Victor Hugo witnessed the workings of the guillotine at first hand. More than once, he found himself among the crowds of curious, expectant, agitated, hate-filled people awaiting the spectacle of a criminal being put to death. Repulsed by the joy that people seemed to take in these public executions, the idea of writing about it slowly began to form in his mind. After strolling along the Place de l'Hotel de Ville one day and encountering an executioner casually preparing the guillotine for its next victim, Hugo began working on the short novel that would come to be known as
So interesting! will look up this work from Boethius, I've never heard of him before