Jim Davis

GREAT BOOK, GREAT READ BUT AUDIO IS LOW

Revisado: 08-10-23

I was pleasantly surprised that Duncan started with the Gracchi for the beginning of the end of the Roman republic, then focused on Marius and Sulla instead of Syme's Roman Revolution which focuses more on Julius Caesar and the Principate for the end of the Roman Republic.

The debate about when the Republic ends and the Empire begins is one of the biggest arguments in the study of Roman History. I agree with this Author almost 100% that Marius then Sulla ended the Roman Republic. However, I would have liked him to pick a specific date for it. Was it when Marius changed the property requirement for soldiers to serve in the Army which led to the Roman Army switching loyalties from the Senate to a General or was it the moment Sulla illegally crossed over the sacred border of the Pomerium with an Army?

I think the moment Sulla illegally crossed into Rome with an Army the Republic ended. I'd like to say it was when Marius changed the property requirement for Romans to serve in the Army or the first massacres of senators by Marius and Cinna but everything they did was voted on, even if the vote was rigged.

Instead, when Sulla crossed that sacred line and the momentum of that moment would lead to Dictator for life, I have akways thought the Republic ended I was pleasantly surprised that Duncan started with the Gracchi for the beginning of the end of the Roman republic, then focused on Marius and Sulla instead of Syme's Roman Revolution which focuses more on Julius Caesar and the Principate for the end of the Roman Republic.

The debate about when the Republic ends and the Empire begins is one of the biggest arguments in the study if Roman History. I agree with this Author almost 100% that Marius then Sulla ended the Roman Republic. However I would have liked a date for this. Was it when Marius changed the property requirement for soldiers to serve in the Army which led to the Roman Army switching loyalties from the Senate to a General or was it the moment Sulla illegally crossed over the sacred border of the Pomerium with an Army?

I think the moment Sulla illegally crossed into Rome with an Army the Republic ended. I'd like to say it was when Marius changed the property requirement for Romans to serve in the Army or the first massacres of senators by Marius and Cinna but everything they did was voted on, even if the vote was rigged. Instead, when Sulla crossed that sacred line and the momentum of that moment would lead to Dictator for life, I have always thought the Republic ended with Sulla's disregard for Roman Law but there are so many moving parts to the Transition from Republic to Principate, there isn't a single date we can say for sure THIS IS THE VERY MOMENT ROME STOPPED BEING A REPUBLIC AND BECAME AN EMPIRE.

I am going to reread Syme and pick a book or two from the bibliography in this book so that I can see other points of view, for reading just two books of commentary and reading all ancient sources is definitely not enough for me to really say for sure that there is truly a specific date when this occured.

I highly recommend this book and the audiobook, even though the volume is a little too low on the Audible title. If you get your engineer to remaster this and boost the audio, I will give you 5 atars across the board.

I liked this book so much, I truly hope you write more about Greco Roman History and you continue to read your own books, just make sure the audio is tested on Kinde Fire tablets and phones so the audio is actually loud when I turn it up to 10. other than that, I am very, very happy with both of my purchases and I am considering your book on Marquis de Lafayette.

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word of advice

Revisado: 08-04-23

When you are reading copy don't end the sentence with an inflection up, always speak down. I am not sure how or where you recorded this but as a producer and director I would have explained that professional voice over people are aware of this very important skill and it absolutely takes practice. it's better to give a flat and monotone delivery than speak like you would having a conversation with someone. The next time you listen to a good voice ever person, pay attention to how the end of each sentence sounds. I had tried desperately to listen to your book and even bought the kindle but returned them. I know you tried your best and 13 hours is a long time. sorry.

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MY FAVORITE AUDIBLE TITLE

Revisado: 03-05-23

This is my favorite audible title. it's only like 8 hours and I have listened to this at least 30 times. I've read at least 2 dozen books on the people of this time period as a result of listening to this title and I continue to seek out even more books and papers thanks to listening to Dr Kline. I read his book 1177 BC first and then bought this but that was 3 years ago. I have also read and listened to many books and courses from Dr Kline and he's become my favorite professor whose work I continually buy and follow. Thank you Dr Kline for all the hard work! please keep it coming!

