― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― Lovelace (Lovelace), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 29 August 2005 00:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Popish Plot (dymaxia), Monday, 29 August 2005 00:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Monday, 29 August 2005 01:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― JD from CDepot, Monday, 29 August 2005 04:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 29 August 2005 04:28 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 29 August 2005 04:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― JD from CDepot, Monday, 29 August 2005 04:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 29 August 2005 04:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 29 August 2005 04:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 04:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 29 August 2005 05:42 (eighteen years ago) link
it is a co-production between HBO and BBC!
― Lovelace (Lovelace), Monday, 29 August 2005 08:57 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/21/nrome21.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/21/ixhome.html
― Tom (Groke), Monday, 29 August 2005 09:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 13:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Monday, 29 August 2005 13:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 29 August 2005 13:58 (eighteen years ago) link
Most of the cast seem very British. Brutus seems almost American.
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link
Roddy McDowall's performance has scarred me for life on that front.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 29 August 2005 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Monday, 29 August 2005 19:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 20:47 (eighteen years ago) link
the show was flat.
― don weiner (don weiner), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:30 (eighteen years ago) link
Mr teeny and I had a good discussion on the authenticity of the landing strips on the ladies--I pointed out that the roman men seemed to favor shaving their faces and so perhaps the ladies shaved as well, but he maintained that if that was the case, it would probably be all or nothing. I was frankly stunned that he did not know of some poem or whatnot that would settle the debate.
― teeny (teeny), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:52 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Legroom at the Vista (Bent Over at the Arclight), Monday, 29 August 2005 22:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 00:56 (eighteen years ago) link
M.: Because nudity was more common in Rome than it is here. Public baths alone (which were not always unisex), I mean!
― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 03:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 04:33 (eighteen years ago) link
blood and landing strips aside, what i liked, and what i'm hoping the hbo-nastiness allows more windows into, are moments where the historicity of the show can seem really alien, ie where the attitudes and motivations of ppl can be shown to be actually "classical" ie pre-enlightenment and pre-christian. there were a few flashes of this, the best one i wish i remembered better, but Octavian says something like "I'm going alone?" and Atia responds yes blah blah... a few lines later she mentions which slaves he's taking, threatens one to protect him with his life, and this was no dissonance at all: alone = your slave retinue. similarly, she was fucking the horseman with all of these people milling around her bed: there is no private self, and they didn't count anyway.
― geoff (gcannon), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 04:03 (eighteen years ago) link
I don't see how this will work as a series on HBO, cock and vadge aside. (I know it's nice that they can let it all hang out, but HBO needs to step off the naked train, it's a bit of a cliche.) Hopefully it gets better as they have time to flesh out individual plots and follow characters, rather than telling the I, Claudius story.
Wouldn't it have been better to see the story of the Pompey/Caesar/betrayal/Civil War through the eyes of a set of characters not in the history books? I guess it's a harder sell for $100mn, but that story through a minor aristocratic family with sons on both sides, following their slaves as real characters etc. sounds much more interesting than upper-echelon aristocratic decadence and politicking.
― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 04:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 05:01 (eighteen years ago) link
Watching a few episodes of this every week with s friend in the US and somehow, even though I often think of it as my favourite show ever, I’d forgotten how good it is. Well, at least the first series remains perfect. I spent a lot of time just admiring the attention to detail in costumes and the set (and cursing that the latter burned down), the cast is perfection and it’s just incredibly entertaining at all points.Lots of people will say that it never really was as good after Caesar was killed off, but I personally love deranged s2 Vorenus and sadistic adult Augustus a lot. My actual series favourite is Mark Antony, not least because James Purefoy plays him with a sort of dissipated vibe and is a massive ride while doing so.Watching it in 2020, it’s difficult for me not to agree with the cast who thought that GOT got the funding and promo it should have had. Superb and over before its time.
― caută tu singur (gyac), Wednesday, 19 August 2020 10:41 (three years ago) link
OTM. All time. One of my favorite ever TV series.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 19 August 2020 12:17 (three years ago) link
Finished rewatching this yesterday, and had completely forgotten the ambiguity over Vorenus’s death. I mean, he survived injury and being pulled in a cart by Pullo for a month only to then die? Don’t buy it, he’s as dead as Caesarion. Unfortunately due to the set burning down we’ll never know. :(Also, degenerate Mark Antony in eyeliner with the snake tattoo around his nipple is extremely weirdly hot, still. S2 is a bit lacklustre in comparison to 1 but there’s still so much I loved this time round again. I was interested to read that Antony being considered to have taken up local customs when he was in Egypt was a scandal irl as well.
