Philippi (Episode 18)

[Julia C]

Well, the episode wasn't entirely devoted to historical events but it didn't go too badly. The Jewish angle is still puzzling, since Judea isn't even a province yet--but it was interesting that they mentioned Herod. He'll be put in charge of Judea in a few years, after all.

 

We did get to see a real battle this time, more or less. It's an improvement over Pharsalus.

[Ursus]

So what is the bottom line? Is the series still salvageable?

[Primus Pilus]

So what is the bottom line? Is the series still salvageable?

 

Salvageable yes, but not nearly as captivating as season 1.

 

Philippi was fine and the death of Brutus interestingly conveyed. The tie in to the manner of Caesar's death was a nice artistic touch despite it's relative inaccuracy.

 

James Purefoy as Antony continues to impress me. During Philippi I took his comment to Octavian that he had no idea who was winning that battle as more of a slight towards Octavian's inexperience rather than any sort of commentary against Antony's abilities. Though his decision to follow that up by charging into the battle leaving continued to give the sense of his brashness. I was slightly disappointed that the writers didn't work Octavian's near total defeat at 1st Philippi into the script, but the need for simplification and brevity is understood.

 

The death of Cicero.. while I was heartened to see Cicero show a sense of Roman honor in accepting his fate, the behavior of Pullo as the goofy and friendly assassin was just plain stupid.

 

Like Julia, I am confused by the Jewish angle of Timon and his brother (that certainly was a sudden shift for Timon). This is an indication to me that despite what the network may be planning, the writers appear to be looking beyond season 2. Otherwise, what possible bearing could this plot line have on the circumstances of the current time. I have a feeling that the show is going to work the Christian angle in (the brothers working against the Jewish aristocracy in the temple is reminiscent of Jesus expelling the money traders). I'll be fine with an episode heavily dedicated to Jesus, Pilatus, etc., but I hope such an angle doesn't become overwhelmingly prominent in the future.

[Julius Ratus]

I am still happy with the series. Here is a question that I had on the last episode but never asked, whats the deal with the hand sign Vorena makes at the end of the episode? Does she listen to Metal now to anger her father?

 

Thanks to Rome for Phillipi. I was greatly disappointed after Pharsalus. This battle wasn't half bad, for an hour lengthed show. Now if only they could have cut out the crying about being pregnant part and added more killing.

 

Likewise, I wonder where the Timon the Zealot thing is going. Future Sicarii maybe?

[Jasminia]

I am still happy with the series. Here is a question that I had on the last episode but never asked, whats the deal with the hand sign Vorena makes at the end of the episode? Does she listen to Metal now to anger her father?

 

Thanks to Rome for Phillipi. I was greatly disappointed after Pharsalus. This battle wasn't half bad, for an hour lengthed show. Now if only they could have cut out the crying about being pregnant part and added more killing.

 

Likewise, I wonder where the Timon the Zealot thing is going. Future Sicarii maybe?

Vorena the Elder was making "the horns" -- it's a curse.

[Julia C]

I'll be fine with an episode heavily dedicated to Jesus, Pilatus, etc., but I hope such an angle doesn't become overwhelmingly prominent in the future.

 

I wouldn't mind that either, if only because it'd need at least another season to even get to Jesus's birth much less anything else about him. The dynamics of the Augustan imperial family is the sort of place where the show's soapiness would fit in perfectly. A sort of modern I, Claudius I guess.

[M. Porcius Cato]

I have to say I was more disappointed in this episode than any previous one.

 

If ever there were an episode that could have served as a climax to the series, this was it: the anger of Antony and Octavian and their proscriptions, the courage of Cicero and his final efforts on behalf of a republic he'd saved at least once before, the hopes of Brutus and Cassius resting on an army that included the sons of Hortensius, Bibulus, Ahenobarbus, Lucullus, Livius Drusus, Cicero, and Cato. It was the final showdown between the Free State and the New Order.

