Captivating

An interesting history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty - detailed, colourful, fascinating. Brilliantly read by the narrator.
There are so many characters (and so many of the name same) that it helps to have a family chart while listening.
Will listen to it again.
Some imaginative liberties have been taken to describe interactions of which there cannot be any records - but nothing that contradicts the known facts/records.

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Great reflection on the age of house of Caesar

As usual Tom Holland delivers! Great review of the tumultuous years after the ascention of Augustus, based largely on the personalities ot the Caesars.

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2 people found this helpful

Paints a vivid picture of the Rome of the caesars

Lively description of life in the era of some of the most well known Romans in history. Brings to life the most important dynasty of Roman history with detail and colour.

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Fascinating and Accessible

Easy to read and genuinely gripping, it's a tale of a truly astounding dynasty which I'm very glad to have read!

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Very Good

Very detailed and well written book. There was a lot in this history that is not generally known because most Roman history covers 900 year, but this covers only the short period of the Julio Claudio dynasty in a lot of depth.

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4 people found this helpful

Extremely informative and well researched

The fall of the Caesar dynasty told in a factual but interesting way, lots of detail bringing history to life . The narration is excellent , I was transfixed and didn’t want the Caesars to come to an ( unlike the citizens of Rome ) I wanted to know why the Roman Empire went into decline and now I have a pretty good idea .

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Imperial grandeur

Magnificent in scope, it paints a picture of the time - little more than a century -in which Rome conquered the world, while at the same time corroding its very core, Its moral rectitude and contempt for the rule of monarchy.

Holland paints this on a broad canvas encompassing everything from Ovid’s revulsion at the uncouth manners of the hinterlands to the gaudy excesses of Tiberius’ Capri or Nero’s rebuilt Rome, with a truly stunning sense of the telling detail

Holland has a marvellous gift for psychological insight, which enables him to judge the outrageous acts of some of these emperors both with the high moral standards of ancient republic and with the perverted sense of showmanship that they used to justify their deeds

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2 people found this helpful

Very interesting

I really looked forward to listening to a little of this audiobook each day. Mark Meadows voice is very pleasant to listen to and I thought was a perfect fit for this book. I listened to this without much prior knowledge on the history of Rome - I have tried reading books on the subject several times before but found them overwhelming or dry. For me, Dynasty was gripping, seemed very well researched and was read by the narrator with great enthusiasm. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the Roman Empire.

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Very good and digestible

Informing, entertaining and well written. The narrator nails it, especially the sarcasm with with he delivers the more misogynistic or just plain ignorant assumptions of the period. Great. His other book “Rubicon” is just as good.

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Gripping history with superb narration

This was a gripping and compellingly narrated audio book. Narrative history at its best.

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1 person found this helpful