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925 reviews for:
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome
Emma Southon
4.12 AVERAGE
925 reviews for:
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome
Emma Southon
4.12 AVERAGE
4.5 stars rounded up.
While not as beloved to me as her book on Agrippina the Younger, this book was a great mix of funny and horrifying and discomfiting. I started reading this a day or two after Chauvin being convicted for George Floyd's horrific murder, and so found it especially poignant to read the author's ruminations on how societies decide what is murder and what isn't murder. While America (my country, and a place the author compares/contrasts with ancient Rome a great deal) and the U.K. (the author's country) differ from from ancient Rome in some pretty key ways... this isn't a book that allows you to really chuckle at the oddities of the past. A great deal of this book delves into some horrific Roman homicides and how the state didn't see them as murder, and it's hard not to think about how often our current legal system failing to prosecute margins contributes to marginalization.
Not that it's all relatable. I sort of knew ancient Rome didn't really have police but this book spelled out in detail how hard it was to get a murder prosecuted by the state if you weren't from the upper classes. Most people sought out justice by other means, and it was treated as an affair between families .... IF the victim and perpetrator were both known. Likewise with husband on wife spousal murder. Modern society can be very cavalier about domestic violence, but when it's acknowledged, the state does get involved.
Docking half a star just because some sections could have been more fleshed out. I would have liked a little more about the executions of vestal virgins, for example, and I was surprised she didn't loop that back to Rhea Silvia when she mentioned how murder is baked in to the Roman mythos re; Romulus killing Remus. She also basically ignores most Roman history past Caracalla, noting that it's a confusing time period full of semi-obscure emperors called things like "Phillip the Arab" and I understand that the third century is a confusing mess in general. But it would have been interesting to check in with how Romans perceived murder towards the end of the western empire, particularly once Christianity got involved.
Not a flaw but worth noting: I have a strong stomach but reading about this did get a bit wearying, particularly when it went over the increasingly baroque methods of executing political prisoners. This isn't necessarily a flaw on the book, but it's something to keep in mind if you think this will be a horrible histories style book about Julio-Claudians killing each other. You'll definitely get a lot of Julio-Claudians and Flavians killing each other, but you'll also hear in detail about leopards and lampreys literally eating slaves and political prisoners and it all gets more than a little nauseating.
All that being said this was a five star read that gave me a lot to mull over, both in terms of the past and in terms of the present.
While not as beloved to me as her book on Agrippina the Younger, this book was a great mix of funny and horrifying and discomfiting. I started reading this a day or two after Chauvin being convicted for George Floyd's horrific murder, and so found it especially poignant to read the author's ruminations on how societies decide what is murder and what isn't murder. While America (my country, and a place the author compares/contrasts with ancient Rome a great deal) and the U.K. (the author's country) differ from from ancient Rome in some pretty key ways... this isn't a book that allows you to really chuckle at the oddities of the past. A great deal of this book delves into some horrific Roman homicides and how the state didn't see them as murder, and it's hard not to think about how often our current legal system failing to prosecute margins contributes to marginalization.
Not that it's all relatable. I sort of knew ancient Rome didn't really have police but this book spelled out in detail how hard it was to get a murder prosecuted by the state if you weren't from the upper classes. Most people sought out justice by other means, and it was treated as an affair between families .... IF the victim and perpetrator were both known. Likewise with husband on wife spousal murder. Modern society can be very cavalier about domestic violence, but when it's acknowledged, the state does get involved.
Docking half a star just because some sections could have been more fleshed out. I would have liked a little more about the executions of vestal virgins, for example, and I was surprised she didn't loop that back to Rhea Silvia when she mentioned how murder is baked in to the Roman mythos re; Romulus killing Remus. She also basically ignores most Roman history past Caracalla, noting that it's a confusing time period full of semi-obscure emperors called things like "Phillip the Arab" and I understand that the third century is a confusing mess in general. But it would have been interesting to check in with how Romans perceived murder towards the end of the western empire, particularly once Christianity got involved.
Not a flaw but worth noting: I have a strong stomach but reading about this did get a bit wearying, particularly when it went over the increasingly baroque methods of executing political prisoners. This isn't necessarily a flaw on the book, but it's something to keep in mind if you think this will be a horrible histories style book about Julio-Claudians killing each other. You'll definitely get a lot of Julio-Claudians and Flavians killing each other, but you'll also hear in detail about leopards and lampreys literally eating slaves and political prisoners and it all gets more than a little nauseating.
All that being said this was a five star read that gave me a lot to mull over, both in terms of the past and in terms of the present.
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I love these kinds of books! This is just the most fun way to consume nonfiction. I have also read this author’s other book, A Rome of One’s Own, and absolutely loved it. So, when I needed a good fun nonfiction book, I gravitated towards this.
I think overall, I liked A Rome of One’s Own better, because in general I prefer reading nonfiction in the feminism genre. That is just the niche that is the most interesting and important to me. But as a former true crime fan, this book was also up my alley.
This author just has a way of talking about historical events that makes them sound like the most interesting thing that has ever happened, and on top of that, she is so funny! And the narrator for the version I listened to is incredible at talking so naturally, which makes the jokes even funnier.
Another thing I love about this author is how honest she is about the reliability of sources and information. She will often tell the reader to take something with a grain of salt or mention how the source might have misrepresented things. This is shockingly rare to find in nonfiction, so I always heavily appreciate it.
My favorite fun fact that I learned from this book was that the Colosseum didn’t even exist until after the time of most of the people we associate with Ancient Rome. It is one of those facts that messed with the historical timeline in your head. Like learning that Cleopatra lived closer to the time of the iPhone than the building of the pyramids.
I am going to Europe in a couple months, which will include Rome, so reading this is definitely making me even more excited for that trip.
Overall, I really enjoy this author’s work and would highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Murder
Minor: Slavery
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Southon’s gallows humor balances out the grim details of homicide and murder in ancient Rome. My first of her books, and I’ll definitely be reading more. Funny, dark, and educational all in one. Loved it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
funny
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
A smart, thoughtful, and thoroughly engaging exploration of murder in Ancient Rome, from the gladiatorial arena to the domestic sphere to the murders of emperors. Southon has a chatty, casual style that's still backed up with extensive research and a keen knowledge of how history is shaped and told through the centuries. I found this fascinating and actually quite affecting, especially when she dives into the deaths of people overlooked by the Empire. Recommended for both history and true crime fans.
informative
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
i feel i didnt get all i wanted to out of this book, may try again in an audiobook format, i think that will make me enjoy this writing style more
The tone in this was a little off putting. The degree to which the author leaned into comedy ended up feeling tactless & it came at a detriment to the writing.
If the jokes had been used more sparingly I don’t think I would have had a negative reaction to this book, but it felt like every other sentence had to hammer in a weirdly timed joke. There were a few that genuinely got me, but the effect wears thin quick & by 60% of the way through this audio book I was just ready for the jokes to end
If the jokes had been used more sparingly I don’t think I would have had a negative reaction to this book, but it felt like every other sentence had to hammer in a weirdly timed joke. There were a few that genuinely got me, but the effect wears thin quick & by 60% of the way through this audio book I was just ready for the jokes to end
Fascinating look at the Roman attitude to murder written in a very colloquial style that adds a layer of immediacy to the plight of some of the victims of Roman laws. An entertaining and informative read.