Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Quo Vadis cover art

Quo Vadis

By: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Quo Vadis cover art
A Kahlil Gibran Collection cover art
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc cover art
Cleopatra cover art
Layli and Majnun cover art
Fifth Gospel - A Novel (Rosicrucian Quintet) cover art
The Greatest Story Ever Told: Easter cover art
The Broken Wings cover art
The Mirror of My Heart cover art
What Jesus Saw from the Cross cover art
Fresh Floods cover art
The Arm and the Darkness cover art
Kahlil Gibran's Little Book of Wisdom cover art
I, Judas cover art
The Mummy! cover art
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ cover art

Summary

Written over a century ago and translated into over 50 languages, this masterpiece of historical fiction is one of the best-selling novels in history and the inspiration for the MGM motion picture of 1951. An epic of love and courage in Nero's time, it illustrates the conflict of moral ideas within the Roman Empire at the dawn of Christianity.

Marcus, a Roman officer in Nero's army, risks his career, his family, and even his life when he falls in love with a Christian woman named Callina. In order to win Callina's love, Marcus must come to understand the true meaning of her religion, even as Rome sinks under the excesses of Nero and Christians are thrown to the lions. Quo Vadis brims with passion and life as it explores one of the turning points in history.

Public Domain (P)1999 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Quo Vadis

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An epic story lumbered by an insufferable narrator

Any additional comments?

Quo Vadis is a splendid story of epic scope, ambition and achievement, surely the tipping point and crowning glory in Henryk Sienkiewicz’ Nobel Prize for Literature… but Audible’s offering is fatally lumbered by the insufferable narrator! Frederick Davidson’s delivery is so camp and inappropriate it becomes offensive and disrespectful. Like other very perceptive listeners have commented, “his performance was stilted and lacked nuance. For example, Lygia was always breathless and Peter sounded like Dracula” “…the narrator speaks with an uber-upper class British accent that, combined with the archaic language, turns the characters into snobs and drama queens.” I couldn’t agree more. Davidson’s delivery has aged very ungracefully – it probably sounded OK forty, fifty years ago, but to us today it is too pompous, forced and arrogant. This is a crime because Quo Vadis is one of the greatest epic novels ever written– please, Audible or someone, bury this version forever and get a modern actor with more brains, better range, sensitivity and respect to record this magnificent text!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

terrible narrator!

after two hours I could not stand his voice any more and quit the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

allow yourself to get into it...

Where does Quo Vadis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

at the top third,, I am sure I will listen to it again some time

Who was your favorite character and why?

Petronus, the aloofnobleman

What does Frederick Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His performance has been criticised. In my opinion his performance suits the main character Petronus very well. It may take some time to get used to his style, but actually after a while I became very appreciative of the performance

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

If I say it would spoil the stotry, right?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars

Outdated Language

If thou hadst any desire to listen to a translation of this work in the English of thy forefathers then perchance this tortuous time is got thee...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

disappointed... very disappointed..

The author took a tone of books about history and re-wrote them in this book. Add a bit of spices with religion and a love story - and done...

There were moments that I dozed off trying to skip all the overly-explained details.. which if you don't know exactly what they mean, you'll never figure out what is written.

Everything develops slow and in a very non-exciting way...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!