Rome

Rome has been sacked. After two seasons HBO has pulled the plug. It was only intended to be a mini-series - 4 shows. But because of the quality of scripts and the viewers, the show was extended. I have quite enjoyed the show, though I have reservations about some of the extremes of HBO representations - sex and violence. The two characters that drove the story were Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). They were soldiers in Caesar's army, but the writers managed to put them in the most amazing places, making them perhaps the biggest movers and shakers in Roman history. Of course, Caesar, Augustus, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Cicero, Brutus, Casius, Cato all got their due. But the writers brought an interesting element into the story when they began to follow the feud between Rome's leading women Servillia, Brutus' mom, and Atia of the Julii, Augustus' mom. Yes HBO put roman women on the map. These two fought a stronger, more spiritual battle then any of the men. Servillia was having an affair with Caesar and long awaited his return from Gaul. Upon that return Servillia and Caesar continued their affair, but Atia wanted a piece of the action. Through a series of events she managed to seduce Caesar. Servillia then cursed Atia, in one of the most eerie scenes I've ever seen on TV. At one point Atia had Servillia tortured. At another point we see Servillia on her knees outside of Atia's house, wearing death robes and ashes, crying "Atia of the Julii I call for justice" for what seems like 48 hours. Quite the scene.

Anyway, I must say, I've enjoyed the show. It has been interesting to watch while reading Cicero, Augustine, Virgil and generally trying to get a grip of the ancient Roman world. I can't say that I trust HBO to represent Rome as it was, but I do think they captured the pagan "ontology of violence" and honour culture well. I also think that they did a pretty good job bringing Roman cults to life. They showed Rome for what it was, a place dominated by worship, where logic walked a lower road then religio, and politics was always rapped up in both. Augustus is portrayed as the preemimant realpolitician of the last 2000 years. Caesar, played by Ciaran Hinds, seems a noble man, rather then a tyrant, with a generous heart. Cicero seems a bit on the queer side, and Brutus is simply, well, Hamlet.

There is a reason why Rome was made now. Rome has been adopted as a analogical setting by the left (as opposed to the right of the sword and sandal flicks) to work out state problems of the same manner that West Wing would tackle. Let's say that Rome is West Wing after Michael Ignatieff's publication of Empire Lite.