The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of Ancient Sparta
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The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of Ancient Sparta
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Narrated by:
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Scott Clem
About this listen
There have been no shortage of great warrior societies in history, including the Romans, Mongols, Macedonians, and Vikings, the list goes on. Yet one humble city in particular, nestled in a valley near the Eurotas River in the Greek region of the Peloponnese and once ridiculed as little more than a cluster of villages inhabited by uncouth shepherds, produced the most famous warrior elite the world has ever known.
The most unique city-state in Ancient Greece was Sparta, which continues to fascinate contemporaneous society. It is not entirely clear why Sparta placed such a great emphasis on having a militaristic society, but the result was that military fitness was a preoccupation from birth. If a Spartan baby did not appear physically fit at birth, it was left to die. Spartan children underwent military training around the age of seven years old, and every male had to join the army around the age of 18.
The Spartans, whose carefully constructed approach to warfare and - there is no other word for it - Spartan way of life, earned the grudging admiration of all of Greece and succeeded in establishing themselves in the years following the reforms of the semi-legendary ruler Lycurgus as the greatest military force in all of Hellas. Athens might have the mightiest fleet and the greatest cadre of philosophers and dramatists, Thessaly might have had the most vaunted cavalry, and the great city-states of Argos, Thebes and Corinth all had their own claims to fame, but on the battlefield the Spartan phalanx stood without peer.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 343
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 216
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Story4 out of 5 stars 212
Starting with the premise that all civilizations owe their origins to warmaking, Keegan probes the meanings, motivations, and methods underlying war in different societies over the course of more than two thousand years. Following the progress of human aggression in its full historical sweep, from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to the warfare of mass destruction in the present age, his illuminating and lively narrative gives us all the world's great warrior cultures.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not what I expected
- By Mark on 12-05-06
By: John Keegan
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Napoleon
- A Concise Biography
- By: David A. Bell
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility that Napoleon represented. Bell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect introduction to Napoleon
- By DJP on 10-17-20
By: David A. Bell
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In the Name of Rome
- The Men Who Won the Roman Empire
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 593
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 532
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 531
Adrian Goldsworthy has received wide acclaim for his exceptional writing on the Roman Empire - including high praise from the acclaimed military historian and author John Keegan - and here he offers a new perspective on the empire by focusing on its greatest generals, including Scipio Africanus, Marius, Pompey, Caesar, and Titus.
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2 out of 5 stars
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This pie was all crust, no filling
- By JLB on 04-11-17
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History of Scotland: A Captivating Guide to Scottish History, the Wars of Scottish Independence and William Wallace
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm, David Patton
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance3 out of 5 stars 73
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 73
Three captivating manuscripts in one audiobook: Scottish History: A Captivating Guide to the History of Scotland, Wars of Scottish Independence: A Captivating Guide to the Battles Between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, Including the Impact Made by King Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace: A Captivating Guide to a Freedom Fighter and Martyr Who Impacted Scottish History and Scotland’s Independence from England. Listen to learn more.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A broken record
- By Holly Conklin on 03-27-19
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The Rise of Rome
- The Making of the World's Greatest Empire
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 491
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 425
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 417
Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., Rome grew to become the ancient world's preeminent power. Everitt fashions the story of Rome's rise to glory into an erudite book filled with lasting lessons for our time. He chronicles the clash between patricians and plebeians that defined the politics of the Republic. He shows how Rome's shrewd strategy of offering citizenship to her defeated subjects was instrumental in expanding the reach of her burgeoning empire.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Rome from the fall of Troy through Julius Caesar
- By Mike From Mesa on 12-11-12
By: Anthony Everitt
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Masters of Command
- Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar: Each was a master of war. Each had to look beyond the battlefield to decide whom to fight and why; to know what victory was and when to end the war; to determine how to bring stability to the lands he conquered. Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar had to be not only generals but statesmen. And yet each was a battlefield commander, a strategist, a leader of men - in short, a warrior.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Too much jumping around
- By Nick on 03-12-17
By: Barry Strauss
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Pax Romana
- War, Peace, and Conquest in the Roman World
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 481
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 423
Pax Romana examines how the Romans came to control so much of the world and asks whether traditionally favorable images of the Roman peace are true. Goldsworthy vividly recounts the rebellions of the conquered and examines why they broke out, why most failed, and how they became exceedingly rare. He reveals that hostility was just one reaction to the arrival of Rome and that from the outset, conquered peoples collaborated, formed alliances, and joined invaders, causing resistance movements to fade away.
