The Poison King
The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy
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The Poison King
Narrated by:
Paul Hecht
Buy Now for $33.99
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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, LLCFantastic book for history lovers
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Amazing story intellecualy considered.
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Where this book approaches topics that lack evidence, it provides speculation. These speculations are justified as "counterfactuals" but their bases seem to be founded in vibes rather than evidence. Given how little hard evidence remains, this is hardly a cardinal sin. Where the book falls into grade-school essay levels of evidence is where Mayor speculates needlessly. It is acceptable, I think, to use such tactics to fill in vital information such as a person's whereabouts or reasoning for going to war, but I see no reason why there is need to speculate so baselessly about small, unimportant aspects of the story. Mayor uses these to flesh out the characters and promote a compelling narrative, but at some point the entertainment value overtakes the historical merit.
If you get this book, be prepared for plenty of the following:
- "might have"
- "we can speculate..."
- "potentially"
- "it is possible that..."
- and plenty more.
Mayor speculates endlessly to fill in the plentiful gaps, I think, because she wants to craft a character out of her subject. A hero snding up to Roman aggression and fighting for the interests of independent kingdoms across the Mediterranean and Black seas. A rebel with a cause and a cure for every poison. It's a compelling story, but I was looking for a history.
To be fair to Mayor, she doesn't attempt to pass off her speculation for history. Whenever she moves away from the provable facts (which happens regularly), she is very clear about doing so.
I still think it's worth reading / listening to, but you shouldn't approach it as a history in the typical sense. Treat it as an interesting speculative book with some historical information thrown in. You'll get a better sense of the era, people, and events for doing so.
Underwhelming as History, Fairly Good as Narrative
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