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A review by bookstorian
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
After a dry spell on the audio book reading front, I found 'A fatal thing happened on the way to the forum: Murder in Ancient Rome' to funny, modern and highly informative. A good way to splash back into audio books.
A clever and relevant start, the book begins with some startling facts about true crime as a genre of fiction and how her book also connects with this genre. Using a range of sources Emma Southon details murder across all social classes and gender (men, women, slaves, emperors, wealthy families, few are left untouched). I loved the cheeky use of language and comparisons to modern life, it made the non-fictional work easy to digest. In addition, I learnt so much about Roman law, politics, family lives and justice (or injustice).
The only downfall for me was that the names at times became tricky to distinguish and, at times, moments of the book just washed over me. I would recommend making sure you complete at least one chapter per sitting rather than pausing part way through the chapter and coming back to it later.
The book encouraged me to recall information from my days as a history student and reminisce on my time in Rome. If you are a history lover or one of the millions of people obsessed with true crime, check this title out.
A clever and relevant start, the book begins with some startling facts about true crime as a genre of fiction and how her book also connects with this genre. Using a range of sources Emma Southon details murder across all social classes and gender (men, women, slaves, emperors, wealthy families, few are left untouched). I loved the cheeky use of language and comparisons to modern life, it made the non-fictional work easy to digest. In addition, I learnt so much about Roman law, politics, family lives and justice (or injustice).
The only downfall for me was that the names at times became tricky to distinguish and, at times, moments of the book just washed over me. I would recommend making sure you complete at least one chapter per sitting rather than pausing part way through the chapter and coming back to it later.
The book encouraged me to recall information from my days as a history student and reminisce on my time in Rome. If you are a history lover or one of the millions of people obsessed with true crime, check this title out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Murder