Reviews tagging 'War'

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

7 reviews

emmsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Death, Murder, Gore, Blood, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Colonisation

laurajeangrace's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Child death, Blood, Gore, Death, Domestic abuse, War, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry

jayhall's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely incredible deep dive into murder and all forms of homicide in ancient Rome. Informative without being condescending or boring, Southon does a great job of even making the political nuances of ancient crime entertaining and interesting. An absolute must read for ancient history fans and everyday readers alike, I cannot recommend this book enough! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, War, and Rape

another_dahlia's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Rape, Domestic abuse, Racism, Slavery, War, Animal cruelty, and Classism

gringolet's review

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.5

An incredibly fascinating, well researched and thoughtful book; I would like to give it five stars but for the fact that, while I overall enjoyed the casual and witty tone, the narration sometimes went overboard to the detriment of the book. It felt at times like the book was apologizing for being itself, and felt the need to say "this information is boring, this topic is dull, here have a pop culture reference which will painfully age this otherwise excellent book". I found the information interesting, and I think a lot of people do, as evidenced by the success of the book, and I do wish it would have more faith in it's readers. That being said, I still wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, especially for how it dealt with slavery in ancient Rome. I can easily see (and in fact, have read) lesser books which are unwilling or unable to fully acknowledge the unbearable and overwhelming ugliness of it, to the extent of revisionism and apologetics. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Sexism, Death, Blood, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Slavery, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Murder, and War

nassuada's review

dark emotional funny informative sad slow-paced

4.5

A really interesting read, particularly when the author covers how the life of women, enslaved people, and children were regarded in Rome. Her writing style really elevates the content and it reminded me of a true crime podcast (but one of the good ones where they actually respect the lives of the victims and don't just use them for entertainment value). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Classism, Death of parent, Slavery, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Rape, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Child abuse, and Abortion

anneshamitha's review

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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