Ancient Rome

The Rise and Fall of An Empire

By: Simon Baker

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

This is the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before - awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid.

From the conquest of the Mediterranean beginning in the third century BC to the destruction of the Roman Empire at the hands of barbarian invaders some seven centuries later, we discover the most critical episodes in Roman history: the spectacular collapse of the "free" republic, the birth of the age of the "Caesars", the violent suppression of the strongest rebellion against Roman power, and the bloody civil war that launched Christianity as a world religion.

At the heart of this account are the dynamic, complex, and flawed characters of some of the most powerful rulers in history: men such as Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, and Constantine. Putting flesh on the bones of these distant, legendary figures, Baker looks beyond the dusty, toga-clad caricatures and explores their real motivations and ambitions.

©2006 Simon Baker; foreword by Mary Beard copyright 2006 by Woodlands Books Ltd (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Well written, clear, and succinct." ( Library Journal)

Great Story of Ancient Rome

Fantastic overview of the Ancient Rome. This was a great Audible. The narrator was okay; could have been better. Overall I recommend this book.

Overview of Rome Pre-empire

This is an excellent and balanced overview of the rise of Rome through the fall of the Republic, suitable for readers seeking a good introduction to early Rome or a comfortable review..

Chris Macdonald is the best!

Well written, perfect performance! Just love it. I strongly recommend it to my friends and coworkers.

great for an interested novice

I grew up hearing references to the wars, politics, and trials of Ancient Rome, so i had picked up just a bit more then your average person, but i generally do not read nonfiction so this book did a great job hitting key points and providing a survey on the rise and fall off Rome. it filled in a ton of blanks in an engaging and informative way. i look forward to learning more.

good overview

Obviously, it is impossible to cover everything about Rome in one book. However, this book did a good job of covering a lot of the highlights. recommended

A Well Organized, Focused Survey of Ancient Rome

Well performed and smartly organized, Ancient Rome by Simon Baker provides a clear and purposeful survey of ancient Roman history. This book provides a clear outline to the enthusiastic beginner for further reading. For the intermediate, well-read of the common names and events, it will fill gaps in knowledge with its well-researched and tastefully constrained chapters. In the closing chapters, following Titus into Constantine, new and typically uncovered elements of the late empire provide a gateway to reading on Mediterranean societies in the third and fourth centuries. For the expert, its necessary omissions as a survey book are fair, leaning on the satisfying performance and occasionally indulgent hint of drama and suggestion whereas stricter historical accounts are sparse and often dry.

The Roman Republic and Empire, as dauntingly complex as it appears, can be approached amenably through this book. A lovely opportunity to witness the power of historical drama with a broad brush that can lead to lifelong addiction for the ancient world.

Enjoyed it

Easy to follow, and in a linear storyline provides you with the beginning and end of the Roman Republic. I learned a lot by the end of the book

Very Good

Got into this expecting just another roman history book. No sir, this one’s different, really well written and the narrator fits perfectly.

A relatively quick survey of a millennium

This history of Rome was at about the right depth for me right now. From Aeneas to the fall of the Empire in 40-odd chapters, the story describes the real life and times of any number of characters whose names were somewhat familiar but about whom the details were very fuzzy in my mind before this week. The narration is somewhat slow, maybe even edging over to ponderous occasionally; but that worked for me with this subject matter. The history of Rome demonstrates that heredity is an extremely bad criterion by which to pick leaders. It shows, too, that grand and glorious societies can be built only on the enslavement of a large part of the population.

Very well done

Good high level review of the major events in the forming and ending of the empire. However, The author skips many emperors so this is not comprehensive. Perfect for me and many who want to understand Rome.