I Watch TV: Those About To Die

 

Those About To Die

It’s 79 AD in Rome; the Flavian dynasty is in control under the Emperor Vespasian and his two sons, Titus, the general, and Domitian, the politician. The Flavian amphitheatre (perhaps better known as the Colosseum) is nearing completion. There are problems though; when the grain shipments are late* there are riots. Domitian distracts the rioters by putting on chariot races in the Circus Maximus.

There are four chariot racing factions, the Blue, the Red, the White and the Green, each controlled by noble shareholders. The current racing champion is Scorpus, for the Blues. He’s in league with Tenax, the owner of the largest betting tavern. Tenax puts together a plan; by getting someone to wager shares of the Blues, then fixing the race, he’s able to raise a tremendous amount of money from the Servillian family, minor Blue shareholders who want to be Faction leaders. He then makes a deal with Domitian to form a new faction, the Gold.

Meanwhile three brothers have come to Rome from Hispania to sell horses. Tenax buys the horses (which are poisoned, then cured using yellow earth (phosphorus?) from Mount Vesuvius) and employs the brothers, making one his second driver after Scorpus. The brothers find themselves caught up in various romances and plots; all the stories weave together.

In Numidia a Roman soldier tries to rape Jula; her older sister Aura stabs him and they’re taken to be sold for slaves. Their brother Kwarme is a hunter who captures a giant white lion to be taken to Rome for the games; he tries to rescue his sisters and is taken to be a gladiator. Their mother Cala travels to Rome to try and rescue them; she falls in with Tenax, swiftly becoming indispensable as he is distracted by running a racing faction and all the other plots. Jula becomes a slave to the Servillian family, and a conduit of information for others, as well as falling for one of the Hispanic horse brothers.

Titus is having an affair with Queen Berenice of Judea. The Amphitheatre is being built by slaves from the Judean war, and she hopes to get them freed; her best chance being if Titus become emperor. Some of the Judeans are her supporters, others hate her for collaborating with the Romans.

Anyway all this goes into motion, with everyone plotting to gain advantage. Everyone wants something, and mostly they want to gain power and influence. Tenax’s ambition dovetails with Domitian, who has been made master of games. Domitian needs money, for himself, and to position himself to be emperor. History is going to roll on here; even if we don’t know the dates of Vespasian’s reign, he’s clearly failing (Anthony Hopkins here doing some good work, slightly disappointed with his sons yet acknowledging than they’re better heirs than the shower of nobles in the senate**). Indeed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius comes, foreshadowed as subtly as a brick. Again, the show has done some research and then made the story that they want, and I cannot blame them for that. I’d assume most viewers don’t have even my modest knowledge of the period!

Anyway I enjoyed the chariot racing. When they open the Flavian Amphitheatre, the games there are pretty good, Domitian using the excuse to dispose of some plotters. And Domitian is good as a villain, plausible, his father and brother wanting to trust him, but not (because he’s the villain). I know, of course, how his plots will result, yet the question is, how will he get there? If he wants to become emperor, what price will he pay?

And more importantly, how much will anyone else pay. Who is about to die?

Watch This: Entertaining and good-looking Ancient Rome blood-and-boobs-and-betrayal thriller series
Don’t Watch This: Surprisingly little gladiatorial fighting, very light touch on the history, unenlightening

* Apologies in advance for talking about real history in this, a knockabout blood-tits-and-plotting TV series loosely based on Roman History. In the civil war that led to Vespasian’s ascension (The Year Of The Four Emperors and aftermath), Vespasian spent most of his time in Alexandria, in Egypt, precisely to keep control of the grain supply; the province was the largest supplier of grain. In the aftermath, Vespasian ensured that not only were grain shipments regular and plentiful (the lateness is explained by the plot), but kept supplies on hand. They do, I admit, make a point of this, when Vespasian asks Titus why Titus hasn’t kept sufficient to make up a shortfall. Let this then stand in for most of the events in the show; grain was important to the city, and something the Flavians were very particular about, yet not in the way that it’s shown.

** I think we go to the senate twice, and for plot reasons each time it’s at night. Which is funny because the senate should only be in session during daylight!