The
Nero episode was 50/50, to me. They initially depicted him making some effort to
help out in the fire of
Rome, which he did.
However, perhaps to get the ratings, they then reverted to showing him as a sadist, kicking to death
his wife.
After seeing this shocking scene, I went to read a book I bought and read many years ago.
Richard Holland's "
Nero, the
man behind the myth"
Apparently, this event was slander.
According to Richard:
"Poppaea had become pregnant a second time, giving him new hope of a child to continue the dynasty. Only about two months after Piso's conspiracy, however, she had a miscarriage, accompanied by haemorrhaging. She died at the age of about thirty-three."Regarding the slander, the documentary has it
Nero was angry when she commented on him dropping the
sceptre during a performance, whilst the slander was about him kicking her to death after she scolded him for coming
home late from a
chariot race:
And furthermore:
"There is no reason to credit such an outrageous fabrication, which would make sense only at a much lower social level. That sort of domestic brawl no doubt occured often enough in the urban slums, but it is scarely conceivable in the imperial household, where Emperor and spouse had separate apartments and sets of servants, and prided themselves on living in unparalleled splendour"
"There is no mention of Nero ever raising either his hand or his foot against his first wife Octavia, even though he hated her for most of the ten years of their married life.I found the
Vespasian episode the best, and most of all, which is
rare for a film/documentary of a
Roman persona, the actor looked quite like
Vespasian and even gave him
his "down to earth" attitude as well.
The
Constantine episode
had good costumes, rather than the anachronistic
Republican costumes they always show
Romans of the 4th century wearing in most programs, primarily on the "
History" channel.
However, in the entire episode, there was not a sign of his first son, Crispus.The Alaric episode was okay, in that at least it did not show the Goths as a bunch of horn-helmeted sadists.
Also it showed Alaric telling
his soldiers to not attack the churches in
Rome. The Goths were Christians, though of the Arian creed, after all.
I do not blame the actors, it is the script writers having to compromise to appease ratings obsessed, empty-headed, bosses.
Why bother in the first place to commission a series about
Roman emperors, when major parts of their life are edited out or altered.
