Great story let down by monotonous narration

The book covers much the same ground as Mary Beard's SPQR, though in somewhat greater detail. However I was constantly having to rewind and listen to a passage again because my attention wandered. I don't think this is a problem with the book but with the narration. It's not flat, but almost every sentence seems to follow a set pattern of intonation and emphasis which I found quite wearing once I latched onto it.

4 people found this helpful

Brilliant Highly recommend.

I loved this book and got through it really quickly. Holland is a great writer. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in Romans. I'll definitely be listening to more of his books.

3 people found this helpful

Factual, accurate, dry.

Solid history but dryly written. Performance clear and crisp with even volume and tempo. Recitation as dry as the facts presented. I enjoy my history a bit more flavorful, i.e. Mary Beard or Barbara Tuchman.

3 people found this helpful

Ave Caesar

This book is excellent in providing the journey from the brith of the republic, and then slowly plots the destruction of what at the time was comparable today seeing the proud petriotic american seeing his country descend into a civil war, a dictatourship, two popular uprisings, a oligarichal dictatourship, and then explodes into another civil war, then after that another dictatourship. After all that you can only imagine the desperation for it to end. All of this is compounded by excellent narration which gives life to the sheer magatude of these larger then life figures who's names still echo throughout our culteral psyche. Well worth it in my opinion.

2 people found this helpful

Really, really interesting

Whilst this is a mammoth tome, it was truly fascinating and the lives of Romans are surprisingly familiar. With, perhaps, a touch more murder than we have today.

1 person found this helpful

A masterpiece if you like this period in history!

i loved this book. Its not written like other historical books and somehow reads, or listens, like a story. If you are awestruck by all things Roman, this book will not disappoint. All Tom Holland's books are now on my bucket list. One proviso, battle descriptions and tactics are not covered in great depth. This is a book about the pains, politics and aspirations of the Roman people and its Republic. Its beliefs and what fueled its ambitions. i can see where Richard Harris latterly got his facts for his brilliant Cicero trilogy. This book is pure Parthian Gold!

Historiography at its best.

An amazingly well written epitaph to the Roman Republic. Well worth your time and very accessible for all readers.

Love💘

I have read this book twice and have to say loved this gem on audible even more.Love love love😘😘

Entertaining and comprehensive overview

A decent overview of the last centuries of the Roman Republic, although one can get lost in the details of the less significant parts of the book.
Aside from the early parts concerning the Punic Wars, the main strengths of the book lay in the latter parts concerning the Triumvirate, the Civil War, and the eventual rivalry between Octavian and Marc Antony.
Rubicon's strength is that it takes the latter years of the Roman Republic into a more readable and comprehensive volume, and therefore, is recommended for anyone who wants to either familiarize themselves or recap this crucial period of Western History.
The narration is decent, both the introduction by the author and the larger narration by Mark Meadows.

Great listen if you like history!

I found this to be a very nice listening experience. I love history & I didn’t know enough details about Rome and the period of the death of the Republic, and Tom Holland and Mark Meadows make it come alive in a way I hadn’t thought possible in a book. If you are a history buff this is a great listen.