# Rome 9/11 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216 "2005-09-12T06:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [September 12, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/1 "2005-09-12T06:00:36Z")
Not as good an epsiode tonight as last week but it had some amusing moments. Atia giving the protocol for suicides. “After you kill me, you must kill yourself. Your survival would be inappropriate.” The obscene Latin graffiti was a nice touch as well, but did anyone else catch all of it? I saw _Cinaed…_ on the door, which was probably the beginning of _cinaedus_, (roughly, “cocksucker”) _Atia Amat Omnia_…something and _Atia fellat_…something. (“Atia loves all [something].” and “Atia sucks [something]” but I couldn’t see what she loves and sucks). The exchange between Pullo and Lucius regarding women was good as well. “She has a button above her cunny…” “How do you know this about her?” No great historical moments tonight but I guess you can’t have that every episode. I do like the character development they did with Lucius and Pullo tonight and I’m still enjoying the show so far. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/2 "2005-09-12T06:37:09Z")
and Caesar hasn’t even met Cleo yet!! 😛😛😛 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/3 "2005-09-12T07:02:46Z")
By my reckoning, it is 49BC. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/4 "2005-09-12T11:43:31Z")
Why was it 15 minutes short? Grrr… Fellator…I believe that’s what was on Atia’s door. And I may be remembering wrong, but I thought the Treasury was not taken out of Rome. Due to miscommunication between Pompey and his political cronies, everyone thought someone else had taken the money. Did Curio indeed take it, doublecross Pompey, and was later ambushed himself? And such a shame over Titus(?). I was hoping he’d take the Treasury to Caesar instead of absconding with it himself. Is Timon a slave? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/5 "2005-09-12T12:14:03Z")
Timon (besides being a goaty little man) is a mercenary and a freeman; he threatened to simply leave if Atia didn’t offer some nookie, which a slave couldn’t have. Historically, Pompey and the Senate simply left the Treasury in place, which was very convenient for Caesar; but the hijacking makes a better story. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/6 "2005-09-12T13:58:14Z")
In which case, I expect the treasury will wind up back in Rome so the show can maintain historical accuracy. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/7 "2005-09-12T14:25:11Z")
The On Demand audio commentaries for the show contain a brief snippet of the historical consultant of the show discussing this scene. He said it was a historical mystery as to why Pompey did not take the Treasury with him when he fled Rome and this episode offered the show’s fictinal “solution” as to what really happened. I think a lot of what the writers are trying to do is incorporate the stories of (the fictional) Lucius and Pullo into the Big Historical Momements and integrate those characters with the real big name historical figures as an attempt to show how these events are being viewed- and influenced- by the ordinary Roman soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/8 "2005-09-12T14:53:08Z")
Anyone else notice the guy showing the “moon”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/9 "2005-09-12T15:59:41Z")
Any thoughts on how some of the real characters are being portrayed? Particularly Cicero as basically well-meaning, but not being able to control a situation, and Brutus as an upper-class twit? I know a bit about the historical context, but not nearly enough to have a take on this. (On the other hand, anytime anybody named Cato is portrayed as a snarly asshole, I can believe it.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/10 "2005-09-12T16:26:42Z")
Was I the only one who was surprised that the Roman treasury could be hauled around in a single not overwhelmingly huge wagon? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/11 "2005-09-12T16:27:47Z")
I posted this in another thread, but I want to know why they haven’t mentioned that Servilia and Cato are half-brother and sister and that they loathe each other, and where is Caepio Junior? Isn’t Pompey a _privatus_? I don’t think it would be his responsibility to empty the Treasury. That should be the junior consul’s job, right? Also, I thought the pro-Pompeians fled the city in a panic, rather than an orderly, let’s go over here to regroup sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/12 "2005-09-12T16:28:32Z")
