The English historian Harry Sidebottom has a quite good historical novel about the siege of Dura Europos, “Fire in the East.” The protagonist is an Angle sent to Rome as a diplomatic hostage who rises in the Roman Army.
Someone recommended Ben Bova’s “The Hittite” novel, I tracked it down on unabridged audiobook. I need to throw some more audiobooks on instead of streaming stuff in the other room.
Oh, and...
https://archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2024/collection/london-on-the-black-sea/lost-cities/