Rome: Difference between revisions

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'''''Rome''''' is a [[Costume Drama|semi-historical drama]] series co-produced by [[HBO]] and the [[BBC]] that aired between 2005 and 2007. It follows the lives of politicians, socialites, and soldiers in [[Ancient Rome]] starting [[During the War]] under Caesar and progressing through the power struggles and ascension of Augustus as the Emperor of Rome. Featuring one of the most notable [[Evil Matriarch]] characters in recent TV history, Atia of the Julii.

One of its most innovative ideas was to focus on the lives of ordinary fictional Romans, rather than just historical figures like [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Caesar]] or [[Emperor Augustus|Augustus]]. This had been explored before in literature and in [[Sit ComSitcom|Sit Coms]], but ''Rome'' was the first television drama to do so. It was a great concept, though [[Your Mileage May Vary|opinions differ]] on whether it managed to pull it off well or not. The show had a tremendous ensemble cast, incredible production values and was both epic in scope and paid meticulous, loving attention to detail. [[Too Good to Last|It ended after its second series due to insufficient ratings to justify its massive expense.]] HBO executives later regretted the decision as [[Better Onon DVD|DVD sales turned out to be very good]].

Creator Bruno Heller [https://web.archive.org/web/20150503131419/http://www.mania.com/rome-moving-forward_article_121029.html announced] a feature film to be based on the series, but a [https://web.archive.org/web/20141006122506/http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/26/the-mentalist-finale/ recent interview] reveals that the project is in [[Development Hell]].

For the place in Italy, see [[The Eternal City]]. For the empire that inspired [[Ancient Grome]], see [[The Roman Empire]].

* [[Aborted Arc]]: Timon's subplot peters out after only a few episodes before he's [[Put Onon a Bus]]. It's been suggested that, had the series gone on longer, the final season would have dealt with the rise of [[The Messiah]] in Judea. Had this actually happened, he probably would have had a much bigger role.

* [[Added Alliterative AppealAlliteration]]: Very briefly, but memorably with Pullo's "It's a sphucking sphinx!" line.

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Mostly averted, although there are a number of examples. Although early in the Roman Republic Plebeians generally did constitute a politically disenfranchised and poor lower class. By the time of the show however Plebeians had more or less formal political equality with Patricians, and there were enough instances of Plebeians becoming rich and Patricians becoming destitute that the title had little bearing on economic status. With the conflict in Rome at the time being mostly rich vs. poor, depicting the rivalry as being essentially Plebeians vs. Patricians is very attractive, but also very inaccurate. Many Republicans were in fact very wealthy Plebeians, most notably [[Cicero (Creator)|Cicero]] and Cato the Younger (the latter being depicted on the show as [[Did Not Do Research|regarding Plebeians as trash]]).

* [[Anything That Moves]]: Mark "I'm not getting out of bed until I've fucked someone" Antony. Especially given, as a condition of marriage, Atia demands that Antony get rid of all the house slaves -- maleslaves—male or female -- thatfemale—that he's bedded.

* [[Badass]]: Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. Part of it stems from [[Plot Armor]], but these two regularly take the phrases "Outnumbered by 3 to 1" and "Numerical superiority" and do unprintable things to them.

* [[Badass Boast]]:

* [[Barbarian Tribe]]:

** The series starts with Caesar in Gaul crushing the remaining Arvernian forces of Vercingetorix, who is vanquised and [[Put Onon a Bus|thrown into a dungeon]]. He [[The Bus Came Back|reappears]] during Caesar's triumph to be displayed and publicly executed. Another tribe plays a role in the first episode, the Blue Spaniards, agents of Pompey.

* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: Caesar never said [[Et Tu, Brute?]] when dying, and the series correctly leaves out the phrase. In the next episode, Brutus says to his mother, after she agrees with those who think he should kill Antony: "You too, mother?"

* [[Beard of Sorrow]]:

* [[Berserk Button]]:

** By the same token, try not to be the person reading a speech of Cicero's where he calls {{spoiler|Mark Antony}} "Rome's Helen of Troy" and says that it fits him, because "a woman's role always suited you best" if the person in question is in earshot.

