Augustus
The Life of Rome's First Emperor
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Narrated by:
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John Curless
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By:
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Anthony Everitt
About this listen
Caesar Augustus has been called history's greatest emperor. It was said he found Rome made of clay and left it made of marble. With a senator for a father and Julius Caesar for a great-uncle, he ascended the ranks of Roman society with breathtaking speed. His courage in battle is still questioned, yet his political savvy was second to none. He had a lifelong rival in Mark Antony and a 51-year companion in his wife, Livia. And his influence extended perhaps further than that of any ruler who has ever lived.
Drawing on the available information, while making a handful of his own groundbreaking assertions, Everitt brings the real Augustus to vivid life in this fascinating narrative.
©2006 Anthony Everitt (P)2006 Recorded Books LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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"Sicily," said Goethe, "is the key to everything." It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East. Sicily's strategic location has tempted Roman emperors, French princes, and Spanish kings. The subsequent struggles to conquer and keep it have played crucial roles in the rise and fall of the world's most powerful dynasties.
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DISAPPOINTING
- By SRdto on 11-22-16
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Cleopatra
- A Life
- By: Stacy Schiff
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.
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Approach this book with caution
- By GolfZilla on 12-02-10
By: Stacy Schiff
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Rome's Last Citizen
- The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus Porcius Cato: aristocrat who walked barefoot and slept on the ground with his troops, political heavyweight who cultivated the image of a Stoic philosopher, a hardnosed defender of tradition who presented himself as a man out of the sacred Roman past-and the last man standing when Rome's Republic fell to tyranny. His blood feud with Caesar began in the chamber of the Senate, played out on the battlefields of a world war, and ended when he took his own life rather than live under a dictator.
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Unfortunate
- By Olivia N. on 11-06-20
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Cleopatra: The Egyptian Queen: The Entire Life Story
- By: THE HISTORY HOUR
- Narrated by: Lizzie Richards
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, nominally survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. She was also a diplomat, naval commander, polyglot, and medical author. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder, Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
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Good overview, poor narration
- By HP on 10-31-22
By: THE HISTORY HOUR
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The Age of Caesar
- Five Roman Lives
- By: Plutarch, James Romm - preface and notes, Pamela Mensch - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Antony: the names resonate across thousands of years. Major figures in the civil wars that brutally ended the Roman republic, their lives still haunt us as examples of how the hunger for personal power can overwhelm collective politics, how the exaltation of the military can corrode civilian authority, and how the best intentions can lead to disastrous consequences. Plutarch renders these history-making lives as flesh-and-blood characters.
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Terrific
- By Michael on 06-13-23
By: Plutarch, and others
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Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
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Fascinating
- By Jean on 04-01-19
By: Adam Zamoyski
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The Borgias
- The Hidden History
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Enn Reitel
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The startling truth behind one of the most notorious dynasties in history is revealed in a remarkable new account by the acclaimed author of The Tudors and A World Undone. Sweeping aside the gossip, slander, and distortion that have shrouded the Borgias for centuries, G. J. Meyer offers an unprecedented portrait of the infamous Renaissance family and their storied milieu.
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Marvelous !
- By Cinders on 08-02-13
By: G. J. Meyer
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Alexander the Great
- Journey to the End of the Earth
- By: Norman F. Cantor
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor draws on the major writings of Alexander's contemporaries, as well as the most recent psychological and cultural studies to illuminate this most legendary of men - a great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality greatly fueled his military accomplishments.
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FIVE STAR BOOK!!!!
- By Fun Lovin Lady on 09-25-12
By: Norman F. Cantor
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Napoleon
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Johnson's book is a refreshing return to a concept whose time has come once again: the Great Man theory of biography. It serves as "the greatest possible refutation of those who hold that events are governed by forces, classes, economics, and geography rather than the powerful wills of men and women". Napoleon truly was the Great Man of his age, a towering and terrible genius who managed to conquer the Continent.
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Not your standard biography
- By Mark Grannis on 04-24-05
By: Paul Johnson
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Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., Rome grew to become the ancient world's preeminent power. Everitt fashions the story of Rome's rise to glory into an erudite book filled with lasting lessons for our time. He chronicles the clash between patricians and plebeians that defined the politics of the Republic. He shows how Rome's shrewd strategy of offering citizenship to her defeated subjects was instrumental in expanding the reach of her burgeoning empire.
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The son of Caesar calls to you.
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You know my name...say it.
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The Spartacus War is the extraordinary story of the most famous slave rebellion in the ancient world, the fascinating true story behind a legend that has been the inspiration for novelists, filmmakers, and revolutionaries for 2,000 years. Starting with only 74 men, a gladiator named Spartacus incited a rebellion that threatened Rome itself.
