Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon

27 reviews

sophiesaurus91's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Slavery, and Murder

penguiniq's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

This was a tad too informal for my personal reading taste, but I can see how this prose style would make ancient Rome and the macabre topic at hand more accessible to a broader spectrum of readers.

Loved how it covered a wide range of topics, not just the Big Famous Murders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Misogyny

anneshamitha's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.75

I really liked this book. I love how it grounded Rome in the slave state that it was, and never lost sight of that. I also appreciated how she walked us through her sources, including those that conflict, instead of presenting a singular narrative as fact. Unfortunately, she tries way too hard to be cool. This almost turned me off entirely, but because the actual substance of the book was so good it kind of felt like rolling your eyes at a professor who tries to be too hip, but that you like anyway because you’re actually learning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Genocide

morgiah's review

dark emotional informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Colonisation

j_squaredd's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Murder

vicious's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I was super excited for this book having read and thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Southon's Agrippina book a few months ago, and I was not disappointed. Southon writes as if she were sitting across from you in a bar, telling you about Roman history over a few beers and some greasy fries. Her writing is engaging, fun, and interesting. I've never been one for Roman history, but she ignites an interest inside of me purely because she makes learning about it so fun.

This book is about the complicated definition of murder from a Roman standpoint, comparing it to a modern viewpoint to realistically put into perspective just how different today's world culture is from that of ancient Rome. It's very fascinating. If you're into true crime and/or Roman history, you will love it. If you, like me, are not into either, you may still take a liking to it as I have. If only all history books were written in such a fun and engaging manner maybe more people would be interested in history as a whole.

There are some hefty trigger warnings to take into account with this book as it does detail some brutal and gory deaths. Also, definitely keep a placeholder on the footnotes; they can be a joy to read and often provide additional information.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Death of parent

arachan's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

4.75

This is not the book I expected. It's not really about famous murders, the way a true crime book would be.  It's about how 'murder' as a concept did not exist in Ancient Rome and what we can learn about the culture by seeing how they reacted to violent death.  It's refreshing, particularly the brutal reality of slavery and what the Romans thought (or didn't) think about violence against them.  Compared to the typical Roman history, written by authors who aren't willing to challenge the privilege of their sources, it's almost shocking to see a historian bluntly call them out as monsters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Death of parent, and Murder