Ciaran Hinds, Kevin McKidd and Lindsay Duncan head a cast of top British acting talent in Rome, the BBC/HBO blockbuster epic drama series that chronicles the rise of the ancient Roman Empire through the eyes of two foot soldiers.
Ciaran Hinds stars as Gaius Julius Caesar, the battle-weary commander of Rome's conquering army in Gaul and Kevin KcKidd is Lucius Vorenus, one of the two foot soldiers around whom the drama unfolds.
Ray Stevenson is the headstrong legionary Titus Pullo, Vorenus's battlefield cohort; James Purefoy is Mark Antony, one of Caesar's powerful political allies; Lindsay Duncan is Servilia, the lover of Caesar and mother of Brutus; Polly Walker is the powerful, manipulative and sexy Atia, Caesar's niece; Kerry Condon is Octavia, the daughter of Atia, who is forced to choose duty over love; Ben Whishaw is Gaius Octavian, who becomes the first Emperor of Rome and Indira Varma is Niobe, Vorenus's stunningly beautiful wife.
Rome is a co-production between the BBC and HBO.
The 12-part series begins shooting in Rome this month, with Michael Apted directing the first three episodes.
Production will be based at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, where a five-acre set is currently being built.
Additional location filming will take place throughout Europe and North Africa.
The lead writer is English screen-writer Bruno Heller, who is also an executive producer on the drama.
Adrian Hodges (Charles II, The Power And The Passion) is a co-writer.
The project is a cross-genre collaboration for the BBC, with Jonathan Stamp, an executive producer for history and archaeology, as a consultant on the series.
Stamp's recently acclaimed programme Colosseum, has been nominated for a Bafta.
Jana Bennett, BBC Director of Television, says: "This is one of the most ambitious drama projects I have come across and its epic scale is inspiring. We have not attempted to bring the ancient world to life since the seminal series I, Claudius, so this one was too hard to resist.
"Forging such a strong creative partnership with HBO, one of the world's most respected drama producers, is part of the BBC's role as both a catalyst and an enabler for exciting new projects.
"Audiences around the world can look forward to a landmark piece of great television."
Gareth Neame, Head of Drama Commissioning, says: "We are delighted to be working with celebrated director Michael Apted on this landmark series and we're impressed with the high-calibre line up of British acting talent that Michael is assembling, alongside British writers such as Bruno Heller and Adrian Hodges."
The first series of 12 episodes is planned to be broadcast on the BBC in the UK and on HBO in 2005.
Rome, the saga of two ordinary Roman soldiers and their families, looks at the birth of the Roman Empire through the eyes of ordinary citizens, as well as famous historical figures such as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Rome's first Emperor, Octavian.
It is an intimate drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives, and portrays a fascinating and influential period of history - the birth of a modern society as we know it today - and brings the audience vividly into everyday Roman life.
Chris Albrecht, Chairman and CEO of HBO, says: "This intriguing saga of ancient Rome is both a fascinating historical epic that offers insights into the foundations of the modern world, and a story of timeless passions with contemporary resonance."
"Like HBO," he added, "the BBC has a strong tradition of success in projects of this massive scope. Our unprecedented partnership on this exciting series will result in memorable entertainment."
Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, says: "We've been developing this project with HBO for some time and we're delighted that Rome has now come to fruition as our first co-production.
"Rome is a powerful story and, alongside The Lost Prince, State of Play, Canterbury Tales, Charles II, Hustle and Gunpowder, Treason And Plot, is another example of our ambition to create the boldest, most original and engaging events on television."
The series begins in 52 BC, as Gaius Julius Caesar has completed his masterful conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and is preparing to return to Rome.
He heads home with thousands of battle-hardened men and a populist agenda for radical social change.
Terrified, the aristocracy threatens to prosecute Caesar for war crimes as soon as he sets foot in Rome.
Caesar's old friend and mentor, Pompey Magnus, attempts to foment mutiny in order to maintain the balance of power.
Two of Caesar's soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, thwart Pompey's plan.
Their fates become entwined with those of Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and the boy Octavian, a strange and awkward child who, by political guile and bloody force, will become the first Emperor of Rome.
Rome is the first series co-production between the BBC and HBO, who previously co-produced the acclaimed serial Band Of Brothers, which won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries.
It is executive produced by Bruno Heller, William J MacDonald, John Milius and Anne Thomopoulos for HBO, and Gareth Neame, BBC Head of Drama Commissioning, for the BBC.
