Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Tyranny and Democracy in Ancient Greece

Subtitle: The History and Legacy of the Greek Tyrants and Athenian Democracy

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Scott Clem

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-13-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

Tyranny in ancient Greece was not a phenomenon limited to any particular period. Tyrants could be found in power throughout Greece, ruling poleis from the 7th century BC right through to the 2nd century BC, when Roman domination effectively put an end to this form of government throughout the Hellenistic world. That said, the heyday of tyranny was undoubtedly the 7th and 6th centuries BC, and it is in this period, known as the Age of Tyrants, that large numbers of tyrannies arose, particularly in the Peloponnese.

The Age of Tyrants ended on the Greek mainland with the expulsion of the Peisistratidai in 510 BC, but it continued in other parts of the Greek world, particularly in the Greek cities of Sicily, where tyranny did not finally end until the removal of Dionysius II of Syracuse in 344 BC. In Asia Minor, tyranny survived the Persian conquest until the days of the Roman conquest.

The governments of the majority of the Greek states in the Archaic and Classical periods were in the hands of local aristocrats, and it is a modern preoccupation with the Athenian democracy or Sparta's unique system that has tended to obscure this fact. Oligarchy was the norm, and political power derived from wealth and birth. As the wealth of city states grew, so, too, did the number of citizens who, despite personal wealth, found themselves outside the very limited aristocratic elite that conspired to maintain the political power of the few. In today's modern world every political regime, even the most authoritarian or repressive, describes itself as democracy or a democratic people's republic. The concept of rule by the people, on behalf of the people, has come to be accepted as the norm, and very few would overtly espouse the cause of dictatorship, absolute monarchy or oligarchy as the most desirable political system upon which to base the government of any country. It is also generally accepted that democracy, as a political ideology, began in Greece, specifically in Athens, in the seventh century BC and reached its zenith in the fifth century under the leadership of Pericles. Dating an exact starting point is impossible, but at the beginning of the seventh century BC Solon inaugurated a series of reforms that began the movement away from rule by individuals, or tyrants, and by the end of that century the reforms of Cleisthenes provided the basis of the Athenian democratic system that culminated in the radical institutions introduced by Ephialtes and Pericles in the fifth century.

The result was the first, and possibly only, truly participative democratic state. Ironically, between 322 BC and the 19th century, Athenian democracy was almost totally forgotten. If there was any mention of democracy in Athens at all, it was in reference to so-called but largely mythical notions of Solonian democracy as recorded in Plutarch's Life of Solon or Aristotle's Politics. At the beginning of the 19th century, scholars such as August Boeckh began the evaluation and study of democratic Athenian institutions, and inscriptions and the writings of Thucydides and Demosthenes, among others, were used to re-construct those democratic bodies and to gain an understanding of their workings.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Antikythera Mechanism

Subtitle: The History and Mystery of the Ancient World's Most Famous Astronomical Device

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Scott Clem

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-13-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

Discovering ancient shipwrecks hasn't been a novelty for thousands of years, but when artifacts were salvaged from a Roman shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1900, the discovery of one set off one of the great mysteries of antiquity.

When sponge divers investigated the shipwreck, they found the kinds of items often associated with such discoveries, including marble statues, pottery, jewelry, and coins, but they also discovered a strange object, the likes of which nobody had ever seen before. Initially assumed to be pieces of rock, it turned out that the item, soon to be dubbed the Antikythera mechanism, consisted of dozens of pieces, many of which had gears. In fact, while scholars quickly deduced that it had an astronomical purpose, many believed the mechanism was too advanced to actually date back to antiquity.

As it turned out, of course, the Antikythera mechanism did date back to the first or second century BCE, and as scholars began to more fully comprehend its abilities, fascination over the device grew. In conjunction with the determination that the mechanism was an analog computer of sorts that could predict astronomical phenomena like the positions of stars and eclipses, conjecture over the origins of the device led to theories over what the Romans were going to do with it, and whether the device was created by the Greek genius Archimedes himself. To this day, debate continues over whether there were predecessors to the model, where the astronomical observations that went into creating the model were taken, and whether the ultimate origins of the device might even be Babylonian.

