| Rome | |
|---|---|
Title screen (1st season) |
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| Genre | Historical drama |
| Created by | Bruno Heller John Milius William J. MacDonald |
| Directed by | Michael Apted |
| Starring | Kevin McKidd Ray Stevenson Polly Walker Max Pirkis Simon Woods Lindsay Duncan James Purefoy Ciarán Hinds Tobias Menzies Kerry Condon Indira Varma Allen Leech Camilla Rutherford |
| Composer(s) | Jeff Beal |
| Country of origin | Italy United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 22 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Bruno Heller John Milius William J. MacDonald Frank Doelger Anne Thomopoulos John Melfi |
| Location(s) | Lazio, Italy |
| Cinematography | Alik Sakharov, ASC Martin Kenzie Marco Pontecorvo |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC / HBO / RAI |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | 28 August 2005 – 25 March 2007 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic to Empire. The series begins with Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, and the first season concludes with the assassination of Caesar followed by the rise of the first Emperor Augustus.
The plots focus on two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who find their lives intertwined with key historical events. Rome was a ratings success for HBO and the BBC. The series received much media attention from the start, and was honored with numerous awards and nominations in its two-season run. Co-creator Heller stated in December 2008 that a Rome movie is in development. The series was filmed in various locations, but most notably in the Cinecittà studios in Italy.
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The series primarily chronicles the lives and deeds of the rich, powerful, and historically significant, but also focuses on the lives, fortunes, families, and acquaintances of two common men: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, two Roman soldiers mentioned historically in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.[1] The fictionalized Vorenus and Pullo manage to witness and often influence many of the historical events presented in the series. However, not all the events are accurate.
The first season depicts Julius Caesar's civil war of 49 BC against the traditionalist conservative faction in the Roman Senate (Optimates), his subsequent rise to absolute dictatorship over Rome, and his eventual fall, spanning the time period from the end of his Gallic Wars (52 BC or 701 ab urbe condita) until his assassination on 15 March 44 BC (the infamous Ides of March). Against the backdrop of these cataclysmic events, we also see the early years of the young Octavian, who is destined to become the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus. The second season chronicles the power struggle between Octavian and Mark Antony following Caesar's assassination, spanning the period from Caesar's death in 44 BC to Octavian's final victory over Antony at Actium in 31 BC.
The series was begun after William J. MacDonald and John Milius pitched the idea to HBO as a mini series. HBO then added a writer, after reading three one-hour scripts. The network made it a full-fledged series.[2] In 2002, HBO and the BBC agreed to co-produce a new series based on the events of the "Roman Revolution". Towards that end, the two networks committed a US$100–110 million (£62.7 million) budget to the production of twelve 1-hour episodes, with HBO contributing $85 million, and the BBC contributing $15 million.[3] The BBC contributed £800,000 to every episode of Rome in its first season.[4] The last major collaborative effort before Rome was the Emmy awarded series Band of Brothers. Rome was and still is the biggest co-produced series with the American film market in the BBC's history. The series also marked the first series on which HBO and the BBC worked together as co-producers, although the two companies had worked together in other roles in earlier series, the last being Band of Brothers and The Gathering Storm.[5]
When Bruno Heller met HBO executive producer Anne Thomopoulos, he wanted to pitch an idea about "white trash America." Thomopoulos then asked what he thought about "white-trash Rome". Heller replied: "Love ancient Rome," after a while they started talking about their "love" for I, Claudius a BBC series about ancient Rome released in the mid 1970s. By coincidence both HBO and the BBC were working on a series involving Ancient Rome. When Heller visited Los Angeles a year later, he was given a script for the upcoming series which would later be known as Rome. Tranter from the BBC has said this about the development of Rome: "It felt like something that could have been developed by us, and HBO felt like natural partners for the BBC."[5][6] On 20 April 2006, Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO announced the development of a second season for Rome.[7]
Between March 2004 and May 2005 Rome was filmed in co-production with RAI in the Italian countryside on Cinecittà studios' six sound stages in Rome. A collection of massive sets in Cinecittà studios' back lots comprised an elaborate "period reconstruction" of sections of ancient Rome.[8] It was a huge undertaking, with an international crew of 350, and more than 50 local Italian interns.
The production is regarded as one of the most expensive in the history of TV series. Funding was generously employed to recreate an impressively detailed set featuring a number of Roman Villas, the Forum and a vast slum area of the ancient city of Rome. A significant part of this set was later destroyed by a fire that burned down a portion of the Cinecittà Studios in 2007.[9] According to HBO, the fire started after they had finished filming the second season of Rome.[10] A portion of the set was also used in late 2007 by the crew of the long-running BBC sci-fi drama series Doctor Who, for the fourth season episode "The Fires of Pompeii".