The co-executive producer is Frank Doelger; the producer is Marco Pugini; co-producers are Robert Papazian and James Hirsch.
Additional writers of Rome will be Alexandra Cunningham, David Frankel, John Milius and William J MacDonald.
Production Team and Cast
Director (3 Episodes) - Michael Apted [Heaven's Prisoner's/Blink (2004), Enigma (2002)]Writers - John Milius, Paolo Tiberti, Alexandra Cunningham, David Frankel, Adrian Hodges, William J. MacDonald
Character - Actor - Partial Credits.
Gaius Julius Caesar - Ciaran Hinds [Phantom of the Opera (2003), Sum of All Fears (2002), Mary Reilly (1996)]
Lucius Vorenus (one main character, a soldier) - Kevin McKidd [Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Max (2002), Dog Soldiers (2002)]
Titus Pullo (one main character, a soldier) - Ray Stevenson [King Arthur (2004)]
Servilia (Caesar's lover, and mother of Brutus) - Lindsay Duncan [Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Marc Antony - James Purefoy [Blessed (2004), Resident Evil (2002)]
Atia (Caesar's Niece) - Polly Walker [Eye See You (2002)]
Octavia (Atia's daughter) - Kerry Condon [Ned Kelly (2004)]
Octavian (Atia's husband) - Aaron Johnson [Shanghai Knights (2003)]
Gaius Octavian (the eventual Augustus) - Max Pirkis
Niobe (Vorenus' wife) - Indira Varma [Bride and Prejudice (2005)]
Marcus Junius Brutus - Tobias Menzies
Marcus Porcius Cato - Karl Johnson
Marcus Tullius Cicero - David Bamber
Gnaus Pompey Magnus - Kenneth Cranham
Episode Guide
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Review - Rome: The Complete First Season (2005)
Review by Ursus
Hollywood was never particularly kind to Ancient Rome. A generation or two ago, it was depicted as the tyrannical Evil Empire whose amoral paganism provided the antagonistic foil to Judeo-Christian values. In contemporary times Hollywood has abandoned any moral pretense and instead inflicts soulless hype such as “Gladiator” upon its audience. O tempora! O mores! Where can one find an intelligent and objective assessment of Rome? Perhaps the HBO-BBC production of “Rome” is not a total panacea to the Romanophile’s quest for cinematic excellence, but it nonetheless strikes closer to the mark than anything else.
The age of the Late Republic is the perfect setting for grand drama. An era of violent transition, filled with characters larger than life and yet undeniably real. A time about which we know remarkably much thanks to the writings of Cicero and his contemporaries. It is an epoch that captures the imagination of both serious Romanophiles and casual students of history. Who has not heard of Caesar, Cleopatra and Marc Antony? Who has not heard of Caesar lying dead and bloodied at the base of Pompei’s statue, surrounded by dagger wielding Senators? Had it not happened we would all think it an amazing if improbable story. And yet it did happen. Living, breathing history. The pivotal moment for the foundation culture of Western Civilization. The scope of such a spectacle is surely beyond the qualities of a few actors and cameramen to capture. Yet “Rome” somehow visualizes the grand sweep of history and rarely loses sight of it.
The best parts of the English speaking world come together for this enterprise. A series underpinned by American production values and British acting cannot go far wrong. The production and acting, in fact, are marvelous with few exceptions. The city itself takes center stage. Far from being the beacon of marble edifices left by Augustus and his successors, this is a Rome of earlier times. Lurid, grimy, organic, and surrounded by graffiti covered walls - yet with a haunting austerity cognizant of its worldly weight. Within such a framework the characters live and die. Whether simple Plebians living banal domestic lives or world shaking Patricians, the brilliant cast largely do justice to the majesty and mayhem of the Roman citizenry. This is serious acting without being a pretentious Shakespearean festival. Throw in a dash of Italian pastoral scenery for emphasis, and one already has a nice beginning to this epic.
What truly differentiates “Rome” from its predecessors is its attitude. How alike and different Romans are to moderns! This sweet contradiction has invited much judgement, most of it skewed and slanted to biased agendas. “Rome” has finally realized the secret of our pre-Christian ancestors: religion had little to do with morality, and morality had little to do with altruism. Instead there is a world where glory and honor are held as the highest ideals, and an individual and family’s dignitas is the only social currency that matters. Nudity and sex are treated as natural, and violence a useful tool. Such a world view inspires both grand exploits and stark terrors, but rarely a dull moment. All possible colors of the Roman soul are on display here, and the series captures them without flinching or moralization. Rome is not to be judged, only experienced.
