# Rome: 10/16 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633 "2005-10-17T18:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Kaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/41 "2005-10-19T14:44:14Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > From the speed those poor guys were carrying Cleopatra’s palace-in-a-box, unless Alexandria was about 200 yards away, I’d say it took at least several weeks. 🙂 Forget sedan chairs though or even SUV’s, thats how I wanna travel from now on. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/42 "2005-10-19T15:38:07Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > If I’m not seeing way more subtext than there actually is, I got the impression that the timing was important for some reason. She was “between the floods” right now, and might not be when she met Caesar. It was important for her to become pregnant as soon as possible, and if that meant doing the deed with whoever was available, so be it. That’s the way the show played it, but I don’t think that the real Cleopatra would have felt it essential to become pregnant as soon as possible. What was more important was to earn his trust so he would allow her to rule Egypt. She cemented this alliance by becoming his lover, and ultimately, bearing his child. She could not have counted on Ceasar impregnating her quickly. He’d only ever had one child, indicating that if he wasn’t exactly sterile, he was shooting a lot of blanks. Ceasar did not give her back her place in the heirarchy because she was good in bed-- he gave it to her because she was a brilliant ruler. I believe that even if they’d never become lovers that he still would have done the same. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/43 "2005-10-21T00:56:10Z")
Some general questions: When does the current season get over? And till what event will it cover? What about the next one? Any good sites that talk about these things? ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/44 "2005-10-21T01:21:38Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > Some general questions: > > When does the current season get over? And till what event will it cover? What about the next one? Any good sites that talk about these things? [Here ya go](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_%28TV_series%29) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/45 "2005-10-21T04:15:01Z")
I, for one, don’t think it looks cheap at all. Others have pointed out how much is spent. IIRC (I don’t have a cite), the producers wanted to show the dirtiness of the major cities of the era as opposed to the squeaky clean ones you see in movies. They wanted it to look more realistic and dirtiness is a part of that. And while I was disappointed that the battles were not shown originally, I’m actually glad they don’t show it. The dialogue and plot are so good, that I wouldn’t want the battles to eat up too much screen time and slow down the good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/46 "2005-10-21T04:20:48Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > The dialogue and plot are so good, that I wouldn’t want the battles to eat up too much screen time and slow down the good stuff. Although it seems necessary in some cases, heck, most cases. Supposedly during the siege at Alexandria, Caesar only had a few hundred men whereas the opposition was 100,000+. How did he overcome that? **Can Handle the Truth** : That has the same scope as the HBO site, although the episode titles do shed some light. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/47 "2005-10-21T04:27:30Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > Although it seems necessary in some cases, heck, most cases. Supposedly during the siege at Alexandria, Caesar only had a few hundred men whereas the opposition was 100,000+. How did he overcome that? Indeed that would have been good to know. But it seems the writers have made a conscious effort to say forget the battles, what we care about is the dialogue and the plot. How Caesar won doesn’t seem to really matter to them. I doubt we’ll see many in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/48 "2005-10-21T06:23:58Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > Although it seems necessary in some cases, heck, most cases. Supposedly during the siege at Alexandria, Caesar only had a few hundred men whereas the opposition was 100,000+. How did he overcome that? He actually had a few thousand - Antony said “half a legion” on the show and posterity records it as 4,000 men ( 3,200 legionaries and 800 auxillary calvary ), a little under a full-strength legion of the time ( 4,800 legionaries ). The at least initial besieging Egyptian force was recorded as 20,000 men, roughly five times Caesar’s strength and comprised to a significant extent of ex-legionaries themselves, now enrolled as mercenaries. Posca’s “100,000 men” for Ptolemy XIII may have been either an exagerration or what Egypt was reckoned to be able to field if undivided. Theodotus’ ( the short, squat, older one ) comment about Caesar having “a few hundred men” was definitely hyperbole to provoke general Achillas ( the youngest of the three, with the paint on his nose and the man who initially led the siege ). Caesar was very hard-pressed at first, but was eventually reenforced - first by a Roman legion ( a former Pompeyan unit at that - the 37th ), then by an allied non-Roman army from Asia Minor under one Mithridates of Pergamun. The final battle was fought near Pelusium and though I don’t think the exact size of the opposing armies was recorded ( or at least I can’t find it on quick search ), I doubt that by that point Caesar was all that seriously outnumbered. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/49 "2005-10-21T15:25:41Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Good point - and as Atia would say, “everybody likes big penis.” I believe it’s actually, “large penis is always welcome.” Gotta keep our one-liners straight. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/50 "2005-10-21T16:52:16Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > He’d only ever had one child, indicating that if he wasn’t exactly sterile, he was shooting a lot of blanks. I’m sorry, but I believe you forgot his daughter, Julia, married to Pompey before she died in childbirth. IIRC, Cleopatra, while not a raving beauty, had an incredibly astute political mind. She captivated not one, but two of the most powerful men of the time. I was a bit annoyed to see her portrayed as a slut, because as the incarnation of a god it was important for her to remain a virgin until either her brother/husband became of age to impregate her, or to bear a child from some other, equally worthy bloodline. Is it established fact that Cleopatra was smuggled into Egypy by hiding in a carpet? I’ve seen this portrayed many times, so did it really happen, or did everyone buy into the myth, a la Washington chopping down a cherry tree? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/51 "2005-10-21T17:10:05Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > I believe it’s actually, “large penis is always welcome.” Gotta keep our one-liners straight. Sorry for dicking around with the quote, but I got the thrust of the idea. You don’t have to be cocky about it. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633/52 "2005-10-21T20:37:51Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking: HURLEY! when the fat Egyptian guy came out carrying the jar w/ Pompey Magnus’ head in it. No, you weren’t. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-16/326633.md?page=2)