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Strong on the Bible, Weak on History

Revisado: 08-15-22

Could have had more historical details. Fails to mention names and places of key details of extremely impotant details. Antiochus IV and all rulers in Syria dating back to Alexander the Great were GREEK not SYRIAN!!!!!!! You play down the Antisemitism of the Greeks. You lack understanding of the Essenes, but maybe after this course you had the time to learn more about them. You really need to tell Christians the Dead Sea scrolls are JEWISH and date back mostly 2nd century BC. The Eschaton and rules on divorce as really the only things Essenes that are actually part of Christianity today. You fail to address Jews in Roman auxiliaries and fail to mention that Hellenistic Jews were lax in their observance to Halakha or Jewish law. Jesus absolutely not only spoke Greek but he could read and write it. Literacy amongst Jews has always been very high despite the oppression Jews have suffered for thousands of years. Until after WWII, it was illegal for Jews to learn Polish and other languages giving rise to Yiddish. Jews served in the Roman Army until 380 AD when Theodosius expelled them from the Army, so the Jews left the Empire for Germany and Eastern Europe. Jews in Alexandria especially were lax on Jewish law so much they were ostracized by Jews from Israel and Babylon and Jesus probably had both a Hellenic and Hebrew Education. His family was hardly happy he decided to give up that lifestyle to preach.

There's good information in this course but give me a break, you couldn't mention Antipater and the first battle of Alexandria. Herod's father sent 5,000 troops and Julius Caesar created a brass pillar and tablets spelling out Jewish rights in the new Roman Empire. This inflamed Greek hatred since they were denied their coveted Boule they never had during Ptolemaic times.

I suggest everyone get the new Antiquities of the Jews on Audible. that audible title's translation is in Delphi classics Josephus. I really appreciate this lesson for free with my subscription and I am going to buy some of your other titles for I am writing a book and I picked your work and its bibliographies as reference. I am surprised you couldn't rattle off more historical facts. I assume you don't inundate bible thumpers with TMI since fundamentalists have an issue with you. I am not one of them. I think you know the bible back to front but I expected a little more history from you...especially how controversial you are with your detractors. I would say you understate the problems with the bible to be nice. I am Jewish and I don't need an ancient book to be 100% for me to believe in G-d like other people do. I wish we had one baked tablet with a Pre Josiah reform copy of some if the Bible. Jews serving as mercenaries at Elephantine Island created a copy of Solomon's temple and next to it was the Temple of Anat Yahu or Asherah, Yahweh's consort and her worship lasted until Amyrteaus destroyed it so Jews routinely served un the Persian and Roman Empire, and Probably Partian Army. this is a very big deal to explain why Jesus was lax with Jewish law. He's more of the savior for the Greco Roman Empire instead of the Messiah of the Jews. It's also obvious that the New Testament was written mostly by Greeks without knowledge of Jewish Law. I hope I clear all of this up for you and everyone else.

Thank you for your hardwork, professor and I thank you for not charging us to listen to your courses and...the course guides. I turn the Pdf's to Epubs so I can highlight and make notes. It's important for people to see a non faith basex study if the Bible because it's hardly accurate. it's a narrative not a history. Hopefully we find more buried papyri because it would be incredible to know the real story of Jesus life and agnostics reading my review...you don't need to have a religion to believe in G-d, a being so great, words cannot define Him!!!

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Another Epic Title by Charlton Griffin!

Revisado: 02-15-22

I wanted to be the first to review this title. I am grateful you chose a translation I picked up last year cheap and the timing couldn't be better. Appian was in my queue to listen to via Alexa since cataracts have me blind enough I can't read long enough to finish a book. I didn't even notice both titles today and got them immediately and I'll rip through these two over the next week but I'm lining up 10 titles to finish in a week to get another gold badge from Audible. I have 15 gold badges now. Unfortunately the review shows for both titles in the series so I can't give you 5 stars for both. maybe check into that. must be because it's a series and Audible screwed up

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Exciting New Update & Worth Buying

Revisado: 02-13-22

Where do I begin? I know. I'm the guy who told you to read your book yourself on Academic dot com and you said, "Ask and you shall receive". That said, I want to talk about the recording and offer some suggestions since my background is in Television Engineering so you will be able to better produce recordings yourself. Once you know about how to cut some of the "liveliness" of the reverb of reflective surfaces, the more you'll get the right sound to your recording.