The first season DVD set encompasses six discs, with 12 episodes and bonus commentary. Chronologically the series spans the capture of Vercingetorix to Caesar’s assassination. Highlights include political intrigue at the Senate, a gripping gladiatorial game, Caesar at the Egyptian court, and Caesar’s triumphal procession. An interesting convention is using Rome’s town herald to update the viewer on the latest political news as the series progresses.
To briefly exit the titanic figures of history and ground us in Plebian faire (the Roman everymen), the series uses the convention of two ahistorical characters. Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are soldiers in Caesar's 13th legion (Related Forum Thread: Why They Used The XIII Legion who are caught in the web of politics and war. The former is a centurion and a man of diehard Republican austerity. The latter is an amoral rogue. Both characters are played with relish by their respective actors and have much chemistry with each other. However, one cannot help but feel a certain stereotypical aura to these two mismatched friends, a hackneyed dynamic borne out by virtually every police partner movie ever made...
At times the series may suffer from excess. Octavian and Octavia have an incestuous affair that seems over the top. Octavia and Servilia have a gratuitous lesbian experience. Cleopatra is the ancient equivalent of a crack addict. Attia, Octavian’s mother, is given a poetic license to become the power behind the Julian throne. Vorenus and Pullo have one too may incredible adventures from which they escape unscathed.
At the end of the day, though, “Rome” is the most honest attempt yet to portray the physical and cultural reality of the late Republic. While not perfect, it is somehow greater than the sum of its parts: a spellbinding tour de force. It has raised the standards of the cinematic depiction of Rome for which Romanophiles everywhere should be grateful. One can only hope the second season delivers the promises made by the first.
Buy Series 1 on DVD at Amazon
Review - Rome: The Complete Second Season
Review by Ursus
Bad sex, it is said, is still pretty good, insofar as it is preferable to no sex at all. Unfortunately one cannot say the same thing about bad history. One spends too long in anticipation and preparation; the actual event proceeds rather clumsily; and when the climax (such as it is) finally arrives, one gets the sense it was hardly worth it. I do not mean to suggest that I am UNRV's resident expert on bad sex, but after watching the 2nd season of "Rome" I know a thing or two about bad history. The problem with "Rome" is precisely that its sex is better than its history and left me feeling like a dirty whore for watching it.
I believe that "Rome" helped inaugerate an era of so-called historical dramas that play more like costumed soft porn. Showtime's "The Tudors" seems like a direct response to HBO's "Rome" - even lighter on history and heavier on sex. I can forgive this in "The Tudors" as it never pretended to be anything other than what it is. However, the 1st season of "Rome" amply demonstrated that one could have a sexy drama without totally mutilating history, and it strove to be something grand. In my review of the previous season, I stated that the 1st season was, despite its flaws, the best attempt yet to portray Roman culture. I stand by that review. But I also said the 2nd season had to deliver on the promises of the first. Manifestly it did not, I am afraid.
The 2nd season spans the immediate aftermath of Caesar's assassination to Octavian's post-Actium triumph. Drama and sex there is to be had in plenty. But the show's production costs must have been so enormous that they fired the historical consultants to save money. Some of the more egregious errors include: an Attia of the Julii long outliving her historical counterpart; Servilla of the Junii committing suicide when she actually lived a long life; Octavian marrying Livia with no mention of his previous affairs; Agrippa having a non-historical affair with Octavian's sister; Caesarion escapes murder; and no mention at all of the Triumviri's war with Pompei the Great's pirate son. Most of the religious rituals involved in the show are also from what I can tell complete fantasy.
Historical negligence aside, I can also point to deficiencies within the much vaunted dramatic writing. Take Lucius Vorennus' evolution over the season. In the first season he never seemed to care much about his children beyond the appearance of a stable Roman family, nor did he ever seem to feel that slavery was wicked. Suddenly he is transformed into a loving father who must rescue his children from the vile services of a slave camp, and spend the rest of the season rehabilitating them into family life. At least his children had the grace to spend most of the season begrudging him their mother's death at his hands. I for one do not buy the sudden shift in his character. His children should have been happily written off as murdered or slave fodder, and life could go on.
