HBO\'s "Rome" to present more realistic look at the

[ambrosius]

Kate Gilliver\\n[quote]Robinson (Armour of Imperial Rome) 1975, 65, says “the silver helmet with an over-large ring said to have come from Emesa, in Syria, and now in the Toledo Museum of Art in America is, in my opinion, a complete fabrication of recent times.â€Â

[Robert Vermaat]

get rid of the stirrups etc, etc... :wink:
Ambrosius

I wondered when someone would be mentioning the stirrups. Apparently, or so i read somewhere, the cast was made to use stirrups because of the Health & safety act or something similar..

[ambrosius]

I wondered when someone would be mentioning the stirrups. Apparently, or so i read somewhere, the cast was made to use stirrups because of the Health & safety act or something similar..

Mais oui. Exactement. 'Twas the same in Gladiator, of course. Remember
when Maximus actually belabours the point by helping Marcus Aurelius fit his foot into the stirrup, while mounting his horse? :wink: :lol:

Ambrosius

[Graham Sumner]

[quote]Robinson (Armour of Imperial Rome) 1975, 65, says “the silver helmet with an over-large ring said to have come from Emesa, in Syria, and now in the Toledo Museum of Art in America is, in my opinion, a complete fabrication of recent times.â€Â

[Tarbicus]

the cast was made to use stirrups because of the Health & safety act or something similar..

Believe me, if the Insurers wouldn't back the series you would see no 'Rome' at all. However, 'Alexander' didn't use stirrups :wink: Different Insurers and Legal Advice I guess. Or maybe they were disguissed mostly?

[ambrosius]

However, 'Alexander' didn't use stirrups :wink: Different Insurers and Legal Advice I guess. Or maybe they were disguissed mostly?

That's right. For all the criticism of 'Alexander' (mostly for the wrong
reasons) they did try better than most productions for authenticity.
The lack of stirrups (even saddles) being a case in point. Though I do
seem to remember that there were a few sneaky stirrups present during
the cavalry charges, as you say, but that they were well disguised.

Ambrosius

[andym]

I enjoyed the 3 episodes so far but there needs to be more fighting scenes.Something like the 1st 10 mins of Gladiator! :o

[Ebusitanus]

I enjoyed the 3 episodes so far but there needs to be more fighting scenes.Something like the 1st 10 mins of Gladiator! :o

One really wonders where all those 100 million went given that most of the city decor is reused from the Augustus movie set.

[Marius_Ursus]

get rid of the stirrups etc, etc... :wink:
Ambrosius

I wondered when someone would be mentioning the stirrups. Apparently, or so i read somewhere, the cast was made to use stirrups because of the Health & safety act or something similar..

I've been watching the five-minute "Rome with Commentary" available for HBO digital subsrcibers, and the producer said, "Of course the Romans didn't actually have stirrups, but we'll overlook that."

Then the director chimed in with something to the effect of, "It wouldn't look very good for Caesar or Antony to fall off a horse."

[Marius_Ursus]

The flooging scene was awful. i mean, flogging is not something endured so lightly! These whips are heavy and cause immense pain, not to mention bloodloss! The 'stoic' reaction was way too 'hollywood-heroic' for my taste..

That was purely a character development reaction. As we see in later episodes, Titus Pullo's quite the cock-proud swaggerer.

Regarding the commentaries again, the narrator (either producer or director) actually commented on how much more agonizing it would have been in real life because of the little steel spikes or flechettes the Romans tipped their scourges with, and that had Titus been beaten with a real one, he could very well have died as a result.

[tlclark]

I saw the first episode and had minor quibbles with the armor. The bigger errors are in history. They send Octavian to Gaul?! Absurd.

Likewise, the architecture for the set of the Roman forum was made to be at the height of the Roman Empire. If you look you can see the Temple of Vespasian, the Decannalia, the arch of Augustus and many other features that have no business in first century Rome.

Travis

[tlclark]

(I'm told the wall painting styles are anachronistic);

Completely. They are using 3rd and 4th Style frescoes and we should be in the 2nd style for quite a while longer.

Travis

[Tarbicus]

Bear in mind it's not a documentary or docu-drama. It's purely entertainment for a general audience, and I don't think was ever intended as reference for a degree. If you put the words "Loosely based on..." in your head it's a very entertaining series so far :wink: But it does show aspects of Roman life that I don't think have been shown before.

Sam Goldwyn: "Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union."
Bette Davis: "I don't take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache."
Christina Aguilera: "So, where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?"

For more entertaining quotes from the great Sam Goldwyn:
[url:2dud4f8n]http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/samuel_goldwyn.html[/url]

[tlclark]

Of course it's entertainment...

And so is nitpicking it to death, I might add!:wink:

If I didn't nitpick it, what else would I do? It's half the fun!

Travis

[Tarbicus]

If I didn't nitpick it, what else would I do? It's half the fun!

Crack on with your musculata - I'm dying to see it