Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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

12 reviews

ithladin's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0

All the trigger warnings apply, but this book manages to be very interesting and funny and respectful at the same time.


The author has a great voice and I loved her analysis and how she gives context of the sources without losing the rhythm.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War

emmsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

kwthor's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Colonisation

vessel's review against another edition

dark funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.75

Despite the serious topic, a light and easy read. It is thoroughly researched and diligently sourced. I picked A Terrible Thing up looking for a counternarrative to romanticized ideas of the greatness of the good old days of Roman culture that tend to permeate European general education and right wing circles alike, and it was just what I was looking for.

Through the 9 chapters, the author examines homicide in the Roman world from the early Republic through the height of the imperial era. Each chapter covers Roman murder in different contexts, such as familial murder, the killing of enslaved people, or that of an emperor. Each chapter is also divided into three shorter sub-chapters, making picking it up and putting it down quite easy.

The author's love for and deep interest in the subject is clear, and I found the voice easy to parse and quick to read, which is not always the case with historical non-fiction. On that note, though, while at some points laugh out loud funny, I found that a number of jokes a bit too reminiscent to Twitter humor really didn't land for me, and sometimes, they make assumptions about the reader that are quite annoying (like, the assumption that the reader enjoys and consumes true crime, or that the reader is "Western", whatever that means).

I would consider picking up a physical copy of this book for rereading, and am interested in the author's other works. I highly enjoyed A Terrible Thing, and recommend reading it, if you are interested in learning about Roman history from a different angle than usual.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mynameisinigomontoya's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Slavery

danimacuk's review against another edition

dark funny informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry

tlholmes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

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

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

simixfe's review

dark emotional funny informative medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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