* [[Biggus Dickus]]: Atia sends Servilia a gift of a slave with a wang that would make [[Watchmen (comics)|Doctor Manhattan]] blush. That had to have been a hell of a casting call.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]] And the gray is really, REALLY dark. This makes hard to clearly define many a character as [[Anti -Villain]] or [[Anti -Hero]].

* [[Blood Onon the Debate Floor]] :

** A full on fight breaks out in the senate when Pompey's supporters pass a motion that calls on Caesar to return and surrender or be labeled a traitor and condemned to death. Caesar's supporters don't take this well, as might be expected. A second fights ensues (but just outside the Senate House and not triggered by political reasons) before Antony attemps to enter the Senate to try to veto the motion again, as the previous session was resumed due to a technicality. The fights [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|prevent Mark Antony from vetoing the motion, which was what Pompey wanted in the first place and make a perfect Casus Belli for the Civil War, as People's Tribune are inviolable]] The motion was supposed to show Caesar he was alone, nothing more and was not expected nor wanted to be approved. Altough the die-hard optimates do in fact want to destroy Caesar bluntly so it is not a total blunder to everyone.

** Cicero sends a message to be read in the Senate in his absence, which turns out to be a scathing attack on Antony. All the Senators [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|begin to leave in a hurry]] and Antony demands the clerk to read out the whole thing and then [[Shoot the Messenger|bludgeons the poor bastard to death with the scroll]].

{{quote| '''Antony''' You boys play too rough for me. Knives in the Senate House? I didn't know you had it in you.}}

* [[Bread and Circuses]]: Withholding shipments of grain is coldly used as a political leverage, because shortages of bread (generously provided by the state) would make the ruler of Rome tumble thanks to [[Zero Percent0% Approval Rating|internal unrest]].

* [[Break the Cutie]]:

** Subverted with Lucius Vorenus. He is a dour straight man prone to flying off the handle at the slightest hint of dishonesty. He eventually [[Beware the Nice Ones|snaps]].

* [[British Accents]]: A large portion of the main cast is British or Irish, but the accents used to represent wealth and status are the same as [[The QueensQueen's Latin|those used in modern Britain]].

* [[Broken Pedestal]]: Brutus regards Caesar as a [[Parental Substitute|father figure]] and starts with [["Well Done, Son" Guy]] traits. He is gradually manipulated by his mother Servilia and finally breaks with Caesar when Brutus is [[Reassigned to Antarctica|appointed governor of a far-away province]] by a wary Caesar. Mutual suspicions arise and as Brutus puts it "Only tyrants need fear tyrant killers"

* [[Brother -Sister Incest]]:

* [[Call That a Formation]]:

** Played with later at the battle of Philippi; Both sides start in organized formations but the battle later degenerates into a massive confused brawl. It can be seen later that Octavian and Anthony's forces have the clear upper hand when significant numbers have reformed into tight formation to advance toward the command position of Brutus and Cassius.

* [[Chessmaster]]:

** Subverted with Julius Caesar, who lets his empathy get in the way.

** Octavian, however, manipulates everyone like a ruthless genius.

{{quote| '''Antony:''' I will serve out my term as consul and then return to the provinces, plough my fields and fuck my slaves like old Cincinnatus.}}

* [[Cluster F -Bomb]]: "I'm Titus Fucking Pullo, Cunt!" among many, ''many'' others.

* [[Cold -Blooded Torture]]:

** Octavian and Pullo interrogate a man regarding Vorenus' grandson. Pullo hesitates and doesn't know what to do, pointing out that in the army there are [[Torture Technician|TortureTechnicians]]. Finally is Octavian who suggest a successful method (thumbs out).

* [[Combat Byby Champion]]: A surrounded Antony challenges Octavian to this kind of personal resolution, who just laughs at the idea.

* [[Cool Chair]]: Cassius affirms that Caesar's chair at the senate (curule seat) is a throne, but Brutus refutes it pointing out it's just too plain modest and chairlike to qualify...

