The decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Part I & II
(CD + Book)

Abridged.

Compact disc.

Originally packaged in two six-disc containers.

Includes music by Lacher, Malipiero, Liszt, and Schumann.

Read by Philip Madoc with Neville Jason.

Part I. Discusses the gradual collapse of the Roman rule from Augustus (23 BC-AD 14) to the first of the Barbarian kings, Odoacer (476-490 AD).xx Gibbon's The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule from Augustus (23BC-AD14) to the first of the Barbarian kings, Odoacer (476-490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian and other remarkable men. It remains the standard work of scholarship on the subject two hundred years after it was written; yet equally important, in its sheer accessibility, it is an unforgettable story.

Part II. Edward Gibbon's Decline and fall of the Roman Empire occupies an immortal place in the pantheon of historical masterpieces. This six-disc recording covers the final three volumes of Gibbon's work, tracing ten centuries in the life of the eastern half of the empire, whose capital city was Constantinople. Among the many figures who stride across Gibbon's stage here are the emperor Justinian I, a noble statesman and successful warrior, brought low by his lascivious wife, the former prostitute Theodora; the murdering Basil I, a peasant who nonetheless proved himself a worthy figure upon which to drape the purple; and the final emperor of all, Constantine XI, who died on the battlements of Constantinople in 1453, valiantly fighting a losing battle to prevent the Turks from gaining a city they had craved for centuries. It is still the work that sets the standard for all histories of the period.