Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Ancient Rome

By: Thomas R. Martin
Narrated by: John Lescault
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.

Interweaving social, political, religious, and cultural history, Martin interprets the successes and failures of the Romans in war, political organization, quest for personal status, and in the integration of religious beliefs and practices with government. He focuses on the central role of social and moral values in determining individual conduct as well as decisions of state, from monarchy to republic to empire. Striving to reconstruct ancient history from the ground up, he includes frequent references to ancient texts and authors, encouraging readers to return to the primary sources.

Comprehensive, concise, and accessible, this masterful account provides a unique window into Rome and its changing fortune.

©2018 Thomas R. Martin (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Ancient Greece, Second Edition cover art
The Roman Republic: A Captivating Guide to the Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic, SPQR and Roman Politicians Such as Julius Caesar and Cicero cover art
Ancient History cover art
The Roman Empire cover art
Norse Paganism cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art
A History of the World cover art
Worlds at War cover art
Constantine the Emperor cover art
The Fate of Rome cover art
Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History cover art
The Roman Republic cover art
The Verge cover art
Our Oriental Heritage cover art
The History of the Ancient World cover art
A History of Japan cover art

What listeners say about Ancient Rome

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    73
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    60
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    69
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My first Audible Book. Impressed.

Very enjoyable listen to the reader about Ancient Rome by Thomas R Martin. I look forward to listening more audiobooks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent starting place

This book succeeds admirably in its stated intention of giving a broad overview of ancient Rome, with the aim of inspiring further research and reading.

As someone who came to the subject with essentially zero knowledge, this has helped me at least get something of a grasp on this time. If you are already well read on this period I doubt there is much here to entice you as it doesn't deal with any one subject in depth, but given that it covers such a huge span of time in less than 9 hours, that's understandable.

The narrator is absolutely fine. It's certainly not the most inspired reading I've heard, and doesn't liven up what is potentially already a dry subject, but it's clear and well read throughout.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative

I really enjoyed this book and it gave me a good understanding of the Roman Empire.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poorly read

Dreadful pronunciation! Such a shame. just a little bit of homework on how names, bith ancient and modern, woukd make this so much better. I cringed at the way some names were pronounced.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

not as good as Ancient Greece

I really enjoyed the authors " Ancient Greece:, ancient Rome wasn't as enjoyable, because of repetition, the author also discusses Jesus as a historical figure without references to historical texts. fictional charactors surley should not be included in historical nonfiction.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Reads like a textbook

Author sounds like a robot. The book itself sounds more like a textbook than a popular historical interest book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

its ok

ok overview of roman history. nothing special nothing terrible. could be better and could be worse.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Lightweight and superficial content. Reader ok.

This book only really skims the surface and it is difficult to see what audience this aims at. Much of the content skips very superficially along without being interesting - for example, a major civil war is skipped over in a couple of sentences. This comes across very much like a high level précis of someone else’s work. There are far better works out there on all levels.
The reader is decently competent, mispronounced a few names here and there., but not too egregious.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

why this narrator?

I imagine the book is fascinating but couldn't deal with the narration. it is like listening to a droid. had to turn off.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Like a Catholic priests version of History

To start with the narrator speaks in a tedious monotone that does not change at all.
As to the content in which through the first 600 years of the empire in double quick time then it deals in mind-numbing detail with the growth of the Christian church. I am not at a religious seminary and was bored out of my skull. I suggest this book is largely for those of a Christian religious persuasion. Otherwise don’t waste your time like I did

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!