Rome
A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History
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Rome
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Narrated by:
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James Cameron Stewart
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By:
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Robert Hughes
About this listen
From the beginning, Rome was a hotbed of power, overweening ambition, desire, political genius, and corruption. Hughes details the turbulent years that saw the formation of empire and the establishment of the sociopolitical system, along the way providing colorful portraits of all the major figures, both political and cultural. For almost a thousand years, Rome would remain the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world.
Having established itself as the artistic and spiritual center of the world, Rome in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries saw artists from all over Europe converging on the bustling city, even while it was caught up in the nationalistic turmoil of the Italian independence struggle and war against France.
Hughes keeps the momentum going right into the 20th century, when Rome witnessed the rise and fall of Italian Fascism and Mussolini, and took on yet another identity in the postwar years as the fashionable city of "La Dolce Vita". Equal parts idolizing, blasphemous, outraged, and awestruck, Rome is a portrait of the Eternal City as only Robert Hughes could paint it.
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1 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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Easy listen.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
It took little more than a single generation for the centuries-old Roman Empire to fall. In those critical decades, while Christians and pagans, legions and barbarians, generals and politicians squabbled over dwindling scraps of power, two men—former comrades on the battlefield—rose to prominence on opposite sides of the great game of empire. Roman general Flavius Stilicho, the man behind the Roman throne, dedicated himself to restoring imperial glory, only to find himself struggling for his life against political foes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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EXCELLENT
- By Gavin Michelli on 01-17-25
By: Don Hollway
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Russia at War, 1941–1945
- A History
- By: Alexander Werth, Nicolas Werth - foreword
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 38 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story5 out of 5 stars 87
In 1941, Russian-born British journalist Alexander Werth observed the unfolding of the Soviet-German conflict with his own eyes. What followed was the widely acclaimed book, Russia at War, first printed in 1964. At once a history of facts, a collection of interviews, and a document of the human condition, Russia at War is a stunning, modern classic that chronicles the savagery and struggles on Russian soil during the most incredible military conflict in modern history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Simply Astonishing
- By Nicholas Robinson on 02-28-22
By: Alexander Werth, and others
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The Rise of Athens
- The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 626
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 551
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 549
Filled with tales of adventure and astounding reversals of fortune, The Rise of Athens celebrates the city-state that transformed the world - from the democratic revolution that marked its beginning through the city's political and cultural golden age to its decline into the ancient equivalent of a modern-day university town. Anthony Everitt constructs his history with unforgettable portraits of the talented, tricky, ambitious, and unscrupulous Athenians who fueled the city's rise.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good but not great. With some disturbing opinions.
- By Anthony on 06-25-19
By: Anthony Everitt
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Ancient Rome
- The Definitive History
- By: DK
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Immerse yourself in the history of ancient Rome — from its origins as a small settlement on the Palatine Hill to its peak as an empire reigning over 90 million people, and its tumultuous decline. Covering more than 1,000 years of history, and an empire that stretched from Scotland to Syria, Ancient Rome reveals in vivid detail all of the key political, cultural, and military events that shaped the Roman Empire and explores what it was like to live in a society that laid the foundations for many aspects of the modern world.
By: DK
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Ancient Christianities
- The First Five Hundred Years
- By: Paula Fredriksen
- Narrated by: Rachel Perry
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story5 out of 5 stars 10
The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Christianities—through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Among the best
- By Jacob Kilgore on 04-17-25
By: Paula Fredriksen
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The Golden Road
- How Ancient India Transformed the World
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: William Dalrymple
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story5 out of 5 stars 8
In The Golden Road, revered historian William Dalrymple corrects the record, telling the captivating story of ancient India’s ascent through a swift and breathtaking tour of the ideas and places Indians created. Treks into the sunless depths of cave monasteries illuminate the origins and spread of Buddhism. Far-flung archaeological expeditions—from the sand-blown Red Sea coast of Egypt, to Afghan mountain refuges, to verdant Cambodian jungles—reveal the impact of Indian commerce.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Completely unknown until now
- By Reader on 05-07-25
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Where Tyranny Begins
- The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy
- By: David Rohde
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
In Where Tyranny Begins, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Rohde investigates the strategies Trump systematically used to turn the country's two most powerful law-enforcement agencies into his personal political weapons. Rohde also reveals how, during the Biden years, Justice Department non-partisan 1970s norms that Attorney General Merrick Garland reinforced inadvertently helped Trump, and could fail to deliver a trial and legal accountability by Election Day 2024.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Review of why we fired trump
- By ludlow on 09-24-24
By: David Rohde
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Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,383
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,201
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- By: Edward Gibbon
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 126 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 985
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 831
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 826
Here in a single volume is the entire, unabridged recording of Gibbon's masterpiece. Beginning in the second century A.D. at the apex of the Pax Romana, Gibbon traces the arc of decline and complete destruction through the centuries across Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a thrilling and cautionary tale of splendor and ruin, of faith and hubris, and of civilization and barbarism. Follow along as Christianity overcomes paganism... before itself coming under intense pressure from Islam.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Masterpiece - Best Audiobook I’ve Listened To
- By Student on 09-18-18
By: Edward Gibbon
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The Kingdom of Cain
- Finding God in the Literature of Darkness
- By: Andrew Klavan
- Narrated by: Andrew Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story5 out of 5 stars 150
In The Truth and Beauty, Andrew Klavan explored how the work of great poets helps illuminate the truth of the gospels. Now, the award-winning screenwriter and crime novelist turns his attention to the dark side of human nature to discover how we might find joy and beauty in the world while still being clear-eyed about the evil found in it. The Kingdom of Cain looks at three murders in history—including the first murder, Cain's killing of his brother, Abel—and at the art created from imaginative engagement with those horrific events by artists ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Alfred Hitchcock.
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5 out of 5 stars
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It’s very seldom a non-fiction book brings me to tears.
- By Mirley R. Graf on 06-23-25
By: Andrew Klavan
Amazing Listen for anyone interested in the history of Rome or Art
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Great author
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Absolutely fantastic
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Brilliant and enjoyable overview
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Entertaining and well done.
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