History Ancient Empire

In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.

In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For 70 years, victory had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out.

Step into the ancient world and journey through the annals of history to explore the mighty Assyrian Empire in this captivating narrative. "The Assyrian Empire" offers a comprehensive account of one of the most formidable civilizations of the ancient Near East.

Taken together, the civilizations of Sumer, Assyria, and Persia have helped form the modern makeup of Mesopotamia, western Asia, and the world. However, to really understand why things are the way they are, it’s important to break up this historical timeline and spend some time learning about each society. Only by doing this will you be able to fully appreciate the powerful impact these ancient peoples had on our modern world.

Rome 174 AD. As the war continues in the north, Marcus Aurelius orders Gaius Maximus and Rufus Atticus to return to Rome. Enemies lurk in the shadows in the capital, spreading propaganda and sowing dissent. The praetorian guards must lure their enemies out - and defeat them. Yet Maximus is returning home for something, or rather someone, else: Aurelia. The soldier will be caught between his duty and his happiness. Rufus Atticus will also be forced to make a choice, between duty and family.

Some 250 years after its first publication, Gibbon's Decline and Fall is still regarded as one of the greatest histories in Western literature. He reports on more than 1,000 years of an empire which extended from the most northern and western parts of Europe to deep into Asia and Africa and covers not only events but also the cultural and religious developments that effected change during that time.

When the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 368 AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a course from the relatively open, tolerant, and pluralistic civilization of the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule of fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine.

Considered one of the finest historical works in the English language, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is lauded for its graceful, elegant prose style as much as for its epic scope. Remarkably accurate for its day, Gibbon's treatise holds a high place in the history of literature and remains an enduring subject of study.

Gibbon's monumental work traces the history of more than 13 centuries, covering the great events as well as the general historical progression. This first volume covers A.D. 180 to A.D. 395, which includes the establishment of Christianity and the Crusades.

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Holy Roman Empire, then pay attention... Two captivating manuscripts in one audiobook: The Holy Roman Empire and The Carolingian Empire. Throughout the story of the Holy Roman Empire, a wealth of fascinating tales from interesting people proliferates. Monks and emperors will clash, poets sing the praises of kings, and the pope rides blind and bareback on a frightened donkey through the streets of Rome.

One of the most shocking things about the Persians is how quickly they went from an obscure, powerless, and nomadic tribe to an immense empire that spanned across western Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. The rise of Cyrus the great, considered the father of Persia, in the seventh century BCE, filled the power vacuum caused by the fall of the Assyrians, and it led to the formation of one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.

From the first agricultural settlement more than 7,000 years ago to the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great and the vast Maurya Empire, ancient India tells a story interweaved with captivating legends and cultural legacy.

Following Caesar’s assassination and Mark Antony’s defeat of the conspirators who killed Caesar, two powerful men remained in Rome—Antony and Caesar’s chosen heir, young Octavian, the future Augustus. When Antony fell in love with the most powerful woman in the world, Egypt’s ruler Cleopatra, and thwarted Octavian’s ambition to rule the empire, another civil war broke out. In 31 BC one of the largest naval battles in the ancient world took place—more than 600 ships, almost 200,000 men, and one woman—the Battle of Actium.

The Byzantine Empire survived as a self-contained political entity longer than any other in the history of Christianity. This history by Charles Oman is a catalog of good, bad, and indifferent emperors who either pushed Byzantine Civilization to new heights or savagely drove it to defeat and dissolution. It is a strange tale populated by some of the most interesting men and women who have ever lived.

Generally considered to be J. B. Bury's magnum opus, this kaleidoscopic and assiduously accurate reconstruction of the Western and Eastern Roman empire covers the crucial years from the death of Theodosius in 395 to the death of Justinian in 565. This 170 year period reveals the forces and cross-currents which engulfed Constantinople, Rome, Antioch, along with the Germanic and Persian peoples. Various tribes like the Huns, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Vandals are carefully investigated.

For listeners eager to experience Gibbon’s brilliant primary historicism, to understand the long decline of Rome—and the reasons for the Empire’s demise—there exists no better or more accessible condensation of Decline and Fall.

The sixth-century AD witnessed a remarkable turn-around in the Roman Empire's fortunes. Justinian's general, Belisarius, recovered North Africa and Italy from the barbarians. An impressive new law code was inaugurated that would endure to this day. Astonishing building projects rivalled the great monuments of Old Rome.

In The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, seasoned defense analyst Edward N. Luttwak reveals how the Romans were able to combine military strength, diplomacy, and fortifications to effectively respond to changing threats. Rome's secret was not ceaseless fighting, but comprehensive strategies that unified force, diplomacy, and an immense infrastructure of roads, forts, walls, and barriers. Finally, as barbarians began to penetrate the empire, Rome filed large armies in a strategy of "defense-in-depth," allowing invaders to pierce Rome's borders.

Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.

Step into the enigmatic world of "The Ottoman Empire" a compelling exploration of the rise, zenith, and eventual decline of one of the most formidable empires in history. This meticulously researched account takes listeners on a captivating journey through the annals of time, unraveling the intricate tapestry of a civilization that spanned over six centuries.

This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia.