Customer Reviews

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Part I (Classic Non Fiction) (Pt. 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This widely acknowledged classic work of English literature should be required reading for any class on Ancient History. The story of the Roman Republic and the early years of the Empire are widely known. However, the slow death spiral beginning after the reign of Augustus is not nearly as well known as it should be.

I confess to knowing only part of the story prior to hearing Gibbon's narrator recite the repeated murders and intrigues visited upon Emperor after Emperor. To have been Roman Emperor from the years 100 A.D. to 400 A.D. was to enjoy the life span of a mayfly.

To read a roll call of Emperors during the period is to go through dozens of short lived leaders (some of mere weeks and months), mostly murdered and replaced by the Praetorian guard, with a smattering of competent longer lived leaders such as Clodius, Marcus Aurelius, Domitian and Constantine.

Such a disfunctional method of leadership selection, coupled with repeated incursions by Goths, Vandals and Huns ultimately spelled an end to the Western Roman Empire.

The audio version of this work is very well presented in its abridged form through the use of two narrators, one to read the actual words of Gibbon, while the other summarizes the abridged text. Despite the slightly dated form of English used by writers of Gibbons' age, the work was quite easy to follow with the possible exception of the chapter dealing with the rise and spread of Christianity throughout the Empire.

While I cannot pass upon the readability of the unabridged text, I can highly recommend the abridged audio version which I enjoyed.

Although this CD abridgement (CD Volume I of the two volume CD set) of the first (Western) half of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" gives some sense of this monumental and influential work, I was disappointed that most of the passages selected for the abridgement were the more mundane historical passages telling of the succession of the emperors and the battles they fought.

Gibbon is most noted for his interpretation of the history of the late Roman empire (whether one agrees with that interpretation or not) and for his English prose style. Some of this style, which is a monument of English prose, comes through in this abridgement, but little of his analysis does. For example, I would have liked a lot more material from the critical chapters 15 and 16, in which he lays out his controversial theory about Christianity being one of the two major contributors to the decline and fall.

The two voices on the CD, one to read excerpts from Gibbon and the other to summarize the intervening passages missing from the abridgement, are in melodious British English and pleasant to listen to. I would quibble only about the pronunciation of some of the names.

It seems these days that with so many supposedly educated people having an appalling lack of Latin, accentation becomes a matter of whim rather than correctness. For example, Commodus is correctly accented on the first syllable, not the second. Severus is correctly accented on the second syllable, not the first. For those knowing their Latin, little shudders creep up the spine upon hearing these solecisms. I am sure that Gibbon, who was fluent in both Latin and Greek, would *not* have approved!

I bought this set of CD's from a bookstore about five years ago. I still listen to it repeatedly. I almost have it memorized.

It is not for everyone. It has lots of big words and is difficult to follow. You won't get it the first, second, or even the third time. Following it is a mental exercise and requires your full attention. The narrator moves through it quickly, but not raced. The vocabulary is immense. You should Google the book by Gibbon and read some passages first to see if it's your thing.

However, saying that alone doesn't give it justice. The narrator, Philip Madoc, adds so much that listening to the book is a pleasure even if you've lost comprehension of what he is saying.

Philip Madoc convincingly relates Gibbon's great insights into the history and significance of the final centuries of the Roman Empire in this 6 CD set. Abridged by neccesity, nevertheless Neville Jason comments between Gibbon's passage recited by Philip Madoc, and fills the gaps with a coherent narration. The whole production flows smoothly and dramatically, quite easy to follow. This is one of the most worthwhile audio book puchases I've ever made.

What a classic. This is an excellent listen for history buffs and those that want to learn what precipitated the fall of the great empire.

I'll not attempot a short review of Gibbon. All I can do here is offer my opinion of the audio CD presented by Amazon.

It is alwys profitable to read the book than see the movie or hear the CD. My reasons for buying this recording is because my eyes don't work so well anymore and I've many other works to spend sight on. There is a problem with this. It is hard to follow the book because of some unadvertised problems:
1. The music on the recording is very nice but it doesn't add to the absorption of the book. This is not a work of poetry or a romance novel.
2. The presentation is too theatrical for my taste. Also the British accent of the narrators distract the listeners thought from the text to being sure you understand the text being read sith un-American pronunciation. Call me provincial but I find accents add a problem to paying attention to the text.
3. No one says this is the complete text of the work, but having gone through half the CD's, I still find a lack of continuity that I doubt would serve even the beginner in Roman history.

It is for this beginner that I award two stars.

Tremendous amount of information and lots of historical data. Problem is the guy who wrote the book can speak the real english language and I often thought I was listning to a foreign language tape. I learned a lot and woud recomend this to anyone who wonders how something as great as the empire was, fell apart. Great learning experience.