The Modern Scholar: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

By: Thomas F. Madden

Narrated by: Thomas F. Madden

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Even millennia after its fall, the grand expanse of Roman achievement continues to affect not only American society, but the entire world as well. What caused a civilization of such accomplishments to disintegrate? In this informative and lively series of lectures, renowned history professor Thomas F. Madden serves as the ultimate guide through the fall of ancient Rome. Professor Madden correlates the principles of Roman conduct - both governmental and military - that would forever change the world. Rome was an empire unlike the world had ever seen, and one that will likely never be duplicated. Peopled with personages of great distinction and even greater ambition, at once notable for humanity's great promise and flawed nature, the Roman Empire contributed many of history's proudest advancements. Here Professor Madden invites audiences to explore all the grandeur of this fallen empire.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2008 Thomas F. Madden (P)2008 Recorded Books

Great Introduction to Roman History

I haven't learned Roman history since about 9th grade and I had forgotten almost all of it. I found this to be a very useful refresher that was interesting and thoughtful. If you're a Roman history buff, this is probably not for you. But, if you're like me and just kinda curious, it's definitely a worthwhile entry point. I've already bought two other books on Roman history that go deeper.

Rise & Fall: Emperors, Army, Church & Barbarians

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

Although the title says "Decline and Fall," this lecture series is not just a summary of Gibbons' famous work of the same name.

This series focuses on governance and political power. Military History, Scandals, the Arts, Religion, Famous Biographies, Technology, and the Culture of Daily Life are only mentioned if they have direct relevance or influence on the ebb and flow of power during the 500 or so Empire years.

Professor Madden presents a clear and easy to follow explanation of who held power in Rome from the death of the Republic to the Barbarian removal of the last Emperor of the West. He traces the rise and fall of dynastic imperial families like the Julio-Claudians, Flavians and Antonines. He explains the military's power to decide the Emperor of their choice. He explains how prominent Christians went from dying in the arena to living and ruling in the palace. And finally, he illustrates how Rome's international relations with Barbarians led to the final sacking and the end of imperial self-rule.

This lecture series isn't a bells and whistles account of all the crazy things that occurred during the Roman Empire. It's a clear and concise framework that puts the trivia into context. This is basic knowledge that will enrich listeners' understanding of any further encounter with information about the ancient Roman Empire. This is the bare historical foundation that's solid enough to let you build on it as high as you please.

Good for a review

This book is really like attending a class lecture--replete with slips and the normal repetitions one hears in lectures. I'm not sure it's a great start if you know nothing about Roman history. But as a refresher course or an overview if you plan to read more, it's pretty good. There are a couple of annoying pronunciations (Pompey gets pronounced as if it were the city Pompeii). They are good lectures--interesting and easy to listen to.

Excellent Coverage

If you like documentaries or enjoy talks on historical topics then all of the Modern Scholar series is for you. This particular series is excellent coverage of such a wide topic. Not getting lost or sidetracked, but also not so wide an overview that you feel you missed out.

Professor Madden is well versed and an interesting speaker, who occasionally searches for a word or loses a thought, but who wouldn't if you were talking for hours. I think other reviewers have been way too harsh on him.

I especially love his unbiased approach to history. A lot of this, and other lectures of his has to do with early Christianity, and its many schisms. I cannot tell you if he is a Protestant, Catholic, or Atheist, and I cannot tell you how rare this is with history professors. Their attempts at an unbiased presentation are usually so blatantly an "attempt" and their talks are very colored one way or another. After 4 lectures I haven't been able to pin any view point on him and while this may not matter to other listeners, this has really made me trust his information a great deal.

Comprehensive and entertaining

Madden's 'Decline and Fall' is more a history of Rome, beginning with the fall of the Republic, to the collapse of the empire, than an actual argument about what caused the fall.

One of the puzzling questions he poses is, why didn't Rome fall in the mid 200s? Everything went wrong for the Romans during that period. At one point, the provinces of what we now call France, Spain, and Great Britain, actually broke away from Rome and formed their own mini empire.

Rome was also in an economic tailspin, with the currency so utterly devalued that almost no one would accept Roman coins. Even the Roman government refused to be paid taxes using Roman coins. Instead, barter was accepted, with oil, or grain, used in place of currency.

No one lasted as emperor for more than a year or two, and the army periodically refused to fight for the emperor if it looked like the opposing army was larger.

