HBO\'s Rome - inaccuracies

[Nathan Ross]

Hi Alexander,
Indeed, this topic has been discussed often on this forum, including the inconsistensies. Please look up such a thread instead of opening a new one.

I thought, since this is a new-style board, and 'Rome' perhaps not being the most useful of search keywords (!) that I might try and find a few of the old threads myself.

Here's the oldest, and longest: HBOs Rome to Present a More Realistic...

Also: HBOs Rome Nominated for Costume Honours

And: Accuracy of HBO series Rome

(hopefully the links work!)

Most 'inaccuracy' points are covered on these, but since the threads are now quite long and ungainly - and a bit tatty in places - I'll add a few more points here (I've finally seen the first season of this in full, in fact, after getting it on DVD, long after everyone else, it seems).

One thing that stuck me (aside from those horrid chunky leather wristbands, which are even worn in bed), were the strange and dreadful hats worn by many 'civilians'. One guy shows up with what looks like a crushed wicker basket covered in leather straps on his head. The clothing generally is rather outlandish - lots of curious fabrics and embroideries. Pompey appears wearing a kind of art deco Turkish bathrobe at one point. Apparently, more 'authentic' Roman costuming (very plain white woollens, mostly) would have looked uninteresting on screen.

There's another, more general, note of inauthenticity in the series - the ruling-class characters are clearly divided between 'soldiers' (Caesar, Antony etc) and 'politicians' (Cicero, Cato, etc). This distinction is stressed throughout: Antony often claiming to be 'just a simple soldier' and calling a leading senator 'a civilian', for example. In fact, military and political roles were effectively the same under the republic. A consul (or any other senator) was a military as well as a political leader.

There's a similar simplification with religion. Caesar at one point tells the chief augur that he is 'a soldier' and 'knows nothing of religious matters' - Caesar at this time was Pontifex Maximus and the highest priest in Rome! Of course the program makers knew all this - but chose to represent things this way for dramatic clarity. Still, it perhaps leads to some popular misconceptions about Roman political structures.

The series also (deliberately) exaggerates the divide between patrician and plebian families during this period - Antony at one point (wrongly) referring to himself as 'an old patrician'. Generally patrician is used as a synonym for noble, or even senatorial rank. Again, this was surely done for dramatic colour, but leads to confusion - the 'plebian nobility' is quite a difficult enough concept already!

Having said all that (and much more could be said, of course...) I did enjoy it all a great deal - the script was very good, most of the characters very believable, and some of the scenes very funny. It gave a good overall impression of the period, while being a bit loose with the facts.

A little less leatherware and it could have been excellent :wink:

- Nathan