Rome season 2

[BlackFlagg 0]

Season 2 of Rome starts tonight, anyone else gonna be watching? Watched the whole first season through HBO On Demand and loved every bit of it, can't wait to see how season 2 is.

 

Rome

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Nudity, violence, and British accents everywhere. Great TV.

 

I'm guessing next week they start teasing Vorenus vs. Pullo since Octavian (Pullo's man) starts standing up to Mark Antony (Vorenus' man). I'm just hoping that since this is supposed to be the last season that it all ends in an orgy of violence and everyone dies. Basically a Shakespeare drama.

[imajackoff? 0]

Saw the new episode tonite and loved it.

 

Im a little salty that they are changing the actor that plays Octavian starting in ep. 4, I believe when there is apparently a fast foward in the storyline. The kid that plays him now is fantastic.

[iggymcfly 0]

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea that Rome was starting up again. I watched every episode except for the finale last year. (Had something going on and never came across a rerun.) I was in total 24 mode last night, but I'll make sure to catch a replay of the 1st episode some time this week.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I watched it last night, and the only reason I knew it was on was because I was skimming through a small article in the latest issue of "Rolling Stone" about the show!

 

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty good episode. I don't quite get the direction of Vorenus' character...he's become extremely dark, whereas at the beginning of the series he was pretty mild mannered. I'm sure it's leading somewhere, though. I suppose in a way, his character has gone the opposite direction of Pullo (wild at first, but calmed down a lot).

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Episode #2 was on last night. Anyone else watch it?

 

I thought it was one of the weaker episodes, to be honest. I did like what they did with Vorenus, though.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Isn't anyone else into this show? There's plenty of gratuitous sex and violence!

[BlackFlagg 0]

Just watched this week's ep, can't wait to see where things go with "Blackheart" Vorenus

[World's Worst Man 0]

They really took some liberties with the historical facts in last week's episode.

But I did enjoy the look that Octavius gave to Caesarion as a foreshadowing of things to come.

 

It sucks that they're ending the show after this season, since there's many interesting events during the Julio-Claudian dynasty that they could use for future seasons.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Last couple episodes have been pretty dark...Vorenus finding his children was at least good, in that that part of the story is somewhat wrapped up now.

 

I hope they're off the rape and male-on-male sex kick that they've been on in the last couple episodes.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

So, maybe somebody with a better historical mind can educate me here. There are currently three armies being amassed: Brutus, Marc Antony and Ocvatian. Now, I know that Brutus and Cassius were forced out of Rome after the fall of Gaius Julius Cesar so they're coming back to get revenge? Or for another reason? And Octavian is the 'new' Cesar so he's got his own legion of men and now he's coming back to "make the Republic pay"? Is he talking about the money he's owed as Julius's heir or something else? And why the fuck did Antony leave?

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

And why the fuck did Antony leave?

From Wikipedia:

Antony surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Caesar's veterans, and forced the senate to transfer to him the province of Cisalpine Gaul, which was then administered by Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of the conspirators (not that Brutus). Brutus refused to surrender the province, and Antony set out to attack him in October 44 BC.

 

Which is where last night's episode picked up. Octavian attacked Antony as Antony was attacking Brutus (again, not the "famous" Brutus).

 

And Octavian is the 'new' Cesar so he's got his own legion of men and now he's coming back to "make the Republic pay"? Is he talking about the money he's owed as Julius's heir or something else?

Well, that & the right to rule Rome. He didn't like that Antony got that gig instead of him.

 

Now, I know that Brutus and Cassius were forced out of Rome after the fall of Gaius Julius Cesar so they're coming back to get revenge? Or for another reason?

I would assume so, but they never make it back, as Antony & Octavian take the battle to them in Greece.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

As an aside, I thought the new actor playing Octavian was good, though I did like the younger one a lot.

[World's Worst Man 0]

So, maybe somebody with a better historical mind can educate me here. There are currently three armies being amassed: Brutus, Marc Antony and Ocvatian. Now, I know that Brutus and Cassius were forced out of Rome after the fall of Gaius Julius Cesar so they're coming back to get revenge? Or for another reason? And Octavian is the 'new' Cesar so he's got his own legion of men and now he's coming back to "make the Republic pay"? Is he talking about the money he's owed as Julius's heir or something else? And why the fuck did Antony leave?

 

Brutus and Cassius were forced out of Rome by a violent mob who were angry over Caesar's assassination. Marcus Antonius made a powerful speech at Caesar's funeral, which is what helped foster that attitude in the people. This wasn't shown in the series. If I remember correctly, Brutus and Cassius don't ever return to Rome.

 

Octavius was just playing politics by siding with the Optimates and Cicero. Possible future spoilers -

Later on he actually forms the second triumvirate with Antonius, although they do end up as enemies down the line anyway.

I think Octavius' goal all along was to take control of Rome, it was just more difficult for him than it was for Caesar because there was an extra faction to deal with this time.

 

Marcus Antonius wanted control of Gaul, so he went to take it by military force. Thus you had Octavius offering to use his legions for the Senate, to get Antonius out of Gaul.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Anyone else irritated that they're dragging some stuff out a lot longer than they need to? The whole Atia/Servilia feud is getting rather old.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Not a lot of action in last night's episode. Plot twist at the end was interesting (and I think at least somewhat historically accurate).

