author
William Ware
1797–1852
A Unitarian minister turned novelist, he brought the ancient world to life in stories that helped shape early American historical fiction. His best-known books, including Zenobia and Aurelian, mix classical settings with moral and religious reflection.
2 Audiobooks
Zenobia; or, the Fall of Palmyra
by William Ware
Aurelian; or, Rome in the Third Century
by William Ware
About the author
Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1797, he was the son of the prominent Unitarian minister Henry Ware. He studied at Harvard and went on to serve as a minister himself, preaching in Massachusetts and Maine before ill health gradually pulled him away from parish work.
He is best remembered as the author of historical novels set in the ancient Mediterranean world. Letters from Palmyra, later known as Zenobia, and Probus; or, Rome in the Third Century, later known as Aurelian, were especially admired for their vivid settings and thoughtful blend of fiction, history, and religion.
Alongside his novels, he also wrote essays, edited religious works, and remained closely connected to the Unitarian literary world of New England. His writing helped introduce many American readers to a more imaginative kind of historical storytelling, and his books continued to be read after his death in Cambridge in 1852.