Showing results by narrator "Andrea Giordani" in All Categories

Not many of the people featured in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives series are honored with nicknames, but to his fellow Athenians, Aristides was known as “The Just”. A Grecian statesman, The Life of Aristides details the political rise of the man from the well-to-do family. From his career as Stratego, to his many statesman positions, his life ended in a mystery that is seemingly unbefitting the tale that Plutarch wove for him. Where or how he died, none know - but to Plutarch, his death mattered little next to his life.

In George Eliot's Middlemarch, the idea of marriage and vocation are explored through a small town's community of ordinary people. One of the main characters, Dorothea Brooke, is a kind and good-hearted woman who gives to the poor and helps to rebuild cottages of poor farmers. However, she is also stubborn and very strong-willed.

In this entry of Parallel Lives, Plutarch tells the true story of Lysander, the great Spartan leader. Lysander led a fleet of Spartan ships to victory against the Athenians in the battle at Aegospotami. History also credits him with forcing the Greeks to surrender at the end of the Peloponnesian War.  

St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on the low attendance at church. He is distressed when he calls to mind that on festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered for a church service. He likens the greater part of the body of the Church to a dead and motionless carcass.

Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a children's classic. The story is about a young boy named Cedric who lives with his mother in a tiny cottage in New York after his father dies. Luckily for Cedric, a lawyer finds him and tells him that he is the heir to the title of earl and a vast estate in England. His grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has sent for him, and it is his grandfather's wish that Cedric come to the estate to learn to be an aristocrat with the new title Lord Fauntleroy.

Charlotte Brontë's classic novel, Jane Eyre, brings to life the ups and downs encountered by the book's namesake, the young Jane Eyre. Orphaned at an early age, Jane is raised by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, who treats her poorly. Fortunately for Jane, she is sent away to the Lowood School, but she soon encounters more maltreatment at the hands of the headmaster. She later moves to the manor known as Thornfield, where she accepts a nanny position, and it is there that she encounters the famed Mr. Rochester, with whom she falls in love.

Mark Antony’s personal life was almost as storied as his immensely successful political career. In Plutarch’s biography, the most striking sections revolve around Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra. Plutarch’s characterization inspired Shakespeare, whose play "Antony and Cleopatra" would not be the same without its influence. With such close ties to Shakespeare, it’s no wonder that the The Life of Antony holds great literary merit all its own.   

Diogenes Laërtius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. His work Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek philosophy.

British flag officer, inspiring military leader, and brilliant strategist. The name of Horatio Nelson is intrinsically linked with a great number of decisive British naval victories. His most notable battles were during the Napoleonic Wars culminating in his death during his final victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Eutropius (died 399) was the first eunuch to be appointed a consul in Rome, but his enemies Gaïnas, and Eudoxia, the empress he had created, engineered his downfall. After his fall from power, John Chrysostom's pleas kept him alive for a while, but he was eventually executed in the year 399.

In this chapter from Lynn Thorndike's The History of Medieval Europe: The Medieval revival of learning was in part a revival of the civilization of antiquity which had declined in the late Roman Empire, and in part a breaking away from ancient traditions and the beginning of new methods in speaking, writing, and teaching. The artists and the scholars of the 12th and 13th centuries learned and borrowed from the Byzantines and the Arabs as well as from the ancients and the church fathers.

Learn proven steps and strategies on how you can lose weight and become healthier without having to go on a real diet. This audiobook contains everything you need to get started on the metabolism "diet". You will learn how you can eat delicious meals and about the advantages of packing them with veggies, fruits, nuts, legumes, and more. Learn helpful tips on how you can succeed in adopting this lifestyle with sample meal plans and a metabolism action plan to help you get started right away.

An elderly explorer tells a story to his son on his deathbed about a hidden society of giant women living deep in the Amazon jungle that he had discovered in his youth. His last dying wish is for his son to go back and personally deliver a letter to their queen. When he finally arrives, he is thrust into civil unrest and a possible war brewing between the Amazons the human race. (written in lyrical poetry).

A dark story of love, paradise, and hell. This is the life of Mala’ik. An angel who was outcast from paradise for his love for a mortal. He has wandered the earth for centuries searching for the reborn soul of the women he had condemned to hellfire. This is his story. His life as an immortal imprisoned among humanity.

Gaius Marius was pivotal to many of the ways in which we know Rome today. His impact on Rome is noted in Plutarch’s The Life of Marius, from his time served as General to his time served as Statesman. His blessed life began as a child with a legend - that he found a clutch of eagles containing seven chicks, and therefore Jupiter was assuring his seven elections to senate. Though, all the war and political unrest that ensued his six elections followed him only 17 days into his seventh election - when he died of Pleurisy.

Like many of the lives of famous Grecian heroes, Marcellus’ life was documented in Plutarch’s famous Parallel Lives series. Although the Life of Marcellus is largely incomplete, it does give one of history’s only accurate representations of the political and military actions taken upon by Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Elected to the position of curule aedile after showing exceptional military valor, Marcellus went on to become one of Greece’s most sought-after warriors. 

The Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), which was first published in 1860. The book chronicles the lives of Tom and Maggie Tulliver, who are siblings growing up at Dorlcote Mill situated at the junction of the River Floss and the River Ripple. Maggie is the main character, and the story begins when she is nine years old, 13 years into her parents' marriage. The most important threads concern her relationship with her brother and her romantic relationships with Philip Wakem and Stephen Guest.

This 1859 novella by George Eliot takes a rather dramatic departure from her usual realistic fiction. Now canonized along with other great works of Victorian horror literature, The Lifted Veil plays with the theme of extrasensory perception. It discusses the power of fate in our everyday lives and even flirts with the possibilities of life after death.

The Life of Otho tells a story of ambition, betrayal, and power. After Nero’s suicide, Otho expected to assume the role of emperor, but his old ally Galba became Nero’s successor. Rather than give up, Otho murdered Galba and took his place as emperor, though not for long. Suetonius’ account of Otho’s brief rule during the Year of the Four Emperors is an excerpt from his work The Twelve Caesars.

The Roman biographer Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69-after AD 122) lived about 50 years after the reign of Aulus Vitellius, whose biography forms part of his book De Vita Caesarum. Tacitus and Cassius Dio agree with Suetonius that Aulus Vitellius was a useless glutton who was unfit to rule.