* [[Corrupt Politician]]: [[Inherent in Thethe System]], it would be easier to list the honest ones... if such men exist in the show. Legalist catonians allegedly; Vorenus tries to be a straight one during his brief stint in Season I.

* [[Cowboy Cop]]: Pullo, he is under strict orders about ''not'' attacking Pompeyan forces but he disregards those orders and charges against the easily outmatched green soldiers of Pompey. Caesar benefits greatly by this insubordination as he realizes his enemy is very weak in Italy.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Brutus.

{{quote| '''Cato:''' So in effect, this is not a humiliating defeat at all, but a rare species of victory?<br />

'''Cicero:''' Worms' is harsh. Worms cannot run away as speedily as we do.<br />

'''Posca:''' I was not aware irony had military uses.<br />

{{quote| '''Cassius:''' Our men at arms have secured the city. We've recieved representitives from all the best elements. The senate is with us, the knights are with us. '''Brutus:''' The pontifs, the urban cohorts, the lictors guild...<br />

'''Antony:''' Oh, the lictors guild, very good. Only rally the bakers and the flute players and you can put on a festival. [[hottip:*Note*: <ref>[[Corpsing|Brutus' actor visibly tries hard not to laugh and stay in character]]</ref> }}

{{quote| '''Servilia''': Do not look so pleased with yourself. You’re a liar and a breaker of oaths, and you’ve roused your rabble, nothing more. A pantomime actor might have done what you did today.<br />

* [[Dead Guy Onon Display]]:

* [[Death Byby Irony]]: {{spoiler|Brutus' death strangely resembles that of Caesar's, in which Brutus plays a major part.}}

* [[Decapitation Presentation]]:

** An example that also plays as in-universe [[Values Dissonance]] when a serious Cassius is brokering a political deal with a casual Asian ruler who is really interested in a form of bestiality that the Romans use as a punishment and not as an entertainment. Cassius complies without much objection anyway but he is subtly shocked.

* [[Democracy Is Bad]] :

** The [[Opening Narration]] states that Rome -- aRome—a Republic with many democratic traits -- cannottraits—cannot govern itself. Magistrates are elective but many of the characters work to avoid what they call ''rule of the mob'', consider elections as a formality, just a matter of bribes and demagoguery and some are deeply offended when the Senate becomes less restrictive and incorporates pleb citizens and non-roman ones. Nobody really believes in democracy anyway, everything is done behind the scenes by the oligarchy, although the caesarians are somehow [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populares |the people's party]] as they draw a lot of their power from the plebs.

{{quote| '''Posca''' The people are not crying out for clean elections, they're crying out for stability and peace. They're crying out for jobs and food and clean water...You can do great things for your people}}

** Antony plays the elections card when he negotiates the aftermath of Caesar's assasination. ''Messy things elections'' The conspirators are horrified as they would have to validate their taken for granted powers. They reach a compromise and no democracy is needed.

{{quote| {{spoiler|"I am '''NOT''' a fucking animal!"}}}}

* [[Downer Ending]]: ''Very'' narrowly averted. The series was originally supposed to end after one season, with Caesar's murder being the [[Grand Finale]]. That means that the Season 1 finale, where {{spoiler|Vorenus' wife kills herself in front of him and their children, and Brutus' mom strongarms him into orchestrating his best friend's murder,}} was originally going to be the finale for the entire series. As [[Bittersweet Ending|bittersweet]] as the real ending was, it could have been ''much'' worse.

* [[Dying Asas Yourself]]: {{spoiler|Antony, who abandons egyptian style and returns to roman attire and weapons to commit suicide : "Tell the people I died well, I died Roman"}}

** Antony strolling into Caesar's tent covered in blood, bantering with Brutus, and then, when given a mission to accomplish on a strict budget, unabashedly stealing half the money anyway.

** Octavian condescendingly telling Pullo that he's "a Roman citizen of noble birth" while he's hog-tied in the dirt, then calmly beating the snot out of one of his disabled captors and singlehandedly deducing Caesar's political maneuvering -- allmaneuvering—all in the two minutes after he's freed.

