Nero's Killing Machine cover art

Nero's Killing Machine

The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Nero's Killing Machine

By: Stephen Dando-Collins
Narrated by: Robert Fass
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £21.99

Buy Now for £21.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Audie Award Finalist, History, 2014

The 14th Gemina Martia Victrix Legion was the most celebrated unit of the early Roman Empire - a force that had been wiped out under Julius Caesar, reformed, and almost wiped out again. After participating in the a.d. 43 invasion of Britain, the 14th Legion achieved its greatest glory when it put down the famous rebellion of the Britons under Boudicca. Numbering less than 10,000 men, the disciplined Roman killing machine defeated 230,000 rampaging rebels, slaughtering 80,000 with only 400 Roman losses - an accomplishment that led the emperor Nero to honor the legion with the title "Conqueror of Britain."

In this gripping book, second in the author’s definitive histories of the legions of ancient Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins brings the 14th Legion to life, offering military history aficionados a unique soldier’s-eye view of their tactics, campaigns, and battles.

©2005 Stephen Dando-Collins (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Ancient Ancient Rome Middle ages Rome Italy

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Caligula cover art
Mark Antony's Heroes cover art
Rise of an Empire cover art
Cleopatra's Kidnappers cover art
The Ides cover art
Caesar's Legion cover art
The Eagle and the Lion cover art
The Capsarius cover art
All Seeing Eye cover art
North and South cover art
The War That Made the Roman Empire cover art
Mastering the West cover art
Challenging Destiny cover art
Praetorian cover art
Tesla vs Edison cover art
The Gallic Wars cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
The whole history of Nero’s famous juggernaut, hearing the curving rollercoaster from its origins, its actions under Caesar and the Civil Wars, its downfall, its rise, its miraculous victory in England, and its actions during the early Empire and their first handful of rulers.
You understand why they were the superstars of their time.

The famous 14th legion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really interesting story following the 14th Legion throughout it's life. I had some issues with the fact the author kept using modern military ranks for the Roman commanders when really all he needed to do was explain once. Small point but takes away from what is a good listen.

Great story with a few flaws

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up Nero's Killing Machine in three words, what would they be?

Veni Vedi Vici

Who was your favorite character and why?

Caligula

What about Robert Fass’s performance did you like?

Excellent reading, voice quality, speed and tempo, pronunciation .

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I think Romes Killing Machine is accurate enough.

Any additional comments?

The 14th functioned through a series of emperors , in fact all of them so not sure why Nero was chosen. But the story does give a very good account of the daily life and the organisation of the legions and of Rome. Well worth the listen.

Not sure why Nero was in the title

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Solid history following the path of a single Legion. Well worth a listen. This Legion was at so many critical junctures in history.

Continued performance by Dando-Collins

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.