# Rome 11/6--No spoiler tags **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863 "2005-11-07T02:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/1 "2005-11-07T02:53:19Z")
Good grief, I though Pullo and Vorenus were going to be getting on after all. That sure won’t happen now. I didn’t realize Pullo was such a fool as to think the slave girl loved him. I knew he was a tough bastard, but not so crazily viscious. And now that Erastes is after him. To coin a phrase, this can only end badly. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/2 "2005-11-07T03:54:49Z")
I’m not so sure about Brutus’s loyalty to Caesar. Call me crazy, but I just don’t trust that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/3 "2005-11-07T04:23:12Z")
I don’t trust that Cassius dude either. I hope Brutus can talk some sense into him. Interesting imagery with the execution of the King of the Gauls. Vaguely allusive of the Passion. Pullo needs anger management. You generally aren’t going to win a woman over by bashing her boyfriends brains out. It looks like Octavian’s Pontiff duties include smearing blood on the Imperator’s face. No wonder he didn’t want the job. Two episodes left. March is getting nearer… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/4 "2005-11-07T04:28:31Z")
It may not have been entirely blood. It was the custom to paint the face of a _triumphator_ a terra cotta shade, in imitation of old Etruscan statues. I knew a vanquished king or general was sacrificed, or strangled, but I thought it was done away from the crowd, within Jupiter’s temple. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/5 "2005-11-07T14:21:32Z")
Personally, I was really disappointed about how little they showed of the Triumph. The few shots of the parade shown from the back of the crowd demonstrated they didn’t put a lot of money into production. When Caesar raised his hands, it was all over-- I thought it would just be starting. They spent more time showing the street sweepers than of the celebration. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/6 "2005-11-07T14:45:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not so sure about Brutus’s loyalty to Caesar. > > Call me crazy, but I just don’t trust that guy. No, he has a lean and hungry look… “That Brutus. I can tell I’m going to have trouble with him…” Caesar’s thoughts in one of the Asterix books. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/7 "2005-11-07T14:51:50Z")
Didn’t you just love that little chat that Alexis and Krystle had at the begining of the show? Great political theater! What exactly was the place that Octavia went to hide out, and who were the priests she was talking about? Anyone have an idea? I had a sneaking suspicion that Pullo’s slave-girl was getting a little something on the side while he was in Egypt. I’m not sure how they both could have been so stupid, though, to not see that Pullo wouldn’t be too thrilled to find out… It sure seems like Caesar’s got a lot of enemies. If I were him, I’d make a strong aliance with that Brutus fellow. He seems like the only one he can trust. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/8 "2005-11-07T17:59:32Z")
Octavia probably was at a temple of Cybele. She refered to the goddess as “the great Mother” and Magna Mater was a title of Cybele. She wasn’t Roman in origin, but was popular nonetheless, although not all of her male devotees gollowed the example of her consort Attis. [http://pantheon.org/articles/c/cybele.html](http://pantheon.org/articles/c/cybele.html) has info, and so does Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/9 "2005-11-07T18:41:40Z")
I’m going to miss Caesar. Next to Vorenus and Pullo, he has the most charisma and presence of any man on the show. Marc Antony and the others just don’t do it for me, as riveting characters. Octavian is stepping up nicely though. Last night I noticed a resemblance between him and Octavia – good casting, probably accidental. I would have liked to see more of the Triumph too. But I don’t think anyone can say the producers stinted on anything. When the camera pulled back from last week’s scene of Servilia’s attack, you really noticed the details of the setting. Very rich. I liked Vorenus’s handler, the one who was helping him with his speech. And the busy clerk at the slave registry. “Number 42!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/10 "2005-11-07T18:50:20Z")
Vorenus’s handler was Caesar’s slave who was his advisor on many other political matters. I wonder how he will end up after the “March Incident”. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/11 "2005-11-07T19:29:24Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Octavia probably was at a temple of Cybele. She refered to the goddess as “the great Mother” and Magna Mater was a title of Cybele. She wasn’t Roman in origin, but was popular nonetheless, although not all of her male devotees gollowed the example of her consort Attis. > > [Encyclopedia Mythica](http://pantheon.org/articles/c/cybele.html) has info, and so does Wikipedia. I believe Octavian refered to foreign priests, or foreign beliefs, which would support your suggestion. I felt really bad for Pullo – up until he started bashing the guy’s head into the wall. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/12 "2005-11-07T20:07:56Z")
I like Brutus. Sometimes when he gets angry and scrunches up his face just right, he reminds me a bit of Patrick Stewart. Anyway, he seems like a good guy. Has Rome’s best interests at heart. Poor, dumb Pullo. He’s been back for months now, just hanging around. Plus he seems to be on fairly chummy terms with the slaves. I can’t imagine how no one got around to mentioning to him his favorite little slave girl was looking to marry that other guy. These people gossip all the time, don’t they? Niobe certainly should have seen that coming, and said something. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/13 "2005-11-07T20:11:07Z")
It’s possible that it was forbidden for a slave to have a romantic attachment to any other slave (or anyone else for that matter). In that case, it’s understandable that they kept their relationship a secret. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/14 "2005-11-07T22:31:33Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Vorenus’s handler was Caesar’s slave who was his advisor on many other political matters. What’s his name? Caster? I keep trying to place his accent, but I can’t quite get it. Is he supposed to be Greek? It can’t be an accident that he has an accent. I like the way Mark Antony chafes at having to deal with him! ---
**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:** [November 7, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/15 "2005-11-07T22:34:09Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > What’s his name? Pasco? or is it, Posca? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/16 "2005-11-07T22:52:51Z")
> [@II Gyan II](#): > > Pasco? or is it, Posca? According to the official website, it’s Posca. Strange name. But then, he’s a strange character. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/17 "2005-11-08T01:05:55Z")
Wise Dopers, I need your help. Who were the guys wearing the wolf head helmets and wolfskin capes when the 13th was getting ready for their part in Ceasar’s Triumph? The look made them appear rather savage, like the Gauls they had been fighting. Was it a response to Gaelic savagery, or something else? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/18 "2005-11-08T01:48:19Z")
Julius Caesar (and some later Emperors) had a bodyguard composed of Germans (I thought it was the Catti, but see below): > [@](#): > > The German Bodyguard > The German bodyguard (germani corporis custodes) was reasonably small unit of up to 300 men, which formed a guard around the emperor, closer still than the praetorians. Being foreigners, almost entirely recruited from the German tribes of the Batavii and Ubii, they were seen as less corruptible by bribes of power or privilege than the praetorians. Though it was exactly their foreign blood which also made them very unpopular. > They existed only under the early emperors, commanded by the emperor himself, until in AD 69 Galba disbanded them. From this page: [http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html](http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html) ---
**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:** [November 8, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/19 "2005-11-08T01:54:33Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Wise Dopers, I need your help. > > Who were the guys wearing the wolf head helmets and wolfskin capes when the 13th was getting ready for their part in Ceasar’s Triumph? The look made them appear rather savage, like the Gauls they had been fighting. Was it a response to Gaelic savagery, or something else? > > Thanks That was standard headgear for standard-bearers. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863/20 "2005-11-08T02:13:48Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > According to the official website, it’s Posca. Strange name. But then, he’s a strange character. Right. I got that mixed up with Attia’s slave. Mark Antony calls Posca “Caeser’s creature”. Both of those guys get some of the best lines in the show. How about all the use of “nay?” or is it “ne?” as in “Caesar better keep on eye on Brutus; nay?” Is that a Britishism, or an attempt to latin-ize the dialogue? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-11-6-no-spoiler-tags/329863.md?page=2)