Infamy: The Crimes of Ancient Rome

by Jerry Toner

Rome is an empire with a bad reputation. From its brutal games to its depraved emperors, its violent mobs to its ruthless wars, its name resounds down the centuries like a scream in an alley. But was it as bad as all that? Join the historian Jerry Toner on a detective's hunt to discover the extent of Rome's crimes.
From the sexual peccadillos of Tiberius and Nero to the chances of getting burgled if you left your apartment unguarded (pretty high, especially if the walls were thin enough to knock through) he leaves no stone unturned in his quest to bring the Eternal City to book.
Meet a gallery of villains, high and low. Discover the problems that most exercised its long-suffering citizens. Explore the temptations of excess and find out what desperation can make a pleb do. What do we see when we look at Rome? A hideous vision of ancient corruption - or a reflection of our own troubled age?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman History

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 4, 2019

About the author

Dr Jerry Toner is Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at Churchill College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Helen the Bassist · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second history book in a row...this one non-fiction. I found it really accessible and loved how the author acknowledged the biases inherent in the original sources from a world where social status very much dictated whether you had a chance of seeking justice.

Very interesting to know the Romans were just as petty as we are!

[Katedurie50 · Rating 4 out of 5]

One way to assess a society is to see it -often from the underside- in terms of crime and punishment. This book (which seems to be part of a contemporary movement in Classics) is written in a lively style for a wide readership, but draws on a broad range of academic sources and uses these judiciously. The one inescapable fact of Roman society is that there was no justice or protection for slaves; the rape of a slave was not very serious for instance, but given that a slave was merely property, therefore one who had run away was a thief who had robbed his/her master, and such crimes were punishable with death. Equally if the slaves of the household failed to stop one of their number murdering the master, all could be executed (thrown off the Tarpeian Rock). But there's much else that is illuminating and entertaining, from the rare instances of the Emperor's clemency (one stopped Pollio from throwing a slave boy to maneating eels for dropping a vase) to the curse tablets, often against petty theft, offered to the gods, asking for entirely disproportionate vengeance against those who had wronged them. And there is some fun from the fictional cases in the law text books; in one a wife gives birth to a black baby and tries to blame sunburn. The prosecutor is having none of it.Also along the way the book sheds quite a lot of light on early Christianity.

[Geertje · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written book that's written in an engaging yet easily accessible manner. Great for newbies to the topic, but I also think that more knowledgeable readers will find some interesting stories/facts here!

[José Ramón · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro me atrajó por varios motivos: el título, que lleva un poco al morbo; ser sobre Roma, que es uno de mis temas favoritos; y por la referencia de varias críticas sobre el libro.
Sinceramente me parece que el autor ha hecho un buen trabajo recopilando fuentes, lecturas e ideas. Reconozco que su trabajo ha sido muy bueno, pero me esperaba más del libro. Se ha quedado en cosas, que para mi opinión, no ha profundizado suficientemente, y ha dejado alguna cosa sin tratar.
Me gusta que haga una comparación entre lo que consideramos crimen ahora mismo, y lo que se consideraba crimen en la antigüedad, pero en ciertos momentos me ha dejado una sensación rara. No sé explicarlo muy bien, pero me da la impresión de que sus planteamientos son demasiado "presentistas". Eso, a priori, no es malo, y incluso creo que es lo que pretendía el autor, pero creo que podía explicarlo de otra forma.
Reconozco que hay ciertos capitulos que me han parecido muy interesesante, y otros que los he leido con desgana, quiza por la temática.
Reconozco que el libro busca un poco el morbo, y el autor lo consigue con los retratos que hace de muchos emperadores y personajes importantes. Lo cual puede hacer que cierto lector se sienta muy interesado por esos capitulos, pero a mi me han dejado un poco frío. Quiza porque ya los conocía, y son los temas más habituales que se sacan.
¿Que considero que le falta al libro? Y repito, que el libro esta bien. Pero a mi me interesaría que profundizara más en los delitos religiosos, y el concepto de la relación entre el crimen contra los dioses y contra las instituciones religiosas.... No tanto contra el culto imperial, sino como elemento dentro de la comunidad. Lo trata, pero me ha quedado escaso.
En el capitulo "El crimen y el imperio cristiano". Me hubiera gustado que profundizara un poco más en los crimenes considerados heregías. Trata el Arrianismo y Pelagio, pero de forma muy esquemática y simple. Hai muchos más ejemplos que tratar, y sobre todo le falta explicar un poco más los procesos. También relacionado con esto el Edicto de Teododio, y la abolición del paganismo, y como el paganismo se acaba convirtiendo en "delito".
Hay muchas cosas más que me gustaría que hubiera tratado, pero reconozco que es un buen libro.

[Primi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro interesante. La principal conclusión: Entonces como ahora si querías justicia una de dos, o eras rico o procurabas conseguirla por tu cuenta. La gente normal era ajena por completo a todo el entramado judicial romano. Si sufrían un delito ni siquiera se molestaban en iniciar cualquier tipo de proceso. Sobre todo, si el demandado era una persona acaudalada, podían salir aún peor parados.

