"Rome" - the best historical TV drama ever?

MagicPigDetective · October 2023

Band of Brothers is magnificent.
Versailles was excellent.
Medici is great, the first series especially.

Barbarians on Netflix about the Roman invasions of Germania are very good if you want more Roman content.

Timcito · October 2023

MagicPigDetective said:

Band of Brothers is magnificent.
Versailles was excellent.
Medici is great, the first series especially.

Barbarians on Netflix about the Roman invasions of Germania are very good if you want more Roman content.

I liked all the ones you mention here except Band of Brothers, which I haven't seen.

I'd add The Last Kingdom, mentioned by someone else. That was great, and I'm sorry Uhtred has been killed off - that means no more seasons!

DiscoStu · October 2023

Oh aye, Band of Brothers for sure.
Get past episode one. Once it gets deep in to the warfare it's a punch in the guts.

stufisher · October 2023

Timcito said:

rlw said:

Anyone remember Play for Today ? IMO, these, and the Shakespeare's that the Beeb ran at the same kind of time, simply pissed on everything that's been done since. I, Claudius was very very good I'll admit and probably one of the best things they've ever done.

That 'Play for Today' era was fascinating because much of the drama confronted issues that emerged from the closet in England following WWII: teenage pregnancy, promiscuity, homosexuality, divorce, teen violence, the generation gap, and such like. There was a sense in which the world of the wartime generation was under assault, and many of the plays at this time broke new ground in dealing with controversial topics.

@Timcito you need to widen your view or change yer lingo me lad ... Play For Today was fuqqall to do with England post WW2.

You should research Peter MacDougall and his contribution to British drama ... here's an example:

rlw · October 2023

stufisher said:

Timcito said:

rlw said:

Anyone remember Play for Today ? IMO, these, and the Shakespeare's that the Beeb ran at the same kind of time, simply pissed on everything that's been done since. I, Claudius was very very good I'll admit and probably one of the best things they've ever done.

That 'Play for Today' era was fascinating because much of the drama confronted issues that emerged from the closet in England following WWII: teenage pregnancy, promiscuity, homosexuality, divorce, teen violence, the generation gap, and such like. There was a sense in which the world of the wartime generation was under assault, and many of the plays at this time broke new ground in dealing with controversial topics.

@Timcito you need to widen your view or change yer lingo me lad ... Play For Today was fuqqall to do with England post WW2.

You should research Peter MacDougall and his contribution to British drama ... here's an example:

Have to say that it seemed to me that @Timcito is spot on and the plays that made up those series did indeed highlight many of the issues confronting a post war Britain.

stufisher · October 2023

That's my point ... Britain not England!

Timcito · October 2023

rlw said:
Have to say that it seemed to me that @Timcito is spot on and the plays that made up those series did indeed highlight many of the issues confronting a post war Britain.

That's certainly my memory of much 'kitchen-sink' drama from the 70s. The same spirit seemed to get into a few of the best comedy series from that era, too, like Till Death Us Do Part and Steptoe, in which a younger generation, enchanted by the promises of the 'permissive society,' clashed with a traditional older generation.

KDS · October 2023

Band of Brothers was probably the best thing I've ever seen on TV. Pacific wasn't quite as good but still brilliant and truly horrific in places.
Rome was very good.
Not got round to watching Wolf Hall, still got the books to read on my 'to read list'.
I guess MASH has should be mentioned, and I remember staying up to watch 'Tour of Duty' in the mid 80's..... never seen it since, don't know if it stands the test of time.

Jalapeno · October 2023

I love I Claudius & Rome, both great, but different. Claudius is a bit more "actorish", whereas Rome's production values are first class, plus Polly Walker's uber-bitch Atia of the Julii (a non-historical invention) is brilliant. Historically Rome finishes where I Claudius starts. The current Domina series on Sky is the same era as I Claudius, though they haven't really mentioned Claudius (yet).

Cranky · October 2023

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

CavemanGrogg · October 2023

stufisher said:

That's my point ... Britain not England!

