BBC Ancient Rome: New Docudrama's

[spittle]

The choice of events to depict was a success. We'll all have Emperors or Senators or citizens that we personally wished had been chosen for the film treatment but, generally speaking, I thought NERO, CAESAR, T.GRACCHUS, VESPASIAN/TITAN, CONSTANTINE and (obvious conclusion) FALL OF ROME was a good combination of historical events and characters.

 

But rather than one hour being devoted to six different stories I would have much preferred that one story had six hour long episodes devoted entirely to it. That way the film makers could have tackled the complex relationships that surround and influence any of the charcters they have tried to display to us in less than an hour.

Edited October 20, 2006 by spittle

[Pertinax]

Final episode tonight - let us hope for a glimmer of quality.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

I've just returned from working/drinking away from home, i've been to a lovely little scottish town called Jedburgh for a week then across to N Ireland for another week so have been far too busy checking out the local sights and taverns to stay in and watch the notorious Ancient Rome, and from what i've just read it dosn't appear i missed much.

 

I suppose i'll watch tonight's effort seen as though it's the last one, fingers crossed they might even finish the series with a bang!

[Pertinax]

Oh NO-the nice inclusive neo-liberal Goths just want to be loved and cuddled , but the bad Romans are rude to them so they have to burn Rome . The End. This series makes the Poseidon Adventure look smart.

[DecimusCaesar]

Well that's the end of that then. I didn't see all of the episode (only the second half of it) but the quality has really gotten worse even since the last episode with it's montage of scenes from across the series. The ambushing of the Goths by the Romans also looked very cheap.

 

I wasn't surprised that the Goths sack of Rome was played down, many modern books that i have read on the subject often try to portray them as peaceful people and they say, 'well at least they kept the bloodshed down to a minimum and that they only caused a few fires'. I notice that the historical consultant for this episode was Peter Heather the writer of 'The Fall of The Roman Empire'. This goes to show that it is the BBC who is responsible for downplaying the history in favour of entertainment. Incidentally they have missed both with this episode.

[The Augusta]

Oh NO-the nice inclusive neo-liberal Goths just want to be loved and cuddled , but the bad Romans are rude to them so they have to burn Rome . The End. This series makes the Poseidon Adventure look smart.

 

Ah - where ignorance is bliss.... Now, you see, because I know next to nothing about the actual fall of the Empire beyond the odd name and date, I actually found myself quite enjoying this! I was actually rooting for old Alaric, and even felt sorry for Honorius, caught up in the whole inevitability of things. It did make me want to learn more about the period, so on that extremely basic level, it succeeded for me.

 

However.... (there's always a however)...... Pertinax has summed up exactly what I was thinking. I was going to post immediately after the episode to see if any of our late empire experts would testify to the authenticity/accuracy of the events and people portrayed. I did wonder, as I watched, whether Alaric and his Goths were quite so noble a race as they seemed to be here, and whether Honorius was correctly portrayed. Judging by the comments I have read, it would seem I was wise to question the presentation.

 

But I certainly will look into the late empire more now - so that's a small point in favour of the entire series.... a very, very small point.

[DecimusCaesar]

You have a point there Augusta, this series has kindled the intrest of a few people who previously did not know or care about Ancient history or Rome. If the series has gotten more people interested in the era and got them willing to go study the subject further then the series couldn't have been that bad. There have been worse or more inaccurate things that have gotten people interested in Rome, so this series might not have been such a bad starting point. It did follow the lives of some characters with at least some degree of accuracy and the different costumes and sets helped put across the idea that Rome was constantly changing. There have been a lot of bad/inaccurate/cheap documentaries about Ancient Rome, this series might not have been the best but there have certainly been worse.

Then again not every one who had no intrest in Rome found it any good, as this comment I found on the Roman Army Website, which is quoted from the Radio Times magazine:

 

"Rome was entertaining and, yes, educational, but the BBC just had to succumb to the history geeks who accused it of 'dumbing down... The result was Ancient Rome: the Rise and Fall of an Empire (Thursdays BBC1) which has proved what every schoolchild knows: plain history is boring. Don't listen to the geeks again!"

 

It would seem that from now on the BBC should produce even more inaccurate documentaries to entertain people rather than inform them...

 

 

As for Alaric, his portrayl was inaccurate, he wasn't trying to lead the Goths to a 'new and better homeland' so much as wanting to be given a place in the court of Honorius, he was a warrior leader and his concern was pay and service in the military for his men. When he was refused he lead an army to attack Rome. According to which book your reading, one will say that Alaric looted and destroyed Rome for three days, others say he kept the damage down to a minimum leaving only a few buildings damaged, although he did strip the city of it's wealth.

[Aphrodite]

I never get to watch this as my housemates have no interest in history... i made them sit through a documentary on churchills involvement in the war in greece once and they weren't too happy lol....

 

Its america's next top model, will and grace, freinds and corination street all the way in our house!

 

Oh well, i read history all day long, write it all night long so TV is a form of light entertainment for me. I can buy the DVD when i'm working and missing my historicalness!