Being otherwise occupied last night, I saw the final episode of Rome tonight. (If you haven't seen it, this note contains spoilers). I did a number of clip art tributes to the show (you can see one of them on the left) and included on the page where they are found such information as I was able to garner about the historical characters (click here to check it out). Some of it, of course, I already knew. It was interesting to see the different direction taken by the show such as Pullo saving the life of his bastard son---in more ways than one---- Caesarion (who was in fact killed at the age of 17, I believe).
I wasn't as sad as I was probably supposed to be when Vorenus died, which made me think that despite the cries of woe and the rending of garments at sites such as TWoP, it's probably just as well the series ended. After you've cheated death the first half dozen times, it's hard for me to go on getting emotional about it. I was just relieved that it didn't end with the two of them (one working for Antony, the other for Octavian) going for each other, which I was half expecting. And the scenes with bratty Caesarion were good value for money.
You know, according to history Cleopatra was a great and dignified queen, with a magnificent presence and kick-ass administrative skills. She was a scholar who spoke several languages. Unlike most of her predecessors, she spoke her country's native language. But I don't think she'd have mixed quite so much with the locals. The Ptolemys were Greek and didn't really hang out much with the Egyptians, sort of like the Norman French and the Saxons. Okay, don't take my word for it, but this is what I was taught. I had trouble believing that she would routinely wear Egyptian dress. It's not how I'd imagined her, since all the information I had about her pointed to a very different picture of her than the Hollywood image. I'd have assumed she'd be less like a native Egyptian and more like a Roman. Also a bit older. Lindsay Duncan or Polly Walker either one would have rocked the part, for example.
So I was pretty disappointed to see her presented as a lascivious Goth-girl with Mark Antony as her bitch. Doubtful. I doubt that sex and wild-ass Goth-girl depravity would alone have put that much of a hook into both those men. I have always believed that much of her seductive power was in her formidable intellect, her queenly bearing, and her own sense of herself as truly divine. (After all, the Caesars rode to their triumphs with a man standing behind them whispering, "Remember, you are mortal.")
In my list of love poems last week, I listed two (2) by William Carlos Williams inspired by the great love between these two middle-aged lovers. I just didn't care for the whole story line: Mark Antony unmanned. It certainly has respectable literary precedents (cf. Homer and Spenser, among others), but I refuse to buy it. It therefore left me cold. Cleopatra was too young and too much based on Hollywood images of her as a sexual vixen and seductress, and not enough on the real woman, who seems to have awed two leaders with her charismatic charm and her intelligence.
Therefore I was unmoved by the whole interminable Antony/Cleopatra scene and unhappy that more of the time wasn't spent focusing on the developing feud between the suffering Atia and her evil daughter-in-law, Livia. That would have rocked. And my favorite scene of the night was Atia sweeping in and claiming her place in front of her daughter-in-law and the other ladies. I also liked her saying that better women than Livia had tried to destroy her. Nice to see that nod to poor Servilia, whom I really liked, and to see---in the best tradition of "show, don't tell"---how Servilia's curse had come true.
Well, I liked Cleopatra's cat, which was one reason I was glad that young Octavian---who got colder and snakier each episode; where, oh, where did our little owl go?----didn't burn down the palace and everyone in it. Otherwise, I was entirely on Octavian's side.
Anyway, it was a brilliant season, and it's over, and it ended before it had really started to get ridiculous. Though I wouldn't mind a spin-off series: At Home with the Caesars. Atia and Livia could feud viciously while Octavian tries not to take notice and Octavia and Agrippa (who were actually friends according to history) carry on a nuanced affair, right under Octavian's pointy little nose. I wouldn't miss an episode.
If you've seen the show, I highly recommend the recaps by Television without Pity's M. Giant. Yes, I know you've seen the show. This is why you are uniquely positioned to enjoy his recaps. Go on; you'll thank me for it.
Comments