# Rome thread redux (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890 "2015-01-26T00:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/41 "2015-01-27T15:53:59Z")
One of the funny bits was that all the self-serving politicians constantly reassured themselves that they were acting “for the good of the Republic.” It became a joke between my girlfriend and me at the time. Whenever we made a selfish request or demand, we insisted that it was “for the sake of the Republic.” ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/42 "2015-01-27T18:58:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The whole show takes serious liberties with historical figures- Atia being the most so (she was actually married throughout the time period of the first season, was probably not remotely like the Edina Monsoon meets Alexis Carrington character in ROME, and was long dead by the time the series ended)- but because the condensing of several seasons into the final they took some whoppers, so it’s not to be trusted as history. > As _anthropology_, however, it’s probably one of the most accurate representations ever of life in ancient Rome. I believe the creators of the show remarked that they were less interested in _accuracy_ and more interested in _authenticity_. So the events themselves were where they were willing to take liberties as long as the world they were creating was true to the world of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/43 "2015-01-27T19:18:51Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > My favorite: > > Where is Mark Antony? A deep question. (pause) His corporeal form is in the throne room. > -Posca Posca’s probably my favourite character of the whole show. He’s consistently getting awesome lines, and the actor playing him is just perfect. Cato’s a close second : “So in effect this is not a humiliating defeat at all, but a rare species of victory ?” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/44 "2015-01-28T00:42:15Z")
All of which is beside the point, which is that I wish to see a woman f\*ck a baboon… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/45 "2015-01-28T00:43:21Z")
Strangely enough, the only historical inaccuracies that really really really bothers me is that Julius Caesar has a full head of hair. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tuxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Tuxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuxie)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/46 "2015-01-28T01:36:19Z")
There were a lot of unintentionally funny moments (maybe they were intentional). -The guy that wanted to see a ‘baboon show’ as mentioned upthread -This reoccurring theme where Pullo says something cynical and something bad happens. Varinus: “Pullo will you ever learn to keep your mouth shut?” -_Stares at gift slave with huge penis_ “Eh, his feet are ugly. Paint his toenails.” _Slave is then presented to Sevilla with flowered garlands on his bald head and painted toenails_ -Timon constantly trying to score with Atia. Did he ever get any from her? The closest he did was right before he had to go take care of her former son in law. -Marc Antony: Wah I don’t feel like getting up to go to Julius Caesar’s funeral. I wanna have sex _Atia sends slave girl to take care of him just so he gets out of his goddamned bed_ ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/47 "2015-01-28T03:35:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > At one point, Pullo is lying wounded in a carriage as they cross a small brook. A small boy who is fishing observes them. This is the scene in which Caesar literally crossed the Rubicon. Even better the scene is done with a minimum of fuss. The audience does not realise the significance until Vorenus asks “what river is that” and Pullo nonchalantly replies “the Rubicon”. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/48 "2015-01-28T03:52:39Z")
Even without that line, when I saw the river crossing, I figured that’s what they were showing. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/49 "2015-01-28T04:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=Tuxie] -Timon constantly trying to score with Atia. Did he ever get any from her? The closest he did was right before he had to go take care of her former son in law. [/QUOTE] Yes, in the first episode. She straddles him to convince him to sell her a horse he owns as a gift for her uncle. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/50 "2015-01-28T18:45:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Yes, in the first episode. She straddles him to convince him to sell her a horse he owns as a gift for her uncle. I believe the first time we ever see either character is when they’re having sex. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/51 "2015-01-28T19:06:36Z")
