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| by Beth E. Cochran
with additional writing by Bridget Petrella |
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| HBO's ‘Rome, Season One’— Sexy, Epic and Phenomenal. | |
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Half a century before the dawn of Christianity, Rome has easily become the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of over 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 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." Rome is the saga of two ordinary Roman soldiers and their families. An intimate drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, and husbands and wives, it chronicles epic times that saw the fall of a republic and the creation of an empire. 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 loyal battle-hardened men, huge amounts of loot in both gold and slaves, 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
and in the process, win the eternal gratitude of Caesar and the Julian
clan, affording the two plebian officers an intimate view of the ruling
class. The fates of Pullo and Vorenus 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. Of course, not being
one to take things lying down Caesar led an attack against the unprepared
city of Rome, causing the council members to flee the city and return the
power to its rightful owner. Throughout the season we are privy to the
machinations that political power creates, with Caesar on one side
promoting order and the exiled council members on the other. As much as
Caesar wants peace and prosperity for all those who oppose him want to
keep the prosperity for themselves and are willing to lie, commit treason
and even murder to get their way. And those of us who know what happened
to Caesar won’t be surprised by how the first season ends. But there are
more than enough decadent sub-plots occurring in the midst of Caeser's
inevitable demise. |
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Beth E. Cochran is a Producer for
the TV show “Soap Talk” and has recently crowned herself “Queen
of All Soaps.” She has also been an Associate Producer for the
daytime talk show, “Dr. Phil.” Before getting her big break and
realizing her dream of making television, Ms. Cochran was a also
writer and editor for magazines such as Soap Opera Magazine,
Soapdish, Soap Opera News, Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Update,
Entertainment Weekly and Woman’s World. |
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Rome
premiered in August of 2005 and finished its 12 episode run in
November. Once the DVD release was announced, I started looking into the
show and became very intrigued. I so adore historical films, especially
those that strive to be as accurate as humanly possible. Who would have
thought a meticulous re-creation of the inevitable deterioration of the Roman
Republic in the decades just before the birth of Christ would ever make
such truly compulsive viewing? Without the slow week long lapse of time between
episodes, the labyrinthine conspiracy against Julius Caesar and the slow,
agonizing fall of the Roman Republic is much easier to appreciate. A show
as gorgeously composed as Rome makes a better impression when you don't
need notes in hand to keep track of the onslaught of dynamic plot and
poetic intrigue. As it turns out, Rome is every bit as good, if not in
some ways far better than any of the other shows that HBO has produced.
The first season deals the unscrupulous reign of Gaius Julius Caesar (Ciaran
Hinds) following his victorious defeat of Gaul, where upon he learns that
his power has been overturned by the councils of Rome under Pompey
(Kenneth Cranham). 
The
narrative of the events that took place over the course of Caesar’s
reign are seen from the point of view of two soldiers in Caesar’s 13th
Legion, Lucius Veronus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). In
a small way, they are used just as the characters of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern were used in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, where we
bore witness to Shakespeare’s Hamlet as seen through their eyes. Veronus
and Pullo are often pulled right into the middle of some of Caesar’s most
famous moments allowing us the access to the proceedings. But in order to
draw us into the story and feel for these characters, we are also privy to
their private lives. They become fully developed, 3-dimensional characters
which adds to the reality of the series. Rome is meticulously created— the
visual trappings of the series, from elaborate costumes, to buildings and
cities, to the vibrancy and richness exuding from its every scene, are
fantastic. The scale of the series rises from complex personal and
political interactions, to epic warfare and grand action. Rome explodes
with life and makes the viewer feel as though they can understand that
time and place in a much more personal way, as all great "period dramas"
should. 
www.hbo.com/rome/