 

Yet, the episode provided nothing but anti-climax. The vast list of the proscribed was depicted as a few names scribbled on a wax tablet (with Atia tossing in a name to put a tradesman's daughter in her place). Cicero's final hours were depicted as mere chit-chat with the jovial and lovable Pullo. The vast armies--greater in size than any previously assembled in the Roman world--joined battle in a pell-mell so undisciplined it would have ashamed the Gauls.

 

I admit I wasn't expecting anything like Lucan's Pharsalia ("Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni") or something from Horace (who was also at Philippi, fighting for the republicans), but this episode wasn't even up to "How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic".

 

Of course, I'm still going to watch next week. I wonder if we'll get to meet little Livia, cowering in Perusia as her family is butchered by her future husband.

[Primus Pilus]

Cicero's final hours were depicted as mere chit-chat with the jovial and lovable Pullo.

 

The Pullo/Cicero scene was nothing short of ridiculous, though it at least showed the intestinal fortitude of Cicero in the end.

[M. Porcius Cato]

Cicero's final hours were depicted as mere chit-chat with the jovial and lovable Pullo.

The Pullo/Cicero scene was nothing short of ridiculous, though it at least showed the intestinal fortitude of Cicero in the end.

 

As far as I can tell, the creators of Rome have set themselves two goals that are bound to conflict and create a number of needless problems.

 

The first goal has been to depict incredibly important historical events through the eyes of Pullo and Vorenus (i.e., a sort of worm's eye view of Rome). That, by itself, is a great idea since it gives us a perspective that's lacking in our source materials and helps the audience relate to the ancient world.

 

The second goal has been to have Pullo and Vorenus participate in as much as possible so we can get a glimpse of the main events of the period. This is where things take a turn for the worse.

 

The problem is that much of what occurred during the civil wars wasn't pretty (murdering Cicero, for example), and for the writers to keep Pullo and Vorenus likable, they have to downplay how awful these events were, which they do at the risk of trivializing the events themselves. Thus, the writers have put themselves in a no-win situation: either they convey that the events are themselves trivial (and thus uninteresting) or they convey that their protagonists are unlikable (and thus unwatchable).

 

The authors largely avoided this in the first season by having Pullo and Vorenus serve as foils to each other. Thus, the audience could participate in the "strict Catonian" Vorenus' horror at crossing the Rubicon, but also participate in Pullo's jovial irreverence regarding the unbearably austere dictates of the Roman order. Unfortunately, as the civil conflicts grew in intensity, the conflict between Pullo and Vorenus was bound to grow as well, but the writers had this conflict climax and resolve far too soon in the first season and it's been a nearly listless careening for the two characters (and the whole series) ever since. Dramatically speaking, all of the conflicts of the series should have climaxed at Philippi, which would have set us up perfectly for the rest of this season and for more seasons to come.

[Primus Pilus]

The more I think of it, the more bothered I am by the death of Brutus. While I did find the way it was done to be both artistic and even redeeming for the courage of Brutus, the aftermath failed to show the reverence that even Antony held for him.

 

Plutarch Life of Brutus:

When Antony found Brutus lying dead, he ordered the body to be wrapped in the most costly of his own robes and afterwards, on hearing that the robe had been stolen, put the thief to death. The ashes of Brutus he sent home to his mother Servilia.

 

Appian Civil Wars Book 4:

Antony found the body of Brutus, wrapped in the best purple garment, burned it, and sent the ashes to his mother, Servilia,

 

However, what is interesting to me, despite the inaccuracy of Brutus' death and the scavenger cutting off his finger, this sort of symbolism may be a bit more redeeming than at first realized. The theft of Brutus' signet ring symbolizes the ironic death of the Republic as the ring itself was a symbol of the birth of the Republic after the Tarquin expulsion by the Brutii. Once I stopped to consider the details, I am rather impressed with the writers on this subtle yet powerful message.

[theilian]

MPC, your critique of the series is the best I've read so far. I totally agree with you.

[Skarr]

The portrayal of Antony is seen as too "one dimensional" in my opinion, compared to the real Antony, who was a complex man, showing many facets, from utter boorishness to something almost noble, when you read about how he treated Brutus' corpse (as PP points out). Antony even learned rhetoric while he was in Greece and was quite a good orator, contrary to popular thinking, which is that he could not deliver a speech well, like Octavian Caesar.

