What was it like to live in one of the ancient world's most powerful and bustling cities - one that was eight times more densely populated than modern day New York?

In this entertaining and enlightening guide, best-selling historian Philip Matyszak introduces us to the people who lived and worked there. In each hour of the day we meet a new character - from emperor to slave girl, gladiator to astrologer, medicine woman to water-clock maker - and discover the fascinating details of their daily lives.

Listening Length

6 hours and 36 minutes
Author

Philip Matyszak
Narrator

Michael Page
Audible release date

May 1 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
ASIN

B086WLJH3W
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	6 hours and 36 minutes
Author	Philip Matyszak
Narrator	Michael Page
Audible.ca Release Date	May 01 2020
Publisher	Tantor Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B086WLJH3W
Best Sellers Rank	#109,873 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #127 in Ancient & Classical Roman History #1,218 in History of Early Civilization (Books) #1,238 in History of Ancient Italy

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

943 global ratings

5 star		52%
4 star		31%
3 star		13%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

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Top review from Canada

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Xanthine

Engaging and informative

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 16, 2018

Happy to give this 5 stars. Brisk, engaging, sly humour, very fun to read, but also very informative. This touched on a number of things I never thought about based on other books about ancient Rome. It's a great, super close-up snapshot of everyday life. No one gets left out. Can't wait to read this again for research!

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Simon Binning

Another excellent book from Philip Matyszak

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Philip Matyszak has form, as far as I'm concerned! He has written a number of books about the ancient world, all of which have been engaging, informative and lively. Travel guides for the traveller in ancient Greece and Rome, unofficial manuals for gladiators and legionaries, as well as more formal works. This book continues the lighter side of his output, but is none the less interesting.
The concept is simple. The book is split into 24 chapters: one for each hour of the day. For each hour, the author picks an inhabitant of Rome and relates their activity at that time. From a slave getting breakfast, to a stonemason, from a night-watchman to a gladiator, the choice of characters is wide and well-picked to illustrate daily life in the largest city on earth at the time (and for many centuries to follow).
Set in the year 137 CE, the book successfully leads you through the streets and buildings of Rome, eavesdropping on 24 people as they get on with their lives. They are largely fictional characters, but built up from a range of sources, often modelled on real individuals. We hear their stories, but are also presented with the facts and figures behind these lives.
A straightforward book therefore, but one which imparts a lot of information in an interesting and logical way. It is easy to read, and fun. The characters draw you in; you want to hear their story, and you hardly realise how much you are picking up along the way.
If you already have a lot of knowledge about Roman society, there may not be a lot new here, but if you are looking for a first impression of what life in Rome was like, then this would be a good place to start. (Along with the author's own Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day!)

6 people found this helpful

Swords and Spectres

An informative and entertaining read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

When most people think of Ancient Rome they think of legionaries, of great armies waging war on other civilisations and firmly grinding them beneath the sandals of Rome and the ever-watchful gaze of the Imperial Eagles. What we don't think of is the baker, the lawyer, the mother to a sick new born or even the prostitute.

In this book we learn of all of these people and many more. It isn't a book that strives to tell you of Rome's great military might, it's a book that strives to tell you of the people that made Rome great, that kept it going whilst the armies were off doing their thing on the field of war. The book describes Rome as a heart and the people as the lifeblood that pumps through it and keeps it beating.

Every chapter is an hour in the Roman day and is from the viewpoint of a different person with a different role within Rome. Each chapter is centred on one person and their daily duties and the aspects of life that affect their duties and are affected by them. Some of these characters are fictitious, purely for the point of showing you how that particular role may have lived. Others are based on real people from true accounts of the time.

Throughout, the book is threaded with excerpts from Roman texts (be it satires, speeches, naturalist texts or even recipes complete with modern day equivalents for those near impossible to get Roman ingredients.)

The writing is presented in an approachable way and I firmly believe that anyone, of any level of historical learning will be able to pick it up, enjoy and, indeed, take something away from it. If you have the slightest interest in Rome's past, this book is essential in broadening your understanding of that once great empire capital.

Each chapter is presented in a way that sort of passes the baton on to the next, making them all feel connected. This is a great way of telling the daily life of Rome as, to some degree or another, everyone's lives were connected inside the walls of Ancient Rome. It also shows just how different classes of people within Rome were treated as opposed to others, and how some of the more powerful people were not quite as free to do as they pleased as many might think.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to getting to the others in the series.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Interesting and amusing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

An interesting way to learn how Imperial Rome functioned. This book is informative and on occasions very amusing, as we've become accustomed to this author.
Although billed as 24 hours in the life of Ancient Rome it is really 24 vignettes with some tenuous handovers to link the hours. The activity described within each chapter is not necessarily exclusive to that hour and some chapters seem to be "fillers" such that the full 24 hours are covered.
That said it does explain how the Romans structured their day and it does not just concentrate on the rich and privileged. It moves from a farmer hauling his goods to market to the courts in the forum and the intrigue of minor Senators and a fascinating explanation about how the Romans measured the hours. Each chapter is interesting in its own way, but each story relies on prior knowledge of Roman society.
I loved this book, but I do have a deep interest in Ancient Rome. However, those with little, or no knowledge about how ancient Rome functioned may struggle to appreciate this work.

5 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Entertaining semi-fictional treatment of life in ancient Rome

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Delightful "history" packaged in a series of vignettes. The clever narrative loosely connects the characters and weaves a tale of Roman life during the rule of Hadrian. The author has done a superb job of introducing a cross-section of ancient Romans within short chapters but rounding them into three-dimensional characters. Added illustrations, excerpts, explanations, and endnotes provide informative descriptions. Matyszak has thoroughly researched the topic with scholarly intent and has delivered an entertaining anthology depicting believable accounts of life in Rome. This is the first of his books I've read, but I will seek out others in this "day in the life series."

Unusual format, interesting snapshots in time

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

One hour in the day of market trader, prostitute, fire warden, gladiator, cook etc. along with background material, including why things were done in a certain way and how we acquired certain words, along with supporting original cources make this a good, insightful read.

Don't expect character development, or strong storyline. Instead enjoy each person described as they appear for one hour (i.e. just a few pages) and then fade away as a new character appears, complete with source material, pictures and supporting references.

It's a light read, and yet instructional and entertaining to boot, good stuff.

3 people found this helpful

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24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There: 24 Hours in Ancient History Series, Book 1 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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