Rubicon cover art

Rubicon

The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Rubicon

By: Tom Holland
Narrated by: Tom Holland
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

'The book that really held me, in fact, obsessed me, was Rubicon . . . This is narrative history at its best. Bloody and labyrinthine political intrigue and struggle, brilliant oratory, amazing feats of conquest and cruelty' Ian McEwan, Books of the Year, Guardian

'Re-evaluating Rome for a new generation' Robert Harris, Sunday Times

'Marvellously readable' Niall Ferguson

The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness—the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall.

It is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.

Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling civilization, with its extremes of ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire. Yet alien as it was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two thousand years may have passed, but we remain the Romans' heirs.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2004 SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2003 HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS

©2011 Tom Holland (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK
Europe Military Rome Funny
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Storm Before the Storm cover art
Laughter in Ancient Rome cover art
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire cover art
Twelve Caesars cover art
The Eagle and the Lion cover art
God's Own Gentlewoman cover art
Lives of the Twelve Caesars cover art
The Fort cover art
The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World cover art
1177 B.C. (Revised and Updated) cover art
Blackbeard cover art
Henry VIII: The Quest for Fame cover art
Ten Caesars cover art
The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome cover art

Critic reviews

This is narrative history at its best... It really held me, in fact, obsessed me... Bloody and labyrinthine political intrigue and struggle, brilliant oratory, amazing feats of conquest and cruelty. Holland's lucid account of this alien civilisation moves at a fine pace. He makes no facile comparisons with our times, but you sense you are witnessing through him the enduring difficulty of reconciling power and peace (Guardian)
The blood-stained drama of the last decades of the Roman Republic . . . is told afresh with tremendous wit, narrative verve and insight . . . What characters there were in this drama! He resurrects them with a novelistic luminosity which illuminates not only that lost world, but our own as well (Christopher Hart)
Holland writes throughout with wonderful zest... this is a terrific read and a remarkable piece of scholarship. As an introduction to Roman history, it is unlikely to be bettered (Christopher Matthews)
A model of exactly how a popular history of the classical world should be written . . . a riveting study of the period . . . the most readable book on the later Roman republic since Ronald Syme's The Roman Revolution . . . Next time someone asks me why they should study Roman history, Rubicon will be one of the first books that I shall direct them to (Richard Miles)
Ancient history often descends to us either through impregnable academic works or the sword-and-sandal epics of the cinema. What Holland achieves is to draw from both genres to write a modern, well-paced and finely observed history which entertains as it informs (Elizabeth Speller)
A master of the telling detail . . . Rubicon is unrivalled in revealing the humbug behind the cant and stripping Julius Caesar and company of their moral finery (Frederic Raphael)
Fresh and vivid . . . Holland's strength is as a narrative historian and there is no better and clearer guide to the tangled political events of 100-44 bc . . . if a new readership is to be won for ancient history, it is books like this that will pave the way (Frank McLynn)
Rubicon . . . is no dry history: it is immensely readable, a perfect combination of authoritative scholarship and racy narrative . . . all Holland's people are real and alive. Sometimes they even talk (David Wishart)

What listeners say about Rubicon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    81
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    78
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    77
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful detailed history

Rubicon is an echo from the past being projected onto our modern times, love this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful narration

Tom Holland has am excellent storytelling ability. Ripping yarns, woven together by a masterful author. Rubicon is highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

concise and interesting throughout

This is an excellent example of what can be achieved in modern scholarship. Interesting throughout and told lovingly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A lovely narrative history of the fall of the Republic

A lovely narrative history of the fall of the Republic. really well narrated by the author.l, no one else knows where to put emphasis quite like the original author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Really enjoyed how much meaning and enthusiasm Tom Holland puts into this excellent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Encapsulating

Educational, yet interesting. Very well performed and I’ll be certainly listening to more of mr Hollands work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Holland does it again!

Fantastic narrative on the beginnings of Rome through to the start of the reign of Augustus. Written and narrated in such an engaging way. Excellent!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great narration

Great narration of a truly remarkable period in world history, and the rise of Caesar and Augustus.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enthralling

Learned so much and it felt almost conversational. Very easy to listen to, didn’t get bored once.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Re-published narrated by the author Tom Holland

Pretty much the same as the original book the goings-on in Rome Cicero, Cato, Caesar & Mark Anthony all the usual suspects
Political intrigue hasn't changed too much
The narration was excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!