 

I'm also not pleased that they have not brought Fulvia into the series. Possibly, this is because Atia will have to disappear and she may have already been contracted for two seasons.

 

Cicero's hands were nailed as well as his tongue, which was transfixed by Fulvia's golden hairpins. Later, the martial Fulvia even raises legions in Antony's absence, while he is cavorting with Cleopatra in Egypt.

 

Maybe Atia will do this, as she seems to be fulfilling the role of Fulvia.

 

I wonder where the second season will end ... battle of Actium possibly?

[M. Porcius Cato]

PP and others have been right to point out the honors done to Brutus by Antony. It's possible to take two different views on these honors.

 

First, one can view them as analogous to Caesar's conspicuous--and probably feigned--grief at the suicide of Cato ("I begrudge you your death, Cato, for you begrudged me the saving of your life"). In this view, it was to Antony's interest to feign grief at Brutus' death insofar as it would help Antony with republican survivors and sympathizers.

 

Second, one can view them as sincere--even reciprocated--feelings between true adversaries. In this view, Antony's calling Brutus the 'noblest of Romans' (at least in Shakespeare) shouldn't be viewed as the epitome of irony that it normally is.

 

A few observations support the second interpretation. First, purely as a strategic matter, an accommodation between the republican and Caesarian causes was desirable: the republicans had domination of the East, whereas the Caesarians had domination of the West. Thus, there was certainly a motive to overcome prior enmity by finding virtues in the other side. Second, it's also important to recall that Brutus simply did not share Cicero's enmity toward Antony (see esp. Ad Brutum, 15 and 16), nor were Antony's policies as consul in any way directed against the Liberators, whereas Octavian's most certainly were. Indeed, Brutus, for his part, was said by Plutarch (Brutus 29) to have claimed that Antony himself might have been numbered among Cato, Brutus, and Cassius had he not been seduced by Octavian. Finally, there is the evidence from the republicans (including the fanatical Catonian Favonius) who survived Philippi: having been defeated, they hailed Antony as imperator but reviled Octavian, and those not put to the death by Octavian either joined with Antony or joined with the last remnants of the republican cause--Murcus, Ahenobarbus, and Sex. Pompeius.

 

Thus, there are some sound reasons to think that Antony might have had some sincere appreciation of Brutus.

[The Augusta]

PP and others have been right to point out the honors done to Brutus by Antony. It's possible to take two different views on these honors.

 

First, one can view them as analogous to Caesar's conspicuous--and probably feigned--grief at the suicide of Cato ("I begrudge you your death, Cato, for you begrudged me the saving of your life"). In this view, it was to Antony's interest to feign grief at Brutus' death insofar as it would help Antony with republican survivors and sympathizers.

 

Cato - can you remember where in the sources it was mentioned that Antony's treatment of Brutus' corpse was in emulation of Alexander's treatment of Darius III? It was something that stirred in my memory when reading your post, but I had a quick dip into the usual suspects and could not find the reference. If Antony did consciously emulate Alexander's action with Darius, I suppose it would add to the view of his hypocritical motives. However, even though I am not Antony's biggest supporter, on a purely personal level, I tend to believe that he did treat the corpse with reverence out of genuine respect.

[antonius]

I am still happy with the series. Here is a question that I had on the last episode but never asked, whats the deal with the hand sign Vorena makes at the end of the episode? Does she listen to Metal now to anger her father?

 

 

Can't believe how many people don't know this (and this is no offense to you, so please, take none).

I've seen this question on several bulletin boards, and can only assume none of the posters have been to Italy, or have never met Italians, either in Italy proper or anywhere else.

The "horns" are a curse/good luck symbol, still used in Italy to this day.

It's meaning can vary widly, from cursing someone to hell, or good luck, to its most used present day meaning in Italy, referring to one who is cuckoled- "sei un cornuto" (you are a horned one).

You see the "horns" (le corna) all over Italy, plastered on cars, key-chains, necklaces, etc.

 

Hope this helped

saluti