Julius Caesar (TV miniseries)

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Julius Caesar is a 2002 mini-series about the life of Julius Caesar. It was directed by Uli Edel, and written by Peter Pruce and Craig Warner. It is a dramatization of the life of Julius Caesar through 82 BC to his death in 44 BC. The series was originally broadcast on TNT, and involved location shooting in Malta and Bulgaria. [1] It has been released on DVD, in 2004 in the United States and in 2005 in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Plot

The series begins in 82 BC when Julius Caesar is a young man. He is out in the town with his daughter Julia when news comes that Lucius Cornelius Sulla is just outside the city walls and intends to take the city with his army. The guards sent with the news allow post up death lists on the senate door. When he sees that his father-in-law's name is there he rushes to his house to try and help him escape. However, Pompey arrests him and takes him to Sulla. Caesar's mother, Aurelia, asks Sulla to show him mercy; out of respect for her, he promises to let Caesar live if he divorces his wife, Cornelia, but Caesar refuses. Sulla lets him go but orders Pompey to kill him and bring his heart to him. Pompey follows Caesar and tells him to leave Rome, which he does. Pompey buys a swine's heart from the market and tells Sulla that the heart is Caesar's.

Meanwhile, Caesar is captured by pirates and the ransom him for money. When the Romans sent with the message don't return, the pirates plan to kill him. Caesar fights them for an extra day and wins. However he has an epileptic attack and the pirates believe him worthless, deciding to throw him in the sea. Just the boat returns with the money and they let Caesar go. Back in Rome, Sulla dies of a heart-attack and Caesar is allowed to return home. While he has been gone Cornelia has become very ill and Julia has befriended the young daughter of Caesar's rival Marcus Porcius Cato, Portia, his son Marcus and their cousin Brutus.

When Cornelia dies from her illness, Caesar swears at her funeral that he will make Rome a better place to live in. Around this time the same pirates who held him captive are cutting off the grain supply. The senate send Pompey to deal with the problem after Caesar convinced them that he will not take the city with his army like Sulla did. Several years later Pompey returns to Rome and Caesar has achieved the consulship. On the day of Pompey's triumph Julia, Portia and Marcus decide to go, and Portia insists on dragging Brutus along with them. At the triumph, Caesar has one of his epileptic fits but is aided by Calpurnia Pisonis, daughter of a wealthy man in Rome. At Pompey's welcome home party, while Pompey gets on well with Julia, Caesar notices Calpurnia who he doesn't remember from their encounter before.

Caesar swears to his mother that he will make a name for himself. Julia realizes that her father needs an alliance and offers to marry Pompey in order to obtain his legions. Pompey agrees and he marries Julia. In marrying her, he agrees to allow Caesar to take his legions to Gaul, despite the fact that the senate wished to send Cassius to go. Calpurnia tells Caesar that she knows about his "falling sickness" and he confesses that shames him. Before he goes to Gaul, Caesar marries Calpurnia and the two of them remain in contact through letters.

While sacking a town in Gaul, Caesar comes across a strong-willed warrior who refuses to give in to the Romans attacking his home. He tells Caesar his name is Asterix and because of his strength of will, Caesar lets him go, giving him a horse. However later on, the same warrior chief gathers a huge army and battles Caesar's army.