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BBC Ancient Rome: New Docudrama's

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A brand new, 6 part series for British television viewers starts Thurs 21st on BBC1.

 

Episode 1 is dedicated to Nero. :ph34r:

 

In later episodes Sean Pertwee (son of Wurzel Gummidge) plays Gaius Julius Caesar and David Threllwell portrays Constantine the Great.

 

From the tiny excerpts I have seen it all looks like the BBC at its best and I look forward to discussing them on a weekly basis with the more educated forum members.

 

A date for DVD release has already been set and it is available to pre-order on Amazon or Play.com.

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Read an article about it yesterday, sounds very good. If I won't have a chance to see it on Thursday, I will probably buy the DVD when it's released.

 

Salvete - quick greeting, as I'm new. I will be recording this new helping of togas on TV, but I have to say, from the trailer shown - the usual portrayal of Nero wandering in diaphanous draperies, plucking his lyre - I am not holding out too great a hope. However, I should not judge before I've seen it. The voiceover commentary did say it was going to be 'the true story of Nero'. Fingers crossed.

 

BTW: There have been some fascinating posts on this thread and I have enjoyed reading all your discussions, especially the ones about Augustus. I'll look forward to joining you all very shortly and putting in my two asses worth. :thumbsup:

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Yes, I have also been looking into this new dose of Rome. It seems a little bit strange that they are showing the life of Nero before the life of Caesar. Maybe this will be for dramatic effect; the eccentricities of Nero would probably do a better job of captivating the masses than GJC ever could.

 

Does anybody know of any more notable Romans in the series?

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Ill be interested to see a screen portrayal of Vespasian.Will he be the "bluff old cove" shacked up with an old freedwoman? or mad tyrant? About time we had some more disquisition on the Flavians.

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Ill be interested to see a screen portrayal of Vespasian.Will he be the "bluff old cove" shacked up with an old freedwoman? or mad tyrant? About time we had some more disquisition on the Flavians.

 

A subject for 'Academia'.

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The series will also depict Ti. Gracchus.

 

Wonder if they'll mention his oft-forgotten political adversary, the great Scipio Aemilianus, who not only beat the Macedonians at Pydna, sacked Carthage, and subdued Spain, but also won the Corona Muralis and Corona Graminea--before being murdered by assassins?

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The series will also depict Ti. Gracchus.

 

Wonder if they'll mention his oft-forgotten political adversary, the great Scipio Aemilianus, who not only beat the Macedonians at Pydna, sacked Carthage, and subdued Spain, but also won the Corona Muralis and Corona Graminea--before being murdered by assassins?

 

Carbo was , I think ,explicitly named as his assasin by Cicero? Certainly S Aemilianus' "justly slain" remark (as regards Gracchus ) made the Populares howl . The subjugation of Numantia alone would have been a remarkable feat.

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On a slightly unrelated matter, did anyone remember the 'Ancient Egyptians' Tv series from a few years back? Here was a similar series to 'Ancient Rome' in that instead of having historians talk us through events, they had actors, sets (both real and CGI) and a whole hoard of props to try and recreate Egypt in ancient times. Each episode would follow a true story, The Battle of Kadesh for instance, and they would have the actors speaking in Egyptian (with subtitles) supposedly with the actual words of the people (the Pharaoh, the Generals etc).

 

The latter episodes were rather interesting as they delved into real events that were not so famous, such as the prosecution and execution of a Tomb raider, the lives of twin sisters that were kicked out of their mother's home and who later asked the Ptolemaic Pharaoh for assistance.

 

It's my guess that the series will be similair to this in style (I wonder if the characters speak latin?) or perhaps the Gladiator documentary the BBC showed a few years ago.

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The series will also depict Ti. Gracchus.

 

Wonder if they'll mention his oft-forgotten political adversary, the great Scipio Aemilianus, who not only beat the Macedonians at Pydna, sacked Carthage, and subdued Spain, but also won the Corona Muralis and Corona Graminea--before being murdered by assassins?

Wasn't he found dead in bed and the question as to whether he was killed wasn't clear and was perhaps some of the usual slander/intrigue? And it was Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus who was in command at Pydna. Scipio was a teenager, but present all the same.

Edited by P.Clodius

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I'm very much looking forward to this series also. Here's hoping it's enjoyable.

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