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The History of Rome, Book 3
- From the Union of Italy to the Subjugation of Carthage and the Greek States
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
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Publisher's summary
Book three of Mommsen's history covers the 118 years from 264 to 146 BC, the period in which Rome became the undisputed master of the Mediterranean Basin. How did this happen, and why?
Carthage was instrumental in this transformation. With the defeat and expulsion of Pyrrhus in 275 BC, Rome had moved to consolidate its hold over the Italian peninsula, a position it had acquired in a century of almost continuous warfare with Italian tribes. But only 11 years later, in 264 BC, the political and commercial rivalry with Carthage over control of Sicily broke out into open war. At the end of two brutal wars with Carthage and three with Macedonia and the Greek Seleucid and Antigonid Kingdoms, the Mediterranean lay in the power of Rome. It was not a power the Roman state had consciously sought. In its fanatical zeal for security, Rome subdued one adversary after the other with unerring determination. In the end there was no one left to subdue.
But along with that power came wealth and social changes that were to tear the republic apart. Mommsen's brilliant explanation for how this process of decay sapped the moral fiber of the Roman people is perhaps his most outstanding contribution to our understanding of this era.
This is the third in a five-volume series. This volume was recorded entirely on location in Rome, Italy. Listeners may notice some differences in sound compared to our usual studio recordings.
Although Mommsen used the AUC system of Roman years, which begins as the Roman year 1 (754 BC), we have transposed these dates to those of the Christian era. All dates are BC except where otherwise indicated.
We do not recommend Mommsen for those without a firm grasp of Roman republican history. The work of Cyril Robinson would be a great place to start for the neophyte historian.
Translated from the original German by W. P. Dickson.
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In the most definitive account to date, respected historian Charles Esdaile argues that the chief motivating factor for Napoleon was his insatiable desire for fame. More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, this volume offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt.
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Not bad, nor what I was expecting
- By Judd Bagley on 07-18-09
By: Charles Esdaile
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The Thirty Years War
- By: C. V. Wedgwood
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Initially, the Thirty Years War was precipitated in 1618 by religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire. But the conflict soon spread beyond religion to encompass the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire, and then later to the other European powers. By the end, it became simply a dynastic struggle between Bourbon France and Habsburg Spain. And almost all of it was fought out in Germany. Entire regions were depopulated and destroyed.
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One of the World's Great History Books.
- By Judith A. Weller on 08-25-12
By: C. V. Wedgwood
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Marathon
- The Battle That Changed Western Civilization
- By: Richard A. Billows
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Published to coincide with Marathon's 2500th anniversary, a riveting history of the historic battle. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is not only understood as the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, but can also be seen as perhaps the most significant moment in our collective history. 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000.
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
- By Aaron on 11-02-10
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The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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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
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
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Hellenica
- By: Xenophon
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hellenica is Xenophon’s continuation of Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War, literally resuming from where the previous author’s history was abruptly left unfinished and narrating the events of the final seven years of the conflict and the war’s aftermath. Some historians consider the Hellenica to be a personal work, written by Xenophon in retirement on his Spartan estate, and intended primarily for circulation among his friends, who would have known the main protagonists and events, having most likely participated in them.
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A read no history lover should do without!
- By Epaminondas on 11-07-19
By: Xenophon
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Caesar
- Life of a Colossus
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Julius Caesar's life, Adrian Goldsworthy covers not only the great Roman emperor's accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters. Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar's character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some 2,000 years later.
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Caesar and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 08-31-15
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The Story of the Goths
- By: Henry Bradley
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The Goths are the most enigmatic of all the ancient German tribes. Their name today is still widely in use for a variety of cultural and artistic movements. But unlike other famous German tribes whose names are still descriptive of nations they founded - the Franks, the Lombards, the Angles, the Saxons and the Alemanni - the Goths simply disappeared. The subject of Henry Bradley's splendid short history is tracing the rise, the migrations, and the impact of the Goths on European history along with their spectacular fall.
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Interesting Book about a little understood people
- By Mark on 07-29-15
By: Henry Bradley
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Napoleon
- Soldier of Destiny
- By: Michael Broers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Written with great energy and authority - and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself - the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror.
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Clarity
- By Tad Davis on 03-25-19
By: Michael Broers
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The Rise of Rome
- The Making of the World's Greatest Empire
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Rome from the fall of Troy through Julius Caesar
- By Mike From Mesa on 12-11-12
By: Anthony Everitt
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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
What listeners say about The History of Rome, Book 3
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dennis Jameson
- 11-07-16
East meets West, what could go wrong?
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
It would depend on who the friend was and whether I wanted to keep him/her as a friend. It really needs a grounding in Roman History, as a fair number of the author's assumptions can be disputed by more recent historical analysis.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
While I knew the broad outlines of Roman History, and even knew a few of the details I didn't realize the sheer scope of what was going on besides the war with Carthage during this time frame. Besides the three Punic wars, Rome established herself as the undisputed "naval" power of the Mediterranean basin, fought major and victorious campaigns in Spain, Southern France, the Adriatic and Greece, while extended the borders of Italy from the Po River to the base of the Alps, not too mention invading North Africa, all while containing Hannibal in southern Italy with what today we would call an "economy of force" strategy--the minimal force required to ensure he made no mischief with the Roman allied territories while becoming a noxious burden on his friends who shared his blockade.
Any additional comments?
Like all the older historians of Rome, he conflates the Senate with the Republic and vice versa. While indisputably a component of the Republic, it was arguably the least important. Also like almost every historian of the Roman Republic he waxes rapturous on Hannibal as a general, even while explaining that Hannibal started the Second Punic War in contravention to the express wishes of the Carthaginian leadership, that he lost 50% of his army crossing the Alps, that he made no provision for a siege train, that he was completely ignorant of the political realities extant in Italy, that he spent over half his time in Italy penned up in southern Italy, blockaded by land as well as by sea, while Rome went about conquering all the western Mediterranean and a large chunk of the Levant, all of which he was powerless to influence. Some general! Yeah he won some early battles against amateur generals that had no effect on the strategic balance and he was directly responsible for the destruction of his home country. Of course Romans had a vested interest in playing up Hannibal as "great" and worth adversary, after all, and the Romans admitted as much, there wasn't much honor in defeating a knave. On the other hand the sheer breathtaking scope of the various Roman endeavors really did relegate Hannibal to a footnote. Periodically Mommsen would check back to report that Hannibal was still contained, while the Roman Army was off to Macedonia. And then after relating that he was still checkmated, by the way, Rome just extended its Northern Boundaries. Yup, Hannibal's still in Italy, but look Scipio just conquered the Carthaginian province of Spain, but look he is tying up maybe 5% of the Roman Military. It that respect Mommsen's adoration of all things Hannibal was self-corrected, while the sheer scale of the Roman war effort, that was not to be equaled until America's entry into WWII, was made self-evident. Obviously Hannibal had no idea who or what he was messing with, and it must have been a bitter pill to realize his opponents had bigger fish to fry. Actually it wasn't until I read this book that it really crystallized my thinking about Hannibal's generalship, even though I'm sure the author didn't feel that way, and for that alone I would recommend the book, though its real value lies in the grand sweep of Roman History at this time.
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