Ravenna
Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe
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Narrated by:
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Phyllida Nash
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By:
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Judith Herrin
About this listen
This riveting audiobook narrated by Phyllida Nash traces the history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman Empire
At the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here, in Ravenna on the coast of Italy, Arian Goths and Catholic Romans competed to produce an unrivaled concentration of buildings and astonishing mosaics. For three centuries, the city attracted scholars, lawyers, craftsmen, and religious luminaries, becoming a true cultural and political capital. Bringing this extraordinary history marvelously to life, Judith Herrin rewrites the history of East and West in the Mediterranean world before the rise of Islam and shows how, thanks to Byzantine influence, Ravenna played a crucial role in the development of medieval Christendom.
Drawing on deep, original research, Herrin tells the personal stories of Ravenna while setting them in a sweeping synthesis of Mediterranean and Christian history. She narrates the lives of the Empress Galla Placidia and the Gothic king Theoderic and describes the achievements of an amazing cosmographer and a doctor who revived Greek medical knowledge in Italy, demolishing the idea that the West just descended into the medieval "Dark Ages."
Based on the latest archaeological findings, this monumental book provides a bold new interpretation of Ravenna's lasting influence on the culture of Europe and the West.
©2020 Judith Herrin (P)2020 Princeton University PressListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Magisterial - an outstanding book that shines a bright light on one of the most important, interesting, and under-studied cities in European history. A masterpiece." (Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World)
"This is a masterful study as splendid as Ravenna's mosaics. Bringing to new life the city and the people who shaped it, Herrin explores Ravenna's role as a rival of Rome, a Byzantine outpost in the West, and a model for Charlemagne's imperial aspirations - in short, as a crucible of Europe." (Claudia Rapp, author of Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual)
"A masterwork by one of our greatest historians of Byzantium and early Christianity. Judith Herrin tells a story that is at once gripping and authoritative and full of wonderful detail about every element in the life of Ravenna. Impossible to put down." (David Freedberg, author of The Power of Images)
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- By Edwin on 09-26-19
By: Kelly Mass, and others
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Inca Apocalypse
- The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World
- By: R. Alan Covey
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Previous accounts of the fall of the Inca empire have played up the importance of the events of one violent day in November 1532 at the highland Andean town of Cajamarca. To some, the "Cajamarca miracle" - in which Francisco Pizarro and a small contingent of Spaniards captured an Inca who led an army numbering in the tens of thousands - demonstrated the intervention of divine providence. To others, the outcome was simply the result of European technological and immunological superiority.
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A Comparison
- By Than on 12-28-20
By: R. Alan Covey
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Charlemagne
- By: Johannes Fried, Peter Lewis
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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When the legendary Frankish king and emperor Charlemagne died in 814 he left behind a dominion and a legacy unlike anything seen in Western Europe since the fall of Rome. Johannes Fried paints a compelling portrait of a devout ruler, a violent time, and a unified kingdom that deepens our understanding of the man often called the father of Europe.
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I really wanted to enjoy this -
- By Doris on 01-19-18
By: Johannes Fried, and others
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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The Ottomans
- Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs
- By: Marc David Baer
- Narrated by: Jamie Parker
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ottoman Empire has long been depicted as the Islamic Asian antithesis of the Christian European West. But the reality was starkly different: the Ottomans’ multiethnic, multilingual, and multireligious domain reached deep into Europe’s heart. Indeed, the Ottoman rulers saw themselves as the new Romans. Recounting the Ottomans’ remarkable rise from a frontier principality to a world empire, historian Marc David Baer traces their debts to their Turkish, Mongolian, Islamic, and Byzantine heritage.
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Great except for pronunt of Turkish names
- By Anonymous User on 11-04-22
By: Marc David Baer
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Vanished Kingdoms
- The Rise and Fall of States and Nations
- By: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 30 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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There is something profoundly romantic about lost civilizations. Davies peers through the cracks in the mainstream accounts of modern-day states to dazzle us with extraordinary stories of barely remembered pasts, and of the traces they left behind. This is Norman Davies at his best: sweeping narrative history packed with unexpected insights. Vanished Kingdoms will appeal to all fans of unconventional and thought-provoking history, from listeners of Niall Ferguson to Jared Diamond.
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needs a good editor.
- By Ryan Anderson on 09-25-21
By: Norman Davies
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Powers and Thrones
- A New History of the Middle Ages
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era—and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names—from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine—Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes listeners on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West.
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Hard to take a break from it!
- By Mariano's Music on 12-09-21
By: Dan Jones
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The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
- By: Toby Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
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In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire - 3,000 years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters. Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations.
