This was a delightfully gruesome and irreverent look at some of the most unpleasant Emperors in Roman history. With chapters on some of the most famous, including Caligula and Nero, the book also included other less well known horrors, such as Caracalla. Concluding with a tier ranked list, I found this book really enjoyable and would definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in Roman history.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* good read, would like to both reread and read more on the subject!

Fascinating, funny and horrifying - makes me feel good about living in the modern moment, despite all of our challenges. Also makes me wonder how the Roman Empire reached the heights that it did - although, we didn't hear about the "non-evil" emperors, and it probably does take a bit of madness to achieve greatness.

My only complaint is that the timeline was challenging to follow at times - lots of characters, main and supporting, and not much time spent on many of them, lent this book a bit of a chaotic quality. Although maybe that's appropriate, considering the time the book talks about sounds chaotic like whoa.

I didn't make it very far into this book. I enjoy nonfiction of many genres especially as audiobooks, but this is the sort of nonfiction that seems geared towards those who resist nonfiction as it attempts to be interesting and flashy. This may very well be a fun read for someone who isn't attracted to nonfiction for fear it's too dry, but as someone who can easily read history, this was too silly.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an EGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Fours stars for entertainment, but two stars for historical accuracy. This book at times feels like a compilation of podcast episodes, but there are some really interesting and good stories about Roman emperors who did horrible things to get power, to keep power, and just because they had power. This is a book that makes me feel glad I wasn't a Roman and at times is just ghastly in terms of the horrible acts that the emperors did. But it's not a prurient shock for shock's sake book as the author does try to help the reader understand the historical context, understand the larger issues facing Rome for each of the emperors' reigns, and helps clarify some of the structural issues (like the Pretorian guard) that made the empire unstable. The author does say up front that he pulled in stories from historically dubious sources (because they make for better stories), which does tank the educational value of the book a good amount. On the whole though an entertaining read.

This book was an irreverent and entertaining overview of some of the amazingly horrible emperors of Rome. They killed relatives, assassinated rulers, bankrupted the country, murdered huge numbers of citizens, generally raped and pillaged at will and engaged in an exhausting amount of debauchery. I had never heard of most of these people. One who was new to me murdered his wife then married his brother’s widow (after she had also murdered her husband) then this duo killed the king (who was the wife’s father). That’s the kind of people we are dealing with here. I don’t know anything about the background of the author or his status as an historian, but he certainly seems to have done a lot of research on the kings, emperors and political bodies of Rome.

Since I was listening to the audiobook, the hundreds of names that were thrown at me sort of blurred together.
I also didn’t have access to any illustrations or footnotes that might be in the physical book. I think it would be preferable to read a physical or ebook edition.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

This book invites people who love history to continue to nurture its place in hearts and minds. Barlag’s attention to detail and steady pacing of the chronicle of Roman leaders is excellent. In addition to being a literary aid, this book’s message serves as a foil of the human condition when absolute power corrupts.

If ever there was a well-presented book aimed at a modern audience, geared to help the listener stay enthralled and actually remember the names of all the ego-frenzied and demented Roman emperors, this is it. What a wild ride Evil Roman Emperors gave me! I adored Evil Roman Emperors and would like to hazard the opinion that the audiobook is BETTER than the written piece for the simple reason that the narrator does a smashing job. I listened to this book in the car and at bedtime. I did not want it to end. Why oh why did it have to end? The book gave me a sense of relief that I did not live during any of these empires--well, I would have enjoyed living under Marcus Aurelius, of course, especially had I been a male citizen--but never, ever under Commodus, his deranged son. As I neared the end, thinking that each evil emperor sounded worse than the one who had been described before him, I wondered how I would be able to remember. Then, snap, the last chapter offered a review of all the evil emperors, still in that wonderful audience-oriented wording and with a narrator who knows how to deliver.

It was a great audiobook with a phenomenal narrator. The content was a very informative but not boring. It was concise and to the point, even with a dash of humor. Highly recommend to those interested in Roman History.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and RB Media for an early audio galley!

