The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
A Modern Abridgment by Moses Hadas
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Narrated by:
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Mitch Horowitz
About this listen
The Classic History of Rome’s Fall From Glory in an Unparalleled Abridgment and Reintroduction
Few historical works encompass the pathos, drama, and meticulous detail of Edward Gibbon’s extraordinary record of Rome’s demise, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which the English historian issued in six volumes from 1776 to 1789.
In 1962, classics scholar Moses Hadas produced an extraordinary—and long out-of-print—modern abridgment of Gibbon’s landmark, opening its pages to the broadest possible range of readers. Now, Hadas’s gloriously readable digest is available once more—with a new and wide-spanning introduction by PEN Award-winning historian Mitch Horowitz and an appendix of aphorisms from the book.
An artform in itself, “Hadas’s effort is among the finest of any abridged works in English,” Mitch writes in his introduction. “His condensation exposed this vital book to many readers who would have otherwise bypassed it. Hadas intrepidly identified and distilled a narrative throughline in Gibbon’s six volumes, reducing more than 1,000,000 words—not counting nearly half as many more in source notes—to fewer than 100,000 words.”
In its sweeping yet concise arc of history, this abridgment of Decline and Fall covers a span of almost 1,500 years from the time of Trajan in 180 A.D. to the siege of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. “Its theme,” Hadas writes, “is the most overwhelming phenomenon in recorded history—the disintegration not of a nation but of an old and rich and apparently indestructible civilization.”
In his introduction, Mitch clarifies historical confusions, such as the highly unorthodox form of early Christianity to which the Emperor Constantine converted in the early fourth century and the syncretic nature of Roman—and modern—religious traditions.
For listeners eager to experience Gibbon’s brilliant primary historicism, to understand the long decline of Rome—and the reasons for the Empire’s demise—there exists no better or more accessible condensation of Decline and Fall.
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Bandit Heaven
- The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Robbers Roost, Brown’s Hole, and Hole-in-the-Wall were three hideouts that collectively were known to outlaws as “Bandit Heaven.” During the 1880s and ‘90s these remote locations in Wyoming and Utah harbored hundreds of train and bank robbers, horse and cattle thieves, the occasional killer, and anyone else with a price on his head.
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Outstanding narrator
- By Virginia on 11-16-24
By: Tom Clavin
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The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World
- By: Robert Garland, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Garland
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.
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Tantalizing time trip
- By Mark on 08-21-13
By: Robert Garland, and others
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American Heroes
- By: James Patterson, Matt Eversmann, Tim Malloy
- Narrated by: Joe Mantegna
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts—from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America’s most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor. They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and for the good of our beloved country. There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to be an American hero.
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EXCELLENT
- By Wilson Che' Gray on 10-25-24
By: James Patterson, and others
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The Anglo-Saxons
- A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 - 1066
- By: Marc Morris
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were deserted and left to crumble, and civil society collapsed into chaos. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. The Anglo-Saxons traces the turbulent history of these people across the next six centuries. It explains how their earliest rulers fought relentlessly against each other for glory and supremacy, and then were almost destroyed by the onslaught of the vikings.
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"Pretty Good"
- By Stephen on 05-30-21
By: Marc Morris
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The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome
- By: Gregory S. Aldrete, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
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The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome traces the breathtaking history from the empire’s foundation by Augustus to its Golden Age in the 2nd century CE through a series of ever-worsening crises until its ultimate disintegration. Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, these 24 captivating lectures offer you the chance to experience this story like never before, incorporating the latest historical insights that challenge our previous notions of Rome’s decline.
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Gregory S. Aldrete is a treasure
- By Laurel Tucker on 02-04-19
By: Gregory S. Aldrete, and others
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The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 70 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Here in one recording is every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Originally appearing in serial form, these famous stories are here presented in the order in which they were first published beginning in 1887. Included in this definitive, award-winning collection are four novels and 56 short stories, a total of 60 titles. The 56 short stories are aggregated into five named collections, just as they were originally published in book form.
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More collections like this, please!
- By Myusollo on 07-22-14
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Unsung Heroes of the Ancient World
- By: Gregory S. Aldrete, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gregory S. Aldrete
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
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The 24 revealing lectures of Unsung Heroes of the Ancient World reconstruct over a dozen biographies from the classical world—most of them little-known, some of them quite unlikely heroes. With Professor Emeritus Gregory Aldrete as your expert guide, you will meet the ambitious travel writers, dedicated engineers, careful cartographers, diligent farmers, woman philosophers, devoted wives, skilled military generals, African rebels, Persian kings, and impressive athletes who stood out among their peers centuries ago.
By: Gregory S. Aldrete, and others
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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
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Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
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The Antiquities of the Jews
- By: Flavius Josephus
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 51 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the many important historical documents from the Classical world of Greece and Rome The Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus is one of the most distinctive and characterful. Josephus (37-c100 CE) set out with the clear purpose of telling the history of the Jews from the creation in Genesis to the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 66 CE. Born in Jerusalem as Yosef ben Matityahu, he rose to become a leading participant in the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE).
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Narrator surprisingly good Worth way more than $10
- By Jim Davis on 10-05-21
By: Flavius Josephus
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The Eagle and the Hart
- The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV
- By: Helen Castor
- Narrated by: Helen Castor
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard of Bordeaux and Henry of Bolingbroke, cousins born just three months apart, were ten years old when Richard became king of England. They were thirty-two when Henry deposed him and became king in his place. Now, the story behind one of the strangest and most fateful events in English history (and the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s most celebrated history plays) is brought to vivid life by the acclaimed author of Blood and Roses, Helen Castor.
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Meticulously researched, beautifully written and beautifully narrated. Excellent.
- By La Californienne Nord on 12-27-24
By: Helen Castor
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Napoleon
- A Life
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 32 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew Roberts' Napoleon is the first one-volume biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon's thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, decisive, surprisingly willing to forgive his enemies and his errant wife Josephine.
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What a dynamo!
- By Tad Davis on 01-16-15
By: Andrew Roberts