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Well Written and Detailed
- By Matthew G. on 01-26-18
By: Toby Wilkinson
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The Roman Emperors
- Hadrian, Constantine the Great, Commodus, Caracalla, Etc.
- By: Coby Evans
- Narrated by: Adam Forsyth
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
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This guide will guide you to the right knowledge about all the historical details you need to know about Nero, Caligula, Hadrian, Commodus, Constantine the Great, Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius, Julius Caesar, Augustus, and others. Some were pure evil, abusive, and sheer dictators with their own self-interest that was their only focus. Others had the best intentions for the empire. These emperors left their mark on the people, the history of the entire empire, and the cultural influence the Romans had on us.
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Great book
- By Ruth on 01-10-20
By: Coby Evans
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Emperors of Rome: Julius Caesar, Constantine, Nero, Caligula, and More
- By: Kelly Mass, Summaries from History
- Narrated by: Miriam Webster
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
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What do you know about the emperors of Rome? Rome had good and bad emperors, selfish and selfless ones. Some were wise, others were foolish. And each left their legacy and their imprint on historical concepts of the Roman empire itself. In this book, we will explore the details of a number of these emperors, especially some of the best-known ones that have been hand-picked by the editors of this book.
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That's interesting
- By Bettie on 10-05-19
By: Kelly Mass, and others
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The Queen's Agent
- Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England
- By: John Cooper
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
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A captivating true story that chronicles the exploits of Sir Francis Walsingham - the first great English spymaster and the man who saved Elizabeth's regime and the country's independence. Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth's Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. He ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots.
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The Power Behind the Throne
- By Troy on 02-21-15
By: John Cooper
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Crusaders
- The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
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For more than 1,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.
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Gripping but not tidy
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-20
By: Dan Jones
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A Concise History of Spain
- By: William Phillips Jr., Carla Rahn Phillips
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
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This audiobook traces Spain's development from prehistoric times to the present, focusing particularly on culture, society, politics, and personalities. It introduces listeners to key themes that have shaped Spain's history and culture, including its varied landscapes and climates; the impact of waves of diverse human migrations; the importance of its location as a bridge between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and Europe and Africa; and religion, particularly militant Catholic Christianity and its centuries of conflict with Islam and Protestantism.
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Underwhelmed
- By Anonymous User on 02-20-20
By: William Phillips Jr., and others
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The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
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A New HIstory but not a better history
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Evil in Modern Thought
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Evil threatens human reason, for it challenges our hope that the world makes sense. For 18th-century Europeans, the Lisbon earthquake was manifest evil. Today we view evil as a matter of human cruelty, and Auschwitz as its extreme incarnation. Examining our understanding of evil from the Inquisition to contemporary terrorism, Susan Neiman explores who we have become in the three centuries that separate us from the early Enlightenment. In the process, she rewrites the history of modern thought and points philosophy back to the questions that originally animated it.
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Genuinely enlightening
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What listeners say about Ravenna
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- H GAYLORD HITCHCOCK JR
- 07-01-23
A Great Take on Oft-Neglected History
As a lifelong student of medieval European history, I was fascinated by this excursion into history into whose details I had not heretofore ventured. The author brings alive fascinating figures—some familiar, others not—who enlighten the history of what became “early Christendom.” Focusing her narrative on Ravenna allows for a different perspective on a fascinating era.All in all an excellent work of scholarship.
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- International Roamer
- 11-14-22
Terrific Book
Such a wonderful presentation that I bought the hardcover to enjoy for many years. We are going to Ravenna I. A few months and this
history will help us appreciate the many treasures.
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- Mr. Johnson
- 02-01-21
brilliant, beautiful, important
Thank you, Dr. Herrin for this exemplary account of a much overlooked period. The grace of your writing style and the depth of your erudition are to be treasured.
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- James Kennedy
- 01-31-24
If Only It Was About Ravenna
Ravenna is a beautiful and appealing city, rich in culture and history, not to mention architecture, I highly recommend a visit.
But this book isn't really about the city - Ravenna is just the context on which the author hangs a dense and lovingly embellished hagiography of the christian elements of its history, delivered in numbing and repetitive detail - its bishops, its archbishops, its prominent christian residents and donors, its monks, its priests. Did I mention donors. On and on. Did I mention bishops.
Unfortunate. Ravenna is surely a gift to a writer with a sense of history. For the city to be used as just an ante room where the writer can endlessly introduce and waffle on about bishops, archbishops ... ugh. Did I mention donors.
I have to close by acknowledging that I didn't finish the book so I can't tell you who were the Archbishops and bishops and donors in the tenth century. But I'm very sure you can find out more then all you want to know about them, much more, by reading the book.
