The new season of Rome began yesterday night on HBO. The first season began with Ceasar’s campaign in Gaul and ended with his assasination. Season two begins seconds later, with Caesar lying dead in the Senate and Marc Antony fleeing would-be assassins, followed by the funeral which turns the tables on Brutus, Cassius, and the other assassins.
Cassius and Brutus after the assasination.
Those of you who know the history won’t be disappointed—the show forgoes dramatic reportrayals of Antony’s speech to the mob, or Ceasar’s Shakespearean last words. What is so delicious about Rome isn’t just the raw portrayal of the sex and violence of the ancient world, but the way plebian life is portrayed. As wonderful as the I, Claudius series and other previous Roman shows were, their focus was the feuds between the ruling families and military generals. HBO’s Rome surrounds its dramatization of the actual history with the fictional (but usually believable) story of two soldiers Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus, who steal the show once again in the first episode of this season and show the dark underbelly of life in urban Rome.
Those of you without HBO should at least be aware of your options to see it elsewhere, or if you haven’t seen the first season, check it out on DVD.
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COMMENTS / 16 COMMENTS
a517dogg added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 3:33 amEver read the Marco Didius Falco detective series? They are entertaining – I think Lindsay Davis is still writing them too.
chirol added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 8:49 amI watched a few minutes once and Romans with British accents threw me off. Shame, I’m actually quite interested in the show.
Nick added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 3:32 pm‘... Romans with British accents threw me off.’
No shortage of Romans with British accents in Gladiator, for that matter. It seems to be the default mode for classical series since, oh, at least I, Claudius: Luvvies adopting stentorian accents and swishing their togas like minor Public School-masters on their way to chapel.
TDL added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 6:13 pmI found the show after the first few episodes rather disappointing. I will say that it was interesting to see how the life of a plebian was like, but there were some historical errors. I understand poetic license and all, but why replace late Republic morality with Imperial morality? I would say the producers of Rome did this in order to show more sex. It was a bit disappointing since the show was supposed to be very historically accurate. If you began viewing the show under the assumption of historical accuracy, you would have been disappointed after a few episodes (like I was.) If you began viewing the show as a piece of entertainment, than I have to imagine it is quality entertainment, but to a degree historical fiction (I am not speaking about Pullo and Vorenus, since the characters were understood to be fictional from the beginning.)
Regards,
TDL
Chris added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 7:01 pmAs for Shakespeare’s line, you should note that it is in Brutus’ mouth this new season, directed at his mother and in English. Brutus objects to the killing of Antony because he’s committed no capital crime.
I enjoyed the retelling of Antony’s speech from the point of view of the commoner near the end.
Curzon added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 11:17 pmTDL: I sympathize. The first 3 episodes of Season 1 were superb; episodes 7-8 were lame. And the escapades of Vorenus and Pullo are fun, but they can be too fantastic. Still, I greatly enjoy the series overall.
Chris: Agreed; the show has a way of giving a fresh take on familiar history.
Chirol: Ditto to Nick, I don’t understand what’s wrong with British accents; if that bothers you, you’ll never be able to enjoy any TV series or movie on Rome of the last few decades, not even the attrocious Gladiator.
James added these pithy words on 16 Jan 07 at 11:30 pmBeware the giant HBO watermark that graces the entire screen in certain internet-”obtainable” versions of the first episode of season 2!
Nathan added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 6:34 amIn regards to the accents, it doesn’t really seem terrible to me considering the citizenship of the actors.
Love the show, and incredibly happy it’s back.
Rommel added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 1:27 pmI don’t get HBO and so I don’t even have the opportunity to watch it, although it sounds fascinating.
Has Augustus made an appearance yet? I hope they got someone good to play him.
jon added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 3:07 pmMy favorite scene in the show, is still the first one. The way they showed Caesar’s legions in action against the Gauls. Incredible. Suddenly I no longer wondered why the Roman Republic always rang up these massive casualties against the assorted barbarian tribes. At least when the barbarians were nice enough to play to the Roman’s strengths.
Curzon added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 3:25 pmRommel: You haven’t see the show?? See the last links in my post!
“Octavian” has of course been a central figure in the show, from the first episode onwards, and the “young teen” portrayal is of course quite unlike Brian Blessed’s performance of the aging Augustus in I, Claudius. But it’s more than just age—the portrayal of the future Augustus in HBO’s Rome is unique and excellent: Octavian is Machiavellian, prude, cerebral, feeble, and tactical, despite being just a young lad. An admirable performance.
TDL added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 6:02 pmFrom the little bit I know about about Octavian, he is well played (at least in the episodes I saw.) The portrayal of his family was abysmal. That is one thing that turned me off. Octavian sleeping with his sister? Octavia sleeping with Caesar’s mistress? Octavia sleeping with Pompey? It is funny that the writers turned someone who was historically considered the ideal of a Roman woman into a slut. That is more than poetic license, it is a cheap gimmick to appeal to a more salacious desire amongst viewers. The real story is still much more compelling and better suited for the drama that “Rome” is supposed to be. Octavians parents begged him not to follow Caesar (his step-father was alive and Atia was the opposite of her character), but he was incredibly ambitious. Octavias husband was the Consul who order Pompey to raise his legions to take down Caesar. Much more interesting dynamics there. Like I said, however, if you went into the series not knowing about Roman history or not caring it is probably very entertaining. I guess I’m being picky because I thought it was going to be different.
Regards,
TDL
Chris added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 6:16 pmCurzon/Rommel
Re: Octavian
I love when Pullo and he are interrogating Evander and Pullo says of Octavian: “he’s clever, like you don’t know”—something like that.
Nick added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 6:18 pmCurzon: Err, actually nothing bothers me about British accents – otherwise I’d hate myself and want to die.
Having actually studied Latin for 9 or so years, I do have more than a passing interest in Classical Studies and modern portrayals of Republican and Imperial Rome. It’d be interesting to find out how much of Rome was based upon e.g. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, which, as I’m sure even the prudes among you are aware, was actually pretty seamy and gossipy.
Oddly enough, I’ve read both I, Claudius and Claudius the God, but not seen the TV adaptation …
Nick added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 6:52 pmAdditionally, it’s worth noting that the differing British accents are used as an effective indicator of Roman social strata – ‘posh’ accents for the Imperial family and Senators, ‘common’ accents for the plebs.
Furthermore, from a purely ‘bums on seats’ perspective the series was produced by HBO, whose stable of productions includes inter alia the Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire etc. Therefore the high sex and violence count is to be expected.
von Kaufman-Turkestansky added these pithy words on 17 Jan 07 at 7:13 pmGood point Nick – the UK still has elements of class structure in its society and they are reflected in speech. The US isn’t like that – you can hear regions, but rarely hear education, social status or income to any great degree. It’s actually interesting – how to translate modern foreign (or in this case classical) dialects into English language media. I liked the film about WWII Germany “Night of the Generals” for the fact that the absence of German accents told us English-speaking audiences more about class and status than the “Ziss-iz-ze-vill-of-der-Fuehrer!” – campy German accent we so often hear does.
