The Poison King

The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy

By: Adrienne Mayor

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A National Book Award finalist for this epic work, Adrienne Mayor delivers a gripping account of Mithradates, the ruthless visionary who began to challenge Rome’s power in 120 B.C. Machiavelli praised his military genius. Kings coveted his secret elixir against poison. Poets celebrated his victories, intrigues, and panache. But until now, no one has told the full story of his incredible life.

©2010 Adrienne Mayor (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Close but Missed the Mark

I appreciate the effort to flesh out the story of Mithradates, a fascinating character. The book falls short on several points. There are long stretches devoted to speculation about Mithradates childhood and lifestyle in court. These passages take up a lot of air time for something that is unverifiable. In the meantime his descriptions of the battles, in particular of the third Mithradatic War are incomplete and don't give a clear picture. It also seems as though he is using some inflated numbers.

I also found the reader monotone and hard to listen to at times.

Overall the book is ok, it has good moments, the author does a good job of describing the political climate. It could have done with less speculation and more description of actual verifiable events.

The other side of the story

It was interesting to hear the non-Roman side of the Mithradatic wars. The history I learned dwells on the internal struggles of the mid to late Roman Republic, and from that point of view its a matter of Romans being distracted from the task of conquering the east.

The author clearly admires Mithradates, and there is a great deal of background into his childhood, character, family life and reputation. I found him odious. The politics and culture of the region were fascinating and this book is insightful.

Ancient Roman history fans will REALLY enjoy this!

Truly interesting from beginning to end; I personally love gobbling up (any and all) information during this era. Mithridates is so interesting, I'm surprised this book has not come out sooner!

A Speculative Tale

The author tries to give an account of Mithradates life but so little is know and so much is told from the “here’s what may have happened” or “we can only imagine” and so on.

Please use women narrators!

This is the 2nd ancient history book I've read written by a woman and read by a less than compelling male narrator. Maybe the next time consider a female narrator? Overall it's a solid history of the Mithradatic wars. It's always refreshing to find something that seeks to present the view from the non Roman side of the fight.

What an ending!

Has to be one of the most thought provoking endings I have ever heard in a historical book. A tale many do not know well, worth a listen!

Send the script to Game of Thrones producers!!!!

Would you listen to The Poison King again? Why?
This book and the narration is above and beyond any other history book in Audible. The narration is impeccable and the story of the Poison King and his allies begs for a TV series of its own.
As a TV series:
Starting with a you prince and the scheming Queens and concubines is enough for a 3 season TV spectacle like Reign, Game of Thrones, etc. I can picture the role with one of the teen idols from Teen Werewolf or Twisted in a swashbuckling adventure between the young Mithradates, his BFF young Tigranes, and adventures through fantastic Baltic sea and Asia Minor Kingdoms, pirate lords and as counter evil to unite them all: Roma and Persia!
This books begs to be an on-going TV series!

Who was your favorite character and why?
Mirthradates, followed by his son in law Tigranes the Great.

What about Paul Hecht’s performance did you like?
EVERYTHING!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
"if you like Game of Thrones...meet The Poison King!

Any additional comments?
Listeners should do a standing ovation when the book reaches its end, cause this is top quality material that needs to be sold to HBO, Starz or AMC as a regular TV series

why the constant comparison?

this is half about poison half about comparing him to Alexander the great. Title misleading.

Rip Roaring Read

There are very few audiobooks that can hold my attention the way this presentation did. I listen to each four hour section at one go; with a small break in the middle. The history flows and the story moves at such a furious pace that is hard to break away.

Adrienne Mayor delivers a history that dashes along like a best selling novel. The story is absolutely riveting. The biography has an arc that is cinematic, and in a good way. In the right hands I can see this history becoming a Hollywood blockbuster.

Granted some of the biography is speculative, a what if scenario. But Mayor always warns you when hard history ends and where speculation begins. Mayor is ever the helpful tour guide, and Counter-factual History does add depth to a history lacking in primary sources.

Mayor does an excellent job of dealing with the issues of Ancient History in general and how they deal with the subject of the book, Mithradates. The primary sources are lacking and what few have survived suffer from the biases of the Roman authors. Recasting these ancient histories for a modern audience is real minefield for any serious author. Mayor deftly navigates this mine field, and delivers a gem of a narrative for the lucky listener.

A word or two on the actual narration. Overall it is solid. It is a well delivered journeyman performance. The performer never gets carried away. He never laps into monotony either. He lets the story tell itself, getting out of the way of narrative as much as possible. Pacing is spot on. The actual presentation is buttoned down and pitched properly.

This audiobook is a triple threat, if you are lover of ancient history, this is your audiobook. If you are lover of biography, this is your audiobook. Finally if you are a lover of finely crafted literature, of the Novel, this is your audiobook. The audiobook has love, betrayal, murder most foul, slaughter, dark experiments, glittering riches and a central character many times lager than life. And its all true; it is story of real man who lived in a real time, and did real (sometimes awful) things. It is a worthy addition to any listeners collection.

Exciting, engaging, vivid ...

Mayor has done a great job of piecing together the fragments of ancient history to paint a grand and vivid picture of western asia in the time of roman imperial dominance. I was drawn into the fascinating blend of political, military, and personal stories surrounding the enigmatic Mithridates and his black sea empire, struggling to assert his dominance in his own lands and his independence from mighty rome. Enough detail for history buffs and enough theatrical presentation for anyone who just likes a good story, this is one of the better historical offerings here on Audible today.