A Necessary Fiction

Rome episode
title=A Necessary Fiction


caption= Pullo prays for Eirene and their child.
season=2 (2007)
episode=20
air_date=11 March 2007 (HBO)
15 July 2007 (BBC)|
writer=Todd Ellis Kessler
director=Carl Franklin
setting=Rome
time_frame=39 BC
link= [http://www.hbo.com/rome/episode/season2/episode20.html HBO summary]
prev=Death Mask
next=Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)

A Necessary Fiction is the eighth episode of the second season of the television series "Rome". The air date is March 11th, 2007.

Plot summary

Prince Herod has shipped in a secret consignment of gold for the Triumvirate, and Octavian instructs Vorenus to oversee its safe passage discreetly into Rome. Vorenus delegates the task to Pullo, who is known and trusted by both Octavian and Mark Antony, much to the ire of Vorenus' third man, Mascius. However, Gaia poisons Eirene's tea, causing Eirene to die in childbirth with a stillborn baby boy. Pullo is incapacitated with grief so Mascius takes over the operation. An ambush results in the theft of the gold and the near death of Mascius. As accusations fly, Maecenas is convinced that Antony and Posca are the culprits. He had earlier plotted with Posca to steal a portion of the gold for themselves, but now believes that he has been double-crossed. He exacts his revenge by revealing to Octavian that sexual relations still exist between Antony and Atia, and Octavia and Agrippa.

Octavian, who has just given a grand public speech on the virtue of Roman women, is outraged and confronts his family. First, he calmly introduces his new wife, Livia, who is divorcing her current husband to marry him. He then wrathfully reveals that he knows of the lack of virtue of the women of his house. He threatens to make Antony the laughing stock of Rome by revealing his wife's shameful infidelity to the plebs if he does not leave for Alexandria at once. He also barricades Atia and Octavia inside the house. He forgives Agrippa, who later breaks off relations with Octavia to stay loyal to Octavian. Octavia, who wanted to run away with him, angrily calls him a coward and reveals that she is pregnant, but is unsure and uncaring of the identity of the father. Antony leaves for Egypt after promising Atia that he will call for her when the time is right, and meets a seductively dressed Cleopatra in her palace.

Vorenus pledges to retrieve the gold and pays Memmio a visit. A smug Memmio hints that not only has he stolen the gold but that one of Vorenus's own men betrayed him. Vorenus and Pullo initially suspect Mascius, but Vorenus catches his children playing with a straw toy that he saw in the hands of one of Memmio's men — the same one that seduced Vorena. He confronts her and she admits to betraying him, and screams that she was glad to do so. Flying into a rage, she accuses him of killing her mother, Niobe, abandoning his children in hell, and forcing her to prostitute herself. Vorenus is shocked to learn that his children have hated him all along, and becomes violent with Vorena. He starts choking her after she pulls a knife on him but stops when Pullo points out that the younger children are watching. An ashamed and devastated Vorenus tells Antony that his gold has been located and will be retrieved, but that he himself is resigning from the Aventine Collegium and will travel to Egypt in Antony's service. Pullo will take care of his children, the Aventine and the mission to retrieve the gold.

Meanwhile, Memmio uses the stolen gold to buy the loyalties of the other Collegia members and forms an alliance against Vorenus. When the rival gangs converge, Vorenus has left and Pullo leads the Aventine. Memmio asks for a parley with Pullo and offers reconciliation, since his argument was with Vorenus, not Pullo. In answer, Pullo bites out Memmio's tongue, hurls an axe at Vorena's would-be lover among Memmio's men, and leads the Aventine Collegium into battle against the other gangs. The Aventine fights ferociously, with Gaia and Pullo going particularly berserk, and the opposing gangs struggle to rally their men.

Inaccuracies and errors

*No mention was made of Octavian's first (Clodia Pulchra) and second wives (Scribonia).
* Sextus Pompey is an important historical character generally ignored by the series. Sextus was the son of Pompey the Great. Other than Brutus and Cassius, Sextus was the greatest thorn in the side of the Second Triumvirate. Much of the co-operation between Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus was designed to keep Sextus in check. Much of the discord between the triumvirs was also due to Sextus. Octavian's second wife Scribonia was Sextus Pompey's niece, and the granddaughter of Pompey the Great. The marriage was intended to form a diplomatic alliance, but ultimately, Sextus was defeated militarily.
*Livia was pregnant with her and Tiberius Claudius Nero's second child Drusus when she met Octavian. At that time, Octavian's wife Scribonia was pregnant with Octavian's daughter, Julia. On the day that Julia was born, Octavian divorced Scribonia and immediately married Livia; Drusus was born only about a month into their marriage.
*This episode states that Antony was "supreme governor" of Egypt.
*Atia Balba was dead at the time this episode took place. She died in August or September of 43 BC, which was about 18 months after the death of Julius Caesar. Her second husband, Lucius Marcius Philippus, Octavian's stepfather, was very much alive and an active influence on Octavian for many years. The ancient sources portray Atia as a virtuous and religious woman. The ambitious spiteful schemer portrayed in the series is more similar to Antony's third wife, Fulvia, and the historian Tacitus's portrayal of Livia.
* The episode gives the impression that Antony and Cleopatra VII are about to become lovers. Historically, Antony and Cleopatra had been lovers for some time when this episode took place. Cleopatra gave birth to twins just two months after Antony married Octavia.
* The episode gives the impression that Octavia's first pregnancy by Antony would result in the couple's first child. Between them, Antony and Octavia had seven children at the time of this episode. The marriage between Octavia and Mark Antony was her second and his fourth. At the time of marriage, Octavia and Antony each had two children from previous marriages, and Octavia was pregnant by her late husband (who died 5 months before she married Antony). Additionally, Antony had two children by Cleopatra at this time.
* Nothing in the ancient sources suggests that Agrippa was the lover of Octavia. Agrippa did eventually marry one of Octavia's daughters, and much later would marry Augustus' daughter.

External links

* [http://www.tv.com/rome/a-necessary-fiction/episode/961805/summary.html TV.com summary]
* [http://www.hbo.com/rome/episode/season2/episode20.html HBO summary]