HBO: Rome (1 Viewer)

[Currahee Chris]

Ok, I missed the start to this series and decided to catch up with it on DVD. I really enjoy this one as well. There are some sex scenes in the movie that really didn't need to be added- we got the idea of the promiscuity of the culture, just not sure it needed to move into the direction of a softcore show.

The gentlemen, who I believe is an Irish stage actor, was born to play Caesar. All the actors and actresses are just first rate- you either love them or you hate them.

My wife and I were moved by the scenes where Caesar was presented Pompey's head and then of course his murder. I found myself just wanting to jump through the screen and save him

With the DVD sets, there are various bits of additional historical notes surrounding some of the things the viewer sees on screen.

I had no idea Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus were real guys. Love the interaction between them- my wife got caught up with them. Being a sucker for drama, her eyes were wet when Vorenus ran into the Gladiator arena to save Pullo- and of course Pullo is yellling out "Thirteen!!!" I joke with her now and yell "Thirteen" to goof with her.

The lack of military action really didn't kill or detract from the enjoyment of the show. At times, the viewer can really sit back and see that the Romans were a fraternity gone horribly wrong.

Anyway, love the show, nearing the end of season 2 so please don't spoil it

 

[Molloy]

I'll second that, Chris, absolutely brilliant series.

Yes, for a purist, some of the historical accuracy may be a little bit awry, and certain elements of the storyline have been "spiced up" (to no small extent actually) but still a highly entertaining and well made series.

Was as good as addicted to watching Series 1 & 2 online a couple of months ago - from the Toy Soldier perspective, Ancients aren't really my thing, but probably due to studying Latin in school, I'll always have a definite soft spot for Republican and Imperial Rome, and productions like this contribute to that in no small way!

Don't worry, I won't spoil the ending of Series 2, but you will be gripped right up untill the end, I guarantee you!

Enjoy what's left of it mate,

Molloy.

 

[Spitfrnd]

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series as well. I was totally pulled in by Vorenus and Pullo. There is an interesting evolution in their characters as time goes by. I was disappointed at the puacity of military action. There were some good scenes in the early few episodes but not much thereafter. Still very well worth watching though, enjoy.

 

[Pierre]

Very good entertainment and a start (bad one if not corrected) for a neophyte.

The nudity scenes are not of bad taste and give a little spicy taste to the first season. Atia of the Julii is definitively the character I prefer while it looks like the one played by Polly Walker is far from the reality:

Comparison with the historical Atia Balba Caesonia
Atia Balba Caesonia (born 85 BC) was the second daughter of Julius Caesar's elder sister Julia Caesaris and Marcus Atius Balbus, son of a Senator from Aricia. Atia herself had two sisters, not mentioned in the series, and was a cousin to general Pompey through her father.

Atia's first husband was Gaius Octavius, a Senator of obscure provincial origins. By him she had a daughter, Octavia Minor (Octavius already had a daughter, Octavia Major, from a previous marriage), and a son, Gaius Octavius (Octavian). After Octavius died in 59 BC, Atia married another Senator, Lucius Marcius Philippus, who was a devoted stepfather to her children. He would have been present throughout the period covered by Rome, however the character in the series is known to be unmarried.

Contrary to Rome's representation, Tacitus describes Atia as a pious, devoted mother and an ideal Roman matron; little other detail is known of her. There is no historical evidence to suggest that she was romantically involved with Mark Antony or in a contemptuous rivalry with Servilia Caepionis (basis for the character Servilia of the Junii), as is dramatized in the series. It is not known what involvement she may have had in the political intrigues of Julius Caesar or Octavian, but she did fear for her son's safety and at some point urged him to renounce his rights as Caesar's heir.

Atia died in the year 43 BC, before the Battle of Philippi in which the legions of Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius. In the series, she outlives these events and even lives to see her son become the first Roman Emperor. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Pierre.

 

[theBaron]

Well, it is historical drama, isn't it? That's a trap to fall into. Same thing with "I, Claudius", which was both a well-written novel, and a well-produced TV series based on the novel. Graves did his research pretty well, and used gaps in some of the historical details on which to base some of the plot elements (eg, did Livia poison Augustus?). I find I have to keep asking myself, "Did this happen, or is this part of the story?" But then, that's what good historical fiction should do.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Louis Badolato]

Well, it is historical drama, isn't it? That's a trap to fall into. Same thing with "I, Claudius", which was both a well-written novel, and a well-produced TV series based on the novel. Graves did his research pretty well, and used gaps in some of the historical details on which to base some of the plot elements (eg, did Livia poison Augustus?). I find I have to keep asking myself, "Did this happen, or is this part of the story?" But then, that's what good historical fiction should do.

Prost!
Brad

For my money, I Claudius was the best television ever made. I watched it on PBS as a 10 year old, and it hooked me on ancient rome.

 

[Scott]

I've got a 12 year old daughter who wanted to see Rome which of course I wouldn't allow but I had to relate each episode to her after watching the series on DVD. She had read some books relating to girls from other times in history and knew a number of the Rome charactors from a book about Cleopatra. I may try I, Claudius with her soon. I think she's interested in powerful children. Octavian, Cleo, and Caligula certainly were.

 

[Currahee Chris]

Pierre- thanks for that info- I for the life of me couldn't seem to track anything down on Atia.

What a scene that was in season 2 where Sevilia put that curse on her!!

 

[Pierre]

...What a scene that was in season 2 where Sevilia put that curse on her!!

Hi Chris-

Yes, a good one.

And the bull scene in season one? Quote from an interview with the BBC:


More shocking, though, (...) is an episode when Atia is praying to a god for her son's safekeeping, the ritual involving standing under a giant bull while it is slaughtered and being drenched in its blood.

It sounds horrendous. "It was!" she grimaces.

"In fact I think that was more uncomfortable than doing any of the (...) scenes. You can only do it so many times because you have to clean up. It was terribly, terribly cold.

"You know when you jump into the sea and you can't get your breath – it was like that.

"I thought gosh, I'm going to have a heart attack. And there was so much of it. It didn't stop, or that's what it felt like. It was difficult.

"It's like a corn syrup, it's very sticky, sticks your eyes down. You know you're going to have to get up at the end of the scene and walk and hit your mark and say a line, and yet you are completely blind."

Rehearsing the scene should have been slightly less unpleasant, using plain water, but Polly recalls with a shiver that things didn't go according to plan…

"They made a mistake – it was meant to be heated water but it was ice cold."


Pierre.