[World's Worst Man 0]

That part was true. Their alliance (along with Lepidus) was called the Second Triumvirate (the first was Caesar/Pompeius/Crassus).

 

Kind of spoilers for next week -

Based on the episode name, it'll be a pretty big one. I wonder how they're going to deal with the fictional side-stories, considering the historical events in the next episode would have happened almost a year after the events in this past episode.

[imajackoff? 0]

Yeah, the Atia/Servilia feud is reaching Tommy Rich/Buzz Sawyer levels, but I think we are stuck with it until the end. or at least Brutus meets his final defeat.

 

Im hoping they pull out all stops for these remaining eps. It's been obvious that they have been doing this 2nd season on the cheap. While the characters, performances, costume and set work are still outstanding, this season doesnt have the grandeur of it's predecessor.

[Justice 0]

I was honestly disappointed a bit with this episode and it's... odd sense of historical inaccuracy.

 

Seriously, not one friggin' Pilum. The utter lack of formation and cohesion in both armies (I mean, come ON! They're the ROMANS!). Brutus not killing himself on his own sword. Not one mention of Octavion's camp getting overrun and sacked. And Cassius' death wasn't that good either. I was hoping for something really good, and all that was there was just thrown together. Bah.

[World's Worst Man 0]

They showed the formations well at various points, but the big melee scenes were totally inaccurate. The whole episode was grossly inaccurate and it really seems like they're rushing things through. Now there are 4 episodes left, and I assume they'll end the series with Actium. That's 11 years worth of events to be covered by 4 episodes. I understand why it is the way it is, it's just disappointing.

 

I will say that Brutus' death was a neat idea, as an analog to Caesar's assassination. Cassius' death was inaccurate and underwhelming, but I suppose his character never really got much attention in the first place.

[Justice 0]

Yeah, when they were marching, it was cool. But when guys just sort of came forwards and had at it, I was a bit pissed. But the Pilum thing is almost unforgivable. It's among the top three reasons the Romans were so damned dominant on the battlefield, and it seems like Hollywood loves to ignore it (Note its conspicious absence in Gladiator as well).

 

But I did sort of like the banter between Pullo and Cicero. It was a bit odd, since, again, it wasn't all too accurate. But it was a good, fitting way for Cicero to go out.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I actually thought the scene with Pullo and Cicero was pretty well done.

 

Anyone else find it weird that Vorenus didn't wonder where his "son" found the paper for that toy hat, in the middle of the woods?

[Black Lushus 0]

I finally sat down over the weekend and watched the first batch of Season 2 episodes on On Demand. Man, this most recent episode was intense. Cicero's death was sorta cringe inducing and it was kinda cool seeing Brutus go out like a champ (though that's inaccurate, right?). Too bad too because I was starting to like him.

 

pullo and Vorenus still remain two of my favorite TV characters, but how will their relationship end up as the series comes to a close?

[World's Worst Man 0]

Brutus committed suicide after the second battle of Philippi, although he did win the first battle of Philippi. I think they were kind of going for an analogy to Caesar's death, since Brutus was surrounded and stabbed multiple times as Caesar was. That's just my guess though.

 

I liked how Brutus' character was portrayed in the show, but I can't help thinking that he was just a selfish aristocrat, hiding behind the veil of being the supposed "saviour" of the Republic. As were all of Caesar's opponents really, with the exception of Cato, who was probably just an idiot.

[World's Worst Man 0]

I find myself wishing for the side-stories to go away. Most of them aren't even all that well developed in the first place and they're just taking up time from the real story. The real story which now has 3 episodes left and a a lot to cover.

[Black Lushus 0]

Okay, I was distracted most of the show...rather than marrying Atia, Marc Antony married Octavia, correct? What's the story there?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Antony married Octavia because she's more likely to bear children. Octavian also reasoned that an Antony/Atia marriage would have been seen as a marriage of love, since everyone knew they'd been seeing each other, where as the Antony/Octavia marriage could be seen as a clear political move to show unity between Octavian and Antony.

 

That part last night was good. It was also nice to see Servilia finally die.

 

Don't quite get where they're going with the two Jewish brothers at this point.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Basically, Octavian's being an asshole towards Antony. If I've got it figured out right. Octavian wanted Antony to marry Octavia because everyone knows they don't care about eac,h other and therefore the marraige is known to be purely political. So, everyone will know that they are working togather. If Antony had married Atia it would have been seen as a marraige of love, not politics. That would have been seen as a vulnerability between Octavian and Antony.

 

At least, that's Octavian's reasoning. Personally, i just think he didn't want Mark Antony as his stepdaddy. That and he wanted to screw him over in light of the whole "hide Herod's giant bribe from Octavian" issue.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Oh, man, I LOL'd when Eirene told Pullo "you should beat her (Gaia) like that every month", followed by Pullo nodding, thinking to himself "yeah, 'beating' her, heh...", & then almost choking on his dinner.

[Black Lushus 0]

did she take some abortion juice or something?