Rome

Strange premise, a serious history show with serious sensuality. Typically those markets are pretty distinct: the small contingent of history buffs vs the masses who are just looking to watch a little trash. The blending here isn't always smooth -- if you took the premise and wrote the plot from scratch, with optimum modern drama in mind, it would significantly diverge from the historical events -- but the history makes it worthwhile, and the trash makes it fun, and the history itself is invigorated enough that this all works out okay. I'm a unique use case, preparing for this Rome trip -- there's absolutely no way I would have watched all of this otherwise -- but I hear it was fairly successful anyway, so there must be enough people who got enough excitement out of this thing. Oh, it was on BBC too -- maybe European markets are much more intrinsically invested in Roman history.

History doesn't always unfold in the optimal dramatic way, or does it? If someone rewrote these events, would Caesar live longer? Would Antony and Atia reconcile in the end? Would Cleopatra ascend the throne of Rome? Would any of these options be better than reality, or is reality inherently imbued with ideal drama? I reckon you could make some cool things happen if you strayed from the history. Maybe single combat between Caesar and Pompey for total power. Maybe Antony, as Caesar's right hand, with Vorenus as his own right hand, goes around to various continents striking deals and covering the entire world in Rome's blanket. You could do some cool things, but they may be no better than the drama of reality. They may be more like AI fantasies, cool in a shallow way.

Antony remained for me an object of fascination. He's much more sensual than I am, so I'm not sure how that sensuality factored into my impression of him. Something about him was magnetic. He was a badass Roman soldier, then he was a badass Egyptian monarch, all the while marrying tactical intellect with persuasive amiability. He was a leader of men, a strategist, a lover, and a soldier, and all-or-nothing in every department. He was philosophical yet earthy. He was also somewhat wicked, cruel, and hedonistic. But there was that grand magnetism.

Caesar had some of that as well, but the actor was nowhere near as personable. Hinds was an interesting choice there. Antony's casting was perfection.

The casting of older Octavian was tough. He was so cold and cruel. The actor when Octavian was a child was stern but much more heartfelt. I actually liked him, eventual dictator though I knew him to be. I was rooting for him, he was so brilliant yet down to earth. Older Octavian's likability was 0 kelvin.

It's fun to see Vorenus and Pullo dancing nervously in and out of some of history's most monumental events, trying not to screw everything up. It reminds me of the hobbits, little people who quietly move history forward. Isn't that a bit in Forrest Gump too, being ironically present at major historical events?

Ultimately I didn't need so much Vorenus and Pullo private life content. Those bits were decent TV, ultimately, but distracting from the grandeur of the real history. Not that I only wanted to watch royalty; the gritty street life was good to see; but I didn't need the distraction of their family lives. I just wanted history, as pure as possible.

The history was pretty solid, too. They must have done so much research.

Ideal outcome: Antony finds his purpose, which is to lead Rome to prosperity; he retains his playfulness but abandons his frivolity; he proves himself still a strong soldier and an even stronger general; he wins back his people's hearts after the Egyptian escapade, though Cleopatra stays beside him, and she wins them over too; Antony and Cleopatra ascend through bloodshed in defense of Rome's classic values, not traditionalist, but the root of the classic homegrown values. Antony is a just ruler, redeeming his prior cruelty, temper, infidelity, etc. Through finding his purpose he finds his dignity.

Favorite characters:

1. Antony: best blend of strength and charisma
2. Caesar: glorious and sharp, but also kind of distant and repellant -- an odd casting
3. Cleopatra: very spicy yet demigod
4. Atia: brilliant performance, injecting the whole series with vibrance and wit. She's a bit of a witch, but in the end is typically more fun than foul
5. young Octavian: prodigy who's cunning yet earnest
6. Octavia: she's bright and lively, though she doesn't do much, perhaps because her society doesn't let her
7. Cicero: a legendary mind, but he waffles and cowers
8. Pullo: good-hearted brute, a bit of a simpleton in light of the great minds around him, but perhaps the truest soul of them all
9. Agrippa: sound soldier and friend, but too sentimental, too doe-eyed literally and figuratively
10. older Octavian: he is ice, but you have to respect him as he single-handedly establishes the empire
11. Vorenus: sorry to say this show's main protagonist was not super likable to me. I think it was good acting, given the outline of his personality, but either the casting or the outline should have been more appealing. He's too cold and formal at first, then too deranged.
12. Brutus: ultimately more pitiable than despicable; almost noble, certainly not pleasant

Not a good look that the two main characters are so far down the list.