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2 out of 5 stars
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2 stars if youve read goldsworthy; 2.5 or 3 if not
- By fm2 on 10-21-16
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Ancient Rome
- The Rise and Fall of An Empire
- By: Simon Baker
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 225
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Clear and dramatic
- By Tad Davis on 08-01-17
By: Simon Baker
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Napoleon
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 154
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
Paul Johnson's book is a refreshing return to a concept whose time has come once again: the Great Man theory of biography. It serves as "the greatest possible refutation of those who hold that events are governed by forces, classes, economics, and geography rather than the powerful wills of men and women". Napoleon truly was the Great Man of his age, a towering and terrible genius who managed to conquer the Continent.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not your standard biography
- By Mark Grannis on 04-24-05
By: Paul Johnson
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Carthage Must Be Destroyed
- The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization
- By: Richard Miles
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 670
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 580
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 577
An epic history of a doomed civilization and a lost empire. The devastating struggle to the death between the Carthaginians and the Romans was one of the defining dramas of the ancient world. In an epic series of land and sea battles, both sides came close to victory before the Carthaginians finally succumbed and their capital city, history, and culture were almost utterly erased.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding! This is THE book on Carthage.
- By Haakon B. Dahl on 01-21-13
By: Richard Miles
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The Crusades
- The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
- By: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,966
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,523
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,501
The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive
- By Tad Davis on 10-04-16
By: Thomas Asbridge
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Wars of Scottish Independence: A Captivating Guide to the Battles Between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, Including the Impact Made by King Robert the Bruce
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: David Patton
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4 out of 5 stars 31
Explore the captivating events and people of the Wars of Scottish Independence. The borderland between Scotland and England has historically been a site of struggle, violence, and conflict. This was acutely so during the First Scottish War of Independence. The tumult during this medieval period was grand, presenting a historical stage filled with memorable larger-than-life figures such as Edward I, William Wallace, also known as "Braveheart”, and Robert de Bruce. In this audiobook, you'll discover the revolutionary events that formed both Scottish and English history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good historical look at the borders of Scotland
- By Willy Staples on 10-04-18
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Alexander the Great: A Life from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Jimmy Kieffer
- Length: 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Alexander the Great. A boy, groomed for greatness from the earliest age, who would put his stamp on the world for generations to come. A man who sought immortality and achieved it in just 10 years. A soldier whose genius for strategy and tactics is still studied in the modern world. A ruler who understood how to win the hearts and minds of his subjects. This is the story of a Titan of the ancient world, a man who rose but, though he died, never truly fell.
By: Hourly History
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A History of the Roman Republic
- By: Cyril Edward Robinson
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
The story of the Roman Republic is the greatest epic in human history. Seen in the long perspective of time, it seems too fantastic to be real. From her modest beginnings as a convenient fording place on the Tiber to her eventual destiny as the mistress of the Mediterranean, Rome offers a strange tale of fate, sacrifice, and indomitable willpower. The stern realities of war shaped Rome's policies from the very beginning.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent overview
- By jaime on 05-14-15
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A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 413
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 360
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 359
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Excellent History of the Samurai
- By Michael on 08-08-14
What listeners say about The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of Ancient Sparta
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Linda Scott
- 03-16-20
couldn't stand the narrator
Not even 5 minutes in, I had to stop. The narrator's voice, pronunciation, and breathing absolutely drove me insane. It was like nails on a chalkboard with a 5 year old playing a recorder in the background. I can't rate the story because I never got to the point of being able to absorb any content.
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