Rome 1x11 (Spoils?)
Nov. 14th, 2005 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiBecause you can't be spoiled for history... You know what's weird? Caesar did set aside land in Italy for his legions. It was a whole big thing. At least, I'm pretty sure he had land reserved for them back in 48, so it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have been able to hold onto that in 44.
I can't believe it: this show has made me like Brutus. I like Brutus! What's wrong with me?
Well, I know what it was: Brutus developed a backbone. I am a complete sucker for characters who will do the wrong thing for the right reasons, and Brutus fills that description perfectly. he really does feel loyal to Caesar, and look up to him, but he also can't help seeing what Caesar has become, and he knows what it is he has to do. I wasn't thrilled with the notion of Servilia as the brains behind the assassination, so I loved seeing Brutus take charge of the matter. It is his decision, and it's the right decision. And suddenly he's stopped being all puffed up about his honor (and mopey about having lost it) because he knows that this is going to destroy any shred of honor he might have had left to him. And yet he has no option: he's Brutus, and it's what his father would have done, and his grandfather, and all his ancestors back to Lucius Brutus who drove the last king of Rome out of the city and established freedom and the consulship. The only honorable thing to do is the thing which will destroy him absolutely.
It's so marvelously Roman. When this show gets stuff right, it really gets it right.
I think Brutus' protstes -- "I loved you like a father!" -- weren't just because Caesar is treating him as a potential threat and a potnetial tool -- but also, that he loved a man who would make himself a tyrant. That's an unforgivable thing.
OK, but this was really Pullo and Vorenus' show, and what I needed after the rift of last week -- watching Vorenus cover his mouth with his wrist to keep from shouting out at Pullo, and then finally leaping into the arena to save his life. Gah. It doesn't need to be sexual -- they love each other.
Pullo is a giant, adorable, violent sweetheart (although I had Princess Bride flashbacks like whoa when that old woman was chasing him and shouting "Murderer! Murderer!") but Lucius Vorenus fascinates me. He's coming up in the world, oh yes he is, and it's not quite what he expected. Because I'm a history geek, I loved the scene where he's receiving all his clients. You know he'd have to do that every morning, too. But this week I loved the contrast between him and Brutus. Because Vorenus has tried to put his country above his personal friendships, but he can't, in part because he let Caesar persuade him that they were on the same side. And having made that awful mistake, he can't go backward and he can't go forward -- at least, not until he finally has to act to rescue Pullo from his fate.
You know, Vorenus would be Brutus if he could, but he doesn't have those resources, external or internal -- he's absolutely dependent on Caesar in a way which Brutus, the Roman aristocrat, simply can't understand. So instead, he rescues Pullo, making the precise opposite choice that Brutus makes (putting friendship over devotion to his country, rather than his country over friendship), but they've both done it because "Caesar" (the system, if not the man himself) has given them no choice. They have to rebel, they have to do the wrong thing, because it's the only right thing to do.
I can eat this stuff up with a spoon. It hits every plot-related kink I possess
As for me, I'm looking forward to the Lupercalia. And I'm not sure this icon is relevant any longer.
I can't believe it: this show has made me like Brutus. I like Brutus! What's wrong with me?
Well, I know what it was: Brutus developed a backbone. I am a complete sucker for characters who will do the wrong thing for the right reasons, and Brutus fills that description perfectly. he really does feel loyal to Caesar, and look up to him, but he also can't help seeing what Caesar has become, and he knows what it is he has to do. I wasn't thrilled with the notion of Servilia as the brains behind the assassination, so I loved seeing Brutus take charge of the matter. It is his decision, and it's the right decision. And suddenly he's stopped being all puffed up about his honor (and mopey about having lost it) because he knows that this is going to destroy any shred of honor he might have had left to him. And yet he has no option: he's Brutus, and it's what his father would have done, and his grandfather, and all his ancestors back to Lucius Brutus who drove the last king of Rome out of the city and established freedom and the consulship. The only honorable thing to do is the thing which will destroy him absolutely.
It's so marvelously Roman. When this show gets stuff right, it really gets it right.
I think Brutus' protstes -- "I loved you like a father!" -- weren't just because Caesar is treating him as a potential threat and a potnetial tool -- but also, that he loved a man who would make himself a tyrant. That's an unforgivable thing.
OK, but this was really Pullo and Vorenus' show, and what I needed after the rift of last week -- watching Vorenus cover his mouth with his wrist to keep from shouting out at Pullo, and then finally leaping into the arena to save his life. Gah. It doesn't need to be sexual -- they love each other.
Pullo is a giant, adorable, violent sweetheart (although I had Princess Bride flashbacks like whoa when that old woman was chasing him and shouting "Murderer! Murderer!") but Lucius Vorenus fascinates me. He's coming up in the world, oh yes he is, and it's not quite what he expected. Because I'm a history geek, I loved the scene where he's receiving all his clients. You know he'd have to do that every morning, too. But this week I loved the contrast between him and Brutus. Because Vorenus has tried to put his country above his personal friendships, but he can't, in part because he let Caesar persuade him that they were on the same side. And having made that awful mistake, he can't go backward and he can't go forward -- at least, not until he finally has to act to rescue Pullo from his fate.
You know, Vorenus would be Brutus if he could, but he doesn't have those resources, external or internal -- he's absolutely dependent on Caesar in a way which Brutus, the Roman aristocrat, simply can't understand. So instead, he rescues Pullo, making the precise opposite choice that Brutus makes (putting friendship over devotion to his country, rather than his country over friendship), but they've both done it because "Caesar" (the system, if not the man himself) has given them no choice. They have to rebel, they have to do the wrong thing, because it's the only right thing to do.
I can eat this stuff up with a spoon. It hits every plot-related kink I possess
As for me, I'm looking forward to the Lupercalia. And I'm not sure this icon is relevant any longer.
