The Romans
A 2,000-Year History
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Romans
Narrated by:
John Curless
Buy Now for $37.99
-
Narrated by:
-
John Curless
-
By:
-
Edward J. Watts
About this listen
The greatest empire in Western history - told as never been told before.
Rome is often remembered for its spectacular collapse. But for over two thousand years - through civil wars, plagues, invasions, and religious upheaval - the Roman state survived, adapted, and reinvented itself. From a muddy settlement on the banks of the Tiber to the glittering court of Constantinople, this is the untold story of a civilisation that endured.
In The Romans, acclaimed historian Edward J. Watts tells the first truly complete history of Rome in all its epic sweep: the Punic Wars, the fall of the republic, the coming of Christianity, Alaric's sack of Rome, the rise of Islam and the onslaught of the Crusaders who would bring about the empire's end. This is the Rome of Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine. But it is also the Rome of Charlemagne, Justinian, and Manuel Comnenus, and countless diverse men and women who shaped the empire: African emperors, Byzantine intellectuals and ordinary citizens whose loyalty together made it the most resilient state the world has ever seen.
An expansive, eye-opening portrait, this is the definitive history of Rome and its citizens.©2025 Edward J. Watts (P)2025 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Critic Reviews
At last, a history of the Roman state as it has always been crying out to be told, and never has been! Not even Edward Gibbon, more than 200 years ago, covered the full 2,000-year span, as Edward J. Watts does here. And at last we learn the truth: that Rome's 'decline and fall' was brought about not by barbarian invaders from the east in the 5th and 6th centuries but by crusading Europeans from the Christian west in 1204. Watts tells this story with verve and aplomb, and a wealth of finely observed detail drawn from Roman historians' own accounts of their past. (Roderick Beaton, author of Europe: A New History)
The great achievement of this book is its scale. The coverage is vast and yet Watts deftly brings two thousand years of Roman history under one powerful arc of analysis. What it meant to be Roman was always in flux, but what made the Roman state so successful - its unique combination of resilience and adaptability - remained intact throughout (Jerry Toner)
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.