James K
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- Leslie Hunt
- 01-18-21
My favorite history book ever
I am extremely interested in this era of history. I also love Ravenna and was thrilled when I was able to visit it a few years ago. So I was excited to listen to Herrin’s book.
She did not disappoint. By focusing on the city of Ravenna, she was able to explain much of the very complex and confusing world of this era. Her style of writing is easy to read, while also being well documented and researched. I learned a lot about my beloved Ravenna, but I also gained a greater perspective and understanding of the whole of Europe during this most formative time of European history.
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5 people found this helpful
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- MV
- 01-07-23
Fascinating accout of the hidden history
The author was able to reconstruct the atmosphere of early medieval history of the city of Ravenna and its illustrious history. The story is well written and professionally delivered. Enjoyed it very much.
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- Stephen Chakwin
- 12-13-20
Worthy book, stingy production.
Herrin is a trained historian. She knows her way around Late Antiquity, when the Western Roman Empire was falling apart and the beginnings of what would be the European states were coalescing out of the wreckage. Fortunately for her (and now for us), she also knows her way around Ravenna, the beautiful city in eastern Italy which was the last capital of Western Rome and then was the de facto capital of the Eastern Roman toehold on the penninsula. The Eastern Roman Empire (inexplicably called the Byzantine Empire these days) lasted for another 1,000 years (give or take) after the West fell. It was a military and cultural bulwark of the forming states in the West (which paid it back by wrecking and looting Constantinople, its capital, in the Fourth Crusade, and taking over most of its territory). Ravenna disappeared into the Papal territories in the 10th century, with the Franks and what was left of the Lombards exercising various degrees of politial power. Herrin shows how the city was a window into the dissolving power of the Western Empire, the Empire's replacement by an imitation-Roman Gothic kingdom, the destruction of that kingdom by the Eastern Roman reconquest of its old territory, and the slipping away of the East's hold as it was attacked by Persian and then Arab forces from the East and had to battle for its own survival. The Western Church, local warlords, and tribes from the north, grabbed power and territory and battled things out. Herrin also shows how the Western Church - the ancestor of the modern Roman Cahtolic Church - developed and began to differentiate itself from the once-universal Christian church - what we now know as Eastern Orthodoxy. Ravenna was a city of beautiful palaces and churches containing stunning art. The palaces are gone: they were looted and hauled off for parts by the locals and the Franks. But, since the Lombards and Franks were Christians by the time they had power in Ravenna, the churches were spared and have some amazingly beautiful late Roman mosaics and are themselves fantastic structures: the "Mausoleum"[it isn't] of Empress Galla Placidia and the neighboring church of San Vitale, are unforgettable experiences, as are the two chuches of San Appolinaire and the giant edifice of Gothic King Theodoric's tomb. But here's where this presentation is a kind of swindle. No book about Ravenna is complete without illustrations showing the treasures of the City and - for no explained reason - this one doesn't come with a link to any illustrations, so you must find what Herrin is talking about on your own. What a disgrace! Herrin's writing is fine. It's not dry academic stuff nor is as vivid as, for example, John Julius Norwich, but it gets the job done and is fine to listen to, especially in Trent's elegant reading (which comes with some odd pronunciations - I never heard the first syllable of Syracuse pronounced to rhyme with "sky" before and have no idea what to make of her pronunciations of "Pepin" - but that's a built-in hazard with audio books and Trent is a very good reader). The story of Ravenna is well worth hearing and you probably won't find it more accurately or articulately laid out than it is here. I enjoyed my time with it, which made the absence of the illustrations even more painful. What a sad blotch on an otherwise impressive work!
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15 people found this helpful
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- Sean
- 10-22-21
Illuminating
Judith Herrin brought to life a place and time that is fascinating. Her style is easy to follow along with, and still I felt like I learned something new every sentence. I hope for more like this.
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- Bryan T. Keilty
- 04-03-21
Ms. Herrin has a simple faith in complexity.
As James Stephens said of the young wife: “She could play the piano with such skill that it is difficult to explain why she played it badly.”
Too much. Too boring. Too many unnecessary detail. Too many mentions of the no doubt indispensable Galla Placidia! Too many wars between the ruling dynasts and too many cat fights between the Christian sects. Soul sick am I and weary. This story could have been told in so many better ways.
This audiobook really needed a better editor, a narrator who can correctly pronounce the words, and a pdf file so we can, for example, keep track of the endlessly named Theodores.
The chronology is difficult to follow as the author switches between timelines and themes.
James Frankenberg wrote: “We should never be too clear.” Perhaps that can serve as a epithet for Ms. Herrin’s book.
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2 people found this helpful