In Ancient Rome all the best stories have one thing in common – murder. Romulus killed Remus to found the city; Caesar was assassinated to save the Republic. Caligula was butchered in the theatre, Claudius was poisoned at dinner and Galba was beheaded in the forum. In one fifty-year period, twenty-six emperors were murdered. But what did killing mean in a city where gladiators fought to the death to sate a crowd? Emma Southon examines real-life homicides from Roman history to explore how perpetrator, victim and the act itself were regarded by ordinary people. Inside Ancient Rome’s unique culture of crime and punishment, we see how the Romans viewed life, death, and what it means to be human.
In Ancient Rome all the best stories have one thing in common – murder. Romulus killed Remus to found the city; Caesar was assassinated to save the Republic. Caligula was butchered in the theatre, Claudius was poisoned at dinner and Galba was beheaded in the forum. In one fifty-year period, twenty-six emperors were murdered. But what did killing mean in a city where gladiators fought to the death to sate a crowd? Emma Southon examines real-life homicides from Roman history to explore how perpetrator, victim and the act itself were regarded by ordinary people. Inside Ancient Rome’s unique culture of crime and punishment, we see how the Romans viewed life, death, and what it means to be human.
CSI: Ancient Rome – what can everyday killings tell us about the Empire and its people?
Emma Southon is a Bookshop Manager at Waterstones and the author of Agrippina: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore, a Best Book of the Year for the New Statesman. Armed with a PhD in Ancient History, she also co-hosts the History is Sexy podcast. She lives in Belfast, with her cat Livia, and tweets @NuclearTeeth. www.emmasouthon.com
‘A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed.’
*Tom Holland, author of Rubicon, Dynasty and
Dominion*
‘Southon brings some great and little-known murder stories to
light, revelling in the bizarre and the macabre.’
*BBC History Magazine*
‘She has a rare gift… Those left cold by the sober tones of
scholarship will find this voice liberating and intoxicating. Its
energy is boundless and its range immense… At a moment when the
study of classics struggles to escape its starchy, imperialist
legacy, Ms Southon’s cheeky enthusiasm feels like the path of
salvation.’
*Wall Street Journal*
‘Blood, guts, murder, emperors and a sprinkling of uplifting
Latin. A wonderful book on the Roman way of death. Mirabile
dictu!’
*Harry Mount, author of Carpe Diem and Amo Amas Amat...
and All That*
‘I love this funny, scholarly, erudite, irreverent book; Emma
Southon wears her learning lightly but we never for a moment doubt
her authority, and the past arrives with total immediacy from the
first page. Reading it is like seeing a classical statue not remote
and austere on a pedestal, but painted in all its original bright
colours.’
*Sarah Perry, author of Melmoth and The Essex
Serpent*
'The genius of Emma Southon’s new book, A Fatal Thing Happened
On the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome, is that it
simultaneously humanizes the Romans and alienates us from them,
portraying a society that’s at once a familiar ancestor and a rabid
monster.'
*Foreign Policy*
‘this very approachable analysis of Classical homicide isn’t a dry
academic tract… conversational and tongue-in-cheek without
sacrificing scholarly credibility. A good chance to learn a lot and
have fun doing it.’
*Herald (Glasgow)*
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