Why I Love ROME!

Since its first season, I have been a total genuine fan of HBO's TV Series, Rome. And you don't need to be a history buff to appreciate this TV series. A joint production between HBO and the BBC, 'Rome' was created by John Milius, William Macdonald and Bruno Heller. The series is shot throughout Italy and boasts the largest standing film set in the world, comprising five acres of backlot and six soundstages at the world-famous Cinecittà Studios.

For first timers, the show is about Rome and its citizens, particularly her most popular and even infamous characters. As described in its synopsis, "Half a century before the dawn of Christianity, Rome has become the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of one million people — epicenter of a sprawling empire. Founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, the Republic was created to prevent any one man from seizing absolute control. It is a society where soldiers can rise up from provincial commoners to become national heroes, even leaders of the Republic.


Since its first season, I have been a total genuine fan of HBO's TV Series, Rome. And you don't need to be a history buff to appreciate this TV series. A joint production between HBO and the BBC, 'Rome' was created by John Milius, William Macdonald and Bruno Heller. The series is shot throughout Italy and boasts the largest standing film set in the world, comprising five acres of backlot and six soundstages at the world-famous Cinecittà Studios.

For first timers, the show is about Rome and its citizens, particularly her most popular and even infamous characters. As described in its synopsis, "Half a century before the dawn of Christianity, Rome has become the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of one million people — epicenter of a sprawling empire. Founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, the Republic was created to prevent any one man from seizing absolute control. It is a society where soldiers can rise up from provincial commoners to become national heroes, even leaders of the Republic.

But as the ruling class became extravagantly wealthy, the foundations have crumbled, eaten away by corruption and excess, and the old values of Spartan discipline and social unity have given way to a great chasm between the classes.

A richly layered look at history and the building of an empire, 'Rome' sets the stage for modern politics — infighting, corruption, party lines and the struggle to define collective values. 'Human nature never changes,' says co-creator Bruno Heller. 'We see the same problems today — crime, unemployment, disease, and the struggle for social mobility and the pressure to preserve your place in a precarious society.'"

While watching this TV series, I have always felt as if I was walking through the alleys of the Eternal City herself. This historic drama is both fiction and non-fiction. Along with real characters from history are fictitious characters who add more to the intrigue and political drama that is only uniquely...Roman.

Season 1 depicts Julius Caesar's civil war of 49 BC against the traditionalist conservative faction in the Roman Senate, his subsequent rise to absolute dictatorship over Rome and his eventual fall, spanning the time period from the end of his Gallic Wars (52 BC or 701 ab urbe condita) until his assassination on March 15, 44 BC (the infamous Ides of March). Against the backdrop of these cataclysmic events, we also see the early years of the young Octavian, who is destined to become the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus.

Season 2 chronicles the power struggle between Octavian and Mark Antony following Caesar's assassination, spanning the period from Caesar's death in 44 BC to Octavian's final conquest over Antony at Actium in 30 BC.

Creator Bruno Heller has said that "We try to balance between what people expect from previous portrayals and a naturalistic approach ... This series is much more about how the psychology of the characters affects history than simply following the history as we know it."

Dramatis Personnae
Lucius Vorenus - a soldier in Ceasar's army, loyal and unforgiving. In Season 1, he came home from the wars to find his wife (Niobe) taking care of a baby, her baby from another man. Niobi nonetheless kept this a secret from her wife and told Vorenus that it was not her child but his daughter's instead, Vorena. He was later made Senator by Ceasar himself, but was not around by Julius Ceasar's side during his assasination. By the end of season 1, he found out the betrayal of his wife who killed herself while she was being confronted by her husband. In season 2, Lucius, brought about by the tragedy that befell his family, became a changed man.

Titus Pollo - Lucius fellow soldier and friend, loyal to Lucius, impulsive and courageous. He married Eirene who was Lucius's slave, after he killed Eirene's fiance. After killing Eirene's lover, being banned from the house of his friend, and having left the XIIIth, he is filled with a death wish and only his love of the legion can snap him out of it. Later on down the line, roles are reversed when Vorenus becomes listless with grief then irrational with anger, and Pullo must take on the more responsible elder brother role in order to care for and protect his closest friend.

Pollo and Vorenus are historical figures mentioned briefly in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. However, their adventures in the TV series are fictionalized.

Julius Caesar - Rome wouldn't be Rome without the Caesars, especially this Ceasar, Gaius Julius Caesar. At the beginning of the series, Caesar is shown as an energetic, dominating Roman general who is more inclined to take risks rather than accept failure. His rivalry with Pompey comes to the forefront following the death of his daughter, Julia, Pompey's fourth wife. This leads the two down the long road to war, eventually ending with Pompey's death and also Caesar's. Caesar is married to Calpurnia, but is rumored to be Servillia's lover. Atia of the Julii is his influential niece.

Atia of the Julii - The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia, she is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator. Her family connections and sexual liaisons have brought her into contact with some of the most powerful individuals in Rome, making her a highly influential figure in Roman society. Atia is very loosely based on the historical personage of Atia Balba Caesonia about whom little detail is known. In series 1, she is depicted to be Mark Anthony's lover, who later on in Season 2 betrayed her for Cleopatra.

Mark Anthony - Arrogant and impulsive, he is impatient with political niceties beyond rousing a mob or charging full tilt at an enemy. Elected as tribune by Caesar's influence, Antony becomes Caesar's main political representative in Rome during the crucial period leading up to the Crossing of the Rubicon. When a measure is passed in the senate to require Caesar to abandon his army and his imperium, which would leave him open to prosecution for treason by his political enemies, Antony attempts to veto it. However, a brawl breaks out and Antony's veto is not noted. Antony, guarded by members of the Legio XIII including Pullo and Vorenus, attempts to return to the senate to veto the measure, but is prevented from doing so when Pullo is attacked by a member of the Pompeian gang surrounding the senate.

Fleeing to Las Animas, Antony joins Caesar in his march on Rome. When Caesar leaves Rome to pursue the Optimates to Greece, Antony remains behind with the XIII, much to his chagrin.

When the war in Greece turns against Caesar, he sends for Antony. Antony considers ignoring the summons, and is urged to do so both by Pompey's emissaries and by Atia, who also proposes that the two marry. Antony rejects both the proposition and the proposal, and proceeds to Greece in time to be present for the Battle of Pharsalus.After the Battle, Antony returns to Rome and continues to run it in Caesar's absence. He seems to be effective in this, intimidating Cicero into abandoning his attempts to plot against Caesar. He also reestablishes his relationship with Atia after previously spurning her. At the time of Caesar's assassination, Antony is distracted (as part of the assassins' plan, Season Two reveals). Upon seeing Caesar's corpse, Antony appears genuinely grief-stricken, and backs out of the Senate without speaking

Marcus Junius Brutus - the popular Brutus who gave Caesar the final blow. Brutus appears to lack all interest in politics at the beginning of the series, referring to it as "dull stuff" but his mother's ideals of what is expected of the family normally is the motive for him choosing the right path of the republic. However, he appears to have some of his own ideals of what is right and wrong, especially when he chooses to follow Pompey in the civil war despite his closeness to Caesar and his mother's choice to remain in Rome. Although later in the series when Caesar attempts to send him from Rome, Brutus says that had Caesar asked him for his allegiance "I would have deemed you insane, but I would have given you my allegiance because I look on you as my father." Brutus normally finds himself torn between his duty to his family and his love for Caesar.

Brutus's guilt continues to plague him throughout part of the second season when he begins descending into drunkeness. While in his stupor, Brutus continuously earns the ridicule of others when he tries to explain his part in Caesar's death. Brutus eventually seems to wash away his guilt of killing Caesar by bathing naked in a river and from then on seems less worried about his actions. After raising a considerable army with Cassius, Brutus's spirits rise considerably as they march back to Rome.

Servilia of the Junii - Brutus' mother and Caesar's lover. An elegant, refined and proper patrician lady, Servilia initially follows her heart and her love for Caesar, rather than the political ideals held by her son Brutus. It is a choice that costs her dearly when Caesar — for political reasons set in motion by social rival Atia — rejects her. Servilia's anger, pain and desire for vengeance unleash a dark side which proves her to be as cunning and malevolent a manipulator as Atia herself. Blindly loyal to the Roman Republic and now relieved of all sentiment for Caesar, Servilia doesn't hesitate in offering up her son to be used as a political tool against those who would threaten the Republic. She soon becomes the driving force behind the plot (with Pompey, Cassius and Brutus) to assassinate the dictator Caesar.

Gaius Octavian - son of Atia and favoured son of Julius Caesar. At the beginning of the series Rome, Octavian is mere adolescent and his mother has him travel across a barren land with only a few slaves to take a white horse (brought to Rome by Timon), as a gift, to his great-uncle. However, along the way his slaves are killed and he is kidnapped by some of Pompey's men. He is rescued by Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus and with them, they recover the golden eagle from Pompey's men and return it to Octavian's great-uncle, Julius Caesar. Caesar is extremely impressed with the young boy's strength, intelligence and common beliefs about the Plebeians. When Caeser's will is read shortly after his assassination it is revealed that he made Octavian his heir and adopted him as his son. Octavian then convinces Mark Antony to stay in Rome in order to stop Brutus and the other assassins from gaining power. However, after Brutus and the others flee Rome, Mark Antony refuses to transfer control of Caesar's money from Caesar's name to Octavian's. In retaliation against Antony and his mother, Octavian promises the plebeians the money that Caesar promised in the will. When Antony and Atia find out, he is attacked violently by Antony. Octavian is disgusted with his mother's choice of siding with Antony against him, and he runs away from home, taking all his belongings and a few soldiers. He travels south to Campania to stay with his friend Marcus Agrippa, who is well established there. Season 2 is entirely all about Octavian's rise to power.

Octavia of the Julii - Octavia is the only daughter and elder child of Atia of the Julii, who is the niece of Gaius Julius Caesar. Octavia, alongside her mother, raised her younger brother Gaius Octavian, with whom she has a fairly strong relationship. She was originally in an arranged marriage with Glabius, and despite difficulties they grew to love each other; however, upon the death of their cousin Julia, Atia is asked by Caesar to find another girl in their family to marry Pompey Magnus. Octavia is even offered up for pre-marital relations with Pompey by Atia, only to be rejected for another woman called Cornelia following Pompey's attempt to turn the people and the Legio XIII Gemina against Caesar by stealing their standard and kidnapping Octavian in the process. Octavia continues to visit her ex-husband behind her mother's back until Atia decides to deal with it by killing him and blaming it on the fact that many nobles allied with the Julii have been killed. While Octavia suspects her mother, she lets it rest when her brother assures her that it is unlikely. Following Caesar's defeat in Greece, Atia sends Octavia to ask help from Servilia, Caesar's ex-lover, who at first appears to feel sorry for Octavia being used by her mother in such a way. When Servilia receives news that Caesar has won and Servilia fears that her son Brutus is dead, Octavia shows her pity and they end up becoming lovers.

In season 2, Octavia falls in love with her brother's friend, Marcus Agrippa and despite her arranged marriage with Mark Anthony, she still continued her affairs with Agrippa.

Other characters of note are: Cleopatra, who had a son with Julius Caesar, Caesarion, who in season 2 was being hunted by Octavian; Jocasta, Octavia's friend; Gaia, who appears in season 2, became Pollos's lover; Lyde, Niobe's sister and Vorenus' sister-in-law, her husband had an affair with Niobe in season 1.

I love this TV series! Definitely a classic, a keeper. It used to be that in my house, I am the only one interested with this. Now, both my wife and I are glued to this TV series. After you watch the series, read yoru history books immediately so you can fully understand the context of the events.