** A condensed triple one in the second episode. [[Boisterous Bruiser|Rowdy Pullo]] makes a lewd remark, Vorenus commands him to show decency as he is under Rome's standard. Pullo talks back pointing at General Antony, who is fornicating a young sheperd by a tree with his entire personal escort watching and with his cohorts halted -- theyhalted—they are marching towards Rome on the double -- . Legalist Vorenus replies that he (Antony) is not ''under'' the standard.

** The first Senate session: A radical Cato --theCato—the only senator dressed in black-- givesblack—gives a condemmatory and [[Flame Bait|incendiary speech]] against Caesar (a war hero still in Gaul), while the flexible Cicero suggests a more subtle opposition.

* [[Et Tu, Brute?]]: Without the actual sentence being pronnounced. Ciaran Hinds' [[Facial Dialogue|facial expression]], especially his eyes, carries the question "Et tu, Brute?" silently. Very effective.

{{quote| "We observe the ''fucking decencies!''"}}

* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Maecenas is this to Octavian. [[Eunuchs Are Evil|Evil Eunuch]] [[Sissy Villain|Pothinus]] tries to be this to Ptolemy XIII, only to [[Harmless Villain|fail spectacularly]].

* [[Fetish]]: The senatorial leaders in exile resort to an Asian ruler who casually request an [[Interspecies Romance|interspecies erotica]] show (baboon meets woman) as the condition for his help. The Romans akwardly seal the deal and comply. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llquJck7D-0 The scene] serves as in-universe [[Values Dissonance]], Cassius points out it's not an entertainment but a punishment (used by Romans) and is subtly shocked by the requirement (but complies). <ref> And in a metasubversion nothing is staged or shown, [[Discretion Shot]] etc... with HBO anything goes but even them have standards.</ref>

* [[Fire -Forged Friends]]:

** Vorenus and Pullo, naturally: [[Bash Brothers]] and [[Back -to -Back Badasses]].

* [[Foe Yay]]: Antony flirts with almost everyone, including the people he threatens. With Brutus, in particular, he often seems to veer into pigtail pulling territory. If only the show had included the historical account of him wrapping Brutus's dead body in his purple mantle...

* [[Four -Temperament Ensemble]]: Pullo is sanguine, Antony choleric / sanguine, Caesar melancholic and Vorenus [[The Stoic|phlegmatic / melancholic]]. ([[Character Development|Season 1 only]])

* [[Genre Savvy]]:

{{quote| '''Antony''': Now '''''that''''' is an exit!}}

* [[Hair -Trigger Temper]]: Erastes Fulmen is always either boisterously [[Affably Evil]] or seething with rage. One of his funniest moments is when he rages at a slave who whistles: "'''For fuck's sake, stop that Teutonic droning! If you have to whistle like someone's bum-boy, at least whistle a Roman song!'''"

* [[Happily Married]]:

** Octavian and Livia seem to fit this trope, in a very twisted version of it.

* [[Happiness in Slavery]]:

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]:

* [[Implied Death Threat]]:

{{quote| '''Cicero ''' Please go on, make your threats. I don't like to submit to mere implication. <br />

{{quote| '''Mark Antony :''' Caesar has many more legions than the Thirteenth.<br />

'''Scipio:''' Yes, on the far side of the Alps.<br />

'''Mark Antony:''' Winter does not last forever. Spring comes. Snows melt.<br />

'''Scipio:''' That is a threat!<br />

* [[Interplay of Sex and Violence]]: More than once, especially with {{spoiler|Pullo and Gaia}} (they come close to [[Its"It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It"]]) and with {{spoiler|Octavian and his wife Livia}}--he—he flat-out tells her that he will beat her occasionally during their marriage because it gives him sexual pleasure, and she seems to be into it later on.

* [[ItsIt's All About Me]]: Atia ignores the word ''empathy'', everything she does gravitates around her self-centered schemes. {{spoiler|Subverted in her final scene where she realizes she is [[Lonely Atat the Top]]. (Implied by her face when she looks at Antony's dummy)}}

* [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: Titus Pullo.