Members Reviews:

All you wanted to know and more about this artifact

This book about the Antikythera Mechanism was co-size but I'm not sure if I would use the word brief to describe this writing. I'm also not sure if I would say that this is the most famous ancient astronomical device. It probably is the most ancient astronomical device found so far but I don't think it's that famous. A Greek sponge diver by the name of Valerios Stais found the artifact, Albert Rehm was one of the first researchers to attempt to describe the find, Derek John de Solla Price was one of the first scientists to provide major insights into the artifact. Michael T. Wright a curator of mechanical engineering and a separate group led by Tony Freeth determined that this device with a combined lunar and solar calendar that could be used to predict the timing of eclipses. There is a great deal more information in this book, if you're interested in this artifact I would highly recommend that you read this book.

Good but Small

Well written short synopsis, mostly based on Jo Marchant's epic work. The text was in a very small font and hard to read. Illustrations are low resolution digital reproductions. Recommend "Decoding the Heavens" by Jo Marchant. Also "Gears From the Greeks" by Derek de Solla-Price.

Great photos of original and models

Several books on the mechanism have how it works but lack good photos of either the pieces or any of the models made, but detailed math used.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Valley of the Kings

Subtitle: The History of Ancient Egypt's Most Famous Tombs and Burial Site

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-06-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

Africa gave rise to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world's first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like King Tut and Cleopatra, it's no wonder that today's world has so many Egyptologists.

Given the abundance of funerary artifacts that have been found within the sands of Egypt, it sometimes seems as though the ancient Egyptians were more concerned with the matters of the afterlife than they were with matters of the life they experienced from day to day. One of the most abundant sources of these funerary artifacts is the Valley of the Kings, a royal necropolis located on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. Here, pharaohs of the New Kingdom Period were buried in elaborate, treasure-filled tombs that were cut deep into the cliffs that walled the Nile Valley.

In many of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, intricate reliefs were painted on the walls that depicted the sun god and the dead king on their nightly journey through the underworld, which was known in Egyptian as the Duat (Wilkinson 2003, 82). These scenes, which vary slightly from tomb to tomb, are known collectively by modern scholars as The Book of Gates because they depict the sun gods journey through 12 gates or pylons, one for each hour of the night (Wilkinson 2003, 81). As the sun god and the dead king travel through the night, they have to contend with various demons and a giant snake known as Apophis (Lesko 1991, 119). The Egyptians believed this journey was cyclical, as they viewed time itself, so it took place daily (Lesko 1991, 119).

Though these tombs have been extensively plundered, they still stand as gateways to the afterlife that provide a murky window into the past of a fascinating civilization. Most importantly, the relatively untouched tomb of the young King Tutankhamun offered clear insight. Many of the objects that were discovered in Tutankhamuns tomb were clearly made specifically for him and his burial, such as the coffins, funerary masks, canopic equipment and statues. Other objects, such as the furniture, clothing, and chariots, were obviously items that had been used during Tutankhamuns lifetime. The motifs found upon many of his possessions depicted him in triumph over his enemies. For example, a painted wooden chest bears a fine example of such a scene; the king is shown in his chariot, followed by his troops, attacking a group of Nubians. Scenes depicting aggression and triumph over Egypt's enemies by Egypt's king are classical examples of Egyptian kingship.

Members Reviews:

Don't waste your money

Don't waste your money on this book. It's short and actually had very little information about the valley of the Kings and absolutely nothing about the tombs in the valley of the Kings.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Aztec History

Subtitle: The Incredible History of One of the Greatest Ancient Civilizations of Our World

Author: William Myron Prince

Narrator: Kevin Theis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-24-16

Publisher: William Myron Price

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

The incredible history of one of the greatest ancient civilizations of our world.

When tracing the history of the development of human progress, we use the word "civilization" to refer to the rapid urban development of certain indigenous cultures - especially contrasted to other, less advanced and primitive cultures.

