Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

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

9 reviews

m_a_j's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Misogyny

ehmannky's review against another edition

3.75

This was an interesting deep dive into how Ancient Romans conceptualized the act of murder, what was and what wasn't a murder, how the state should or could be involved, who counted as even being a person able to be murdered. I think that sometimes the flippant nature (never my favorite thing in true crime or history books) was a bit much, but I appreciated that the asides and jokes were at the expense of the men in power and that Southon spends a lot of time trying to humanize the people who died and were ignored by those in power in Ancient Rome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Death, Child death, and Torture

allisonmeyette's review

dark funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Animal death, and Classism

tlholmes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

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). 

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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

simixfe's review

dark emotional funny informative medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Death, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Child death, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Antisemitism, and Animal cruelty

ashhearddwrites's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Death

vicious's review

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

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

arachan's review

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, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexism