Articles | Cast |
Rome (2005-2007) is set in the fall of the Roman Republic, from right before Julius Caesar’s march on Rome in 49 BCE, through his assassination and the alliance and then the enmity between Mark Antony and Octavian (the fall of Cleopatra was in 30 BCE). The familiar events are told with a twist, through the eyes of two lower-class men: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. Through them we experience what impact these great events had on more ordinary events – and what impact they, in turn, had on great events. Imitating Forrest Gump, our two heroes sometimes play key roles during these great events, making us wonder how accurate the version of history that has reached us actually is.
The settings are fantastic, the characters driven, and humor lightens the days of despair and gore. Occasionally the dialogue is awkward but the scripts include many wonderful exchanges and the actors are excellent. Some of the battles, too, are amazingly well done.
Even though liberties are taken with events – sometimes to give a humorous twist, sometimes to economize on actors or to squeeze two decades into two seasons – they have a feel of truth. Rome shows what it was like to live in the Subura or on the Capitoline, to face an inglorious death far away from home – or to be murdered on the floor of the Senate. You’ll laugh, cry and learn as you watch Rome and be confronted by truths about humanity that still matter today.
Rome was reviewed by Victoria Grossack.
Season One
1.1 The Stolen Eagle
1.2 How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic
1.3 An Owl in a Thornbush
1.4 Stealing from Saturn
1.5 The Ram Has Touched the Wall
1.6 Egeria
1.7 Pharsalus
1.8 Caesarion
1.9 Utica
1.10 Triumph
1.11 The Spoils
1.12 Kalends of February
Season Two
2.1 Passover
2.2 Son of Hades
2.3 These Being the Words of Marcus Tullius Cicero
2.4 Testudo et Lepus (The Tortoise and the Hare)
2.5 Heroes of the Republic
2.6 Philippi
2.7 Death Mask
2.8 A Necessary Fiction
2.9 Deus Impedito Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)
2.10 De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)
Articles
Roman Empire: Reign of Blood series review by Victoria Grossack
Rome series review by Josie Kafka
Cast
Kevin McKidd (Lucius Vorenus)
Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo)
Polly Walker (Atia of the Julii)
Ciaran Hinds (Julius Caesar)
Kenneth Cranham (Pompey Magnus)
James Purefoy (Mark Antony)
Tobias Menzies (Marcus Junius Brutus)
Lindsay Duncan (Servilia of the Junii)
Indira Varma (Niobe)
Max Pirkis/Simon Woods (Gaius Octavian)
Nicholas Woodson (Posca)
Kerry Condon (Octavia of the Julii)
Rick Warden (Quintus Pompey)
Karl Johnson (Porcius Cato)
David Bamber (Marcus Tullius Cicero)
Lee Boardman (Timon)