Collecting ancient Roman coins got me watching that HBO tv show Rome and it’s really good!

The last episode I watched Caesar was pissed because the other main character guy didn’t capture Pompey when he should have. But Caesar let’s him go and when asked why he didn’t execute him he says how that guy and his friend both recovered his golden eagle, survived a shipwreck and found Pompey on a random beach and that they have powerful gods on their side and he isn’t about to mess with that

Now I want a Caesar coin.

 

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I just finished watching that show last week!

 

HBO's Rome, while fudging the history somewhat, is one of the best cinematic (and I can call it that because of the high film-like quality of the production) depictions of ancient Rome ever filmed. Plus, the story is well told and thoroughly engaging. This all applies to the first season ... the second, IMHO, is good but a bit rushed.

There is an excellent rewatch podcast that discusses the series too. https://podtail.com/en/podcast/raising-standards/

I'm a bit forgiving when it comes to historical accuracy on film, they aren't documentaries after all!

 

You'll also want to check out the Netflix series "Roman Empire"! Season 1 is about Commodus.

 

It's a bummer that there were only two seasons. I believe they were originally planning for a total of five seasons, but production costs were deemed too high.

I think that's why season 2 felt rushed; as they tried to cram everything in.

 

Minority opinion: In general, I dislike historical fiction as a genre usually because they can't stop with filling in the blanks where history has not provided an answer but have to change things to make the story 'their own'. This usually comes up when the story line centers on a ruler about whom we know enough to be bothered by the changes. That is why I liked the movie Titanic. The main characters and fictional and only lightly interacted with the famous people on the ship but whatever was shown that is known was shown correctly. They even had the carpeting shown recreated from the Jacquard loom instructions. When Commodus is shown on screen, he tends to have some characteristics of Tiberius, Caligula and the director's favorite dream bad guy all rolled into one. That is why I preferred the Game of Thrones approach. Personalities from history might make a guest appearance here and there but 99% of the viewers could tell that dragons, the map and multiple suns flagged the story as fictional. The names were not just changed; they were made up.

That brings up another question. Why does Hollywood keep hyping the story of Commodus who is not the only Roman worth showing? Where is the life of Vespasian? Julia Maesa would be my personal choice as a movie subject. In the past, when this subject came up here, I have proposed a multi season series starting with Maesa watching from the wings as her sister Domna was prominent. Season two would start with the death of Caracalla and how Maesa engineered her first available grandson's rise and reign. Season three would show her changing grandsons when the first turned out to be a bit too strange. Are these stories too boring for TV or would they just upset some modern faction.

Has anyone watched the PBS docu-drama on The Six Wives of Henry VIII? I may have liked it better because I do not know what there is to know about that period so I missed the problems.

 

I'm sure you'd get more people to watch 'The Severans' if you label it as a family drama rather than under the historical genre!
Much like the Simpsons, but with more blood and gore.
Also, I'd love to watch a movie based on Aurelian, poor guy so underrated!

 

I always liked Rome. It was the first entertainment program that showed more of what I believe Rome was really like, from the graffiti, places to catch urine, etc etc. Rome was an ancient Italian city. I always hated how they whitewashed it and had a bunch of prim and proper London actors walking around like these were similar to Victorian times. All of the old series were missing the LIFE of the city IMHO.