Augustus, Adrian Goldsworthy
Augustus, Adrian Goldsworthy
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Augustus
First Emperor of Rome

Author: Adrian Goldsworthy

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Unabridged: 9 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/26/2014

Synopsis

Caesar Augustus's story, one of the most riveting in western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. He began as a teenage warlord, whose only claim to power was as the heir of the murdered Julius Caesar. Mark Antony dubbed him "a boy who owes everything to a name," but in the years to come the youth outmaneuvered all the older and more experienced politicians and was the last man standing in 30 BC. Over the next half century, he reinvented himself as a servant of the state who gave Rome peace and stability, and created a new system of government—the Principate, or rule of an emperor.

Adrian Goldsworthy pins down the man behind the myths: a consummate manipulator, propagandist, and showman, both generous and ruthless. Under Augustus's rule, the empire prospered, yet his success was never assured, and the events of his life unfolded with exciting unpredictability.

About Adrian Goldsworthy

Adrian Goldsworthy was educated in Penarth and then read ancient and modern history at St. John's College, Oxford, where he subsequently completed his doctorate in ancient history. His DPhil thesis was the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-AD 200, which looked at how the Roman army actually operated on campaign and in battle.

For several years Adrian taught in a number of universities and then began to write for a wider audience. A succession of books followed dealing with aspects of ancient military history, including Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars (which was later reissued as The Fall of Carthage), Cannae, In the Name of Rome, and The Complete Roman Army. More recently he has looked at wider themes, combining the military focus with discussion of politics and society in a biography of Caesar and a study of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire titled How Rome Fell.

Adrian is now a full-time writer and a visiting fellow at the University of Newcastle. He frequently gives one-off lectures and talks both to universities and other groups in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Europe. He often appears as a talking head or presenter in TV documentaries and has acted as consultant on both documentaries and dramas.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Anthony on January 24, 2024

The First of His Kind. Adrian Goldsworthy is an author that grabs your attention. I have found every book I have read of his to be of a high standard and worth reading. Whether you’re a scholar of ancient history or the casual reader they have something to offer. That being said, I have never read on......more

Goodreads review by Ben-Ain on April 20, 2022

4.5 ⭐ Como no podía ser de otro modo, Adrian Goldsworthy no me ha defraudado en absoluto en su estudio sobre la figura de Augusto. El historiador, a mi parecer uno de los máximos exponentes contemporáneos en cuanto a conocimiento de la historia de la Roma antigua, demuestra sobradamente que, además d......more

Goodreads review by Charlie on June 02, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have wanted to read a book about Augustus for some time as he is mentioned often in other books focusing around the same period but never in a huge amount of detail. Anyone who is interested in Rome and indeed Augustus then you will love this book. Also gives a lot of info......more

Goodreads review by Carol on March 28, 2018

Passable biography but if you're looking for entertainment THE TWELVE CAESARS by Suetonius is actually a lot more fun. The original is still the greatest!......more

Goodreads review by Mark on July 17, 2023

Ask most people who was the first Roman emperor, and the name you are mostly likely to hear is that of Julius Caesar. Yet for all his prominence in the events surrounding the fall of the Republic, it was not Julius Caesar who became Rome’s first emperor, but his great-nephew Caius Octavius, a man be......more

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