In Evil Roman Emperors, Phillip Barlag presents us with a rogues gallery of murderers and deviants, all of whom ruled Rome.
Due to its broad nature, the book hops and skips throughout the Roman Empire stopping to glance at one evil deed after another. Evil Roman Emperors is accessible history that is fun to read or listen to. I was happy that all the expected big bad rulers were included, but I really liked getting to learn about rulers I hadn't heard of.
The narrator of the audiobook is good; however, his jollity sometimes doesn't fit the seriousness of the subject matter.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Tantor audio for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Both informative and entertaining, the author, in great detail, describes the excesses and horrors of some of the worst Roman emperors in history. I listened to the audiobook version. The narrator is engaging and easy to understand.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the accounts of the misdeeds of the different emperors were so outlandish, I couldn't help but laugh. For all of the people who say living in the present day is so much worse than how things used to be in the good old days need to read this book!

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance copy of the audiobook from #NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

For fans of Roman history, this is a very fun and interesting book, telling the story of Rome’s history through the stories of its worst, most “evil” leaders. But more than just recounting the catalogue of horribles, it goes a step deeper, recognizing that the stories preserved in the ancient sources can’t always be taken at face value, and can reveal a whole other story of how different constituencies viewed and critiqued those leaders. All in all a fun book to read or enjoy as an audiobook — the audiobook narration is clear and compelling and enhanced the experience.

This lighthearted but educational history of some of the biggest and baddest of Rome's rulers is made even more enjoyable by the narrator, who could just as easily be the Wrestlemania announcer. The combined text and narrative choices at times made me genuinely laugh out loud. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Roman history, or who just enjoys an entertaining audiobook.

Withholding the fifth star is a result purely of how I chose to listen to this book, in stops and starts while commuting. As a result, I missed a few important names and connections which may be better understood by having the print copy to hand.

Very enjoyable. I love Roman history and have always been fascinated by some of the Roman Empire's terrible rulers, but this book included some I had not heard much about before. The writing is geared more toward casual readers and is definitely not scholarly. I really liked the narrator - he has one of those voices that instantly makes me calm and I loved listening to him. I'd recommend this book to someone who wants to take a dip into Roman history, without being in over their head.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is an excellent summer read, for anyone interested in Roman history. I think a lot of default to the Senate and Julius Caesar when we think of Rome, but there was so much more to it. While I wouldn't use this as an academic book, it is a fun and quick book looking at the craziness of Rome and its rulers. I found the list of Barlag's worst emperors wasn't needed- all included were "evil" in so many ways, no ranking needed!

David de Vries did a fantastic job at narrator- great pace, and excellent tone. While it is a fairly dramatic subject matter, he was energetic without being over the top.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a free ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Evil Roman Emperors chronicles generations of madness, murder, debauchery, incest, fratricide, regicide, war, obsession, oddities, egomania, and more among Rome's most infamous emperors, from Nero to Caligula to Commodus. The prose is quick, witty, and fun, and the narrator adds an extra touch of humor to the prose.

Despite the brevity of Evil Roman Emperors, the sheer volume of history rapidly profiled here can make following along a challenge for anyone who is not already well-acquainted with Roman history. And while the the many misdeeds of the Roman emperors are certainly outrageous, after a while they start to blend into each other and begin to feel repetitive. I suspect that this is the type of book that could benefit from a second listen, in order to pick up on more of the details that were easy to miss the first time.

I received an advanced listening copy of Evil Roman Emperors through NetGalley. This was a great overview of the baddest baddies from history. The author does an excellent job adding wit and humor into the subject matter. Great listen for anyone interested in Roman History!

I liked this read a lot. It was nice to get an overview of so many rulers of the Rome. Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable, breezy (in style, not subject matter haha) book about some atrocious Roman leaders. Caligula, Nero, and Commodus take up a lot of space in this discussion, rightfully so, so it was nice to get to hear more about some of the lesser known monsters. My only complaints are it was VERY brief for most of them, and that for some reason, the author occasionally told the story out of order. (For example, skipping Tiberius's reign/Sejanus's villainy and then circling back after Commodus's death to discuss Sejanus and Macro?)

If you just want to hear about some awful Romans, or if you want to participate meaningfully in the debate about who the worse is*, this book is for you.

*- Commodus, obviously. Why is this even debated?

when i was selecting this book from netgalley i just assumed i’d be learning about some really shitty roman emperors but what i got was so much better lmao.

the sassy writing in the book made me laugh. since i was given the audiobook version, i’m going to assume that the illustrations in the book were funny as well. the voice actor/narrator was so good. i really enjoyed listening to their voice.

so if you’re down to read (or listen) about some really shitty roman emperors with a little added sense of humour from the author then yeah i recommend this book

came for history, stayed for the jokes