Vorennus also becomes something of the Godfather of the Aventine, a leader of the underworld gangs. He is propped up by the Second Triumvirate, for they see an organized mafia as more peaceful than a disorganized mafia. I suppose we must also consider that the Triumviri are glorified gangsters themselves in many ways. Indeed, Vorennus's spiritual state seemingly becomes a microcosm of the Republic. As the Republic slides further into civil strife, Vorennus becomes more of an underhanded crook (save for his curiously newfound concern for his children, described above). By the time Octavian reigns as a king in everything but name, our tragic Vorennus is on his deathbed, thus expiring along with the Republic. I am again not convinced of Vorennus' character development in this vein. It seemed forced.
Titus Pullo, having always been something of a rogue, is better able to deal with the death of the Republic. He succeeds handedly as a gangland officer, and no job from the underhanded Triumvirate is too dirty. But one thing I never believed about Pullo is that he would settle down with one woman and start a family. The 2nd season focuses on his failed attempts to do just that, as a jealous and sexy slave woman throws a wrench into his plans. At the end, after much suffering, we have a joyous reunion between him and his bastard son from Cleopatra (the joke being everyone thought it was Caesar's son Caesarion). For the entire series to end on this guffaw is rather disappointing.
I personally would have been happier to see Pullo and Vorennus written out. In the first season they were a way for the average viewer to watch Roman history through the eyes of everyday people. But as the second season descended into non-historical drama, they were merely swept up in the silliness. If eliminating these two characters' plotlines meant the writers would have had more time to focus on historical characters performing actual history, I say they should have died along with Caesar.
There is the strange subplot involving Timon the Jew, who finally rebels against his wicked employment with Attia. Good for him. But the series then spends unnecessary time portraying him as a born again Hebrew, fighting secret wars in Rome for the benefit of Zion. With this the last season and so much Roman history unresolved, was this plot line really necessary? Roman era Jews make for an interesting study, but I felt Timon's story should have been deleted unless there were many successive seasons remaining over which to develop his character.
There is also a marked sub-text conveyed with each episode: female domination and intrigue. Roman women were formally excluded from the political and military leadership of the state. Within domestic life and religious life women had more latitude to exercise authority and prestige, but even there we should not mistake Republican Rome for anything other than the patriarchy it was. Yet the writers of “Rome” seem to portray the fall of the Republic as essentially a power struggle between the matriarchs of rival clans. Attia is the scheming, profane vixen of the Julii who hitches her star first to her uncle Caesar, then becomes bedmate to Antony, and finally yields reluctantly to Octavian’s authority. Servilla is the somewhat more dignified and traditional mistress of the Junii – Brutus’s mother. While she claims to uphold the interests of the Republic from the forces of tyranny, she more eagerly seeks revenge against the Julii for her former lover Caesar’s slight and Attia’s insults. Finally, within the Vorennus/Pullo thread we have a scheming slave mistress who tries to gain power by seducing both of our Roman everymen – even going so far as to poison the latter’s pregnant wife. Having attractive females plot and scheme and sexualize makes for good drama … but it does place a damper on the historical element as we know it. The only midly historical elements in this vein are a few well-played scenes with Livia, who demonstrates she can keep up intellectually with her husband's plots, as well as the entire sub-plot with the unforgettable Cleopatra's bid for power.
This is not say to the season is totally without merit. There is the sex which I mentioned above, which is admittedly hot and frequent. The sets are as gorgeous as ever, spanning the dirty alleys of Rome to Egyptian palaces. The acting from our British cast is generally superb; James Purefoy especially makes for the best cinematic Marc Antony ever.
The addition of new characters are usually well-played. Maecenas and Agrippa are introducued as Octavian's chums and confidants. While I'm not sure what to make of Agrippa the boyscout, the wily but hedonistic Maecenas is truly delightful. Lepidus is portrayed as Aristocratic but ineffectual, with no one really paying much attention to what he says. A young Livia is beautiful and hints at some of her deeper intellectual wiles.
Old supporting characters like Caesar's educated Greek slave Posca do not disappoint; Posca switches loyalties between Octavian and Antony, betrays them both in a scheme with Maecenas, and still finds time to marry an attractive if intellectually vapid woman. Cleopatra is back in all her glory; despite being the ancient equivalent of a crack addict she nonetheless conveys all the sexually charged ambition the original must have possessed.
And finally there is the newsreader, who is as lively and portly as ever, carrying along the plots with his daily announcements.
Nonetheless, in the sum of things, I cannot recommend the second season of "Rome" beyond anything other than a sex-filled costume drama. Watching it is like watching the fall of the Rome itself; tragic, overly belabored and wrong. It did not have to end like this and it should not have. Hot sex is no substitue for history. When history is done right it is better than cheap sex.
Buy Series 2 on DVD at Amazon
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