Some of the segments of this book sound differently probably because it sounds lile you recorded them in different places and you probably did this during the pandemic…and you did the best you could, so people knocking your reading should give you a break. You are a professor of archaeology, NOT an audio engineer.

I am guessing whoever did the post production on your audio used Dynamics Processing to cut some of the ambient sound but they used it only in some places and the engineers should have taken more care to balance the sound of segments to make them sound the same. Some parts turned out nice and warm but others sound like you did them yourself, but that's ok. It's noticeable but instead of knocking you for it, I'm the guy who teaches people about audio recording.


If you recorded this yourself, I would suggest NOT having a mic on a reflective surface. If you put your mic on a desk, throw a thick towel over the desk then put the mic on it and the will stop the majority of the sound of your voice from bouncing off the desk and ringing out the space you're in . Also if you are in a room that's like a box, you'll get reverb from the sound bouncing back and forth. To prevent the bouncing, you'll need to put either Sonex or that "egg crate" foam material on the walls but you do not have to COVER the walls. You can temporarily stick them to the walls by using Gaff tape. Gaff tape unlike duct tape will not leave marks. So, when you're finished recording, you can store the material for later use.

Finally, about the recording: It was a good try. I'm still going to listen to this title repeatedly and it's a shame I can't be the person to clean this up so that your audio is more balanced segment to segment. If you didn't do this yourself at all, your audio people need to be fired and someone who knows how to mic dialogue and warm up your voices, as it is good in some segments, but in others it sounds like it wasn't even touched in post-production. If you did do this yourself, remember your settings and try to sit in the same exact place with the mic in the same postition. I would have had you in a vocal booth with a teleprompter with a mic on a stand to ensure you'd have no immediate reflection of your voice. Unfortunately, this pandemic made people make do with whatever they could to try to get work done, and anyone who is negatively review your book, should cut you a break. This is why I gave you 5 stars across the board.

Now, about this book:

This book contains far more information about the Collapse of the LBA than the original. I was a little bit annoyed I had to buy your book again but when I heard your voice, professor, I was no longer annoyed since I specifically asked you to never hire someone else to read your books. "Archaeology and the Iliad" is probably my all-time favorite course on Audible and I listened to it well over 20 times. I recommend anyone who wants to read and listen to this book, buy that course first and listen to it thoroughly. The collapse of the LBA is a very complex subject and that course will put you on firmer ground to better understand the events described in this book. Unfortunately, I did NOT get that course first. I also recommend ANY book and course featuring Professor Cline. I went to college 7 years straight and had more of my share of good and bad professors and instructors. I may not have been in any of Cline's classes but his work is extremely well researched to the point his biographies contain all the material you'd ever want to read about each of the topics he covers. Luckily, when i started my research, into two historical fiction novels I'm writing, it was his work I started with and that allowed me to better understand the direction in which I needed to go.

I may add to this review later because I listened to this book instead of reading along with it and I did not yet highlight and make notes. I feel like I'm unprepared for class writing this review but I wanted to say something to people who were complaining and tell them to pipe down and you should just ignore them. They are whiny little babies who think they can write a book themselves but they really can't.

Professor, I appreciate the effort you put into this book during the pandemic and if you talk to the audio people who did some post production on this title tell them to use Dynamics processing and cut everything around 60DB until there's only a tiny bit of reverb. The "gate" was a little hard in the segments that sounded "warmer" so they can leave a tiny bit of "live-ness" in the recording but reverb should not ring out. If I had a way to post the Dynamic Processing graph, I'd give you the settings myself.

Like you, I often teach my trade to people who tend to think they could never understand audio production but there's a couple easy tricks of the trade. Once you know them, it's easy and most audio people don't want you to know how easy it really is and they lack the patience to teach. Also, the quality and type of mic has LOTS to do with. The computer input on a laptop is only 16 bit and professionally you need 24 bit. There's a device for that where you plug your mic's XLR input into it and then the device plugs into your laptop. If I didn't know any better in some spots you used a PZM mic on a desk. PZM = pressure zone mic often used for voice but it's the wrong one for this job. Believe me, understanding the collapse of the Late Bronze age is way more complex than mic'ing up someone reading their book.