How Rome survived, and even thrived, later on, makes for fascinating listening.

A great set of lectures

Professor Maddens' lectures tend to be concise, to the point and enjoyable, it's certainly a lot easier than reading or listening to Decline and Fall of Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons. Having said that, because of the time constraint, he has had to skip a lot of details. I'd suggest trying Cyril Robinson's work to supplement this course.

Fails to come together

The lectures start out reviewing some ideas that have been suggested over the years for the fall of Rome: maybe it was the decadence or the rise of Christianity or the Barbarians... A lot of these are rejected on the argument that they apply equally well to the Eastern Empire, which lasted till 1453, as to the Western, which fell in 476. I find this argument less than fully convincing, but I was willing to accept it provisionally, awaiting the author's preferred thesis to be given at the end. Except he never does give one.

Instead the book is basically a litany of emperors and generals. The sort of thing that perhaps you're required to know for the test if you're studying to be a card-carrying historian, but which is of limited interest or use to the rest of us. The lectures start (following the part where he throws out and rejects various theories) with Julius Caeser and the Julio-Caludians, and if you know at least the outlines of that part of the story, as many of us do, things start to get pretty boring. But then he passes through that bunch and there's 4-5 more hours of so-and-so succeeded so-and-so, and you realize that hey, this never ending parade of emperors actually continued for like 400 years and was pretty well recorded. You also realize there's a reason no one's ever made an "I, Pupienus". Seriously, there's dozens of these guys you've never heard of and don't care about.

And Madden is just not a great lecturer. He's not terrible, but he seems to sigh a lot, which made me feel like he was disappointed in me as a listener. More likely, he was bored with his own story, because it's boring.

The unfulfilled promise of this program is to get at the deep causes of the fall of Rome. Madden's basic story is that the fundamental failure in Rome was a constitutional one, failing to specify the order of succession, which led perpetual rivalries between claimants to the throne. Perhaps, but given his own dismissal of stories that work just as well in the east as west, he never really explains why this explanation should pass that test. I'd also like to hear what other historians say on this topic; Madden mentions Gibbons, but doesn't say much about him, or anyone else's analysis. Basically, I kept waiting for the analysis lecture to come, and it simply doesn't.

It has a much broader focus, but if you're interested in this topic in general, let me suggest Ian Morris' recent book "Why the West Rules for Now". That one may leave you not knowing the Latin names of all the trees--err, emperors--but at least it acknowledges the forest.

Informative, gripping and inspiring

The "Decline and Fall of Rome" is not so much a book. It is a presentation of 14 lectures about the Roman Empire spreading from 27 B.C. to 476 A.D. Prof. Thomas F. Madden from Saint Louisville University, gives the listener an overview of the different emperors starting with the fall of the Roman Republic. In a certain sense the lectures highlights a series of falls which led to the decline of Rome.

I found the lectures very informative. It gives you and overview of a very important time in the history of mankind. In more than one way it is also in this time that the seed of Western Civilisation is planted.

Madden has a way of making difficult ideas and concepts easily graspable. I enjoyed listening to him. However, he did "uhm" quite a lot and sometimes ended his sentences abruptly as if he doesn't know what to say about a certain idea he wants to convey.

The pdf course guide is excellent and doesn't only help you to recap what you've listened to, it has good suggestions for further reading.

I would recommend this recording of prof. Madden's lectures to anyone who wants to know more about the Roman Empire and its emperors. The contents is well structured and easily accessible.

An excellent overview of Roman history

Although the topic of this lecture series is the Decline and Fall, the lectures actually cover the entire period of the Roman Empire, from the end of the Republic, to the end of the succeeding Empire. Professor Madden's lecture style is smooth and fairly fast-paced, and he has an interesting theory about why the Roman Empire eventually collapsed. I'm a Roman history buff, and I really enjoyed listening to these lectures. Definitely well-worth my time!

Excellent Detailed Series of Lectures

Professor Madden is well verse in the subject matter that he is presenting. The lectures follow a logical order that is detailed with facts often not covered in other lecture series. The history of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is impressive and easy to follow. Professor Madden makes the history come alive to the listener. I highly recommend this series of lectures on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for the beginner or the expert on the subject. I will certainly be buying another one of Professor Madden's Lecture audio books.