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will

Wont be another.....

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Someone said they spent 100 million dollars on this but I don't believe it. Anyway this was just not a good last episode. I felt really bad for my favorite character in Voerinus.If he died I didn't want there to be another show at all. They skipped all the big battle scenes and made this just a silly porno. I mean there was more people having sex then there was good historical info. I feel bad for the actors cause its not there faults it is the producers, writers, and all the other people in charge for not taking a handle on the rampant drug and fornication. Anyway I will miss some episodes and thanks be that that last episode is over. It really shamed what could have been a great show. Anyone know why they decided to skip all the battle scenes and only show one? Please tell me so I can know.

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Anyone know why they decided to skip all the battle scenes and only show one? Please tell me so I can know.

 

In my opinion, the show (at least season 2) wasn't intended for a historically learned audience. This is supported by the great number of deviations from the historical record and the introduction of soapish elements. Additionally, such large scale scenes are time, cost and labor intensive.

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Primus Pilus is correct. Period pieces are expensive to film. They had to build two massive sets- the Forum and the Aventine neighborhood, and maintain them for over two years of weather. Not to mention the palaces, army camps, Egyptian locales and more. Also every spoon, shield, cloak and wig was made from scratch. If you are Ridley Scott and have two-hundred million to drop on a single film, great. But HBO works with a yearly budget that allows for other projects like the Sopranos as well. So even without big battles, this was one of their most expensive projects to date. Get the special edition DVD of Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra (1963). The documentary about the film also describes the huge budget neccesitating anemic battle scenes.

 

I think the series did have some soapy elements, and I would have liked to see Pharsalia in more detail. I felt they were too cautious in not trying to interpret more ancient music. I felt the silences at the dinner parties and spectacles. Could have used a bit more triumphant music a 'la Miklos Rosza. Maybe that might have made it too Hollywood. Since we have so little ancient music, to keep the accuracy they erred on the side of caution.

 

But all in all, compared with other attempts to do the same story ( Remember NBC's EMPIRE?) HBO did a great job. It was pretty gutsy of them to go without any big name stars, and keep the dialogue on a level not usually heard by a modern audience. All the references to Pydna, Georgovia and Nemesis and Bona Dea without ever pausing to explain it. I felt that was one of the great strengths of the show.

 

As enthusiasts of ancient studies, it made us all part of an elite club. I was ever explaining all these details to friends at work the next day. Since when does the politics of the Second Triumverate take precedence at the watercooler over NCAA basketball? And for once it didn't feel like I was watching a modern person in ancient clothes, like Orlando Bloom's medieval grunge-socialist being a wet-blanket in the Crusades in Kingdom of Heaven.

 

We never really saw Voerenus die or be cremated, maybe we can still get another season? Ask the Good Goddess for help!

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All the references to Pydna, Georgovia and Nemesis and Bona Dea without ever pausing to explain it. I felt that was one of the great strengths of the show.

 

Excellent point... it's something that I almost took for granted and haven't bothered to point out myself. In fact, the dialogue was so well written (ie the last night discussion of battles such as Gergovia between Vorenus and Antony) that the basics were understandable even without much knowledge of history at all.

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We never really saw Voerenus die or be cremated, maybe we can still get another season? Ask the Good Goddess for help!

 

I am pretty sure he did not actually die.

Pullo makes it sound like he was lying to Augustus all the way (which would include the bit about Vorenus being dead).

In any case it's very unlikely that he was able to survive the undoubtedly long and strenuous journey all the way from Egypt only to succumb in his own home bed like some old invalid.

Now as far as this implies a 3rd season, I'm not so sure, but... Dum spiro, spero.

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