Couldn’t you do the same with the U.S. Gold Reserve at Fort Knox? Also, they didn’t take the whole treasury. They just took whatever could fit in the wagon. They were short on time. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/13 "2005-09-12T16:28:57Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Was I the only one who was surprised that the Roman treasury could be hauled around in a single not overwhelmingly huge wagon? I don’t think they took all of it, just part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/14 "2005-09-12T16:37:35Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Couldn’t you do the same with the U.S. Gold Reserve at Fort Knox? Don’t know. Never tried. :::Makes note on “TTD list”::: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/15 "2005-09-12T16:52:05Z")
Yeah, **Evil** , let us know how that goes, will ya? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/16 "2005-09-12T17:08:21Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I posted this in another thread, but I want to know why they haven’t mentioned that Servilia and Cato are half-brother and sister and that they loathe each other, and where is Caepio Junior? Which one? Brutus’s grandfather or uncle? His grandfather, who’s usually called Caepio the Younger, is dead. His uncle, who adopted him as his heir, as far as I know, then disappeared from history. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/17 "2005-09-12T17:30:08Z")
Caepio the Uncle, hinted to be the full brother of Cato and not the half-brother. His grandfather made off with the Gold of Tolosa. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/18 "2005-09-12T18:29:51Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Not as good an epsiode tonight as last week but it had some amusing moments. Atia giving the protocol for suicides. “After you kill me, you must kill yourself. Your survival would be inappropriate.” Yeah, that was hilarious. I agree that the episode as a whole was kind of weak. I was surprised at how poor the computer graphics were, and there seemed to ba a “smallness” in the filming that spoke of cheap sets and too few extras. It was like the director kept saying: Keep that camera tight and low so we don’t have to show too much background. The details in the close-ups are great, but I want broad, panaramic scenes, too. > [@](#): > > The obscene Latin graffiti was a nice touch as well, but did anyone else catch all of it? I saw _Cinaed…_ on the door, which was probably the beginning of _cinaedus_, (roughly, “cocksucker”) _Atia Amat Omnia_…something and _Atia fellat_…something. (“Atia loves all [something].” and “Atia sucks [something]” but I couldn’t see what she loves and sucks). Yep, got it. I know it’s common practice to do so, but doesn’t it seem a bit odd that the actors are speaking English, but writing in Latin? Did you notice last week that Brutus actually spoke a few lines of Latin-- what was that all about…? > [@](#): > > The exchange between Pullo and Lucius regarding women was good as well. > > “She has a button above her cunny…” > “How do you know this about her?” You almost gotta feel sorry for Lucius. He’s not too bright, and he’s great at following orders, but he’s not too creative. And how on earth are we supposed to believe that none of the neighbors are going to tell him the truth about the baby? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/19 "2005-09-12T18:35:02Z")
If I’m interpreting the previews for the next show correctly, one of her neighbors does just that. Although, I think Lucius knew what Niobe was going to tell him and he hushed her, telling her it was in the past, so maybe he’s really trying. Although, when he told Titus that Niobe must love him as much as he loves her, because he will be no one’s slave, I was a bit :dubious: . Not a reason to want someone to love you, dude, just so you don’t feel inferior. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216/20 "2005-09-12T20:39:55Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Caepio the Uncle, hinted to be the full brother of Cato and not the half-brother. His grandfather made off with the Gold of Tolosa. Hinted by Plutarch, you mean? Maybe, but he did inherit the name and the property of the older Caepio, so he must have recognized him as his son. And, I checked…according to Plutarch, he was dead at that point…from his Lives: > [@](#): > > While Cato was still in military service, his brother, who was on his way to Asia, fell sick at Aenus in Thrace, and a letter came at once to Cato advising him of this. A heavy storm was raging at sea and no ship of sufficient size was at hand, but nevertheless, taking only two friends and three servants with him in a small trading-vessel, he put to sea from Thessalonica. He narrowly escaped drowning, and by some unaccountable good fortune came safe to land, but Caepio had just died. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-9-11/321216.md?page=2)