The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction
Christopher Kelly
May 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Richard Davidson
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5 hr 17 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. It had a population of sixty million people spread across lands encircling the Mediterranean and stretching from northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates, and from the Rhine to the North African coast. It was, above all else, an empire of force-employing a mixture of violence, suppression, order, and tactical use of power to develop an astonishingly uniform culture. Here, historian Christopher Kelly covers the history of the Empire from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius, describing the empire's formation, and its political, religious, cultural, and social structures. It looks at the daily lives of the Empire's people: both those in Rome as well as those living in its furthest colonies. Romans used astonishing logistical feats, political savvy, and military oppression to rule their vast empire. This Very Short Introduction examines how they "romanized" the cultures they conquered, imposing their own culture in order to subsume them completely. The book also looks at how the Roman Empire has been considered and depicted in more recent times, from the writings of Edward Gibbon to the Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator. It will prove a valuable introduction for listeners interested in classical history.
About the author
Christopher Kelly is a professor of ancient history and a fellow of Corpus Christi College at the University of Cambridge, where he received his PhD in classics. He was an editor of the Cambridge Classical Journal from 2000 to 2006 and is currently editor of the Journal of Roman Studies.
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