Typically impressive HBO offering with gratuitous nudity and violence inserted every ten minutes or so... honestly, it's basic Roger Corman principles at work here. The series is set around Julius Caesar's rise to power following his conquest of Gaul (first episode we see the Gaulish chief kiss Caesar's sword - a long way from the image of the noble throwing his weapons at Caesar's feet defiantly at the beginning of the Asterix comics). It tries to tell from the POV of two "common soldiers" who are involved in various historically important incidents -but keeps drifting back into the corridors of power (Cato, Pompey,Antony, Caesar, etc) because they are clearly more interesting. And besides the common soldiers are super heroes - in the first episode they wipe out a whole gang, just the two of them. It looks fantastic, it is watchable.
Sometimes it seems to be nihilistic for no other reason than "hey, this is for HBO, let's make a show where innocent people die". I know the arguments and stuff and I'm sure life was cheap back then etc etc - I just get upset by the casual killing.And even though one of the leads, Ray Stevenson, is revealed in episode three to have some humour and a soft side, he admits to raping and we see him kill... I know the arguments to flawed characters and not judging people by today's morality, it just makes him uncomfortable company to watch on screen. (I had the same problem with the Ian MacShane character in "Deadwood". I know people aren't all black and all white but there sure as Hell as people who are dark grey.)
Polly Walker is good form as the often naked temptress, Octavian's mother - who apparently in real life was moral, but this is an Ancient Rome story and you've got to have a sexy temptress in there somewhere.Some strong acting but you know I think the show could have handled an American actor or two. There are Yanks who can pull this stuff off.
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