A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Murder in Ancient Rome
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Narrated by:
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Sophie Ward
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By:
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Emma Southon
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 PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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You think you know her story. You've read the Brothers Grimm, you've watched the Disney cartoons, you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But the lives of real princesses couldn't be more different. Sure, many were graceful and benevolent leaders - but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power, and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets.
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Princesses Researched Well
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 04-14-14
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Fifth Sun
- A New History of the Aztecs
- By: Camilla Townsend
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes.
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Ethnocentric ethnohistory
- By Jeffrey D on 03-24-21
By: Camilla Townsend
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Anne Boleyn
- 500 Years of Lies
- By: Hayley Nolan
- Narrated by: Hayley Nolan
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History has lied. Anne Boleyn has been sold to us as a dark figure, a scheming seductress who bewitched Henry VIII into divorcing his queen and his church in an unprecedented display of passion. Quite the tragic love story, right? Wrong. In this electrifying exposé, Hayley Nolan explores for the first time the full, uncensored evidence of Anne Boleyn’s life and relationship with Henry VIII, revealing the shocking suppression of a powerful woman.
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Very annoying narrator!
- By momo chan on 12-02-19
By: Hayley Nolan
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It Ended Badly
- Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History
- By: Jennifer Wright
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
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Spanning eras and cultures from ancient Rome to medieval England to 1950s Hollywood, Jennifer Wright's It Ended Badly guides you through the worst of the worst in historically bad breakups. In the throes of heartbreak, Emperor Nero had just about everyone he ever loved - from his old tutor to most of his friends - put to death. Oscar Wilde's lover, whom he went to jail for, abandoned him when faced with being cut off financially from his wealthy family.
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Shallow, poorly researched, forced humor
- By S. Yates on 05-11-17
By: Jennifer Wright
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The Romanovs
- A Captivating Guide to the Last Imperial Dynasty to Rule Russia and the Impact the Romanov Family Had on Russian History
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
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An undoubtedly interesting, exciting, and dramatic chapter of Russian history was when it was ruled over by the Romanov dynasty. This powerful ruling family came to power shortly after the frightening rule of a legendary figure in Russian history: Ivan the Terrible. After murdering his own son and unborn grandson, Ivan died without an heir, resulting in the formation of a new dynasty. This was the Romanov family.
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Excellent
- By Hugo 719 on 05-02-22
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The Roman Emperors
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- By: Coby Evans
- Narrated by: Adam Forsyth
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This guide will guide you to the right knowledge about all the historical details you need to know about Nero, Caligula, Hadrian, Commodus, Constantine the Great, Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius, Julius Caesar, Augustus, and others. Some were pure evil, abusive, and sheer dictators with their own self-interest that was their only focus. Others had the best intentions for the empire. These emperors left their mark on the people, the history of the entire empire, and the cultural influence the Romans had on us.
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Great book
- By Ruth on 01-10-20
By: Coby Evans
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Emperors of Rome: Julius Caesar, Constantine, Nero, Caligula, and More
- By: Kelly Mass, Summaries from History
- Narrated by: Miriam Webster
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What do you know about the emperors of Rome? Rome had good and bad emperors, selfish and selfless ones. Some were wise, others were foolish. And each left their legacy and their imprint on historical concepts of the Roman empire itself. In this book, we will explore the details of a number of these emperors, especially some of the best-known ones that have been hand-picked by the editors of this book.
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That's interesting
- By Bettie on 10-05-19
By: Kelly Mass, and others
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Ten Caesars
- Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
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Best-selling classical historian Barry Strauss tells the story of three-and-a-half centuries of the Roman Empire through the lives of 10 of the most important emperors, from Augustus to Constantine.
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Good for beginners
- By Richferguson1 on 03-01-20
By: Barry Strauss
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SPQR
- A History of Ancient Rome
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
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In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.
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Shallow and unsatisfying
- By Joe on 02-19-17
By: Mary Beard
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The Death of Caesar
- The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
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William Shakespeare's gripping play showed Caesar's assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals' plot put together by Caesar's disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man - Decimus. He was the mole in Caesar's entourage, one of Caesar's leading generals, and a lifelong friend.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 03-24-15
By: Barry Strauss
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What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear-a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?
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In AD 200, the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, its vast territory accounting for most of the known world. By the end of the fifth century, Roman rule had vanished in Western Europe and much of northern Africa, and only a shrunken Eastern Empire remained. This was a period of remarkable personalities, from the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius to emperors like Diocletian, who portrayed themselves as tough, even brutal, soldiers.
