ROME
"The teachers told us, the Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire
Garrison town,
They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found..."
All This Time
Sting
With these words running through my head, I watched the first episode of HBO's Rome, airing here in the country a few weeks ago. Suffice to say I've been hooked since then, and not even the gurgling and cooing of our infant at home could keep me away from the tv at 10 pm, Tuesday night.
The last time I went gaga over a tv series in HBO was the time they aired Ambrose's 'A Band of Brothers' sometime back. Rome hit me with the same intensity, only in a different way. This is one DVD set I AM GOING TO HAVE TO GET MYSELF ONE DAY....
All the scheming, wheeling and dealing, sex, violence and corruption which accompanied the death of the republic is portrayed luridly in every episode. Attention to detail is superb, from the architecture of the forum, to the lorica segmentata of legionary Titus Pullo: it's all there. Plus, the most imaginative portrayal of the historical characters in the story: Gaius Julius Ceasar, Mark Antony, Octavian (the Boy Who Would be Emperor) to name just a very few. The conflicts in human nature and politics are likewise portrayed larger than life, from the schemes of the Julii to the dilemnas faced by Lucius Vorenus, both as a father and head of the family and as an officer and a gentleman.
All in all, what really strikes me is that despite the apparent alien-ness of the Romans in 1BC in terms of religion, beliefs, politics, entertainment, war and technology from our supposedly modern civilization, the conflicts and dilemnas faced by the characters in Rome are alarmingly so close to what we in the 21st century have to face today. What comes to mind is the old adage which goes something like this: the more things change, the more they remain the same.
No truer words have been spoken.
posted by judgefob at 3:35 PM
3 Comments:
Pretty good eh? the series somewhat puts a face before the name of the characters one comes across in history books.
I love this show! Problem is, I've only seen bits and pieces of it. Thinking of getting myself a copy somewhere nearby *wink* *wink*.
BTW, the actor who plays Caesar reminds me somehow of Mon Tulfo. Hehehe :)
Hehehe, now that you mention it, yes, he does have a marked resemblance to that guy..... saw some boxed sets of the dvds from the first season. Lots of them in fact. Makati Cinema Square, if you are interested... :-)
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