2 Stallions came to Rome today 🙂 Immediately followed by Atia naked in a bathtub while a very young Octavian was in the room. That was one of the elements the producers felt was important to convey - nudity wasn’t shameful to the Romans. Later in that same episode Octavia takes off her clothes in front of Pompeii. This was one of those places where I thought the producers had made a mistake because the actress was neatly trimmed down below. But the All Roads Lead to Rome feature pointed out that her pubic hair style was appropriate for that period of Roman history. The things you learn about history! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/52 "2015-01-28T20:24:09Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Even better the scene is done with a minimum of fuss. The audience does not realise the significance until Vorenus asks “what river is that” and Pullo nonchalantly replies “the Rubicon”. Today we’re not even sure where that was. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/53 "2015-01-28T22:00:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Today we’re not even sure where that was. We know where the river is today, but the course has changed so many times and so much since Julius Caesar’s day that nobody really knows exactly where the crossing actually took place. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/54 "2015-01-28T22:47:44Z")
> [@bump](#): > > We know where the river is today, but the course has changed so many times and so much since Julius Caesar’s day that nobody really knows exactly where the crossing actually took place. Which, oddly, is what I said. Or we can say “Today, we dont know where Caesar crossed the Rubicon”. Or “The spot where Caesar crossed the Rubicon is unknown today.” Or… ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/55 "2015-01-28T23:19:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > After spending days chanting “Atia of the Julii come out… Atia of the Julii come out…”. It was “Atia of the Julii I callllll for jusssticcce…” How on Earth can you have remembered the scene and gotten that line wrong? She said it like 500 times 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/56 "2015-01-28T23:29:39Z")
Who can forget Servilia’s curses? She certainly had a way with words! On Caesar: “Gods of the Junii, with this offering I ask you to summon Tyche, Megaera, and Nemesis so that they may witness this curse. By the spirits of my ancestors I curse Gaius Julius Caesar. Let his penis wither. Let his bones crack. Let him see his legions drown in their own blood. Gods of the Inferno, I offer to you his limbs, his mouth, his breath, his speech, his hands, his liver, his heart, his stomach. Gods of the Inferno, let me see him suffer deeply, and I will rejoice and sacrifice to you.” and Atia: “By the spirits of my ancestors I curse Atia of the Julii. Let dogs rape her. Let her children die and her houses burn. Let her live a long life of bitter misery and shame. Gods of the Inferno, I offer you her limbs, her head, her mouth, her breath, her speech, her heart, her liver, her stomach. Gods of the Inferno, let me see her suffer deeply, and I will rejoice and sacrifice to you.” ---
**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:** [January 29, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/57 "2015-01-29T01:39:32Z")
I understand that, with the shortened run, they had to cut scenes and rush things, but there was one mystery I wish they had managed to deal with, which is, how did Vorenus’s family manage to not get any older? They were kids at the beginning of the show, and at the end of the show, 20 years later, they were still kids. Was it the curse he put on them? It’s just something the show never answers. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/58 "2015-01-29T15:52:08Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > It was “Atia of the Julii I callllll for jusssticcce…” > > How on Earth can you have remembered the scene and gotten that line wrong? She said it like 500 times 🙂 Mea culpa. 🙂 Though I did wonder if technically she would she really be Atia of the Julii since only her mother was a Julii. Her father’s gens name was Atius and her husband’s was Octavius, though I’ll admit that “Atia of the Julii” sounds more chilling than “Atia of the Atii” or “Atia of the Octavii” either one. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/59 "2015-01-29T15:56:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I understand that, with the shortened run, they had to cut scenes and rush things, but there was one mystery I wish they had managed to deal with, which is, how did Vorenus’s family manage to not get any older? They were kids at the beginning of the show, and at the end of the show, 20 years later, they were still kids. Was it the curse he put on them? It’s just something the show never answers. They did age, albeit not 20 years because the timeline is compressed. But the baby becomes a boy, and the girls are tacitly understood to be older in the same way that the adult characters still portrayed by the same actors are. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890/60 "2015-01-29T15:57:45Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I understand that, with the shortened run, they had to cut scenes and rush things, but there was one mystery I wish they had managed to deal with, which is, how did Vorenus’s family manage to not get any older? They were kids at the beginning of the show, and at the end of the show, 20 years later, they were still kids. Was it the curse he put on them? It’s just something the show never answers. That _was_ annoying, especially since Caesarion ended up being older than Mrs. Vorenus’s baby. Also annoying was how a show that spared no expense in sets spent no expense on battle sequences- it was like seeing a Shakespearean play: “Verily, a kickass mother of a battle hath transpired offstage just yon! Thou shouldst have seen it” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-thread-redux-spoilers/710890.md?page=4)