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Pax

War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

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Pax

Written by: Tom Holland
Narrated by: Tom Holland
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From an award-winning historian, the definitive account of the golden age of Rome—an ultimate superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness.

“Rarely has the distant past seemed so vividly alive.” —Financial Times

The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind.

Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory: Nero’s downfall, the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian’s Wall, the conquests of Trajan. Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, Holland shows that Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence.

A stunning portrait of Rome’s glory days, this is the epic history of the Pax Romana.

Ancient Christianity History Military Religious Studies Rome World Ancient History Italy Ancient Greece
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I like Tom Holland's take on an this period of Roman history. I am also pleased Tom decided to narrate his own work. Overall I am pleased with this production.

Enlightening

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Tom Holland’s Pax does excellent story telling but frustratingly leaves the listener or viewer SHORT on expectations. Everyone familiar with the Roman Empire associates the ‘Pax Romana’ with the ‘5 Good Emperors’ (yes debatable). This implies the CORE of the book to be covering the reigns of: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Pius, and Aurelius. Holland just the story off at Hadrian! He starts off WAY EARLY covering all the way back to Nero and giving a detailed and well written account of the Year of Four Emperors (69CE), but that is NOT what someone buying a book call ‘PAX’ is expecting. Thank you for the bonus, but where is my coverage of the reigns of Pius and Aurelius!!

Excellent Story, but Incomplete

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Difficult to follow. Too many names introduced too quickly. Story jumps. Might work as a book to read, but not as audiobook

Very choppy.

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