I will be listening to this one 20 times at least. I'm writing a screen play that contains a story about how the Collapse of the LBA was the 'Largest Slave Revolt" of all time and one that is fully anachronistic without errors, like the coins of the eyes of the dead in the movie Troy. This book solved some of the issues I had in writing my script and has allowed me to better understand how to set up the story which would take place over many years to depict the process of the collapse and how the Sea People's would have organized at Amurru for a final push to their dream goal of taking over Egypt. It seems every historian and archaeologist can "feel" a major story but the lack of evidence makes writing about such things a challenging endeavor.

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Narrator doesn't pronounce names correctly

Revisado: 10-23-21

I wish another narrator would have read this fantastic book. This narrator almost ruins the book messing up names like Actium, Phoenician, Piso, Aggrapina and So many more. I'm American but you're the type of American who never had a foreign language but if you did, you never made an effort to pronounce words correctly. Seriously... who chose the guy to read this classic book? Who let this guy get away with pronouncing names with his pure Midwest American accent? It's hurting my ears, he's so bad. I can't wait to finish this Audible title and this is a book I wish I could listen to repeatedly but I find myself yelling at my kindle the correct pronunciation of names. Whoever hired this uneducated novice should be fired. How does anyone get AC TI UM wrong????? wow this guy is bad and it keeps getting worse.

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Narrator surprisingly good Worth way more than $10

Revisado: 10-05-21

I was happy to finally see someone tackle this masterpiece of history and very happy the narrator is good for the most part. Get this title now and the Kindle from Delphi works with this translation so great for students in school. There's no Whispersync but because of the structure and numbering you will find your way back to the right spot quickly. Hats off to Allan and the audio people. If you do more Greco Roman history I'll buy especially if it is a translation with a cheap kindle. I highly recommend this audio book for anyone who loves history and the Bible. Josephus is my favorite historian. Make bookmarks because the chapters aren't named on Kindle fire 10. The chapter names for this title are almost always long so can't fix this one shortcoming. I am almost done but I wanted to give you a review so people know it turned out well.

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Worth listening to 20 times

Revisado: 09-04-21

Pretty much the best book you can find about Ancient Alexandria. This title helped me get the badge for repeat listening. I bought the Kindle version because this book is that good.

Also Epstein did not kill himself!!!!

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Introduction to Everything Shakespeare.

Revisado: 07-28-21

This course requires additional work, reading and also the need to listen to it more than once.I got the professors book Shakespeare's English Kings and also 3 volumes of cliff notes along with a corpus of all of Shakespeare's work. In addition, I bought Saccio's 2nd course Words and Action to work into my rotation over the next year...and there's a particular reason I got these courses. It's not my love of Shakespeare. I have a practical reason to be taking this course

Even after this course, I still don't like Shakespeare, however, I am studying script writing and professional writers reverse engineer Shakespeare into their scripts all the time. Even in my step outline for my novel and screenplays, I do have conflicts reminiscent of the English playwright's work. Whatever it is that attracts people to his work, I will never know but as far as history and the evolution of the written word, I do see the historical significance in the development of the English Language...so I forced myself to listen to this course and absorb what I could the first time around before going back to study more closely.

This professor really knows what he's doing. He reminds me of my HS English teacher my senior year. Saccio introduced me to a Shakespeare play I never heard of and is not in the three major volumes of cliffnotes or in the book I bought that was supposed to contain ALL of Shakespeare's work...Troilus & Cressida...and it gave me an idea to put one of the scenes of that play into an episode/chapter in my 2 novels I'm writing while I write two season of scripts that go with the books. I got my work cut out for me but luckily I found this professor and his courses, putting me on the right track.

If you are going to college for English, I would suggest listening to this course to have a leg up on everyone else in class and that way your professor will know you did extra work and your grades will reflect it. This is your best opportunity to work on your own and the courses are on sale right now. Definitely worth ten bucks.

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