In this British historical drama, the turbulent transition from the Roman Republic to the autocratic empire, which changed world history through civil wars and wars of conquest, is outlined both from the aristocratic point of view of Julius Caesar (Ciarán Hinds), his family, his confrontation against Pompey Magnus (Kenneth Cranham), his adopted successor Gaius Octavian Augustus (Max Pirkis), his ally Mark Antony (James Purefoy) and political adversaries, and from the politically popular point of view of a few ordinary Romans , in particular the soldiers Lucio Voreno and Tito Pullo and their families. The main characters, Lucius Vorenus (Ray Stevenson) and Titus Pullo (Kevin McKidd), are named after real-life historical figures. They are mentioned in Caesar's Gallic Wars as two close associates with disputes between them over each other's bravery and over who will be promoted to Primus Pilus. They are referred to as explicitly brave when Marcus Tullius Cicero's brother was besieged. Then Caesar's love affairs with Cleopatra take place. When he goes to Egypt he receives the head of Pompey from Ptolemy XIII, which was not a dish of pleasure for Julius. Furious, he orders his executioners to be beheaded, and then sides with the faction of Cleopatra VII with whom he has a son and defeats Ptolemy. Some time later, in Rome he is murdered in the Senate by Brutus (Tobias Menzies) and Cassius. Antony is married to Octavia, Augustus's sister. After that, Antony marries Cleopatra and they are defeated by Augustus at Actium. After the assassination of Caesar by the senators, among others by his protégé Brutus , his political heir Augustus takes power. Before Spartacus: Sand of Blood. Before Game of Thrones. There was Rome! Rome without government... The lust for power begins! What would you do for power? Every city has its secret!
A good historical series turning out to be quite entertaining, dealing with Roman times during the fall of the Republic, providing decent performances and acceptable production design. And with an interesting and attractive script by the best writers, such as: William J. MacDonald, Scott Buck, Todd Ellis Kessler, Alexandra Cunningham, David Frankel but the real creators and show-runners were Bruno Heller and John Milius. The various directors: Michael Apted, Mikael Salomon, Allen Coulter, Steve Shill, Alan Taylor, Jeremy Podeswa, Adam Davidson, Carl Franklin, Alik Sakharov, Roger Young were determined to create a more authentic, evocative, realist and raw representation of classical Rome than films like Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) or Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), which featured a shiny and prosperous version referred to as Holy Rome. Historical consultants stated that they did extensive research to be as real as possible, although they strove for authenticity rather than accuracy as they were not making a documentary. This series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from the first triumvirate: Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, following the life and death of Julius, as a powerful aristocratic family rises to power. Dealing with the extraordinary rise of Julius Caesar and subsequently Augustus, who overcame adversity to become the most powerful leaders in the world. This tangled story is about Caesar, Pompey, Marcus Antonius, the Roman Julia-Claudian dynasty, during the bloody civil wars, which will later follow a long 'Pax Romana' ruled by Octavian Augustus. The 'Pontifex Maximus' Octavius Augustus was the nephew and heir of Julius Caesar, and after the assassination of the latter on the 'Ides of March', he formed the second triumvirate with Mark Antony and Lepidus. And then he proclaimed himself Emperor, being succeeded by other much worse emperors such as Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
This television hit within the historical framework was produced by HD Vision Studios, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Home Box Office (HBO) Sky Atlantic who brought Ancient Rome to life with a treatment in which sex and swords are mixed, with many scenes of love, violence and strong confrontations. Sex and violence on the plates in this peculiar portrait of Roman times that precedes and serves as a model for the less successful ¨Domina¨ (2021) which starred Livia (Kasia Smutniak) - wife of Augustus - as the cunning empress who little by little he tries to get his son Tiberius to assume the throne.
A good historical series turning out to be quite entertaining, dealing with Roman times during the fall of the Republic, providing decent performances and acceptable production design. And with an interesting and attractive script by the best writers, such as: William J. MacDonald, Scott Buck, Todd Ellis Kessler, Alexandra Cunningham, David Frankel but the real creators and show-runners were Bruno Heller and John Milius. The various directors: Michael Apted, Mikael Salomon, Allen Coulter, Steve Shill, Alan Taylor, Jeremy Podeswa, Adam Davidson, Carl Franklin, Alik Sakharov, Roger Young were determined to create a more authentic, evocative, realist and raw representation of classical Rome than films like Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) or Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), which featured a shiny and prosperous version referred to as Holy Rome. Historical consultants stated that they did extensive research to be as real as possible, although they strove for authenticity rather than accuracy as they were not making a documentary. This series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from the first triumvirate: Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, following the life and death of Julius, as a powerful aristocratic family rises to power. Dealing with the extraordinary rise of Julius Caesar and subsequently Augustus, who overcame adversity to become the most powerful leaders in the world. This tangled story is about Caesar, Pompey, Marcus Antonius, the Roman Julia-Claudian dynasty, during the bloody civil wars, which will later follow a long 'Pax Romana' ruled by Octavian Augustus. The 'Pontifex Maximus' Octavius Augustus was the nephew and heir of Julius Caesar, and after the assassination of the latter on the 'Ides of March', he formed the second triumvirate with Mark Antony and Lepidus. And then he proclaimed himself Emperor, being succeeded by other much worse emperors such as Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
This television hit within the historical framework was produced by HD Vision Studios, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Home Box Office (HBO) Sky Atlantic who brought Ancient Rome to life with a treatment in which sex and swords are mixed, with many scenes of love, violence and strong confrontations. Sex and violence on the plates in this peculiar portrait of Roman times that precedes and serves as a model for the less successful ¨Domina¨ (2021) which starred Livia (Kasia Smutniak) - wife of Augustus - as the cunning empress who little by little he tries to get his son Tiberius to assume the throne.