The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I cover art

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I

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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I

By: Edward Gibbon
Narrated by: David Timson
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About this listen

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has always maintained its initial appeal to both the general public and scholars alike. Its sheer scale is daunting, encompassing over a millennium of history, covering not merely the Western Empire from the days of the early emperors to its extinction in AD 476, but also the Eastern Empire, which lasted for another thousand years until the Turks vanquished it in 1453. But Gibbon’s style, part historical fact and part literature, is enticing, and the sheer honesty of the man, who endeavours to be scrupulously impartial in his presentation, endears him to the reader. In this recording, David Timson incorporates the most salient of Gibbon’s footnotes.

In Volume I (chapters I-XV), Gibbon opens by setting the scene with the Empire as it stood in the time of Augustus (d. AD 14) before praising the time of the Antonines (AD 98-180). The death of Marcus Aurelius and the accession of Commodus and his successors ushers in turbulent and dangerous times which were only occasionally marked by a wise and temperate ruler. The volume ends in AD 324, with Constantine the Great becoming undisputed Roman emperor, uniting both the East and Western Empires.

Public Domain (P)2014 Naxos AudioBooks Ancient World

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All stars
Most relevant  
Fantastic.

I’d put off trying to work thru Gibbon for so many years. So glad I’ve started now. Gibbon is hilarious- it’s all in the footnotes. No point reading or listening to an abridgement without them.

Some reviewers have commented negatively on Timson’s delivery. I strongly disagree - he brings out Gibbon’s wry tone perfectly, highlighting both the grand eloquent tone and the snarkiness bubbling under the surface. In this regard, he handles the footnotes perfectly, timing them and working them into his flow. Can’t wait to move on to volume ii.

Nails it!

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an amazing book and feat of scholarship. We tried as a family the audio vox version and David Timson is just so much better at bringing it to life

Seminal book

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I was really impressed with this. it was some other reviews and a love of ancient civilisations that made me go for this and I am so glad I did. It does not seem to be written such a long time ago - indeed the way David Timson narrates it could have been written by a current historian. Fabulous albeit sweeping insight into the Roman Empire.

Old but gold

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I loved this, it's a vast survey history as never before attempted add Gibbon's style (full of 18th century humanism, so deeply informed by his staggering reading, but so heavily influenced by early and mid-18th century European thought) is hard work to read but wonderful to listen to with a very 'correct' British received-pronouncation accent. Don't be put off, it's an old-fashioned work now but it put Gibbon at the head of European culture at the time. Some familiarity with late antiquity would be very helpful.

A unique classic, narrated beautifully in RP

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Sit tight, get a notepad to keep track of who everyone is and what they’re up to, make a cup of tea, enjoy.

Now that’s comprehensive…

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tedious and pompous narrator. wasted my credit. puts you write to sleep. look for sth else

awful. tedious. waste of money. pompous narrator.

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This truly is unabridged, with all the footnotes as well. This makes for serious listening, but does reward with much fine and fascinating material generally left out of abridged volumes. Timken's reading is clear, but suffers from overemphasis, which is a great shame. Gibbon is full of irony, sarcasm and dismissive wit: unfortunately Timson doesn't believe we'll get it unless he signals it with pantomime exaggeration. Silly man: I cannot think of a single person who would be listening who's not already aware of Gibbon's outlook and reputation.

A masterpiece, adequately read

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I have not got far enough into this title to really judge the performance etc. But after just 30 minutes of listening, I cannot deal with the footnotes which are inserted (clearly by Mr Gibbon in the original) about every three sentences. It is just a problem with the medium. If I were reading, I would probably ignore most of them to lose myself in the narrative but of course that is not possible if the structure of the original is to be maintained. So no criticism of the book or reader, just that this book is wrong, for me, in this medium.

Audible books don't deal well with footnotes

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