Perhaps the most famous novel about conflicts between religious faith and public duty in the ancient world is Lew Wallace's Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ (1880), which focuses on a man's discovery of faith in the Roman Empire during the era of Christ's ministry.

Another such book is The Robe (1942) by Lloyd C. Douglas. These books and Count Belisarius have in common fast, often violent, action and cruel tribulations for their main characters.