Recomiendo más otro libro de este mismo autor: “¿Cómo manejar a tus esclavos?”, que es un ensayo divertido a la par que riguroso de la vida en la antigua Roma. Incluso lo recomiendo a personas que no estén familiarizadas con estos temas. Se lee casi como una novela.

[Raquel Roncero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro es una obra básica para conocer la relación de los romanos con el crimen. No estamos ante una obra de pura divulgación y basada en anécdotas y chascarrillos. El autor, autoridad académica en este aspecto del mundo romano, basa sus afirmaciones en diversos tipos de fuentes clásicas (arqueológicas, literarias y legales), consiguiendo rigurosidad y calidad científicas. Puede ser que algunos aspectos se queden cortos (por ejemplo, la relación entre mujeres y crimen), pero, por el momento, es la única obra traducida al español que nos proporciona una visión global sobre este aspecto de la civilización romana.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me esperaba más un anecdotario que un libro académico,aun así disfrutas con una prosa elegante y muy Cambridgeana.El autor da un enfoque politólogico y social a ciertos hechos históricos ,el tema gore es para otras publicaciones.

[Molly Parsons-O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I’m always quick to pick up a book on the ancient Romans, but I grabbed this one double quick because Jerry Toner was actually one of my supervisors at university. He’s a fantastic teacher who runs a course on Roman popular culture and under his wise guidance I got to study (and write very long essays on…) everything from graffiti to spell books to collections of jokes to better understand the cultural world of the average ancient Roman, not just the elite ones we so often read about. If that sounds appealing to you but you’re not lucky enough to be in Jerry’s class, Infamy is a pretty good substitute. In his usual fashion, Jerry looks at Roman society from the bottom up and draws on a range of unorthodox sources (always a thrill to see a reference to the Testament of the Piglet) to paint a vivid portrait of crime and justice in the ancient world. While I am a total nerd for all things Roman, this book is still clear and accessible enough for anyone to make a go of it and Jerry has an informal and engaging style that stops the book feeling dry at any point. For anyone looking to better understand the Roman world beyond the verses of Ovid and the writings of Cicero, this book is a great place to start.

[Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My love of matters Rome is well known amongst my friends and one of them bought me this book for Christmas. “Oh dear,” I said upon unwrapping it, “another funny ha-ha coffee table book.” Well, I could not have been more wrong.

The book reminded me that the great Roman Empire was staffed by little people and day-to-day life went on. Crime was not just the assassinations of senators, but often it was as simple as someone stealing your cloak or your urn. You were mugged on the street and homes were robbed. However, the book does not just remain here, it moves on through greater crimes to the height of discussing war crimes.

The book is in window into all these areas and anyone interested in Rome (other than the pure military types) would find this book interesting.
Strongly recommend.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Toner is getting better at this. Though he still has a tendency to write long, rambling paragraphs, his overall organization is improved over Roman Disasters. I particularly appreciated the clear distinctions between Republic, early Empire and Christian era history, which is particularly important in how Rome dealt with crime. The prose is informal without being excessively chatty, and the book is packed full of fascinating facts and stories. Readers who are fairly new to Roman history should find this accessible, and even folks who've already read a bit about the subject will find new, interesting stuff.

[Iván Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estructurado como si fuese un juicio a Roma, trata toda clase de crímenes sin dejar de explicar la moralidad de la época. Todo eso sin amarillismos ni sensacionalismos. Recalcando siempre cuando la fuente es dudosa o de una clase social en concreto.

A pesar de ser corto, tener un vocabulario sencillo y no asumir que el lector sepa algo de derecho (o incluso de Roma), puede llegar a ser empalagoso. Mejor disfrutarlo poco a poco, como un buen vino.

Le doy mis Xs

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

A mediocre, ridiculous and totally unnecessary book - does anyone really need to read this book to discover or understand that the ancient Romans were different from us and did things that we would not do? It is a book created by a publishers marketing department. If you are interested in ancient Rome, even in the more salacious or cruel aspects of it - then there are so many better, popular books you could read with greater enjoyment because this is not even well written.

[Gio C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great eye opener on how the people in the Roman Empire really lived. It was filled with info that kept me interested and not very dry in the delivery. If you want to read about a little different view of the Roman Empire then this is for you.

[Monica Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got over halfway finished, but I just couldn’t get to the end. It was informative, but incredibly boring. :(

[Sabina Britton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Misled by the review and description on the back.... this is an interesting academic book but definitely not what i thought it was going to be.... It was rather dry and repetitive and a text book

[Michelle Dewulf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideaal boek als je houdt van socio-culturele geschiedenis van de oudheid.

[Robert Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars is more fair.

[Brian Kimball · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good read in the sense of everything was extremely accurate. However, had to slog through this one at each chapter

[Joe Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

knowledgeable, just very boring, my expectations were higher