While all Mesoamerican civilizations are regarded as having engaged in human sacrifice, the Aztecs, if their own records are anything to go by, changed it into an art form with a religious and mythological significance that cannot be emphasized enough. Moreover, there is a substantial debate between historians who cannot agree on the degree to which the Aztecs engaged in ritual sacrifice.

Obviously, the Aztecs were much more than just barbaric savages - they had a thriving economy, a well-built system of roadways and irrigation, and they were aesthetically inclined, especially towards architecture.

Most of the information we have about the Aztecs is through their architecture and their feats, which parallel the Egyptians and continue to baffle and astonish in equal measure.

This book aims to be a detailed overview of the Aztec civilization - how it developed and thrived, its economic practices, its unique and elaborate religious myths, and finally its tragic and untimely end.

Here is a preview of the book:

Members Reviews:

Great book

The story came alive, your reading was wonderful. I was suspended in the story. I recommend to any history but like me.

as a native person this is the closest thing to

truth. Excellent work. Short yet detailed and not one sided as most other books are

Excellent peek into a remarkable culture.

Having just returned from a two week visit to Mexico City, I was hungry to learn more about the Aztecs thank you Mr prince for your insights into this remarkable culture.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Nineveh

Subtitle: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-18-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 1.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

When scholars study the history of the ancient Near East, several wars that had extremely brutal consequences (at least by modern standards) often stand out. Forced removal of entire populations, sieges that decimated entire cities, and wanton destruction of property were all tactics used by the various peoples of the ancient Near East against each other, but the Assyrians were the first people to make war a science. When the Assyrians are mentioned, images of war and brutality are among the first that come to mind, despite the fact that their culture prospered for nearly 2,000 years.

Like a number of ancient individuals and empires in that region, the negative perception of ancient Assyrian culture was passed down through Biblical accounts, and regardless of the accuracy of the Bibles depiction of certain events, the Assyrians clearly played the role of adversary for the Israelites. Indeed, Assyria (Biblical Shinar) and the Assyrian people played an important role in many books of the Old Testament and are first mentioned in the book of Genesis.

Although the Biblical accounts of the Assyrians are among the most interesting and are often corroborated with other historical sources, the Assyrians were much more than just the enemies of the Israelites and brutal thugs. Among all the cities that thrived in the ancient Near East, few can match the opulence and ostentatiousness of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire for much of the seventh century BCE. During that time it became known for its mighty citadels, grand palaces, beautiful gardens, and even its zoos. In fact, the beauty of Nineveh, especially its gardens, impressed later writers so much that they assigned its gardens as one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, except unfortunately for Ninevehs memory, the location was placed in Babylon. The confusion that assigned one of the Wonders of the World to Babylon instead of Nineveh is in fact a large part of Ninevehs history - it was a great city during its time, but incessant warfare brought the metropolis to oblivion and eventually its history was forgotten or distorted.

An examination of Nineveh demonstrates that in many ways it was the victim of the people who built it. When Nineveh was at its height, they controlled an empire that encompassed Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and parts of Iran. Eventually, the Assyrians overextended themselves and their enemies overthrew them and destroyed much of their cities. Nineveh became lost for centuries, only mentioned in fragments by classical Greek historians, but modern archaeological methods were able to bring the lost city back to life in the nineteenth century. Today, through a combination of archaeological reports, classical Greek accounts, and ancient cuneiform inscriptions, the chronology of Nineveh can be reconstructed. An examination reveals that Nineveh played a vital role in the religious and political history of the ancient Near East and despite suffering immense damage at the hands of the Assyrians enemies, continued to function as an important city for several centuries after the Assyrian Empire collapsed.