Audio commentary on the Season 1 DVD indicates that many of the background performers used in the series were also their true professional counterparts. One example is that the actor shown in the series working as a butcher on the streets of Rome was in fact a real-life butcher.[11]
In a separate move, the BBC also decided to re-edit the first three episodes (all directed by Michael Apted) into two episodes. The BBC claimed that this was because the British audience were more familiar with the history of Rome than their American counterparts and so much of the history was unnecessary; however, Apted claims that the purpose was to boost the ratings by increasing the prominence of the scenes of sex and violence. In an interview with The Times, Michael Apted was quoted saying:
"I'm really pissed off with the BBC for bringing down my first three episodes to two and, in doing so, taking out much of the vital politics. What also makes me very grumpy is that I was told that the cuts had been introduced by the BBC because they thought British viewers already knew the historical background. But all that's happened as far as the viewer is concerned is that it has made 'Rome' hard to follow."[12]
Apted also said that he only learned of the edits by accident, "...a couple of weeks ago when one of the actors told me." Since then, the original uncut Season 1 episodes aired on UKTV Drama, coincident with the UK broadcast of Season 2 on BBC Two.
The Italian broadcast of the series was also marred by controversy. Strong language was removed in the Italian dubbing process; as for the more explicit sex scenes and disturbing violence, they were replaced by "safe" alternative versions shot during production especially for the Italian market.[13] Rai 4 began showing the "complete version" of the series on Italian TV in September 2009.[14]
Composer Jeff Beal was invited to audition for Rome after he completed work on HBO's Carnivàle. The producers sent him a short edit of episode seven. From that, Beal began writing a demo score. Based on head writer Bruno Heller's desired gritty pre-Christian feel for the series, and HBO's interest in a non-modern sound, Beal chose to compose and record with live instruments from across the ancient Roman world. For each episode, Beal had about two weeks to work: in the first, he composed for – and recorded – the instruments he performed on the soundtrack. In the second week, he incorporated producer's notes, orchestrated and recorded the other live instrumental sections.[15]
Rome's first season originally aired on HBO in the United States between 28 August and 20 November 2005, subsequently being broadcast on the United Kingdom's BBC Two between 2 November 2005 and 4 January 2006, and on Rai Due in Italy between 17 March 2006 and 28 April 2006. The second season aired on HBO in the US from 14 January 2007 to 25 March 2007.
The series was launched in the United States on 24 August 2005, at Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles. HBO broadcast the series pilot "The Stolen Eagle" four days later. According to the Nielsen ratings system, the pilot was seen by 3.8 million viewers, ultimately attracting more than 8.9M over eleven broadcasts, and achieved a 9.1 household rating for Sunday primetime.[16][17] After the broadcast of only three first season episodes, HBO announced plans to produce a second season of Rome in 2006, for release in March 2007.[18] By the end of the first season, the series gathered more than seven million viewers per week.[19] The second season premiered in January 2007, with the first episode attracting 7.5 million viewers.[20] The final episode aired 25 March 2007 in the U.S.
In total, HBO spent about $10 million US$ to promote Rome. HBO enlisted the Mozilla Firefox web browser in its marketing campaign for the series by designing a downloadable custom Rome Firefox theme.[21] BBC Two premiered Rome in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2005, attracting 6.6 million viewers (27%); viewing figures declined in future episodes, with the season finale only attracting 3 million viewers (13%).[22] The first episode of the second season aired on BBC Two on 20 June 2007.
A "sanitized" version of the first series of Rome – with toned-down nudity and violence – aired on Rai Due in Italy, garnering only a meagre 10% audience share. RAI also stated to have co-produced the show, whereas HBO listed only itself and BBC as co-producers.[23] The Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera called it a "prime example of historical misinformation," and called actor Ciarán Hinds (Julius Caesar) a "parody." The paper also called the relationship between Atia of the Julii (Polly Walker) and Mark Antony (James Purefoy) "ridiculous." RAI also commented that many Italians did not approve of Anglo-Saxon actors portraying Roman characters.[24] The second series was never broadcast at all on analogue TV; however, starting from October 2009, digital-only channel Rai 4 broadcast the original uncut version of the first series and went on to broadcast the second series unaltered as well.
HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht announced in a July 2006 news conference that season two of Rome would be its last, citing the fact that the series (called "notoriously expensive" by Broadcasting & Cable) had been developed under a two-year contract with the BBC that would have been difficult for the BBC to extend due to the series' cost.[25][26] Of the storyline, co-creator Heller said:
| “ | I discovered halfway through writing the second season the show was going to end. The second was going to end with the death of Brutus. Third and fourth season would be set in Egypt. Fifth was going to be the rise of the messiah in Palestine. But because we got the heads-up that the second season would be it, I telescoped the third and fourth season into the second one, which accounts for the blazing speed we go through history near the end. There's certainly more than enough history to go around.[27] | ” |
In a February 2008 interview with Movieweb.com, actor Ray Stevenson stated that a Rome film was in development, with Heller working on a script.[28] Heller confirmed in December that there was "talk of doing a movie version," adding that "It's moving along. It's not there until it is there. I would love to round that show off."[27] In an April 2009 interview with AP, Actor Kevin McKidd stated the "Rome" film was "in development", and Lucius Vorenus will likely be a part of it.[29] In March 2010, Entertainment Weekly stated that Heller had completed the script for Morning Light Productions, the film's financiers, and was now awaiting a director and a studio, since HBO Films "won't be involved."[30]
Rome: The Complete First Season was released as a six-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the United States in 2006, distributed by HBO Home Video. Featuring all 12 episodes, it included features such as episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage and making-of features. The set (without the episodic previews and recaps) was also released in Region 2, with the same title.
