Empire (TV series)

"Empire" is a six part miniseries that first aired on ABC in 2005. It is an historical drama set in 44 BC Rome, and covers the struggle of a young Octavius (Santiago Cabrera), the nephew and heir of Julius Caesar, to become the next emperor of Rome. Octavius is helped in his quest by a fictitious gladiator called Tyrannus (Jonathan Cake).

The series, filmed entirely in Rome and South Central Italy, was directed by John Gray and Kim Manners, and was produced by Carrie Henderson and Nick Gillott (episodes 4 and 6). It was written by Sara B. Cooper, Chip Johannessen, Tom Wheeler and William Wheeler.

Plot

Upon returning to the Senate, Julius Caesar is murdered by his conspiring fellow senators, who fear his increasing power and popularity amongst the citizens of Rome. In the process, the conspirators lose the support of Mark Antony, who is appalled at their violent treachery.

The assassination is able to happen because Tyrannus, a former gladiator who serves as Caesar's bodyguard, was distracted by the kidnapping of his young son Piso by a group of hired assassins. Tyrannus manages to rescue Piso, but returns to a fatally wounded Caesar. However, Caesar remains alive long enough to tell him that his nephew Gaius Octavius is his chosen successor and orders Tyrannus to protect him.

Tyrannus sends his wife and son away and then leaves Rome with Octavius to protect him from assassination. Outside Rome they begin to seek allies who are willing to overthrow the senate. To Octavius, Mark Antony appears a willing and eager supporter of his cause and the two quickly become close allies. Antony verbally agrees to join Octavius and even signs a document stating that Octavius has the support of his troops should he die. However, Octavius makes the naïve mistake of offering Antony leadership if he himself should perish. It is after this agreement that Antony's true intentions are made known when he attempts to have Octavius killed. Antony almost succeeds, but the weak and poisoned Octavius is saved by a young Marcus Agrippa.

Once recovered, Octavius, Agrippa, and a few companions make for Gaul, where Octavius aims to enlist the help of his uncle's former Third Legion. According to the story, the Third Legion was disgraced in battle, and Julius Caesar had one in every ten men killed (decimation). The survivors have remained in Gaul ever since living as bandits, and are collectively known as the ‘Lost Legion’. At first these men want to avenge themselves by killing Octavius, but Octavius manages to win their support with the help of Cicero.

Meanwhile, Tyrannus' wife has died and Piso has been adopted by a noble family on the island to which they fled. Thinking Octavius dead and desiring to be able to afford the opportunity to raise his son, Tyrannus joins with Mark Antony as a centurion. As a centurion Tyrannus has the means to educate and raise his son as a nobleman, but finds the soldiers under his command to be suspicious of him and upset at being subordinant to this low-born gladiator. After he saves one of his men from being killed, an act that nearly costs him his own life, Tyrannus earns the respect of his men.

Mark Antony, having now allied with the Senate, hears of Octavius's survival and moves quickly to intercept him before he can gain too large a following. Antony's army is superior in size to Octavius', and it includes the men under command of Tyrannus.

In the ensuing battle, Octavius rallies his troops, despite being heavily outnumbered. Nevertheless, they begin to lose ground, and Antony appears to have won. At that moment Tyrannus and his men change sides and turn the tide of battle. As the conflict closes Mark Antony is disarmed, but Octavius shows him mercy and does not kill him.

The end of the series focuses on Tyrannus, who having saved Octavius, becomes a free Roman and raises his son.

Reception

The series has received a mixed response, with many film critics giving negative reviews. The drama has been criticized for its lack of historical accuracy and tendency to portray the characters in a simplistic way as either "good guys" or "bad guys". It was also thought to be heavily imitative of the film Gladiator (2000).

Historical notes

*None of the historical chronology is included in the miniseries.

*The comical characters Hirtius and Pansa whom Cassius makes consuls and whom Brutus sends to offer a truce to Antony are based on the historical consuls appointed following Caesar's death Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Aulus Hirtius.

*The real life Octavius was not as clement and ethical over killing his enemies as the Octavius portrayed. Although he was not as brutal as Mark Antony in warfare, he was much more so than Caesar. Also, after he defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s armies, he ordered Cleopatra’s son Caesarion put to death out of fear that he may hold a grudge against him.

*The historical Octavius was renowned for being very intelligent, wise and merciless in rulership; however, in this he is portrayed as a careless, rather stupid and weak teenager who often has to rely on Tyrannus and Agrippa to help him and solve his problems.

*Historically, Marcus Brutus committed suicide following the Battle of Philippi; however, here the battle does not occur and Antony exiles Brutus, refusing to let him kill himself so he can ‘make himself a martyr for Rome'. Brutus is seen alive and back in Rome at the end of the drama.

*The miniseries ends with a battle between Antony and Octavius. This is loosely based on the post-Caesarian battle, the Battle of Mutina, after which Octavius and Antony called truce; however, historically the decisive confrontation between the armies of Antony and Octavius was at the naval Battle of Actium, which took place over ten years after Caesar’s death. Octavius did not directly lead his forces, though he was the nominal commander; the "de facto" opposed commanders in the battle were Antony and Agrippa.

*While Cicero is portrayed in the film as a friend of Caesar and Octavius, he was in fact on the side of Brutus and the assassins. He was killed by the followers of Octavius during the proscriptions.

Cast

*Jonathan Cake as Tyrannus
*Santiago Cabrera as Octavius
*Vincent Regan as Marc Antony
*Emily Blunt as Camane
*Chris Egan as Marcus Agrippa
*Colm Feore as Julius Caesar
*James Frain as Brutus
*Michael Maloney as Cassius
*Fiona Shaw as Fulvia
*Orla Brady as Atia
*Trudie Styler as Servilia
*Michael Bryne as Cicero
*N'Deaye Ba as Nila
*Dennis Haysbert as Magonius
*Roger Ashton Griffiths as Panza
*Graham McTavish as General Rapax
*Naomi Westerman as Elena

Trivia

*When shooting started, the series was supposed to be eight hours long. When it was clear that the show was going to run excessively over budget, it was cut down to six hours.

*Victor Garber was the original casting choice for the role of Julius Caesar, but had to bow out, shortly before the show went into production.

* During the final battle between Antony's and Octavius's armies, Tyranus removes two silver emblems from his chest to denounce Antony and fight for Octavius. In the next shot, they are there again. Later, they disappear once more.

External links

*imdb title|id=0403759|title=Empire
* [http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/06/review_the_fall.html Some opinions on the drama] at Mercury News