{{quote| '''Vorenus:''' Pullo, report to Princess Cleopatra and do whatever she tells you.<br />

*Cue a prolonged bout of vigorous and noisy sex.*<br />

'''[[Boisterous Bruiser|Pullo]]:''' Gods, that was something, let me tell you.<br />

'''Vorenus:''' I don't want to hear about it. If you're wise, [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again|you'll never speak of this again]].<br />

{{quote| '''Atia:''': Well congratulations, you're good as king now.<br />

* [[Licensed Game]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131124055744/http://www.cdx-thegame.com/ CDX] ([http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/rome/index.shtml UK version]) is a point-and-click adventure with full-motion FMV that takes the premise that the lead is a freelance props buyer, after recently working for the BBC on "Rome", has a dagger some very nasty people want. It's surprisingly good.

* [[Lonely Atat the Top]]: {{spoiler|Atia.}}

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: The show just ends when {{spoiler|Pullo seems to be about to deliver the line to Caesarion.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Pullo''' Listen, about your father...}}}}

{{quote| '''Atia''': You will penetrate somebody today or I shall burn your wretched books at the yard.}}

* [[My Master, Right or Wrong]]: Vorenus is the epitome of this trope.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] / [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: Several instances

** A condemnatory but symbolic senate motion against Caesar -only intended to show Caesar his relative isolation, making him less adventurous- becomes violent, is actually passed and after some twists Mark Antony --anAntony—an inviolable tribune-- getstribune—gets assaulted. That gives a now cornered Caesar a [[Pretext for War]] against them. Cue the [[Civil War]].

** Caesar harbors vague suspicion against Brutus and thus [[Reassigned to Antarctica|appoints him governor of a far-away province]], just in case. Brutus realizes he is practically being exiled, that gives him grounds for his own suspicion and makes him embrace the cause of the conspirators against Caesar: [[Wham! Line|"Only tyrants need fear tyrant killers"]]. The support of Brutus is they key-element to the plot, and until that moment Brutus was on-the fence at best

** Cicero plays and empowers Octavian against Antony, who is the continuator of Caesar. Octavian lets Cicero think he is just a docile pawn of the Senate but eventually [[Out -Gambitted|Cicero is outmaneuvered by an Octavian]] who now as Consul military occupies Rome and the Senate itself, something that Caesar never dared to do..

* [[No Sympathy]]: When Octavian is taken to the whore house for his first ever boning, he strikes up a conversation with the prostitute. She relates her story of how her father and brothers were killed and she was sold into slavery, eventually ending up working at a whore house in Rome. For a moment Octavian's sympathies appear to be stirred; [[ItsIt's All About Me|that is until he starts undoing his belt and telling her to get on her hands and knees.]] This actually very aptly foreshadows what kind of person he becomes later in the series.

{{quote| '''Vorenus:''' You're no coward, but you do have a strong disease in your soul. It will eat away at you until you die [...] I recognize the symptoms, I have the same sickness.}}

{{quote| '''Antony:''' You won't turn to drink, will you? You stoic types often do when disappointed in life.}}

* [[Not -So -Harmless Villain]] : At some point, Caesar, Antony and specially Octavian are underestimated or written off as power-players.

* [[Not What It Looks Like]]: Octavian and Caesar hide in a closet during one of Caesar's epileptic attacks. A servant overhears moaning and the two exiting and assumes sex ensued. Atia discovers it and compliments his son for seducing the most powerful man of Rome [[ItsIt's All About Me|and becoming a romantical rival to Servilia, her hatred enemy]].

* [[Officer and Aa Gentleman]]: Lucius Vorenus again, it's amazingly funny compared to the dirtbags he serves, who would screw [[Anything That Moves]].

