The Poison King
The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy
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The Poison King
Buy Now for £16.99
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Narrated by:
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Paul Hecht
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By:
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Adrienne Mayor
About this listen
A National Book Award finalist for this epic work, Adrienne Mayor delivers a gripping account of Mithradates, the ruthless visionary who began to challenge Rome’s power in 120 B.C. Machiavelli praised his military genius. Kings coveted his secret elixir against poison. Poets celebrated his victories, intrigues, and panache. But until now, no one has told the full story of his incredible life.
©2010 Adrienne Mayor (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
With most biographies, the knowledge gained of the world around them and of other subjects is so entertaining and enlightening, this in no exception.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Well done all.
Mick the Hick
FIRST CLASS
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This was an interesting book that told the story well. Inevitably we know less about his life than we would like, and at times the book does wander into peripheral subjects or simply goes off at a tangent in order to fill the pages. However this is true of many ancient biographies, and there is plenty of actual facts and background information to paint a pretty vivid picture. The reader does a pretty good job if a little monotone, but I found the pace of the book was mostly good enough to keep me interested in the next twist and turn.
While not brilliant (hence only 4 stars) this recording is certainly worth listening to if this is your area of interest, and if the only figures from pre-Imperial Rome that you can name are Hannibal and Julius Caesar then you will certainly find this book enlightening, and a good story to boot.
A significant life worth listening to
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Page Turning History
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really interesting
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If you could sum up The Poison King in three words, what would they be?
too much speculation, however still an interesting and informative biographyWould you recommend The Poison King to your friends? Why or why not?
Overall I would recomend this book because its subject matter (The Poison King of Ponthus) is little understood - outside of a narrow Roman perspective. However be careful of the author's habit to make up or speculate about facts that we don't have exact information for from the sources.What does Paul Hecht bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Hecht provides an interesting voice.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Despite it's faults, yes I would say this is a book that I found (very) hard to get away from and I almost did end up listning to it in one sittingAny additional comments?
The first part of the biography is fillied with the author's own theories that mostly fall into the dangerous 'what if?' category...This is the same for the last few minutes or so of the book which sort of damages it's factual biographical nature. However everything else is laid out in fact with an overall sympathetic but not overly-flattering view of our main player - the King himself and his struggle against the Roman Republic.too much speculation but still a fine read
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