Good content, occasionally strange pronunciation.

The content was good and relevant, with clear parrallels being drawn between the time periods and contemporary events. The connections shown between America and the Roman Republic, which has had such a strong influence on Western civilisation, especially USA is far from being pointless.

I often have issues with the pronunciation of American speakers, sometimes it's the accent and sometimes it's just the diction, however that hasn't affected my understanding of the lecture, so it's not something to fuss over.

At points, there was some waffling and you seem to lose what the lecturer is talking about.

I would like to point out that lectures hold only a starting point for people to do their own independent study. Lecturers are not meant to feed you everything like teachers in promary and secondary edication. They are meant to give you a foundation on which to build your own knowledge base. Considering this, these lectures have achieved their purpose.

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Accent was a wee bit hard to take.

Accent was a wee bit hard to take with the inflections. I thought his religion led to misrepresentation of stoicism. For example Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius were more open to Democritus' "Atoms & Void" metaphysics. He was determined to represent them as monotheistic rather than pantheistic. Logos could be nature, not an anthropomorphic deity. .

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too narrative.

it is good. but it does not focus enough on the characters of each lecture. it follows the largely narrative route taken by most courses on roman history. for example only the last 10 or so minutes of claudius is on him. the first part focuses on the narrative from augustus through tiberius to caligula.

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2 people found this helpful

Dumbed down and superficial

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

This series claims to be university level, but if it is then all I can say is that standards at university have really fallen.

Admittedly I didn't get beyond the first two lectures, but as they both consisted of imaginary conversations between the subject of the lecture and his father, as well as irritating parallels with the the USA (the Ancient Romans got rid of their Kings, just as in the United States we got rid of King George....) it was just too dumbed down for me. A teenager with an interest in history, or someone who likes their learning superficial, may enjoy this - I did not.

A waste of money, and if I could give it no stars I would.

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4 people found this helpful

Disappointing

Any additional comments?

After listening to some of the brilliant Great Courses, this has been a massive let down. The lives are recounted as stories with simplifications and generalisations which are misleading and lacking in any analysis or insight, and spurious opinions are dangerously offered as fact: the heroes of the Trojan War were historical figures, the Spartans were the most famous of Greeks, all city states aimed to be democracies, Schliemann found Agamemnon.... For high quality and balanced lectures, go for Elizabeth Vandiver, Jeremy McInerney and Robert Garland.

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2 people found this helpful

i give up

couldn't finish. annoying narrator AF. overly focus on american comparisons. i give up. try the robert garland lectures, they are good

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1 person found this helpful

Poor

Style sensational rather than informative or accurate. The lectures mangle and distort history rather than bring it to life.
Invest your time in the History of Rome podcast instead.

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