* [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome]]:

{{quote| '''Antony:''' [[Badass Boast|I got a bit carried away]]}}

* [[Out -Gambitted]]: Frequent, given the [[Gambit Pileup|GambitPileups]] going on. Lampshaded by Cicero:

{{quote| '''Cicero:''' I've been outmaneuvered by a child. To the country then."}}

* [[A Plague Onon Both Your Houses]]: After the death of her son and the extinction of her political cause (partly due to Atia's machinations), Servilia goes to Atia's house with a knife, chants incessantly until Atia comes out to confront her. Then, with the full attention of everybody around, she indulges in a lengthy curse of Atia, damning her to have nothing but "bitterness and despair" for the rest of her life. To seal the deal, she then {{spoiler|stabs herself, with her servant following suit. While Atia achieves the goal she's been aiming for the entire series, she finds it's [[Lonely Atat the Top]].}}

{{quote| '''Antony''': Now '''''that''''' is an exit!}}

{{quote| ''This month's public bread is provided by the'' '''Capitoline Brotherhood of Millers!''''' The Brotherhood uses only the finest flour! True Roman bread for true Romans.''}}

* [[Professional Killer]]: Vorenus and Pullo become thug enforcers after they are [[Fallen -On -Hard -Times Job|demobilized and without income]]. Eventually they are required to actually kill people. Vorenus however [[Hitman Withwith a Heart|draws the line at murder]] and quits.

* [[Protagonist Centred Morality]]: Titus Pullo is a rapist and multiple murderer but is presented as heroic because he is a loyal friend to Vorenus. This is entirely deliberate, since raping the enemy's women was completely normal behavior for Roman legionnaires.

* [[The Purge]]:

** In the afermath of Caesar's demise, the conspirators start planning a purge but Brutus succesfully argues that they are [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|"tyrant killers, liberators, not murderers"]] and the planned whackings are halted.

* [[Put Onon a Bus]]:

* [[The QueensQueen's Latin]]

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: '''Spectacularly''' done by Cicero against Antony. [[Villainous Breakdown]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGd96SH57SA ensues.] <ref> The Real Life [[Cicero]] dedicated 14 speechs against Antony, the ''Philipicae''</ref>

{{quote| '''Reader:''' These being the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero: When I was a young man, I defended the State. As an old man, I shall not abandon it. I give sincere thanks to Mark Antony, who has generously presented me with the most promising theme imaginable. I address you directly, Antony. Please listen as if you... as if you... please listen, as if you were sober and intelligent, and not a drink-sodden, sex-addled wreck. You are certainly not without accomplishments: it is a rare man who can boast of becoming a bankrupt before even coming of age. You have brought upon us war, pestilence and destruction. You are Rome's Helen of Troy. But then... but then... a woman's role has always suited you best."}}

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]:

** Octavian and Mark Antony fit this trope rather well in the second season.

* [[Refuge in Vulgarity]]: Although a lot of it is [[Truth in Television]]. Just read [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16Catullus 16|this contemporary poem.]]

* [[Remember the Alamo!]]: "THIRTEENTH! THIRTEENTH!" Also a CMOA.

{{quote| '''Antony:''' And I have an angry mob, that will roast and eat your 'men of quality' in the ashes of the Senate House!}}

** Brilliantly subverted for Antony's speech after [[Meaningful Funeral|Caesar's funeral]] (the one that became known as [[Julius Caesar (Theatretheatre)|Shakespeare's famed]], although entirely fictional, "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech). We see the results of his speech, and even have several characters describe what happened, but none of the actual speech is shown or heard.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Aa Nuke|Screw the rules, I Have an Army]]: The characters aggresively use their personal armies to forcefully install themselves as rulers and subvert the constitutional order. Around the times of the series, using an army inside Italy for political purposes was a novelty (Sulla started the precedent only years before and the real life Pompey provides the page quote for the trope) and a great sacrilege, as mentioned by Vorenus and Antony. Enforced over Caesar, as his enemies would make him face jail if he returns to Rome as a normal citizen.

* [[Self -Harm]]: Octavia is seen cutting herself, and later her sleeves are pulled up to show the injuries.

