Cicatrix and Rowson feature many emperors and, in some chapters of this tiny 117-page book, they cover more than one. Selection appears to be based on how well an emperor's demise can be depicted as a humorous caricature. Which was the most bizarre? Was it the diarrhea that ended Vespasian's reign in 79 prompting him to go out uttering, "Oh dear! I think I'm becoming a god?" Or was it through a ball of fire, as with lightning-stricken Carus in 283? Or was it the emperor Glycerus who was turned out of office and into a priest in 474? Or was it when Postumus was turned on by his own soldiers, as happened in 269 when he wouldn't let the troops plunder his countrymen, the Batavians? Or was it the suicide of opium-junkie Marcus Aurelius or Maximin Daia who, having eaten too much, slowed the effects of the fast-acting poison and died a gory, lingering death in 313?
No, Imperial Exits isn't nice, but after reading how vile some of the emperors were, Cicatrix makes you feel they got their just desserts.
