Yowser Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Beautiful scenery, beautiful costumes, beautiful people, beautiful music.... screw history, I'm enjoying Empire for the sake of storytelling. And the wonderful lack/absense of CGI is going to get a whole lot of forgiveness points from me. Yeah, yeah, history tells us that Octavius was a cool, cunning, calculating kid with brains. Still, I'm okay so far of how Octavius is portrayed. I mean how would you react to finding out the most powerful man in the world who happens to be your (grand) uncle is killed in cold blood and now everyone is out to claim Rome and maybe your blood in a 24 hour period. I liked the scene of Tyrannus showing up at the villa, commanded Octavius to say goodbye to his mother and leave immediatley and Octavius sputtered, "I will not!" Or Tyrannus dragging/manhandling Octavius into the Vestral Temple and demanding the woman read Caser's will. A gladiator/bodyguard does not always make the most patient babysitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted June 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Yeah, yeah, history tells us that Octavius was a cool, cunning, calculating kid with brains. Still, I'm okay so far of how Octavius is portrayed. I mean how would you react to finding out the most powerful man in the world who happens to be your (grand) uncle is killed in cold blood and now everyone is out to claim Rome and maybe your blood in a 24 hour period. Fair enough, but we didn't develop into one of the most powerful and influential people in the history of the world. Its ok if they would've portrayed him as sickly.. which he was... (perhaps they used the metaphor sickly and translated it to weak?), but I just dislike their portrayal (despite the quality acting, which is top-notch throughout.) Octavius was favored by Caesar, and while there is only a little evidence of him receiving a great deal of attention from Caesar (other than the campaign in Hispania, marching in the triumph and planned invasion of Parthia), there is absolutely no evidence that he was ill treated or discouraged by the dictator (as portrayed in the show). Despite my repeated objections, LOL, again I admit the pageantry was wonderful, and as each hour passes I truly am looking forward to next Tuesday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost_Warrior Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 I liked the scene of Tyrannus showing up at the villa, commanded Octavius to say goodbye to his mother and leave immediatley and Octavius sputtered, "I will not!" Or Tyrannus dragging/manhandling Octavius into the Vestral Temple and demanding the woman read Caser's will. A gladiator/bodyguard does not always make the most patient babysitter. yea Tyrannus is cool I liked the scene where Octavian calls Tyrannus a slave and gets called "your highness" and a bunch of other "royal" titles with his face in the dirt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 It was the daughter of Senator Cimba, the Senator to strike the first blow at Caesar. Don't know if it was supposed to be Livia. Didn't catch her name. I was distracted by how she looked .... I really dislike the portrayel of Augustus. I can almost forgive this so-called plot of turning Caesar into the ancient world's Lenin. But I just can't picture Augustus as a naive, idiotic little boy who is more apt at bedding Senator's daughters than in assessing the current political situation. Still, I love the look of it all, I think they captured the feel of Rome. I like the fact that Roman paganism wasn't completely sneered at. I'm not going to complain too much about mindless fight scenes, because they're cool. All in all, it's not bad for network TV. But like PP said I have higher hopes for BBC-HBO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longbow Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Im going to try and find a download of it somewhere,i hate missing stuff like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost_Warrior Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Something like this may later come out on video. They do that sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowser Posted June 30, 2005 Report Share Posted June 30, 2005 there is absolutely no evidence that he was ill treated or discouraged by the dictator (as portrayed in the show). That part did take me by surprise, more so than the fictional Tyrannus. At least with Tyrannus he was shown only once publicly Caesar and never with Ocativan, implying that he was just one of those many background characters that history never records. So his existence, though not likely, is not entirely implausible. After mulling over the "he despises me" from Octavius, I wonder if it was Ceaser's way of deflecting public attention alway from Octavius so others would not see him as a threat. I think in history people were surprised to learn that Octavius was Ceaser's heir after the funeral, so maybe this was the writers' attempt to bring that point across? As others said, the whole pageantry is wonderful and really makes you feel that you are at Rome in the cusp of their greatness. I really look forward to Tuesday for the rest of July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeke Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Well when is EMPIRE going to be on again? I missed the first show. lol Zeke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost_Warrior Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Tuesday, ABC, 9:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jgrtmp@ij.net Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 You cant judge the authenticiy by uniforms.Gaius Marius(Julius's uncle)was the reformer of the Roman militia.This time frame is in the midst of the next generation militia-The Legion.The uniforms with the pony tails atop the helmets are from the old militia(Hastati),so they are personal bodyguards & mercinaries.From there the military had the Auxilia & then the Cohort.Marcus Antonius has the Legionary Cohort-the pride of Rome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HannibalthePrinceoftheWorld Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Did anyone else notice that when Caesar walked into the senate right before he was assassinated the there was a statue of Augustus by the entrance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HannibalthePrinceoftheWorld Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 I really believe they didn't portray Augustus rightly. I don't believe that he was such an idiot. I mean how he acts as though he is not the heir to the throne, so to speak, even when so many people disagree with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted July 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Did anyone else notice that when Caesar walked into the senate right before he was assassinated the there was a statue of Augustus by the entrance? No, I completely missed that... Are you sure it was an Augustan statue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 I thought it was supposed to be the statue of Pompeii before which he famously fell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted July 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Ahh indeed, if that was the case, then it was en excellent recreation of history.. considering that Pompey's theatre was indeed the temporary Senate meeting place. I figured he meant the traditional Augustan statue with one arm raised... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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