# Rome 07/02/04 (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870 "2007-02-05T02:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/41 "2007-02-08T20:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Where was she that she was so unprotected? [/QUOTE] In church, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/42 "2007-02-08T21:01:14Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] It seems to me like about 4-5 years have passed in Octavian’s life, but only 2 months have passed in the lives of Pullo and Vorenus. [/QUOTE] Time seems very fluid on this show. Caesar Octavian and Vorenus’ slave boy both get so much older that they have to regenerate, but the bastard child (Lucius?) stays four? Luckily, that’s the only complaint about Rome]/u]. Everything else has been fantastic. I’m thinking with Pullo’s reluctance about the slave camp, that there may be something about his past that we’ll be learning about. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/43 "2007-02-09T03:39:17Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] …I’m thinking with Pullo’s reluctance about the slave camp, that there may be something about his past that we’ll be learning about. [/QUOTE] Last season he mentioned that his mother was a slave, which means Pullo _himself_ was born a slave. Could freedmen join the Roman army 😕 ? If not then he could have been hiding his status (did the Romans do much crosschecking of documents). Either way Pullo must have had a _very_, _very_ unpleasant childhood even by Roman standards. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/44 "2007-02-09T05:17:02Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] There **is** an advantage in being a historian. We already **know** what happens. 😛 [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, but what about the epic Atia-Servilia bitchfight? 😉 (I know, I know, in real life Atia was a devout, kindly, caring Roman matron…) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/45 "2007-02-09T17:00:19Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Last season he mentioned that his mother was a slave, which means Pullo _himself_ was born a slave. Could freedmen join the Roman army 😕 ? If not then he could have been hiding his status (did the Romans do much crosschecking of documents). Either way Pullo must have had a _very_, _very_ unpleasant childhood even by Roman standards. [/QUOTE] When Pullo was talking about the slave camp I got kind of worried maybe Pullo isn’t really a free man, and that could cause problems. I hope that’s not where they’re going. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/46 "2007-02-09T17:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Well, yeah, but what about the epic Atia-Servilia bitchfight? 😉 (I know, I know, in real life Atia was a devout, kindly, caring Roman matron…) [/QUOTE] Colleen McCollough’s series on Rome barely mentions Atia, but it’s not kind to Servilia, that’s for sure. according to McCollough’s version, the woman was a monster. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/47 "2007-02-09T19:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Last season he mentioned that his mother was a slave, which means Pullo himself was born a slave. Could freedmen join the Roman army ? [/quote] A slave freed by a citizen became a citizen himself. So Pullo could have been born afterwards, or adopted out, or manumitted as a young man. Possibilities are endless. [QUOTE=alphaboi867] If not then he could have been hiding his status (did the Romans do much crosschecking of documents). [/QUOTE] Like any civilization worthy of the name, Roman society spent five minutes writing down the law and five hundred years finding ways around it. Times of crisis might find a number of slaves, particularly gladiators, being informed that they were now free…to join the legions, haveanicedaycitizen. Winking at the legionary property requirements in the mid-Republic was probably common. Come the civil wars it wasn’t as if men like Caesar or Pompey would be eager to see a review of their rosters; they needed good troops far more than they needed the appearance of propriety. So yeah, runaway slaves probably weren’t unknown in the legions. But legion life wasn’t exactly silk pillows and footrubs, so the nearest recruiting station probably wasn’t a super popular destination amongst runaways. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870/48 "2007-02-10T05:03:38Z")
Finally caught this episode. I dunno. Season two just seems unrelentingly grim to me. Part of what I enjoyed so much about season one was the comic relief provided by Pullo and Vorenas (and ocassionally by other characters). Not much humor in season two. I still love the series, but season one was more of a joy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-07-02-04-spoilers/390870.md?page=2)