Ancient Rome: An Enthralling Overview of Roman History, Starting From the Romulus and Remus Myth through the Republic to the Fall of the Roman Empire

by Enthralling History, Jay Herbert (Narrator)

Are you intrigued by ancient Rome’s myths, culture, and unimaginable rise to power? If so, this powerful history of ancient Rome will draw you in and keep you listening!

Rome’s astonishing history now spans 28 centuries, growing from obscurity into a massive empire stretching from Britain to the Middle East and south to Africa. Rome’s culture and institutions left an enduring legacy that continues to impact civilizations around the world.

In this engaging history of ancient Rome, we will unwrap the intriguing myths of the twin babies Romulus and Remus - left exposed to certain death - and their ancestor Aeneas, who escaped burning Troy and made his epic journey to central Italy. We will discover how all the drama, politics, and empire-building unfolded. We will explore the captivating stories of the brilliant and indomitable people who built Rome and the chaotically destructive people who destroyed it from within.

This thoroughly-researched history vividly presents a fascinating insight into ancient Rome. The clear and compelling narrative provides a comprehensive overview without being pretentious and boring.

A glimpse of the questions this audiobook will uncover includes:

What happened when a goddess met a handsome shepherd on a lonely hilltop?
Who escaped from burning Troy to later become a king in Italy?
What ill-fated romance impelled Queen Dido of Carthage to commit suicide?
How did a Vestal Virgin get pregnant?
Why were the babies floating down the river in a basket - and what happened to them?
Did Romulus get blown away in a windstorm? Or was he torn to pieces by the senators?
How did abuse of power by tyrannical kings lead to a democratic Republic?
And much, much more!
Buy this audiobook now to learn the stories of the incredible ancient Rome!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mythology

6 pages, Audiobook

Published November 22, 2021

Reviews

[Jerry Jares]

The beauty of this book is that it lays out the beginning of Rome, from its mythological beginnings to the rise, the creation of a huge empire, and to its eventual fall.  It is all here in one continuous timeline and story.  The benefit of an overview, such as this one, is that the whole scale and breadth of the Roman civilization and culture are there for the reader to read and understand.  Thanks for the images of the war elephants in action; they were certainly fearsome. For soldiers who'd never seen them before, they must have been terrifying.

The Roman Republic lasted 5 centuries because of its incredible military and its ability to assimilate different groups into their governmental system. However, this book shows just what a messy process it was. No one had done it before and they made mistakes. Then the Roman Republic transitioned to the Roman Empire, complete with the five emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. The arts were in their Golden Age, but the country was rife with cruelty and conspiracies.

The final segment of this book shows how Rome fell. There were so many causes:  A plague, debasement of the currency, and economic depression all converged to unstabilize the country.  Barracks emperors became the norm (emperors backed by military devoted to him, not the country of Rome). With the leadership in disarray and barbarians at their gates, people were focused on grabbing more power, not protecting the Empire. When the Plague of Cyprian (249 - 262 CE) swept through the empire, the population was decimated, scattered, and hopeless in their misery. By this time, the Roman Empire spanned three continents.

The long reigns of Diocletian and Constantine helped stabilize the empire but after they were gone, the empire collapsed slowly. Internal conflict, ruler incompetence, and ceaseless hordes of barbarians finally doomed the western empire. The concluding chapter was a wonderful wrap-up of the significance of the Roman Empire to the world.

[Rebecca Hill]

The rise and fall of Rome has long captivated historians - but it can be harder to share some of the information with younger readers without completely overwhelming them. Shoot, it can be hard to teach this to college students without completing overwhelming them.
Ancient Rome breaks down the rise of the Roman empire - the wars, the major players, moments of interest, and discusses it in a way that those who are not familiar with the history, or are newcomers to the era can read and understand.

Enthralling History brings Roman history back to life, sharing the lives of emperors, strong women, and shares some of the not so pretty side of roman history. There are some fabulous nuggets - and if you enjoy military history - then the expansion of the roman empire is going to excite you!

[Ozana Ozzy]

Really superficial.

[Todd C]

I wanted a good book that summarized the history of Rome. I did some research and went with this one. I was not disappointed. This was exactly what I was looking for. It goes through the entire history, detailing every emperor and ruler, major wars, internal battles, etc. but does not get bogged down in a lot of boring details. Plenty of info on the most famous people too, like Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Caligula, Commodus, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, etc.

If you just want a nice 233pp summarization of Roman history, I highly recommend this book. It's well written, easy to follow, and also includes many illustrations.

[Cloak88]

A who did what and when of Rome.

Aimed at a younger audience it is clear this book was made with obvious enthusiasm. Having said that, I found it to be both a bit confusing and somewhat disappointing. Myth is mixed with historical record without much distinction between fact and fiction. Knowing only so much about Roman history, I had a hard time figuring which was which. Whats more, after that this overview just turned into a summation of which ruler did what and when.... Not that Enthralling to be honest.
I suppose with such a long timeframe, you'll have to take things in big strokes, but this felt a bit to shallow.

Told with much enthusiasm this was a good book for a younger audience, not already knowledgeable of the subject beforehand.

[Merry Jelks-Emmanuel]

This is an intriguing book that captures the essence of Roman History that begins with Romulus and Remus myth all the way up to the fall of the mighty Roman Empire. It is well written and provides a lot of enticing tidbits that I had forgot about.

[William L Jones]

Just long enough and just short enough. It vasilates between scholarly and pop while filling in the many gaps in most people's knowledge of Rome. For me it added to my awareness of human warlike invasive nature. If you changed the names, you could not distinguish then from now.

[Brian Wagner]

Interesting but did see a few errors that proofreading should have caught.