THE GREAT FIRE OF ROME The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City

Dando-Collins uses the great fire as an entrée into what is essentially a history of Nero’s reign, a time of turmoil beset by both modern-seeming problems and ancient barbarity. John Lescault’s narration is clear and crisp; he has good pacing and expression, and his voice is likable. But the production disappoints somewhat: There are semi-regular pauses for no clear reason, a number of “drop-ins”—rerecorded sections pasted in—with noticeably different sound or voice quality, and inconsistent pronunciations of Latin names and words. But the good outweighs the bad, and this program will interest anyone who wants to know the real story of the sad, deluded, and sometimes vicious last of the Caesars. W.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2011]