A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum cover art

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Murder in Ancient Rome

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A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

By: Emma Southon
Narrated by: Sophie Ward
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About this listen

An entertaining and informative look at the unique culture of crime, punishment, and killing in ancient Rome

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 theater; Claudius was poisoned at dinner; and Galba was beheaded in the Forum. In one 50-year period, 26 emperors were murdered.

But what did killing mean in a city where gladiators fought to the death to sate a crowd? In A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Emma Southon examines a trove of real-life homicides from Roman history to explore Roman culture, including how perpetrator, victim, and the act itself were regarded by ordinary people. Inside ancient Rome’s darkly fascinating history, we see how the Romans viewed life and death and what it means to be human.

©2021 Emma Southon. Published in 2021 by Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York. All rights reserved (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing Ancient Crime Rome Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Feel-Good Ancient History

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All stars
Most relevant  
Very entertaining. The writer’s detailed research provides a fascinatingly illustrated body of information about the Romans.
Wonder about the accepted pronunciation of Pliny - was not familiar with this one!

A lighthearted account of a nasty topic

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Brilliantly informative and sometimes laugh out loud funny. Loved it. Well read too by the wonderful Sophie Ward who, quite rightly, plays it completely straight!

Brilliant

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Great fun, totally enlightening and very well written. Sophie Ward’s reading is absolutely spot on.

Loved it!

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Easy to listen too, accessible, loved the wry humour. Top listen, I'd put it in my top ten.

Utterly brilliant!

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This is a delightfully snarky and unpretentious overview of the socio-political trends underpinning acts of homicide in Ancient Rome. I thoroughly enjoyed it; however, the narrator does mispronounce quite a lot of names and core Latin terms that is incredibly frustrating for classicists or people with prior interest in the classics studies.

Entertaining, engaging and insightful

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This quirky informal way of diving into history is good for a change. The stories discussed are amusing.

Fresh look into Rome

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Very interesting to have the facts put together
Many of those murders we know but it is told with details which makes a book about murders very enjoyable

Interesting

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The book is fantastic. Emma Southon is a new favourite of mine. I prefer Imogen Church's narration (she narrated Southon's other book about Agrippina). this narrator of this book has some interesting pronunciations of words which jar like 'dude' pronounced like the name 'Jude' and 'Pliny' pronounced Ply-knee (ply like plywood). but most annoyingly there are two glitches in the recording where it skips some words. e.g in Pasiphae chapter.

Glitchy recording but great book

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I loved the delivery and multiple times burst into laughter as I listened. The information provided was interesting, engaging and informative. I loved it.

informative and hilarious

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Disliked the foul language . In a non fiction book. Did not really learn much in this book. There would not have been much primary sources anyway.passes

Passes time

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