Members Reviews:

Excellent Resource for Preservation of Historic Ancient Assyria.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Megiddo

Subtitle: The History of the Famous Archaeological Site and Prophesized Battle of Armageddon

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-18-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

There are not many corners in the world that have seen as many people, civilizations, and armies as Tel Megiddo. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it once laid upon the Via Maris, an ancient international trade route that connected ancient Egypt to the kingdoms and empires of Palestine, Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. It is because of this road that Megiddo saw so much carnage and bloodshed throughout its history. Many groups have coveted Tel Megiddo because of its strategic location guarding the entrance/exit of the Aruna Pass, now known as the Musmus Pass. Such groups ranged from the Canaanites, Egyptian, Israelites, Philistines and many others, including more recent states and empires, like the Ottomans, Napoleons French empire, and modern Israel. Megiddo's occupational history, or ages of intensive human occupation, began during the Neolithic Age (c. late-fifth millennium B.C.E.) and ended in the Iron Age (c. late-seventh century B.C.E.). But, according to the New Testament, everyones stories will end with the coming of Armageddon, otherwise known as Tel Megiddo.

The history of the archaeological site and the Jezreel Valley is filled with many firsts and many lasts. Perhaps its wide plains were the location of the first recorded battle. It most certainly was the location of the first recorded chariot battle in history when the Pharaoh of Egypt, Thutmosis III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, attacked his former vassals, the Canaanites, after their kings formed a coalition with the Mesopotamian kings during the 15th century B.C.E. Such occurrences of violence and warfare have been common ordeals in the Jezreel Valley, and depending on who partook varied from guerilla-warfare to open-air fighting. The history in the Jezreel Valley had been so repetitively violent that the British General Edmund Allenby replicated, almost exactly, the tactic used by Thutmosis III nearly 3400 years before him when he too attacked Megiddo in 1918.

It is perhaps due to the many battles that the ancient scribes bestowed the image of Armageddon upon Megiddo. After all, the Hebrew words Har Megiddo, simply mean the "Mount of Megiddo". But despite the bloody history of the mound, and its valley, Megiddo's location was eventually lost to history and only was rediscovered relatively recently.

Members Reviews:

All the information that you could possibly want about (what is currently known) Megiddo in excruciating detail

The e-book Megiddo: The History of the Famous Archaeological Site and Prophesized Battle of Armageddon was interesting. The best part of the book in my opinion is the pictures, particularly the pictures of the ancient ruins. The book described in excruciating detail the archaeological work that has been done over the years to describe the chronological sequence of the towns/cities, and cultures that grew up in a place called Tel Megiddo. The authors did attempt to link certain periods in Megiddo existence with information from the Bible. There's a lot of information in this book if you're interested in the archaeological perspective you will enjoy this book.

NOT WHAT I HAD HOPED

Megiddo is supposed to be the site of Armageddon.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Persepolis

Subtitle: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Persian Empire's Capital City

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Scott Clem

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-17-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

Lying in the middle of a plain in modern-day Iran is a forgotten ancient city, Persepolis. Built two and a half thousand years ago, it was known in its day as the richest city under the sun. Persepolis was the capital of Persia, the largest empire the world had ever seen, but after its destruction, it was largely forgotten for nearly 2,000 years, and the lives and achievements of those who built it were almost entirely erased from history. Alexander the Great's troops razed the city to the ground in a drunken riot to celebrate the conquest of the capital, after which time and sand buried it for centuries.

It was not until the excavations of the 1930s that many of the relics, reliefs, and clay tablets that offer so much information about Persian life could be studied for the first time. Through archaeological remains, ancient texts, and work by a new generation of historians, a picture can today be built of this remarkable civilization and their capital city. Although the city had been destroyed, the legacy of the Persians survived, even as they mostly remain an enigma to the West and are not nearly as well understood as the Greeks, Romans, or Egyptians. In a sense, Persepolis and the Persian Empire are some of the most enduring mysteries of ancient civilization.

Members Reviews:

Informative and interesting. I'm glad I read this book.

This book is a great basic coverage of the history of one of the original global superpowers. Very educational and entertaining.

and this one about the Persian Empire's Capital is much like the others

Charles River Editors has been putting out a lot of these kinds of books about ancient Middle Eastern cities, and this one about the Persian Empire's Capital is much like the others. It talks about the city's layout and life in there while incorporating it into a discussion of the Persian Empire's history as a whole.