― scampo italiano (gyac), Monday, 21 September 2020 17:55 (three years ago) link
The eyeliner is not a huge stretch. Both men and women in the Egyptian ruling class wore kohl. Antonius would have seen this as part of his power moves to rule Rome by capturing control of Egypt.
The snake tattoo is just Hollywood razzle-dazzle. Tattoos appear to have arrived in Europe around 1500 CE. If the Romans knew about them at all, it would have been via Scythian slaves and the Roman senatorial class would have shunned them comprehensively as a disfiguring and barbaric blemish, more like a cattle brand than an adornment.
― the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Monday, 21 September 2020 18:16 (three years ago) link
aye the Romans used tattoos to brand prisoners of war and criminals so would have looked down on them, and it was pretty otm of them say I with no tats!
― calzino, Monday, 21 September 2020 18:43 (three years ago) link
well the Romans of that era I should have posted.
― calzino, Monday, 21 September 2020 18:45 (three years ago) link
something like nine centuries later the Holy Roman Empire starting using tats on soldiers i think.
― calzino, Monday, 21 September 2020 18:48 (three years ago) link
Lads I think ye misunderstood my point about Antony’s tattoo.
― scampo italiano (gyac), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:04 (three years ago) link
I was reading a Byzantine history book recently so I'm an egg spurt!
― calzino, Monday, 21 September 2020 19:06 (three years ago) link
I think ye misunderstood my point about Antony’s tattoo.
oh, I think not. HBO knew what they were aiming for and it wasn't historic accuracy, but something a bit more, um... differently located.
― the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
That was my point though?
― scampo italiano (gyac), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
funny thing is, the eyeliner could have been true to life. at least when he was in Egypt.
― the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:18 (three years ago) link
actually thinking his snake “tattoo” was maybe?just henna? Which would have made more sense at the time.https://www.frockflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/tumblr_m607rfgUaC1qeun5ho1_500.gif
― scampo italiano (gyac), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
I've been discovering an obsessive interest in Sumerian culture lately, and kohl (šembi, šimbi, šem-bi-zi-da) goes back 3000 years prior to Antony. Originally charred frankincense, by Antony's time powdered antimony or lead compounds, and neurotoxic. So a little crazy should be expected from those with heavy eyeliner/mascara.
― Disgraced, committing sudoku (Sanpaku), Monday, 21 September 2020 19:50 (three years ago) link
"... Tattoos appear to have arrived in Europe around 1500 CE...."
Didn't Ötzi the Austrian Iceman have some ink on his back?
― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 21 September 2020 19:53 (three years ago) link
Yes. He did have some tattoos. The practice of tattooing doesn't seem to have carried forward in any big way into more modern times. When European explorers encountered it in the 1500 CE time period they acted like they'd never seen or heard of such things.
― the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Monday, 21 September 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
What does that have to do with James Purefoy being hot though?
― Notes on Scampo (tokyo rosemary), Monday, 21 September 2020 20:04 (three years ago) link
Quite right, tokyo rosemary. I felt sorry for anyone who couldn’t enjoy Antony’s decline both thematically and visually.
― scampo italiano (gyac), Monday, 21 September 2020 20:08 (three years ago) link
I have the DVDs so I’m going to have to do a rewatch soon.
― Notes on Scampo (tokyo rosemary), Monday, 21 September 2020 20:11 (three years ago) link
“Bruno [Heller] once did outline a story that he was going to start the whole series with,” Stevenson said. “An 88-year-old Pullo going down to the riverside by Vorenus’ tomb, or sarcophagus, pouring wine on it, taking a sword out while sitting there on the banks, looking at the glistening river, and committing suicide.
“And as he has his face hit the sand on the banks, a fish jumped out of the water, and the silver light on the fish caught the sword, which brought us right into that first battle with Lucius Vorenus and [Titus Pullo] where he breaks ranks.”
As according to Stevenson, the final scenes of the series would have eventually explained this fate as the relationship between Octavian, who is only a child when Rome starts, and Pullo becomes clear.
