The Roman Emperor Aurelian Audiobook By John F. White cover art

The Roman Emperor Aurelian

Restorer of the World: New Revised Edition

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The Roman Emperor Aurelian

By: John F. White
Narrated by: Keval Shah
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Aurelian saved the Roman Empire from foreign invasion and collapse, earning him the title Restorer of the World from a grateful Senate. This is his story as restorer of the world.

The ancient Sibylline prophecies had foretold that the Roman Empire would last for 1000 years. As the time for the expected dissolution approached in the middle of the third century AD, the empire was lapsing into chaos, with seemingly interminable civil wars over the imperial succession. The western empire had seceded under a rebel emperor and the eastern empire was controlled by another usurper. Barbarians took advantage of the anarchy to kill and plunder all over the provinces. Yet within the space of just five years, the general, later emperor Aurelian had expelled all the barbarians from with the Roman frontiers, reunited the entire empire and inaugurated major reforms of the currency, pagan religion, and civil administration.

His accomplishments have been hailed by classical scholars as those of a superman, yet Aurelian himself remains little known to a wider audience. His achievements enabled the Roman Empire to survive for another two centuries, ensuring a lasting legacy of Roman civilization for the successor European states. Without Aurelian, the Dark Ages would probably have lasted centuries longer. This is a new, revised edition.

©2015 John. F. White (P)2023 Tantor Ancient Military Military & War Politics & Activism Presidents & Heads of State Rome
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This book contains a lot of information. It is some what dry and the reading does not improve it. If you do not find that an impediment it is worth the listen. The book gets into the financial situation that the empire faced that is not often covered.

Good but Dry

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A good book about the 3 century crisis with focus on the emperor aurelian. It is difficult to find information about this period so very happy about this book. Sometimes it gets a bit too specific for example about coins and inscriptions and ancient sources, but these details would maybe be clearer in a written than audio book. In the end it is a bit too general about the time after the 3 century and not sure if it was needed to go so far from the focus. Still, overall it a pleasent, intresting and informative book, which I can highly recommend.

a good book about the 3 century crisis

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If you have even a passing knowledge of the Roman Empire, you know that things took a very bad turn for Rome during the third century. The weather cooled messing up growing seasons and causing flooding and perpetuating devastating plagues. On top of that, possibly driven by the same climate change factors, barbarians began to move east to get away from the Huns. These tribes saw Rome and wanted what they had and they quite often invaded. This proved too much for the empire which was already reeling from the plagues, flooding, and deteriorating agriculture that produced dramatic economic hardship. On the macrolevel, this led to tremendous instability in leadership. I read somewhere that for much of the third century, the average reign of emperors was roughly two years. There is a year that sees five different emperors in the same year. Any general with a legion seemed to think that he might as well be the top man, but if the Praetorian Guard didn’t think their emperor was treating them well enough, they were more than happy to stab him in the back and try another one who would raise wages and give them bonuses.

It's commonly understood that Diocletian and Constantine turned things around for Rome at the end of the third century, but White argues persuasively, that Rome might not have lasted long enough for Diocletian to save it without the brilliance of Aurelian. In five years, he returned stability to Rome with decisive victories over barbarian tribes, the Persians, and rebelling client states. He tried to fix the economy by improving the coinage. He began to reestablish the Pax Romana of old—and then his legionnaires murdered him. The question that arises from his brief but important reign was whether or not Diocletian would have been needed if Aurelian had survived to rule for fifteen or twenty years instead of five.

Great Account of a Crucial Period in Roman History

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A perfect biography about what we know about Aurelian. Detailed but not overly academic breakdown of source information. If you’re looking for a shorter version than this, just go read a web article and stop complaining. This author has brought us an immensely readable yet detailed biography of Aurelian’s rise, his deeds, and his legacy. It’s mostly a military, economic, and political history.

Unlike the average academics who write about antiquity, the author has a strong, concise style (to the point, avoiding pontification). He lets us know very clearly where he is speculating and those speculations are always very reasonable. He embraces the role of biographer and storyteller, linking the information he’s presenting in an eminently coherent way. He isn’t trying to show off or waste ink like others. I only wish it was a little longer especially towards the middle and end, but this book has a lot of interesting detail as is.

A true Roman book for True Romans!

Near Perfect Biography of the Restitutor Orbis. True Romans will enjoy this. Goths might not.

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I think the author was honest, and upfront about the fact that there are limited sources covering the rule of emperor Aurelian. And I understand that physical artifacts like coins can add to a narrative about a particular place and time.

That said? There was way, way too much informations on/about coins, for me as The Listener. Their alloy content, how they’re being debased, how they’re being clipped, etc. and I found my eyes glazing over. If we are going to hear about things like coins and their inscriptions, the inscriptions on monuments, etc.? Please provide a PDF to help give some context.

Also, I would recommend listening to this book at 1.5 X speed. I know that sounds wicked fast, but it works. Try it at normal speed then amp it up and I think you will see what I mean.

I do not want to walk away without saying that I did learn from this book, I had pre-ordered it sometime ago and, on the whole, I am not disappointed. I simply wish it had been made either more compact or had provided more visual detail to help wade through some of the minutia.

Coins- Early and Often

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This is a great book for anyone already intimately familiar with the crisis of the third century. When you zoom into history that tightly during an era with poor written sources, a narrative will inherently include archeological evidence, and other additional source material. The author does an impressive job of navigating the available evidence and explaining his reasoning and methodology to support or contrast the written record.

I can't express enough what a book like this means to those of us hungry for history's intimate details.

Fantastic deep dive, for those of us looking for more than encyclopedia entry

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It could have been so much more. Instead of dealing with the protagonist in a clear coherent manner the book jumped around trying to fill up space with simplistic historical facts. Prepare to be bored.

Disjointed

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Aurelian is a very interesting character in Roman History and I was excited to get into this book. But the narration is so awful I could not finish it. Really a shame.

Loved the story, really disliked the narration

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The book was informative. However, it could be much better. In my opinion, it did not spend enough time into the specifics of Emperor Aurelian. I felt it spent far too much time discussing Roman coins.

Too much time talking about Roman coins.

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