A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome (2020) is set in Rome and is wholly dedicated to murder.
Romulus killed his twin brother Remus and founded the city of Rome in 753 BC. Since murder was not a crime at the time, it was a common occurrence. Julius Caeser was assassinated, Caligula was murdered, Claudius was murdered, and Galba was murdered – to name a few. In a 50-year period, 26 emperors were murdered.
This book is not only about the act of murder; it is also about the laws concerning death and dying by another’s hands – legal and illegal. For example, a general could order the killing of a person for writing ‘rude poetry.’ It is about the murder of anyone – from babies to gladiators to emperors.
There are nine sections about murder, according to its location: 1) in the Senate, 2) in Roman law, 3) in the family, 4) in marriage, 5) in slavery 6) by magic, 7) in the Imperial House, 8) of an Emperor, and 9) in the judiciary.
I liked the chapter on magic – which includes medicines and poisons. Here, the author brings to light the murder of Rome’s most popular general, tipped to be the next Emperor – Germanicus Caesar (15BC-19AD), who was the adopted son of Tiberius. Germanicus Caesar died – by poison – on 10 October 19AD at Epidaphnae, just outside of Antioch in Syria (currently Antakya in Turkey). Roman writers say he died by veneficium, which is poisoning or sorcery, while some modern-day historians think he died of an unknown sickness unrelated to poisoning. In some history books, Tiberius is incorrectly accused of poisoning his son. Most historians blame Gnaeus Calpurnicus Piso and his wife Placina.
Historian Lindsay Powell, in his 2016 book on Germanicus, says there is Roman documentation that states ‘witchcraft at Epidaphnae pointed to a woman known to be an expert in poisons, who was a friend of Placina, the governor’s wife.’ Lindsay Powell never names the woman.
In this book, Emma Southon names the woman. She is poison expert Martina, one of three famous female magic potion-makers of the time (Locusta and Pontia being the other two). Martina was known to blur the lines between medicine, poison, and magic. She was born in Antioch, Syria, and is rarely mentioned in history books because she never entered Rome. Piso, Placina, and Martina were accused of killing Germanicus and were called to Rome for ‘the trial of the century.’ However, Martina died in Brindisi, Italy, on the way to Rome. Self-harm was ruled out, and Piso was suspected of killing her because poison was ‘concealed in a knot in her hair.’
[I think this is the earliest mention of my name, Martina, in history – the others being about the 3rd century Italian saint who lived near Brindisi and died in 228AD, becoming the patron saint of Rome; and two famous tennis players – Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis.]
And so, I found this book to be intriguing, interesting, amusing, and entertaining, bringing to life those who had been cruelly taken, and those who undertook the murderous acts in the course of everyday life in ancient Rome.
MARTINA NICOLLS
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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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