Says Stevenson, “The reason was that the only person on the planet who [knows] the Emperor Augustus to be human, who was Octavian, is Pullo. And Pullo’s the only one who has that memory of him or that life. And basically, [Augustus] asks him to. Nobody else could kill him. But at that stage, Octavian is obviously in his paranoid imperial sort of thing, and Pullo is the last tie to that time when he was a boy. It’s genius.”
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Monday, 21 September 2020 20:13 (three years ago) link
Finished my third (fourth?) rewatch and it hasn't lost any of its greatness. As for the question about Vorenus' fate: why would Pullo lie to Augustus? Maybe because LV was loyal to Antony and Pullo was just lookin' out for his homie? Hmm.
Would be nice if a surprise "20 Years Later" type film following up on our characters ever gets made. Not holding my breath. But I will make a little offering to Dis and see what happens.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Saturday, 20 August 2022 23:16 (one year ago) link
Thanks. Haven’t rewatched since the first time but have certainly thought about it.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 20 August 2022 23:44 (one year ago) link
I don't think I ever finished this- is there any gay stuff?
― Left, Sunday, 21 August 2022 11:24 (one year ago) link
ctrl+f gay suggests no :(
― Left, Sunday, 21 August 2022 11:25 (one year ago) link
THIRTEEN!!!
Ray Stevenson...the one Titus Pullo...Rest In Peace.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 22 May 2023 20:27 (eleven months ago) link
Fuck this. Favourite show of all time, adored this guy.
― Everybody's gonna get what they got coming (gyac), Monday, 22 May 2023 20:43 (eleven months ago) link
Hadn’t even realized. RIP :(
― Cathy Berberian Begins at Home (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 May 2023 20:44 (eleven months ago) link
Been thinking about rewatching recently.
― Cathy Berberian Begins at Home (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 May 2023 20:45 (eleven months ago) link
Just was recommending somebody watch that show as an alternative to reading Gibbon.
― Cathy Berberian Begins at Home (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 May 2023 20:47 (eleven months ago) link
Finally watched Rome this year, what a treat. Stevenson elevated anything he was in, RIP
― Vinnie, Monday, 22 May 2023 23:30 (eleven months ago) link
One of my favourite non-Thirteen Pullo moments is when Cleopatra is trying to get pregnant and first invites in Vorenus, who refuses. Then Pullo is invited into the tent as second choice, has no problem and they have wild sex with ululating etc. Cut to Vorenus lying outside, fuming, wide awake. Pullo comes out of the tent walking on air, tries to talk to Vorenus, who just shuts him down immediately. It’s an incredible scene with their dynamic and Stevenson’s comic timing is incredible. RIP.
― Everybody's gonna get what they got coming (gyac), Monday, 22 May 2023 23:45 (eleven months ago) link
Hahah
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 23 May 2023 06:17 (eleven months ago) link
IIRC This was the First ever BBC drama (maybe HBO) to be filmed in HD, a good choice looking back on it,
first of the new, rather than last of the old.
R.I.P Ray, you were great in this.
rewatched series one a few years ago, maybe time to go into Season two.
The BluRay has an option which points out all the historical stuff going on in the background, really wish more dramas include that especially all the easter egg filled Marvel/Disney shows.
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Tuesday, 23 May 2023 09:16 (eleven months ago) link
Forgot about Michael Apted’s involvement.
― The Original Human Beat Surrender (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 00:26 (eleven months ago) link
such a classi, great show. RIP Titus Pullo
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 03:13 (eleven months ago) link
The writers hate Cicero so much.
― what you say is true but by no means (lukas), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 04:12 (eight months ago) link
Just saw a trailer with Indira Varma front and center!
― Make Me Smile (Come Around and See Me) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 22 March 2024 19:43 (one month ago) link
She lives round the corner from me and is
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 22 March 2024 20:57 (one month ago) link
…always quite striking even in “just got out of bed to grab coffee” mode
Also a surprisingly awesome audiobook reader for Terry Pratchett’s witches books
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 22 March 2024 20:59 (one month ago) link
Exactly as this thread was revived, I was watching Indira play Lady Macbeth in London's Docklands.
she was great, in case that needed stating....
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Sunday, 24 March 2024 20:55 (one month ago) link
That’s the trailer I saw!
― Make Me Smile (Come Around and See Me) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 24 March 2024 21:00 (one month ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57_IiR1ynw8
― Make Me Smile (Come Around and See Me) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 24 March 2024 22:23 (one month ago) link