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The Twelve Caesars
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
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The Twelve Caesars
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Summary
As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colorful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote, and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn---and all too human---individuals. This version of The Twelve Caesars is the translation by Alexander Thomson, M.D.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- G Douglas Whistler
- 27-11-16
Excellent text, well (if confusingly) read
This is an excuse edition of Suetonius's text, whose precise & archaic language lends an appropriate sense of depth to the accounts. The reader is very good, holding one's interest while matching the tone of the text admirably. My only significant criticism is that the editor's commentary which follows each "life" is in no way distinguished from the main text, though of a wildly different age, by a different author, & on a different subject--the literary works of the reigns! This took a lot of getting used to, & required me to find the printed text to note the location of the switch from text to commentary on the first instance: I then learnt to look out for a change in style, but it was not always clear.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ApollonianTadzio
- 14-07-24
Strong text let down by poor performance
Suetonius is Suetonius, there's not much to say there, but I do have some comments on the formatting of the audiobook, the reader, and the contents.
First, perhaps 1/3rd of the runtime of this audiobook is not Suetonius but a commentary on Suetonius written by one Alexander Thomson, M.D., who I suspect but am unable to confirm might have been the same Alexander Thomson M.D. who was a 19th century Australian pioneer. It's generally a decent commentary, and doesn't detract from the text, but it exacerbates some formatting issues. My chief complaint is that chapters aren't named (making it difficult at times to remember which emperor you're dealing with) and there are no hard breaks between chapters. Sometimes Suetonius runs off into the commentary of Dr. Thomson and I found myself not noticing for several minutes.
The performance is generally poor. Monotonous. A chore was made out of what is actually quite interesting content.
In summary, get another edition unless you are interested in the supplemental commentary that this one includes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kevhan
- 25-03-15
2000 years old and still a great book
Brilliantly written brilliantly narrated not just the story of the twelve Caesars but of there time fantastic
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Bella A
- 27-03-22
Dire narration
Monotonous narration completely stiffled this book. Going for print copy instead or another version.
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