* [[Sex Asas Rite -of -Passage]]: Atia arranges for Octavian to lose his virginity, so that he can become [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|a man]].

* [[Shout -Out]]: After the shipwreck of Lucius and Titus's fleet, the two characters devise a means of escape from their desert island which will be very familiar to anyone who's read ''[[Watchmen]]''.

** Subverted: Atia goads an apathetic Antony to betray a campaigning Caesar and seize Rome for himself ([[ItsIt's All About Me|herself more like it]]). Antony thinks about it briefly but is dismayed by the notion, scorns Atia and does the opposite; he gathers new resolution and quickly runs to help Caesar.

* [[Suicide Byby Cop|Suicide By Legionnaire]]: After all is lost at Philippi, Brutus charges the enemy army all by himself, taking care to take off his armor first.

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Memmio to Erastes Fulmen, with even both characters being played by actors that look very much like each other. A weird example since Erastes Fulmen's "departure" was a natural part of the script, rather than a last minute addition.

{{quote| '''Cicero:''' Here we are, refugees in our own land...<br />

* [[Talkative Loon]]: Octavian's wife Livia.

{{quote| '''Pullo:''' This is cack, this is! I'm wet through!<br />

'''Vorenus:''' We're perfectly safe - a very favorable offering was made to Triton before we left.<br />

'''Pullo:''' Well, if Triton can't keep me drier than this, he can suck my cock!<br />

'''[[It Got Worse|Ship's mast breaks]]'''<br />

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Lucius Vorenus and Niobe, according to quite a few characters on the show.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]:

** Many of the body slaves to their masters.

{{quote| '''Octavian''': The man turns loyalty into a vice.}}

* [[Very Loosely Based Onon a True Story]]: The series is quite loose on many aspects of history. Some of them are forgiveable for the sake of dramatic/artistic license, but others are questionable. It may work better if you think of the series as a sort of "[[Alternative Character Interpretation|Rome, as seen by Romans.]]" There are all sorts of oddities in their interpretation of other cultures (the wild German cavalrymen, the long-haired Gauls, the dark, effeminate Egyptians) but it is entirely possible to look at these oddities as a dramatization of "Roman Stereotypes."

* [[Viewers Areare Morons]]: Done in-universe

** Antony affably taunts Brutus for giving a speech "too cerebral for that kind of audience". [[Manipulative Bastard]] Antony instead delivers (offscreen) the other famous [[Julius Caesar (Theatretheatre)|Shakespearean speech]] full of energy, [[Bastardly Speech|demagoguery]] and dramatic effect that [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|infuriates the masses against Caesar's assassins]].

{{quote| '''Pullo:''' She still doesn't say much, but she can give such a look . . . }}

* [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]]: Brutus, his only goal is the preservation of a sacred Republic started by an ancient kin. He reluctantly joins politics and the plot to kill Caesar when he realizes that Caesar may be a threat to the constitutional order. Once Caesar is gone he stops further violence "we are tyrant killers, liberators, not murderers" and spares Antony, [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|an action that turns against him]] when Antony manages to continue the legacy of Caesar and in the end he has to exile with the rest of the conspirators and embark in another civil war.

* [[We Named the Monkey "Jack"]]: When Vorenus brings home the one little boy who survived the wasting disease that killed the rest of his slaves, the girls coo over him and one of them says, "We'll call him Rubio after my pigeon that died."

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]:

{{quote| '''Posca:''' With all respect, sir, but until the will is ratified I am bound to serve the Julii and I must request that you not forcibly remove my mistress. With all respect}}

** Servilia, she sets in motion the plot to assassinate Caesar purely out of spite from being rejected by him.

{{quote| '''Atia:''' I don't give a fuck what the priests say. I'll not let a vicious little trollop like you walk ahead of me. I go first. [...] I know who you are. I can see you. You're swearing now that someday you'll destroy me. Remember, far better women than you have sworn to do the same. [[Badass Boasts|Go and look for them now]].}}

* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]:

[[Category:RomeHistorical Series]]

[[Category:SeriesLive-Action TV of the 2000s]]