Season 2 was released in North America in 2007[31] and soon after in Region 2. Rome: The Complete Series was released in November 2009 on Blu-Ray in North America.
Rome has garnered mostly positive reviews.[32] Alessandra Stanley from The New York Times said: "But behind all that gritty squalor the glory that was Rome gets lost," while reviewing season 2.[33] Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly gave season 2 a B and commented on the "spectacular" clothing design.[34] Sean Woods from Rolling Stone called the series "masterful" and "epic" and gave the series 3.5 out of 4.[35] Michael Ventre from Variety magazine was positive towards the series and was intrigued by the "complex" character of Atia of the Julii.[36] James Poniewozik from TIME magazine commented on the "slow start," but further stated that the series "draws you" to the ancient city of Rome.[37]
Empire magazine reviewer Helen O'Hara said: "Not as good-looking as Gladiator, perhaps, but richer in (reasonably accurate) history and texture," and gave season 1 of Rome four out of five stars.[38] Robert Bianco from USA Today called season 2 "the fall of Rome", commenting that season 2 was not as good as season 1.[39] Linda Stasi from The New York Post called herself a "slave".[40] Melanie McFarland from Seattle Post-Intelligencer called season 2 "at top of its form" and said it was as good as the former season.[41] Historian Robin Lane Fox, writing in The Guardian called the series "splendidly ambitious."[42] Eric Neigher from Slant Magazine called season 1 of Rome "good art."[43] Robert Abele from LA Weekly called it the "most lavish dramatic series yet" released by HBO.[43]
Capping its successful first season, Rome won four Emmy Awards out of eight nominations in 2006, for the episodes "Caesarion", "Triumph", "Kalends of February" and "Stealing from Saturn".[44] The series also won an Art Directors Guild (ADG) in the category "Excellence in Production Design – Single-Camera Television Series" for the pilot episode "The Stolen Eagle". Michael Apted won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in the category "Outstanding Directing – Drama Series, Night" for "The Stolen Eagle". The series itself was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category "Outstanding Television Series – Drama", and Polly Walker who portrayed Atia of the Julii was nominated in the category "Outstanding Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film".[45] The series was also nominated for three Satellite Awards, two for season 1 and the last for season 2.[46] The pilot episode "The Stolen Eagle" won a Visual Effects Society (VES) award in the category "Outstanding Visual Effects – Broadcast Series". Writers Guild of America (WGA) nominated the series for the category "Best Writing – New Television Series" in 2005. The series was also nominated for four British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA), three in season 1 (2006) and one in season 2 (2008).[45] In 2005, the series was nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award (CAS) in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series" for the episode "The Spoils".[47] The British award ceremony nominated the series for the Royal Television Society (RTS) award in the category "Best Visual Effects – Digital Effects".[48] In Season 2 (2007) Alik Sakharov, A.S.C. won Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series in the category "Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series" for the episode "Passover".
There are numerous inaccuracies in the series' representation of various historical events and personages. Co-creator Bruno Heller has said that "We try to balance between what people expect from previous portrayals and a naturalistic approach... This series is much more about how the psychology of the characters affects history than simply following the history as we know it."[50] The series' Historical Consultant Jonathan Stamp also notes that the show aims for "authenticity" rather than "accuracy."[51][52] The film-makers stressed that they wanted to portray a more accurate picture of Rome, a gritty and realistic city as opposed to what they call the "HollyRome" that appears in films like Gladiator.
Although Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are historical figures mentioned briefly in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, their adventures and involvement in key events in the series are fictionalized. Rome also typically ignores the existence of certain extended family members of people featured as main characters, such as relatives of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Atia Balba Caesonia.
Some important events are not mentioned in Rome, including the whole year spent before the Battle of Dyrrhachium which, although indecisive, was considered a victory for Pompeius and the Battle of Pharsalus in which Caesar drove Pompeius' supporters out of Greece. Many significant members of the Optimates, the traditionalist faction of Brutus and Cato, are also missing from the series. They include Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, Titus Labienus, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, and Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, the latter having failed to empty Rome's treasury before the Optimates' departure, resulting in a severe lack of funds to support their war effort - Caes. De Bel. Civ. 1.14.
Monica Cyrino has given several papers at CAMWS and other conferences discussing the historical reception of the HBO series (for example "Power, Passion and Politics: the Women of HBO's Rome." She often asserts that the Atia figure more closely resembles Fulvia than Clodia (as Heller and Stamp claim) or the real Atia.
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