Posca (Rome character)

Posca
Rome character
Portrayed by	Nicholas Woodeson
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Slave
Title	Freedman
Family	Jocasta (wife)

Posca^[1] is a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Nicholas Woodeson. He is the body slave of Julius Caesar, yet is also his friend, aide-de-camp, and confidante in most things personal and professional. As a slave, he will seldom receive credit, but it appears that many of the more simple and elegant solutions to Caesar's problems come from the mind of Posca. Posca is freed and given a stipend in Caesar's will at the start of the second season but seems to have thrown his support behind Antony in later episodes.

After receiving his freedom Posca marries Jocasta, the daughter of an extremely wealthy mine owner left penniless when her father was executed and his estate confiscated by the Second Triumvirate. The marriage is seen as practical for Jocasta as Posca is a man of some influence and means and her reduced state has left her without a dowry that would attract men of higher birth or station. Despite Jocasta's initial reservations and fear, she seems to become genuinely fond of him due to his generosity and kindness towards her and she accompanies him when he follows Mark Antony to Egypt.

In episode 21, Posca has grown to loathe and fear Cleopatra and the controlling influence she exerts on Antony. He uses the arrival of Antony's wife Octavia to secretly flee Egypt along with Jocasta even though it requires leaving his wealth behind. Back in Rome he provides Octavian with Mark Antony's final will and testament in which Antony states his affection for both Cleopatra and Egypt. He is thus responsible for the revelation of the historical Donations of Alexandria in Rome's plot. This is looked on by the people of Rome as an outrage. Posca uses this as the first step in reentering Octavian's favor and rebuilding his fortune, while Octavian uses this to rally the people of Rome to go to war against Mark Antony.

Personality

Posca is depicted as a practical, cynical man with a dry sense of humour and a penchant for witty and memorable quips.^[2] He is as "pragmatically amoral" as his master and seems to share an unusually close relationship with him. Posca's unusually familiar, and often sarcastic and sardonic, interaction with many of the principal characters seems to indicate that he enjoys a status higher than that of many other slaves depicted. He is deeply saddened by Caesar's death which indicates a genuine loyalty and affection for Caesar. In the second episode of the second season, Mark Antony refers to him as a Greek, which is in keeping with his highly educated and influential position for a slave.

Notes