A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Murder in Ancient Rome

By: Emma Southon

Narrated by: Sophie Ward

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Some technical glitches

Several point of the recording are missing. The audio pauses and resumes but not where is cut out.

Hilarious!!!!

This is the funniest audiobook I’ve ever listened to. The narrator is fantastic!!!!! Thanks for a great listen

Interesting but turns tedious

The author has certainly selected an aspect of ancient Roman society more often obscured, or ignored, by many historians. Her direct examination of forms of murder throughout the period forces the listener to acknowledge that the Rome most of lauded for its achievements was, as with all empires, based on the brutal use of slaves and the non-citizens and poor.

Unfortunately her use of expletives and dark humour detracts. The subject matter can not be treated as terrible, inhuman and beyond comprehension at the same time as being strewn with swearing and attempts at humour.

That being said it is certainly a book that forces one to acknowledge that all that sparkles has been hewn from the earth at a terrible cost. The Roman heroes stood upon the corpses of the murdered.

Not a run of the mill history of Rome

Leave it to a British author to make the history of murders in Rome a hoot. Very informative, kept my interest, even laughed out loud several times. Highly recommend this book.

best history book ever

hilariously delivered, what a joy, I want more, great history of Rome and murder!

Excellent

Excellent and entertaining history of murder in Ancient Rome. Really enjoyed the narration. Subtly funny.

Roman history without gloss

Fantastic! The author writes in unabashedly frank language about the topic. The reader (woman, oh how I could kiss you for your performance) intones the perfect pitch, tenor, pronunciations, and marvelously understated matter-of-fact that makes this audio book shimmer.

This one was fun!

Murder, the Roman Empire, wit and humor… a wonderful mix that created a great experience.

History is absolutely nuts sometimes.

Great tale great narration. Southon is an amazingly witty historian. Highly recommend this great book.

Funny yet serious

I enjoyed her dry humor and taking the piss out of ancient ideas. She made following the names of all these Romans easier than in other historical audiobooks I've tried. The subject matter was very interesting and I learned a lot of new things. I wish there could have been more about common people, but as she says in the book repeatedly, we don't know enough about them because they weren't important enough to the Romans to write anything about. The stuff at the end about the executions and coliseum and crucifixions was ghastly and so interesting!