A History of Ancient Rome

by Frances Titchener

This course explores the world of Ancient Rome as students investigate important events and key figures of the epoch.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Roman History

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Avis Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely lost my temper with this one. The lectures are not college-level material. It is--quite seriously--aimed at about 6th grade level. If you have a brain anything above average, Tichener treats you like you're stupid. This was MADDENING to listen to, and I quit early on, unable to stand her relentless dumbing-down of Rome's history any longer.

[John Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of Rome in antiquity. Its mythological beginnings, the age of the kings, age of the republic, the Empire and decline of the imperial West. These lectures leave one wanting to explore more in depth the characters that people the various periods of the ancient capital of the world.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an okay overview history of Ancient Rome.

(Note: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book. 3 = Very good; 4 = Outstanding {only about 5% of the books I read merit this}; 5 = All time favorites {one of these may come along every 400-500 books})

[Jason Drummond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well organized and the professor's reading is affable and interesting. Feels like being back in a beloved college classroom.

[Shalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for something that would give me a fast overview of this very long time period before diving into each era and this was exactly what I was looking for!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic, lecture presentation of the history of Rome. Well organized and informative.

[Lene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-informed and very entertaining history of Rome. Titchener's deadpan humor made listening to this audio book a lot of fun in addition to it being informative. I especially liked that the author gave equal weight to the early and republican years of Rome, as to the later empire. I find that most histories tend to focus on the latter. Accordingly, I did not learn much new information about the Roman Emperors, but a lot about the Kingdom of Rome and the Roman Republic.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a business student I didn't have many chances to learn about ancient history. So now that I am out of school, I like to fill in the gaps of my education in other disciplines. (like history) I really enjoyed the journey from the beginning of Rome to the fall of the empire. The first couple lectures explained how Romans lived and their beliefs. By the middle of the lectures it was more of just listing leaders and their battles. I would have been interested to know more about how their lifestyles evolved over the time period as well. For those who are lifetime learners and enjoy history, this group of courses are for you.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This overview of the history of ancient Rome is quite interesting and occasionally entertaining (her description of the Gauls when they came up against Rome early on is a hoot). Listening to Professor Titchener's 14 lectures in this CD set is is a rather painless way to obtain a rudimentary understanding of the history of the Roman Republic and Empire. There are two lectures on each of seven CDs accompanied by a little booklet which contains some an outline of the same information in the lectures as well as additional charts, maps, and references for further study.

[Skuli Saeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nokkuð gott heildaryfirlit þótt í knöppu formi sé. Maður lærir alltaf eitthvað nýtt. Titchener einbeitir sér aðallega að stjórnarfari Rómarveldis og samskiptum rómversku þingmannanna við sterku mennina og síðar keisarana. Hún horfir síður til landvinningastríða Rómverja og nefnir t.d. yfirtöku þeirra á veldi Grikkja nánast sem aukaatriði og af tilviljun. Þannig má segja að þetta sé í raun fyrst og fremst stjórnmálaleg saga heimsveldisins og þótt fullt af bitastæðum aukahlutum fylgi með. Fyrirlestrunum lýkur svo með falli Rómar en ekki er sögð saga Aust-Rómverska ríkins að neinu ráði.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm surprised there aren't more favorable reviews of this lecture series. I thought it was excellent. Titchener does a good job laying out events in a logical sequence. She seems to cover only the pertinent information in an even way. She has a knack for explaining complicated principles and she even has a pretty good sense of humor. Overall, I thought the course was very interesting and surprisingly entertaining.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and informative overview from Romulus and Remus to the fall of Rome. A great adjunct to the tomes I am plowing through now (Caesar bio and 700+ page Roman historical fiction). I doubt the Romans ever said, "yada, yada, yada," but usually Titchener is engaging without being too folksy, and she certainly held my attention.

[Dwain · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overarching view of the most powerful empire in the history of the western world. My only complaint is a noticeable tendency to render favorable moral judgments on the Roman Empire's statist/liberal/"progressive" tendencies.

[Iwaswondering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of the era for a 7 hour lecture. Interesting. Kept me listening.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information and wonderful intonation by Frances Titchener. I learned a lot.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super fun and interesting once you get over Titchener's awful Midwestern accent.

[Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, nothing more. An acceptable introduction to the topic but not detailed enough for my tastes.