The Tiber and the Potomac

In 14 half-hour lectures, Professor Madden compares the early Roman Empire with the current American one. But most Americans would deny our country leads an empire. Well, so did the Romans during the 400 years of the Roman Republic that concern the professor here. In a particularly listenable off-the-cuff manner, Madden asserts that both republics established "empires of trust," as opposed to empires of conquest or commerce--the only empires of trust that the world has ever known. It's an intriguing hypothesis, and the parallels he so ably draws are provocative. Still, neither are incontrovertible. Nonetheless, by comparing the two so-called empires of trust, he leads the listener to rethink contemporary events and to enlarge his or her view of them. Professor Madden speaks in a friendly, self-conscious baritone, using conversational language. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine