Status Updates From A Fatal Thing Happened on t...

I kind of love the shade the author is throwing on Cicero

(Part 2) Others, however, became infames because they had committed a crime. Sometimes, for things like adultery, being infamia was the punishment in and of itself. For others, however, becoming infames was the first step to becoming horribly and publicly dead.

(Part 1) Infames were citizens who had done things that 'mainstream' Roman society considered to be so gross that they had surrendered their right to participation in the Roman state. Some people were considered to be infames because of their job: sex workers, sex workers' pimps, actors, gladiators, gladiator trainers and bar-owners.

“Good Emperor” -> Trajan

“Bad” or not great emperor -> Vespasian’s second son Domitian

Almost all the Julio-Claydian emperors after Augustus

« Bad emperors » -> Gaius, Nero, Tiberius…

+ search more about Sejanus (friend of Tiberius)

« Good emperors » -> Marcus Aurelius, Vespasian…

😂😂

(part 2) The Greek word for poisoner is the same as the word for medicine: pharmakon. They are, effectively, the same thing in the eyes of the ancients, but they're not to us.

(part 1)The first thing you need to know about Roman magic is that there is a very, very blurry line between magic and medicine and an even blurrier one between medicine and poison. If magic and medicine are two sides of the same coin, medicine and poison are the same side seen from different angles. The Latin word for sorcerer is the same as the word for poisoner: veneficus.

(…) gladiators sent the ladies absolutely wild.

We take it much for very granted these days that an aversion to violence is more 'civilised' than an attraction to it. Violence for pleasure is inherently distasteful to most of us.

(Part 2) On the other hand, the Roman state implicitly decided that some of the 'complaints' that enslavers had about the people they enslaved justified their being executed at state expense and for public entertainment.

(Part 1) The Lex Petronia forced free people to bring a formal complaint against the enslaved person they wanted to hand over to get eaten by bears so that a magistrate could decide whether the enslaved person deserved the punishment. (…) On the one hand, enslavers could no longer randomly give enslaved people over to be killed at public expense and for public entertainment without justifying themselves.

the romans had an insanity defence.

Look for Cicero’s speeches 📢

murder was not a crime in the Roman legal system for a surprising amount of its history (…) the state of Rome had absolutely no interest in when, how or why its citizens were killing each other. Actively disinterested, if anything. (…) The second issue is that the Romans never developed a concept of manslaughter or murder committed in the act of another crime.

😳

For most of Roman history murder was not a crime.

Page xii

The Romans designed the Republic to deny power to individuals and to prevent, through the means of shared power, checks and balances, any single man from becoming a tyrant. It was the Romans' proudest achievement and it was founded in the unjust death of a woman 🚺. The glorious Republic of Rome lasted 450 years, and the moment of its demise was also marked by murder.

At the Smyrna Woman section

It’s very fascinating, with good examples.

I’m obsessed already. I wish all history was written like this.

this is a super digestible history lesson abt murder in rome with funny commentary from the author that makes it 1000x more enjoyable

Such fun writing! Makes me laugh out loud sometimes.

One of the things this author does that I just love is he reminds us that the mindset of the Romans 2000 years ago is not the mindset now. And then he goes on to explain what their mindset was versus what our mindset now is. And even if you’re a history geek, it’s a good reminder.

this book just gets better, i can’t believe there is media about nero that doesn’t just call him a dick or a wanker or rubbish which means this book is superior even if nero is barely a focus

i think from now on i’d like any history book i read to swear every so often and make jokes about roman names, i don’t think i’ve ever been more entertained by murder

“The Vestal Virgins (…) “were expected to remain virgins until they retired. In return for their childhood promise never to touch a boy, they were given privileges, (…) the downside was that if they got caught touching a boy, they were escorted inside a tiny cubby-hole outside the Colline Gate, in which the bare necessities for a week or so of life were placed, and they were sealed inside and left to die.”

Using Taylor Swift, Instagram and Love Island to explain the roman justice system is just pure gold 😂

“the insinuation that love magic isn’t silly tricks for silly girls, but is terrifying powerful “magic. It’s Gandalf magic, not Harry Potter magic, if you will. (I’m sorry.)”

You better be sorry! 😒😂