Britain actually is England, Great Britain on the other hand is Scotland, England, and Wales, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Why do the English have such a bloody hard time with this, after all if you are smart enough to be offered a place at Cambridge studying the history of England, guess what the bloody subject is called, - something to do with the words ''Briton/Britain'' and ''History''?

munckee · October 2023

Cranky said:

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

I think Britain has a thing for history, mostly British history but Rome overlaps with British history as we were a colony, plus they were so powerful for so long so the “old world” as such all have a thing for rome I would say.

ToneControl · October 2023

munckee said:

Cranky said:

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

I think Britain has a thing for history, mostly British history but Rome overlaps with British history as we were a colony, plus they were so powerful for so long so the “old world” as such all have a thing for rome I would say.

Didn't England/UK consider the Roman Empire to be a good idea, to be copied on an even larger scale?

crunchman · October 2023

munckee said:

Cranky said:

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

I think Britain has a thing for history, mostly British history but Rome overlaps with British history as we were a colony, plus they were so powerful for so long so the “old world” as such all have a thing for rome I would say.

Roman history is relevant to all of us. They were the ones who spread jury trials (for full citizens anyway) around the whole of Europe.

There is a whole load of other stuff that we have now that comes from the Romans.

There are also lessons from the fall of the Republic in the generations leading up to Julius Caesar. Gerrymandering voting for consulships, followed by outright ignoring of the rules, and eventually mobs rampaging on the streets.

There was also grotesque inequality. At one point, I think pretty much all the land in the area around Rome was held by only 2000 families. That was part of the reason for the angry mobs - which unscrupulous rich people steered in directions to suit their own ends.

The Roman Republic lasted a lot longer than (for instance) the current US system. There are parallels with what is going on there that really aren't good to see.

RaymondLin · October 2023

I’m in Rome right now!

ToneControl · October 2023

RaymondLin said:

I’m in Rome right now!

is it rainy?
my kids made me wait until October to visit and it was a wash out

In fact I remember a Ray Stevenson line from Rome "as wet as October" which then made sense

Nitefly · October 2023

Yeah, but, apart from that, what did the Romans ever do for us?

Snap · October 2023

Spartacus was great, really enjoyed it.

lovestrat74 · October 2023

Moloch said:

DrCornelius said:

The Rome you are talking about - was this the one with the rather attractive brunette lead character who was usually getting in or out of a bath ? Great show if so although I don’t remember much else about it

Atia of the Julii. And I'm pretty sure she only got out of the bath once or twice in the series, so those scenes clearly made a major impression.

Understandably so, because she is a 13/10.

I guess it depends on how many times said scene was rewound

Timcito · October 2023

RaymondLin said:

I’m in Rome right now!

Whereabouts are you? I lived there in the early-mid 90s, just round the corner from the Trevi Fountain.

Cranky · October 2023

ToneControl said:

munckee said:

Cranky said:

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

I think Britain has a thing for history, mostly British history but Rome overlaps with British history as we were a colony, plus they were so powerful for so long so the “old world” as such all have a thing for rome I would say.

Didn't England/UK consider the Roman Empire to be a good idea, to be copied on an even larger scale?

Yes, that was the case at least in the Age of Enlightenment. Idk if it technically carried over into the Victorian period or if the logic of empire had changed by then.

Also, I’m under the impression that Britain and France might have a thing for the “Roman nose”.

DrCornelius · October 2023

lovestrat74 said:

Moloch said:

DrCornelius said:

The Rome you are talking about - was this the one with the rather attractive brunette lead character who was usually getting in or out of a bath ? Great show if so although I don’t remember much else about it

Atia of the Julii. And I'm pretty sure she only got out of the bath once or twice in the series, so those scenes clearly made a major impression.

Understandably so, because she is a 13/10.

I guess it depends on how many times said scene was rewound

For the baby boomers , TVs unforgettable moments were probably the JFK assassination and the moon landings . For me it’s probably Polly Walker getting her boobs out in Rome

Cranky · October 2023

crunchman said:

munckee said:

Cranky said:

Does Britain have a thing for Roman history?