Enlightening

I enjoyed reading about the ancient Persian empire. While this book mainly relates facts and information like a text book, still it was well written and I enjoyed reading it.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Mysteries of Mithras

Subtitle: The History and Legacy of Ancient Rome's Most Mysterious Religious Cult

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Ken Teutsch

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

In the early Roman Empire, as Christianity struggled to gain a foothold and survive in the polytheistic pool of Roman theology, its greatest rivals weren't the Caesars or the Roman aristocracy but rather the faith and devotion of the common Roman legionary. The faith of these men was centered on the god Mithras, who, they believed, led them to victory upon the field of battle and had done so for nearly four centuries.

Despite this widespread belief among soldiers, the cult of Mithras was not a creation of the Romans, although they would eventually add their own rituals and mysteries to the ancient religion. In fact, the Mithraic religion was an Indo-Persian creation, a theology which managed to travel from India and back into the Hellenic and Roman world by way of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. Eventually, the cult of Mithras would spread across the ancient world, and Mithras would be worshiped from the mountains of India to the coasts of Spain. As a result, the cult of Mithras could ultimately be found in every corner of the Roman Empire.

The Mithras cult was one of the many "mystery religions" that the Romans adopted, several of which came from cultures outside of Rome. Isis, an Egyptian goddess, and Cybele, an Anatolian goddess, were both popular with Roman women, while Mithras, which was a variation of the name of the Zoroastrian demigod Mithra, was popular with Roman soldiers and the political elite for over 400 years. Since the Mithras cult, like all of the Roman mystery cults, was esoteric in nature, the exact nature of the influence other cultures had on the cult remains unknown, but some archaeological evidence has led modern scholars to make educated deductions. Some believe that the conscription of Persian soldiers into the Roman army and continued contact between the Parthians and Romans led to some members of the ever-eclectic Roman society adopting the cult directly from the Parthian/Zoroastrian religion (Clark 2001, 157). This seems like the most plausible explanation, but others have argued that the Mithras cult was actually a Roman religion that was given a Parthian façade to make it appear more exotic in order to attract Romans who were enthralled with eastern spirituality (Clark 2001, 157).

The best evidence to determine the origins of the Mithras cult can be found in the many temples throughout Europe that the Romans erected to the god. These temples, known as mithraea, were subterranean chambers where the secret rituals of the cult took place. The best evidence from extant mithraea are the reliefs on the altars, which depict a graphic mythological story. The altar reliefs usually depict the god slaughtering a bull, often accompanied by a leaping dog (Clark 2001, 158). The references to Zoroastrian theology are unmistakable; the bull slaughter is similar to an account from a Zoroastrian text (the Bundahishen), while dogs were viewed as asha animals in Zoroastrian theology and an important part of the funerary ritual (Clark 2001, 158).

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Petra

Subtitle: The History of the Rose City, One of the New Seven Wonders of the World

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Colin Fluxman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-03-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

When the European armies of the Third Crusade were defeated at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 CE, the region of what is today southern Jordan was overrun by Saladin's armies, and over the following five centuries knowledge of Petra's existence was lost to the people of Europe. The ancient city and center of civilization hidden in the desert became a myth, drawn largely upon Biblical accounts of the people and places in the Holy Land. However, during the Enlightenment of the early 18th century, interesting new theories emerged, and there grew a desire to rediscover the rose-red city.

It was within this context that the Swiss-born explorer and orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt became the known as the first European to "discover" Petra. Disguised as an Arab, he convinced a local guide to navigate him through the innumerable dangers of the Wadi Araba desert in pursuit of the rumored tomb of Aaron and a timeless city hidden in the hills. On Saturday, August 22nd, 1812, he ascended the high hills of southern Jordan and was led down a deep ravine, which twisted and turned through until a splendid sight was revealed before him: a secret valley filled with ruins and the dark holes of rock-cut tombs.

Although his disguise had brought him that far, it also prevented him from being able to fully study the ruins or make copies of what he saw there. After spending only a day exploring the valley, his guide had grown suspicious, so he was forced to move on across the Sinai Peninsula, eventually arriving at Cairo on September 4th. This expedition marked the beginnings of everything that is known about this ancient and mysterious site.