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Interesting
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Empire of the Black Sea
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- By: Duane W. Roller
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
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What is commonly called the kingdom of Pontos flourished for over 200 years in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. At its peak in the early first century BC, it included much of the southern, eastern, and northern littoral, becoming one of the most important Hellenistic dynasties not founded by a successor of Alexander the Great. Previous histories of Pontos have focused almost exclusively on the career of its last ruler. Setting that famous reign in its wide historical context, Empire of the Black Sea is an engaging account of a powerful yet little-known ancient dynasty.
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More of an academic journal than a book.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-23
By: Duane W. Roller
What listeners say about Augustus
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Karin W.
- 08-17-12
A fascinating biography of Rome's first emperor
Beginning with a gripping account of Augustus's death in AD 14 (the author speculates that Livia may have participated in an assisted suicide so that timeline for the transfer of power to Tiberius would go exactly as planned), this fascinating account of the life of the first Roman emperor covers both the personal and political life of Augustus, who was shrewd and ruthless, cruel yet loyal to his friends, a master manipulator of public opinion, and a consummate propagandist who maintained the facade of being merely the "first citizen" in a republic, while holding sole power for forty years.
In addition to vividly sketching Augustus's famous contemporaries--Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, among others--the author also presents a lively picture of life in ancient Rome, from weddings to funerals, from food to sexual mores.
A very enjoyable and informative book. I'm definitely going to be downloading the Everitt's biography of Emperor Hadrian next!
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Overall
- Anthony
- 01-13-11
Great book, good narrator
I rather enjoyed this book once i got past the narrators voice. Definitely worth getting if you want to know about Roman History.
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- Sutapa Chattopadhyay
- 05-04-18
Loved the story of Augustus
Loved the background and general description of Roman life. Seems well researched. It provides a balanced view of Augustus's life.
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Overall
- Larry
- 04-15-09
Excellent history and interesting narrative
For anyone interested in the history of Rome after Julius Ceasar, this is a fascinating book. The story of how Octavius became Ceasar Augustus and the conflict between him and Marc Antony make it read as a historical novel, and shows that the truth can be more interesting than fiction. It gives a clear understanding of how the republic gradually became dominated by one man. The narrator is excellent and he brings life to so many characters involved in the action.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Tanglebones
- 03-01-13
Great read, slightly marred by production issues
Would you listen to Augustus again? Why?
Definitely yes - great history well delivered.
Any additional comments?
The recording had some flaws; I think patch sessions were recorded with a different mic, and poorly inserted, leading to volume discrepancies that distracted from the reading.
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- Sam Motes
- 06-04-13
Struggle to maintain power
The story of Augustus is brought alive by Everitt very successfully. Full of stories of power, manipulation, dirty politics, deceit, and brutality. The futile attempts to leave a legacy by extending his lineage was the most net resting part to me.
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- William
- 12-27-15
Wish I could have been there
What did you love best about Augustus?
Mr. Everitt provides a substantial amount of detail that helps you develop a relationship with the Octavian, the person.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Augustus?
“…and it is said he withdrew into his tent and wept.” I believe it would have been impossible for Octavian not to have had a significant amount of affection for Mark Antony. There is complicated love between adversarial warriors.
What about John Curless’s performance did you like?
I felt John Curless’s narration was clear, easy to understand, and gave a sense of how things really were.
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- lbsouth
- 01-12-12
Very good biography.
What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?
Very good
Do you have any additional comments?
This was my first audio, biography. My favorite is normally historical fiction. I have read several David Mucullough historical books and loved them. This was close but not quite as good, but then again it could be the audio. One of my biggest limitations was trying to keep everyone straight. This is in no way a fault of the author, I felt he did a stupendous job, it has more to do with the way the Romans where name. All the divorcing and marrying within the family also made it hard to keep everyone straight. I will say it left me wanting to here more history of Rome.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-05-12
All the Details Most Histories Skip Over
This is a fascinating book about one of history's most significant figures. I studied Roman history extensively in college, but most histories gloss over so many of the most fascinating years of Augustus' life. Everitt's book delves into them and more. It's a compelling, enjoyable, and even-handed appraisal of the man's life an times. A perfect follow-up to the book Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland, which is another great audiobook.
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- Ian
- 12-17-17
Very well done well listen to again soon
Great telling of Augustus. Reader is excellent but the sound studio techs didn't blend takes together at time and it seems a bit obvious there was a retake. All in all very good though.
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