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

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

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

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

by Emma Southon

Hardcover

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Overview

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, death, and what it means to be human.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781419753053
Publisher: Abrams Press
Publication date: 03/09/2021
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 506,656
Product dimensions: 5.80(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Dr. Emma Southon holds a PhD in ancient history from the University of Birmingham. The author of Marriage, Sex and Death: the Family and the Fall of Rome and Agrippina, she cohosts a history podcast with writer Janina Matthewson called History is Sexy, and works full time as a bookseller at Waterstones Belfast.

Table of Contents

Prologue xi

Introduction 1

What is murder? 3

1 Murder on the Senate Floor 7

Tiberius Gracchus 8

Publhis Clodius Pulcher 23

Julius Caesar 33

2 Murder in Roman Law 55

The Twelve Tables 57

The Republic 60

The Empire 67

3 Murder in the Family 71

Roscius 71

Pontius Aufidianus 84

The Woman of Smyrna 99

4 Murder in Marriage 111

Apronia 111

Regilla 120

Gaius Calpurnius Piso 130

5 Murder in the Slave State 134

Lucius Pedanius Secundus 138

Panurgus 148

Spiculus 157

6 Murder by Magic 177

Locusta 179

Martina 188

Iucundus 203

7 Murder in the Imperial House 211

Livia 211

Aulus Cremutius Cordus 225

Regulus 238

8 Murdering an Emperor 250

Gaius Caligula 250

Aulus Vitellius 260

Domitian 264

9 Judicial Murder 270

Pasiphae 270

Cornelia, Vestalis Maxima 289

Two Greeks and Two Gauls 292

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The End 297

Glossary 299

Bibliographical Note 307

Acknowledgements 319

Notes 321

Index 331

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