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The tragic story of the fall of a great empire
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Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie
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In the years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women in the workplace still found themselves relegated to secretarial positions or locked out of jobs entirely. This was especially true in the news business, a backwater of male chauvinism in which a woman might be lucky to get a foothold on the “women’s pages”. But when a pioneering nonprofit called National Public Radio came along in the 1970s and the door to serious journalism opened a crack, four remarkable women came along and blew it off the hinges.
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Loved the history. Distracted by errors.
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What listeners say about A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- judithh
- 06-27-21
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.
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- TL
- 08-06-21
best history book ever
hilariously delivered, what a joy, I want more, great history of Rome and murder!
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- Dennis Young
- 08-21-22
Excellent
Excellent and entertaining history of murder in Ancient Rome. Really enjoyed the narration. Subtly funny.
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- A. McNeely
- 02-07-24
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.
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- Brooklyn Bowman
- 02-16-24
This one was fun!
Murder, the Roman Empire, wit and humor… a wonderful mix that created a great experience.
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- Meghan
- 01-09-24
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!
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- bnsmith
- 01-09-24
History is absolutely nuts sometimes.
Great tale great narration. Southon is an amazingly witty historian. Highly recommend this great book.
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- Nick
- 04-06-21
Highly Entertaining and Incredibly Insightful
Don't let the humorous style fool you into thinking this is a shallow book. It's very approachable for the more casual reader, but as an avid Roman history enthusiast I was constantly blown away by the depth of insights and critical analysis of stories and themes I thought I had known inside-and-out. It's certainly a very fun book if that's what you're looking for, but even if you're an Adrian Goldsworthy devotee like myself, there is a ton for you to learn and enjoy here. Could not recommend more highly.
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4 people found this helpful
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- MortonC
- 11-26-21
Amusing, informative and well read
I'm not into True Crimes or icky stuff but I am into history, so I tried this book as another view on the history of Ancient Rome and was happily surprised by the new viewpoints!
The author takes what could have been a most dark and tedious subject and turned it into something far lighter, with irreverent and amusing perspectives, while still conveying the important information. Meanwhile, the narrator did a truly excellent job with the right inflections and maintaining my interest throughout.
The book has references to American and British contemporary culture throughout, which helps to put the storyline in perspective (otherwise it can be hard for us to relate to why people behaved as they did and we can easily misinterpret their actions) and her witty phrasing keeps it amusing, which retains our attention.
I did find the whole BCE/CE thing really frustrating and required internally translating, every single time, so it got really annoying. While I appreciate that it's the PC thing to do nowadays, really, the Roman Empire is where Christianity got its Big Break, so if any history deserves to use BC/AD then it would be in Roman history! Conversely, I read a history of India where they used BCE/CE and it felt appropriate there because, well, it's set in India. Also, that tale worked chronologically so it was BCE, BCE, BCE until it switched to CE and anyone can keep track of one switch during a history. But "Fatal... Forum" hops back and forth, given the contextual style of the writing (which makes sense), so you're constantly going BCE, CE, back to BCE, then... which one was that again? It's just tedious.
Here are some British cultural references that you might want to note down, so you can understand their context when you come across them:
"Spitting Image or Twitter" Spitting Image was/is a weekly TV show that took a satirical look at current events with puppets of the political characters in the news. You know what Twitter is.
National Service. Like Selective Service but it covered everyone (well, men, but I assume that if it was done now, it would include everyone). Conservative-minded folks sometimes say that "It would be good to bring back National Service, so people would have a stronger feeling for the country" and such notions (which is the point that the author was making).
Fox hunting. (The author mentions how it's unpopular with everyone else) In Britain, fox hunting is done by rich people, so everyone else hates it (them). In America, hunting is done by regular guys with a rifle and a six-pack and is seen a jolly good way to get some quality time.
Infames. The author makes an allusion to a completely hilarious movie-reference, but really, she's right and it's far too complex to explain without watching an entire movie, or preferably an entire set of movies, so I'll just Carry On.
There are various references to soccer players, but really, your guess is as good as mine.
There were a number of written and folded curses found in Bath. This is not "found in the baths", but instead refers to the Roman settlement of Aquae Sulis, now called the town of Bath.
There was an excellent homage to the "basis of government" that was an excellent play on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But if you missed it then that's your own lookout, I have no sympathy at all.
The author refers to some really bad poetry but totally fails to reference Vogon Poetry, which I found to be a great oversight.
Overall, I'd say that if you'd like a fun and irreverent look at the development Roman society, give this one a try.
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- vortigar
- 02-04-22
Irreverent goodness
I have read many histories of ancient Roman culture in the past but this one stands out as the only that has scholarly wit with irreverent social commentary. they mix to make a story that is engaging and interesting.
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