Friday, March 15, 2013

‘Tis the Ides of March, which calls to mind HBO’s “ROME” on DVD~



‘Tis the Ides of March, which calls to mind HBO’s “ROME” on DVD~

On this the 2057th anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar, I feel compelled to write about the magnificence of the HBO series “Rome” which debuted in 2006 and provided exquisite entertainment for 3 years.

The complete series can be purchased on Amazon.com. During its tenure on the network, Rome was must see TV in our house. This series brought to life ancient Rome in all of its glory, filth, violence, sex, depredation, political intrigue, familial dysfunction, plotting, slavery, brutality, grandeur, and assassinations.

The series follows the rise of Julius Caesar from the period when he returns following an 8-year absence wile he conquered Gaul through the triumph of Augustus following his success against Marc Antony and Cleopatra as he conquered Egypt.

This Rome shows the viewer not just the patrician class and the wealth and debauchery of the elite. We also see the plebes, the underclass, the solder, the citizen and slaves. The series is visually stunning and transports the viewer into the past better than any series I’ve seen.  Sumptuous is the word that best describes the experience.

The acting is superb with Ciaran Hinds portraying the calculating Julius Caesar; James Purefoy as Marc Antony; and the incomparable Polly Walker as Atia, the scheming and villainous niece of Caesar and mother of Octavian and Octavia.

This series is not for the faint of heart or those offended by a bit of nudity sex, violence and the invoking pagan gods and goddesses. But for anyone with a love of only slightly fractured history replete with top quality attention to detail and lush cinematography, I highly recommend a few weekends sequestered with these DVDs.

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