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The Rise of Rome cover art

The Rise of Rome

By: The Great Courses, Gregory S. Aldrete
Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
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Summary

The Roman Republic is one of the most breathtaking civilizations in world history. Between roughly 500 BCE to the turn of the millennium, a modest city-state developed an innovative system of government and expanded into far-flung territories across Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. This powerful civilization inspired America's founding fathers, gifted us a blueprint for amazing engineering innovations, left a vital trove of myths, and has inspired the human imagination for 2,000 years.

How did Rome become so powerful? This mystery has vexed historians from the ancient Greek writer Polybius to 21st century scholars. Today, removed as we are from the Roman Republic, historians also wonder what it was like to be a Roman citizen in that amazing era. Beyond the familiar names of Romulus, Caesar, Octavian, Brutus, and Mark Antony, what was life like for the ordinary people? And what did the conquered peoples think of this world power?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 The Teaching Company, LLC; 2018 The Great Courses

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Lecture Titles

Lecture 1 The City on the Tiber
Lecture 2 The Monarchy and the Etruscans
Lecture 3 Roman Values and Heroes
Lecture 4 The Early Republic and Rural Life.

Lecture 5 The Constitution of the Roman Republic
Lecture 6 The Unification of the Italian Peninsula.
Lecture 7 Roman Religion: Sacrifice, Augury, and Magic
Lecture 8 The First Punic War: A War at Sea

Lecture 9 The Second Punic War: Rome versus Hannibal
Lecture 10 Rome Conquers Greece.
Lecture 11 The Consequences of Roman Imperialism
Lecture 12 Roman Slavery: Cruelty and Opportunity

Lecture 13 Roman Women and Marriage
Lecture 14 Roman Children, Education, and Timekeeping.
Lecture 15 Food, Housing, and Employment in Rome.
Lecture 16 The Gracchi Attempt Reform

Lecture 17 Gaius Marius the Novus Homo
Lecture 18 Sulla the Dictator and the Social War
Lecture 19 The Era of Pompey the Great
Lecture 20 The Rise of Julius Caesar

Lecture 21 Civil War and the Assassination of Caesar
Lecture 22 Cicero and the Art of Roman Oratory
Lecture 23 Octavian, Antony, and Cleopatra.
Lecture 24 Why the Roman Republic Collapsed

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31 people found this helpful

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Misleading title. School-level education.

I expected the title "The Rise of Rome" to entail a specialised and detailed analysis of the Republic's geopolitical strategy, but instead the title is an expression of its generic content. I'm not criticising the lecturer, necessarily, but rather the marketing executive who decided to entitle the course, not as a promise of further education but as a promise of foundational demystification. This is not higher or further educational academia we are dealing with here, but rather content that might otherwise be found in a TV documentary. So, for example, if the author wants to talk about the role of (upper-class) women in Rome, then entitle your work "Rome: the City of an Empire," or "Roman Culture and Society," or something such like. In another example, the author talks about manumition and the capacity for some slaves to rise within niches of society. Interesting, but what does it have to do with the "rise" of an empire if the author does not contextualise it within economics, sociology, or from some other analytical perspective?

I should really just read some academic articles; there's no shortcut to deep knowledge.

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  • 14-01-19

Comprehensive but not convoluted

A comprehensive history of the Roman Republic which is both narratively captivating and compelling, without doing what certain other history books do, which is drawing contemporary parallels.

It also touches on those segments of society which have little in the way of first hand accounts, such as those of the lives of women and slaves, drawing conclusions from third hand accounts and cross-referencing them with roman ideals, societal pressures, societal prominence, scandals etc, in order to draw a nuanced distinction between what women were expected to do by the predominantly male aristocratic senators, male historians and male monarchs, and what they might have done in reality.

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magnificent

If i have one crtitism of this audio book is that it is simply not long enough.

But never mind becasue now can go back to listening to Livy and actually understand what he is rabbiting on about

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3 people found this helpful

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The Roman Republic

Great book. Should really be called An Early History of Rome. Wonderful accounts of life in Rome not just an account of famous Romans.

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Surprisingly excellent.

Excellent overview. Expecting a scant overview, proved to have decent depth. American with correct pronunciation.

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nice course for filling the gaps

the course speed is great and enslavery and dailylife chapters were very valuable for me. Nice course.

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Thoroughly enjoyed it!

A fascinating subject, entertainingly presented, and I felt I learned a lot. Would thoroughly recommend!

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Excellent

An excellent lecture series. I wished it did not have to end. I hope there is a continuation of the series by the same lecturer.

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Another spectacular analysis

As usual Mr Aldrete is unbeatable. Fantastic work. Width, depth, cross analyses, not forgetting a delightful wit.
So well done.

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