Further expeditions and archaeological investigations over the following two centuries have considerably broadened knowledge about Petra's past, and the ruined Rose City is now an archaeological landscape that has been made famous as a UNESCO World Heritage site, a "new" wonder of the world, and as the repository of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Yet, despite its fame, many people do not know about the religious beliefs, artistic creativity, technological innovation, commerce, and politics of the numerous peoples that resided there.

Members Reviews:

SATISFIES MY CURIOSITY

I've been fascinated by Petra since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was REAL place, not a movie set, though I doubt the three tests faced by Indy were part of the Petra complex.

This area has changed hands among several rulers. Some of the earliest people living at Petra learned to control the seasonal rains, providing a steady water supply for life and agriculture. Different religions survived alongside each other.

The ruins at Petra have suffered earthquakes and looting. There are guidelines in place to help preserve this amazing historical area.

Another quick and easy read.

Like other Charles Rivers Editors books I have read, this one has some beautiful pictures and illustrations in color and condensed for an easy read.

No help in my trip preparation

Did not rise to the level of information that I expected.

Interesting history of the people

I had no idea there were so many different "people" that influenced the construction of Petra. It's a very interesting history of the people who lived in and built the city.

Fascinating read

Petra was a a place that I vaguely knew about.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Etruscans

Subtitle: The History and Culture of the Ancient Italian Civilization that Preceded the Romans

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: David Zarbock

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: History, Ancient

Publisher's Summary:

When people think of ancient Italy, the Romans are usually the first and last people that come to mind, but long before Rome was built by Latin-speaking people, the culture of Italy was dominated by the Etruscans. Although the Etruscans may not comprise the core of most histories of the ancient Mediterranean, they exerted a profound influence on the region from the 8th-5th centuries BCE that continued to resonate for centuries after as the Romans carried on many of their traditions. Today, much of what is known about the Etruscans comes from the ancient Roman and Greek writers who had a deep respect for them but saw them as exotic and foreign. As the famous Roman philosopher Seneca wrote about the Etruscans, "Whereas we believe lightning to be released as a result of the collision of clouds, they believe that the clouds collide so as to release lightning: for as they attribute all to deity, they are led to believe not that things have a meaning insofar as they occur, but rather that they occur because they must have a meaning."

Members Reviews:

A very small book, no pagination, with very ...

A very small book, no pagination, with very, very small print which would make a much nicer read if the font were twice as big. However, the nearly weightless nature of this book means that it will most likely go in the suitcase during an upcoming tour "In the Footsteps of the Etruscans."

Concisely reports on the history of the Etruscans and how they influenced Rome using mostly references to ancient scholars' works even while allowing as how those authors were influenced by the rulers under which they wrote.

The brevity of the book may reflect the nature of what is known since little of the language of this culture has survived. Uses examples from Etruscan art to illustrate how some practices were adopted by Rome and more of these would have been welcome additions.

Learn about the Etruscans and learn a little about Roman culture

I found the history of the Etruscans to be pretty interesting because I knew little about them. This book is brief and concise which provides one the opportunity to learn about the Etruscans in roughly an hour or so. Depending on the archaeologists and or historians the Etruscans either influenced the Romans a little or a lot. The Imperial standards, augury, gladiatorial games, and two of earliest kings of Rome all came from the Etruscans. I found this to be a worthwhile read.

Amazing civilization

The maps and artifacts were interesting as well as the calendar information. I would like to know how many words used today that were originally Etruscan. The bibliography will also be helpful.

Abysmally written

This clumsy and repetitive essay reads as if it had been written by an undergraduate trying to fulfill a minimum page requirement. I gave it an extra star because it does contain some real information--you just have to be willing to wade through the dross to find it.

Avoid Charles River Editors Editions

This was a total rip-off. This"book" about 50 pages, at least half are full pages devoted to poor photo reproductions. The text appears to be cobbled together from encyclopedias. It appears that the author "Charles River Editors" is simply running a publishing racket.