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Title details for Rome Is Burning by Anthony A. Barrett - Available

Rome Is Burning

Nero and the Fire That Ended a Dynasty

by Anthony A. Barrett
John Telfer
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
This gripping audiobook narrated by John Telfer provides an authoritative history of Rome's Great Fire and the lasting harm it inflicted on the Roman Empire According to legend, the Roman emperor Nero set fire to his majestic imperial capital on the night of July 19, 64 AD and fiddled while the city burned. It's a story that has been told for more than two millennia—and it's likely that almost none of it is true. In Rome Is Burning, distinguished Roman historian Anthony Barrett sets the record straight, providing a comprehensive and authoritative account of the Great Fire of Rome, its immediate aftermath, and its damaging longterm consequences for the Roman world. Drawing on remarkable new archaeological discoveries and sifting through all the literary evidence, he tells what is known about what actually happened—and argues that the disaster was a turning point in Roman history, one that ultimately led to the fall of Nero and the end of the dynasty that began with Julius Caesar. Rome Is Burning tells how the fire destroyed much of the city and threw the population into panic. It describes how it also destroyed Nero's golden image and provoked a financial crisis and currency devaluation that made a permanent impact on the Roman economy. Most importantly, the book surveys recent archaeological evidence that shows visible traces of the fire's destruction. Finally, the book describes the fire's continuing afterlife in literature, opera, ballet, and film. A richly detailed and scrupulously factual narrative of an event that has always been shrouded in myth, Rome Is Burning promises to become the standard account of the Great Fire of Rome for our time.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Turning Points in Ancient History

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 10, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780691213613
      • File size: 311740 KB
      • Duration: 10:49:27

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from September 1, 2020
      A thorough, high-quality work on Emperor Nero and the fire that destroyed Rome in 64 C.E. A noted biographer of such ancient figures as Caligula and Livia, Barrett focuses on one of the turning points in the history of the Eternal City, one that proved a "human tragedy" of panic, mayhem, horror, death, and loss. Drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, writing with practiced skepticism, challenging the accounts of ancient chroniclers, and showing his deep learning, the author sorts out and dismisses many of the myths surrounding the fire, which raged for nine days and destroyed two-thirds of the city. Nero didn't fiddle while the city burned, and no one, including the suspected, martyred Christians, set the fire, whose precise origins remain undetermined. Yet for all that didn't happen, the conflagration did effectively destroy the Roman economy and Nero's reputation (although Barrett succeeds in saving what can be saved of the emperor's name) and led to his leadership's collapse and the end of the imperial line that began with Julius Caesar. The city's reconstruction, to which the author devotes much attention, led to architectural innovations like octagonal structures, domes, and the use of concrete vaulting. While context-setting is necessary, there's excess information about the history of fires, and a couple of the book's chapters, especially those on the archaeological evidence of the fire's extent and the city's rebuilding, may be a test for general readers--but will interest students of the period. On the whole, the book is briskly written in a colloquial voice and succeeds in bringing burning Rome vividly alive. Barrett ends with a distinctive survey of the places of Nero and the fire in a variety of artistic disciplines, including literature, film, and opera. An unusual number of maps and photos add greatly to the reading experience. Sure to be the most enduring treatment of this major historical event for some time.

      COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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