I think Britain has a thing for history, mostly British history but Rome overlaps with British history as we were a colony, plus they were so powerful for so long so the “old world” as such all have a thing for rome I would say.

Roman history is relevant to all of us. They were the ones who spread jury trials (for full citizens anyway) around the whole of Europe.

There is a whole load of other stuff that we have now that comes from the Romans.

There are also lessons from the fall of the Republic in the generations leading up to Julius Caesar. Gerrymandering voting for consulships, followed by outright ignoring of the rules, and eventually mobs rampaging on the streets.

There was also grotesque inequality. At one point, I think pretty much all the land in the area around Rome was held by only 2000 families. That was part of the reason for the angry mobs - which unscrupulous rich people steered in directions to suit their own ends.

The Roman Republic lasted a lot longer than (for instance) the current US system. There are parallels with what is going on there that really aren't good to see.

I’m very wary of the notion that History teaches us any lessons in particular. What’s deemed “historically significant” is too often a matter of a misrepresentation out of political expediency. A bit atavistic to say that Britain inherited Roman traditions given the vast medieval period that laid waste to all that for nigh 1000 years.

The one common denominator in history lessons, I find, is that everyone has their price.

But, yes, some of those Graeco-Roman traditions were revived in the neoclassical era. Senates and juries and “democracy” (with all the hypocrisies in tow). Also, the division between “civilized vs barbarian.”

RaymondLin · October 2023

ToneControl said:

RaymondLin said:

I’m in Rome right now!

is it rainy?
my kids made me wait until October to visit and it was a wash out

In fact I remember a Ray Stevenson line from Rome "as wet as October" which then made sense

30c and not a cloud anywhere!

RaymondLin · October 2023

Timcito said:

RaymondLin said:

I’m in Rome right now!

Whereabouts are you? I lived there in the early-mid 90s, just round the corner from the Trevi Fountain.

I’ve gone north of Rome by the lake now. Rome is crazy busy with tourists, my friends when to the Trevi fountain and it was packed shoulder to shoulder. She showed me a picture and it’s crazy.

Cranky · October 2023

DrCornelius said:

lovestrat74 said:

Moloch said:

DrCornelius said:

The Rome you are talking about - was this the one with the rather attractive brunette lead character who was usually getting in or out of a bath ? Great show if so although I don’t remember much else about it

Atia of the Julii. And I'm pretty sure she only got out of the bath once or twice in the series, so those scenes clearly made a major impression.

Understandably so, because she is a 13/10.

I guess it depends on how many times said scene was rewound

For the baby boomers , TVs unforgettable moments were probably the JFK assassination and the moon landings . For me it’s probably Polly Walker getting her boobs out in Rome

Not to ruin it for you, but she wasn’t actually in Rome.

theatreanchor · October 2023

Nitefly said:

Yeah, but, apart from that, what did the Romans ever do for us?

Brought peas.

Pjon · October 2023

CavemanGrogg said:

stufisher said:

That's my point ... Britain not England!

Britain actually is England, Great Britain on the other hand is Scotland, England, and Wales, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Why do the English have such a bloody hard time with this, after all if you are smart enough to be offered a place at Cambridge studying the history of England, guess what the bloody subject is called, - something to do with the words ''Briton/Britain'' and ''History''?

Really, Britain is England? England is one part of Britain, yes, but Britain is not England, full stop.

Google doesn't support this at all, neither does the fact that I'm Welsh and British, neither does the British Tourist Authority who offer trips to all parts of England, Scotland and Wales, neither does the British Council, and Collins Dictionary says this : Britain an informal, unofficial name for Great Britain, United Kingdom.

Are you suggesting that only English are British or am I reading your post incorrectly?

Timcito · October 2023

When anyone here in the US asks me my nationality, and when anyone in the other countries I've lived in asked me the same, I nearly always replied 'English.' I consider England my country of national and cultural identity and not Scotland, Wales, and Northern Island.

stufisher · October 2023

Mmm ... Northern Ireland surely ... deffo not Orkney mainland or the like

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"Rome" - the best historical TV drama ever?

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