Valerio Massimo Manfredi is an Italian historian, writer, essayist, archaeologist, and journalist. He was born on March 8, 1943, in Castelfranco Emilia, Modena, Italy. Manfredi is renowned for his historical novels about the ancient world.

He holds a degree in Classical Literature and specializes in the topography of the ancient world. Throughout his career, he has taught at several prestigious institutions including the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and Luigi Bocconi University in Milan, the University of Venice, Loyola University Chicago, and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris.

Manfredi has led numerous scientific expeditions, explorations, and excavations across Italy and other countries. He has published several essays and scientific articles, including works like Anabasis (1980), The Road of the Ten Thousand (1986), and The Etruscans in the Po Valley (co-authored with L. Malnati, 1991).

Moreover, he frequently contributes as an expert on ancient topics to magazines like Panorama and Messaggero. Manfredi has also directed documentaries about the ancient world for major television networks and has written fiction for cinema and television.

He lives in a country house in Piumazzo di Castelfranco Emilia (Modena) with his wife, Christine Fedderson Manfredi, who translates some of his books into English, and their children, Giulia and Fabio Emiliano.