EMPEROR OF ROME Ruling the Ancient World

Mary Beard's audiobook examines the various roles of the emperor during the first three hundred years of the Roman Empire. Her voice and British accent are pleasant, and a slight lisp is not distracting. Her delivery can be a bit slow, but the pace helps comprehension and is easy to get used to. She smoothly matches tone, emphasis, and the shaping of phrases to the text while still falling at times into repetitive patterns of British intonation. The small defects in her performance don't prevent her thoughtful and amiable delivery from being enjoyable as she shares the fruits of her long study of classical history. W.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2024]