There's no place like Rome

HBO's "Rome" teeters between barbarity and civility in the wake of Caesar's death, but its focus feels too narrow for such an epic tale.

Editor's note: Spoiler alert: "Rome" premieres Sunday, Jan. 14. Details of the second season are revealed in this article.

By Heather Havrilesky

Read more: HBO, TV, Rome, Arts & Entertainment, Reviews, Heather Havrilesky

Franco Biciocchi/HBO

Atia (Polly Walker) and Mark Anthony (James Purefoy)

Jan. 12, 2007 | At the start of the second season of HBO's "Rome," Julius Caesar lies slain in a pool of his own blood, but his murderers seem as uncertain about their fates as his allies are. Instead of having a plan or purpose beyond getting rid of Caesar, Brutus and Cicero find themselves quibbling over what the next move should be. Cicero (David Bamber) wants to kill Caesar's right-hand man, Mark Antony (James Purefoy), but Brutus (Tobias Menzies) will have no part of it. Meanwhile, Atia (Polly Walker), Caesar's niece, wants to leave the city, but her son Gaius Octavian (Max Pirkis), upon hearing that Caesar has named him his son and sole heir in his will, feels that it makes more sense to stay. Mark Antony narrowly escapes being murdered right after Caesar's death, but once he feels he is safe, he taunts Brutus, Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) and Cicero about the fragility of their position.

Mark Antony: Listen. Why so quiet? A tyrant is dead. Surely the people should be happy. Where's the cheering throng at your door? Where are the joyous cries of liberty?

Servilia: The people fear change. A somber mood is only natural.

Brutus: When they realize they are free from tyranny, the people will be glad.

Mark Antony: The people loved Caesar, and they will hate you for what you've done.

Brutus: They loved him once, as I did.

Mark Antony: Some have turned against him, no doubt. It cannot be denied he was something of a tyrant. But a great many people will worship Caesar until they die, a great many. And those people are mine now.

With such big talk of what the people of Rome want and what they'll do, you'd think we'd see some evidence of their feelings or actions for ourselves occasionally. After all, while the leaders of Rome had a particular knack for manipulating public opinion, the shifts in power seemed to depend largely on which leader the people and the military were inspired to support. Instead, we spend a great deal of time in the palaces of Servilia, Caesar's scorned lover and Brutus' mother, and Atia, Caesar's niece and ally, speculating along with Brutus or Octavian or Mark Antony about what the fates have in store. As a result, the second season of "Rome" feels more than a little claustrophobic, and operates on a much smaller scale than might be anticipated for such an epic production.

Even when big events do occur -- Octavian leaves the city to build an army, then his former ally sets out to fight him -- the motivations aren't clear, the conflict between the key players is difficult to follow, and we're offered only brief scenes that do little to either illustrate the situation or give us a feel for these characters and what they're up against.

Worst of all, we miss the action. "Octavian has built an army," we're told, but we don't see him leading his men until much later. "Mark Antony has been defeated," we're told, but we didn't see him when he set out to battle, so we hardly care when he loses. While most of the dramatic action and conflict occur off-screen, we're treated to the same old clash between Servilia and Atia, two characters whose manipulations, seductions, egocentrism and pride make them practically indistinguishable from each other. Is it possible to care whether Servilia kills Atia or Atia kills Servilia, when we know so little about what's actually happening in Rome?

Shakespeare, who obviously knew exactly how to maximize the drama in any story, still found ways of hinting at the historical forces in play every step of the way -- Marcellus and Flavius lament the fickle crowds, cheering Caesar's victory over Pompey the way they once cheered for Pompey; Casca tells Cassius and Brutus how the crowds applaud when Caesar makes a big show of humbly refusing a crown from Mark Antony ("If the rag-tag people did not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleased and displeased him, as they use to do the players in the theatre, I am no true man"); in his famous speech, Brutus explains to the Roman crowds that Caesar's ambition made him dangerous. Without such devices to set the scene, the drama is stripped of its historical impact, and Servilia and Atia might as well be Alexis and Krystal of "Dynasty," tearing each other's clothes off in the nearest swimming pool.

Next page: With a production budget of $100 million, shouldn't we expect to see the city of Rome, in all of its glory?