a young soldier named Maximus. He’s climbing the ranks of the Roman Legion when he’s wounded and sent home to recover. When he returns to Rome, he finds his best friend chained to a prisoner named Paulus of Tarsus and embracing a new faith. To Maximus, this is like a betrayal. How can they remain friends?
“Then the great fire of Rome just consumes the city, and Nero blames the Christians. Maximus has one last chance to rise again, find the apostle Paul, and destroy the Way. But one question eats away at his soul: What if his friend was right?”
Laurie Christine: “Very cool. So this is set in first-century Rome, and it is kind of like a biblical historical fiction because we get to see some of the biblical characters, like the apostle Paul, but we’re just really taking a step back and seeing what else was going on in the world at that time. I love stories like this where we get to dive into the history surrounding the biblical events and just see, like, okay, the Bible wasn’t set in a vacuum. The Bible happened in real life, and we can experience some of those same things that those characters in the story were experiencing, and the actual biblical characters were experiencing as well.”
Shane Eash: “Right, yeah. I really wanted to explore, like, what was it like to be a Christian in ancient Rome? I mean, it’s a really interesting time because it’s just thirty years after Christ has died and risen again, and so the church is very new. It’s just budding in Rome, and immediately they’re getting attacked with persecution under Nero.
“And so, yeah, I wanted to explore what that looks like. What are they facing? And how do they overcome those trials, those very real, tangible trials of facing death for believing in Christ?”
Laurie Christine: “Yeah. So what inspired you to write in this particular time period? Like, why ancient Rome? Why the first century?”
Shane Eash: “Yeah, I’ve loved ancient Rome for quite a few years. Just the setting, just the epic scope of it—you know, who doesn’t love Roman soldiers?—and just their warfare, and, yeah, just a very large-scale empire. I mean, it was the largest empire of its time. And so, diving into that particular time in the first century, yeah, I think it was just the draw of the Christians and seeing how I could tell their story in the early church and still bring in biblical characters because they were still alive at the time.”
Laurie Christine: “Yeah, yeah, that’s really neat. So what age group would you say that this book is for? Because I’m assuming Maximus is an adult Roman soldier. So he’s not a child, but you are writing for younger kids. So what age group would you say that this is for?”
Shane Eash: “I wrote it for, like, fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds.”
Laurie Christine: “Okay.”
Shane Eash: “I’ve had younger readers read it and enjoy it. Yeah, for some of the battle scenes, I’d say fourteen.”
Laurie Christine: “Sure, yeah, sounds good. Well, I think that this book will appeal specifically to our boys listening and to our parents of boys listening because of, you know, just the setting. Like you said, who doesn’t love ancient Rome? And who doesn’t love battles and armor and all the things? Can you give us some details from the book that might specifically appeal to a boy audience, maybe a favorite scene or something exciting that would specifically appeal to boys?”
Shane Eash: “Yeah, sure. Yeah, there are so many things I could pick. I mean, we have sword fights. We have a shipwreck. We have a very intense conflict of Rome versus Christians.”
Laurie Christine: “So it sounds like there are lots of exciting aspects that definitely are going to appeal to boys. I’m curious—my kids have been curious about learning about the gladiators recently. Is this during a time period when gladiators would have been on the scene? Am I getting my Roman history off a little bit?”
Shane Eash: “No, the gladiators definitely were on the scene.”
Laurie Christine: “Okay.”
Shane Eash: “It was a big part of Roman culture, heading to the arenas. Yeah, Nero definitely was a big promoter of the large-scale conflicts in the arena, the games. The Colosseum was not built yet. That came after Nero.”
Laurie Christine: “Interesting. Okay.”
Shane Eash: “Probably what you’re imagining as that massive arena was not built yet.”
Laurie Christine: “Okay, so, like, the movie The Gladiator—that would have been a little later, because doesn’t that take place in the Colosseum? I think, yeah.”
Shane Eash: “Yes.”
Laurie Christine: “Okay, interesting. For the record, I’ve not let my kids watch that movie yet. They have been begging to watch it, and I’m like, I don’t know, it’s super violent. My older boys could probably handle it, but we’ll see. Okay, so one of the questions that I always ask our guest authors is, how will your book help boys to be strong, courageous warriors for the kingdom of God?”
Shane Eash: “Yep. Boys need examples of men of courage, men who protect the weak and make a stand for what’s right. Boys want to see heroes triumph in the midst of suffering. They need to be encouraged in their faith. I write stories of redemption, courage, and hope. In my books, you’ll find characters with human struggles overcoming with the power of Christ. Out of our weakness, God’s strength is displayed.”
Laurie Christine: “I love that. Similar themes to my books in the Dragon Slayer Bible Series: just fighting with God’s strength, using God’s armor, using the weapons that he provides to fight the enemy. And the characters in your books are literally putting on armor to fight the enemy and just learning to be courageous warriors. So that’s great, both on a spiritual level as well as an actual, real-world warrior level.
“That’s really fun. I know our family listening will be excited to get ahold of this book. And this is the first book in the series. So Maximus: The Quest for Greatness is book one, but then book two is coming out soon. So tell us briefly about book two.”
Shane Eash: “The second in this trilogy is Maximus: The Way of Truth. It picks up right where the first book left off. Maximus was once a soldier; now he is a hunted man struggling to survive in Rome. A senator wants him dead, an assassin lurks in the shadows, yet the real battle rages within. He betrayed his faith. How can he face the apostle Peter now? How can he fight for truth when his own life is wrapped in lies? To survive, Maximus must escape his enemies, both within and without, and find courage to stand for the truth, no matter the cost.”
Laurie Christine: “Very cool. So book two is Maximus: The Way of Truth. And I think you said that’s coming out in November of 2026, which might be shortly before or after this podcast episode releases. I’m not entirely sure of the release date yet, but it’ll be in the fall of 2026. So keep an eye out for that book coming up. And where can we find your books? If people want to purchase your books, what’s the best way to find you and to find your books?”
Shane Eash: “Yeah, the easiest way would be MaximusNovel.com.”
Laurie Christine: “MaximusNovel.com. So I will have a link to that website in the show notes.
“Okay, so before we go, I am going to read the back cover of Shane’s first book, Maximus: The Quest for Greatness.
“When the great fire shatters a young Roman’s world, he infiltrates the early church with a mission to capture the apostle Paul. It is 64 AD, and Maximus has spent his whole life yearning for greatness.
“As a soldier and Roman nobleman, he climbs the ranks until hopes are dashed by life-altering events. Now, with Emperor Nero intent on crushing Paulus and a mysterious group called the Way, Maximus has his final chance to rise again and receive the reward from the Emperor. But everything hinges on one question: What if the Way is right?
“Maximus: The Quest for Greatness is an adventure-filled novel that brings the sweeping drama of first-century Christianity to life.
“Be sure to check out Shane’s book at MaximusNovel.com. You can also find Shane and his books at Shanescribe.com. Well, Shane, thank you so much for joining us on the Sword and Story Podcast today.”
Shane Eash: “It’s been a pleasure. Thank you, Laurie.”
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