Shameless Christmas Gift Plug
Buy my book!
Christmas. The time of year when let's face it, your own family becomes almost unbearable. You are not a slightly deranged Roman Emperor with a short temper and a whole praetorian guard to do your bidding, which, on the face of it, is a good thing because, if you were, you would have devised a series of cunning boat-based marine traps in order to drown your own mother, just like Nero did.
How do I know he did this? Well, I read it in this rather fantastic new book that contains, among others, a whole chapter dedicated to the sometimes remarkable ways in which famous Romans met their end. Choke to death on a pear? Yep, that's in there. Sewn into a sack with a cock (stop laughing!), a snake, a dog and a monkey and then thrown in the Tiber? Yep. That's in there, too.
There are also chapters about bonkers Roman laws, weird medicine, angry gods, Roman Britain, Senators, slaves, plebs, gladiators, and black magic babies (no, really), as well as all sorts of other stuff. 341 pages of it. I'm glad I read it!
I also wrote it, of course, but here, at last, is your chance to read it, too! It's currently only available on Amazon, and there will be a Kindle version out soon. There might even be an Audible version, should I find someone who isn't me to record it.
So, with Christmas coming up, now you have something to buy for the family members who you find really annoying, so they have something to occupy themselves with whilst you deep fry the turkey on the back porch or whatever festive thing it is you do that requires hospitalisation. Buy one for reading in the burns unit, too!
Click the link, and the rest is as easy as building a collapsing roof tile trap to squash your mother with! (Also Nero - it didn't work). If you could also share this post with people you think might be interested, I’d be hugely grateful!