Lives of the Twelve Caesars Audiobook By Suetonius cover art

Lives of the Twelve Caesars

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Lives of the Twelve Caesars

By: Suetonius
Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
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Suetonius wrote his Lives of the Twelve Caesars in the reign of Vespasian around 70AD. He chronicled the extraordinary careers of Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, and Domitian and the rest in technicolour terms. They presented some high and low times at the heart of the Roman Empire. The accounts provide us with perspicacious insights into the men as much as their reigns, and it was from Suetoniaus that subsequent writers such as Robert Graves drew so much of their material.

Download the accompanying reference guide.(P)2005 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.; ©2005 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. Ancient Historical Rome Italy
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I wouldn't call this a kids' book by any means, but definitely a good book to get a base understanding. Much shorter. I started listening to another longer version, and was very lost after Augustus (I could only follow until that point because of previous knowledge).

Great starting point if you want to listen to the longer versions, but have very little background in the subject.

Good introduction in shortened form.

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It felt like I was a contemporary roman listening to a wise and educated man tell the stories of the Caesars.

Masterful

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This is the finest reading of a Roman primary resource (book) I've ever heard. Derek Jacobi makes Seutonius come alive, almost like you are talking with Seutonius. Here his outstanding work in the BBC series "I, Claudius" really pays off. He knows the material inside and out. I marveled at his performance on this audio book.

Anyone who knows Roman history knows there are flaws with Seutonius; some of the information here is true; some is court gossip, rumor or innuendo. However, it is an important work, warts and all.

If you love Roman history, this is worth a try. There are so many wild, interesting and somewhat crazy anecdotes here. And some real History.

Derek Jacobi knocks it out of the Park

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Jacobi reads beautifully (he played Claudius, one of the Caesars in question), but Naxos, the publisher, seems strangely coy about the translator--not even in its catalog does it reveal whose English version Jacobi is reading. It's certainly not the celebrated Robert Graves translation (for that go to the Audio Connoisseurs edition) but a far looser one, and, of course, heavily abridged. Information about the translator would seem a basic courtesy to the buyer. This buyer, at least, is disappointed by the lack of it.

Translation doubts

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This is the 7 hour, children's version. Do not purchase. Buy the 14 hour version instead.

children's version

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I found myself fixated on the reader's pronounciation rather than the book itself. Think Pontius Pilate/Michael Palin from the movie "Life of Brian", because I do whenever I listen to it.

Perhaps the choice of reader was intentional.

Reader is distracting

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