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24 Hours in Ancient Rome
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
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24 Hours in Ancient Rome
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Summary
Walk a day in a Roman's sandals. What was it like to live in one of the ancient world's most powerful and bustling cities - one that was eight times more densely populated than modern-day New York?
In this entertaining and enlightening guide, best-selling historian Philip Matyszak introduces us to the people who lived and worked there. In each hour of the day, we meet a new character - from emperor to slave girl, gladiator to astrologer, medicine woman to water-clock maker - and discover the fascinating details of their daily lives.
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What listeners say about 24 Hours in Ancient Rome
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- harrietp
- 16-11-17
Fantastic insight into Roman life
I loved SPQR and thought there was no more room for Ancient Rome in my life. But this is the perfect counterbalance to that big sweep of history – it’s insight into what life was actually like, day to day, for Romans. Each chapter is an hour in someone’s company, from nightwatchman to vestal virgin, and they’re brought to life here in wonderful detail. Matyszak is that rare historian who can write with a lightness of touch and humour that makes this a consistently engaging and informative listen. Highly recommend!
58 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Shelley
- 22-07-18
Absolutely loved this.
Imformative, accessible, entertaining and really enjoyed the performance. One of my favourite listens and have recommended to loads of people.
20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- T
- 06-04-18
Great Entertainment
It's very difficult to write genuinely entertaining history, but this book manages to pull it off, funny, insightful, and with an array of characters not given enough 'life' in ordinary text books.
18 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazonian
- 18-04-18
If only all history books were this riveting!
This is a triumph of scholarship worn lightly. An inspired, revealing and constantly amusing look at the lives of Romans of all classes, professions and ages. A brilliant idea brilliantly executed by a master historian, and a great and always engaging read by John Telfer. How I wish for similar titles devoted to ancient Athens, Jerusalem, Persepolis, Cartague, Luxor, Babylon...we need Matyszaks in all great cities of antiquity!
14 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AdelaK
- 17-05-18
Great insights into Roman life
This book teaches about Roman life in a fun and easy to understand manner. The characters are interesting and varied and the author seems to have a lot of humor. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in ancient Rome.
11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Rose
- 16-03-18
Well you know what they say, when in Rome do as the Romans do.
That was good. That was very interesting. Normally I wouldn’t read anything that goes as far back in time as this book does but I geve this a go just because it sounded interesting and I was not disappointed. The story is told from the point of view of a cross section of people that lived there in all walks of life from the aristocrat to the prostitute and what they might have done for each hour of the day. A typical day in typical lives and with notes as to phrases and words still in sue today. Told with humour this book is far from dry as old fossils would be, and absorbing. The naration is brilliant. I’d read nnother book by this author any time. Waht more can I say? it’s short. A pocket guide book to the city of Rome, enjoy your walk.
10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kirstine
- 26-08-18
Interesting way to tell history
I enjoyed this novel approach to history: certainly very different from my school-days when Roman history was all about empire-building and battles. The present book focuses on the day-to-day experience of ordinary people and at the same time includes lots of interesting facts, such as how togas were kept white, the kind of foods that were served at dinners, time-keeping, how crimes were punished and much more. I enjoyed the variety of topics and how these brought Roman times alive.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Mr. M. G. Helliwell
- 25-09-18
Nicely put together
I don't normally like listening to non-fiction, preferring to read it instead, but decided to give this a try. It's very easy to listen to but manages to be informative and interesting as well. It's written almost like a series of connected little stories. In fact I found myself wishing that the author would write a novel in a similar style to this book.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Nicola Brown
- 31-10-18
Ancient Rome Brought to Life
Author makes learning about ancient Rome easy. The stories he tells are interesting as he includes every day details and the humourous side of situations as well we historical facts.
The narration was clear and easy to listen to.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Nick
- 11-11-18
Rome how the Romans experienced it
An interesting concept of 24 people going about their daily business in ancient Rome for one hour during a particular time of day. From Nightwatchman to baker, slave, schoolboy and teacher etc. This is a must for history buffs with plenty of quotes from people at the time who witnessed these events and even a few answers for pub quiz fans. Enjoyed this as each chapter was different from the previous so never got boring.
3 people found this helpful